Okorocha: 100 Days Of What?

By Chinedu OPARA

Imo State Governor, Owelle Rochas Anayo Okorocha, surprised many when he announced few days after assumption of office that his government will not be celebrating 100 days in office. In the thinking of his government, 100 days was too short a period, coupled with the fact that the state had no resources which could be frittered away in the guise of marking 100 days in office.

L-R: Gov. Okorocha, Speaker Uwajumogu and others at a ceremony

However, many Imolites refused to buy the state governor’s argument. Those who spoke maintained that marking 100 days in office does not essentially mean squandering millions of taxpayers’ fund in organizing dinner parties and symposiums. 100 days, they argue, has always been and still is a mere symbolic celebration during which democratically elected governments all over the world show voters foundations laid by them. It is a period of careful articulation and compilation of these policies, programmes and projects direction which enable the electorate to know the direction their leaders are headed. For the celebrants too, taking time off the busy schedule of protocol and state functions to take stock of what has been put on ground 100 days after assumption of power also goes a long way in helping in the process of consolidating on those areas that are adjudged worthy. Similarly, leaders use the platform of the period to do away with those policies and programmes that would have no direct positive impact on the electorate.

The sum total of this position is that 100 days in office is worthy of marking even if behind closed doors because of the enormous opportunity it offers elected leaders to reflect on the steps so far taken, opportunities offered for adjustments and amendments where necessary, and generally charting a new course forward.

But Governor Okorocha, events showed, was not in the mood for either ostentatious or sober commemoration of one hundred days in office following approval granted him by the state House of Assembly to undertake a two-week economic mission abroad. The governor had earlier through a letter dated 24th August, 2011 and sent through the Speaker of the State Assembly, Hon. Benjamin Uwajumogu, requested the House to approve two weeks of economic mission abroad to enable him go in pursuit of foreign investors, especially in the areas of power, agriculture and tourism.

As it were, the timing of the economic mission effectively foreclosed any possibility or hope that the governor would in any way observe the ceremony since the two weeks sought and approved would not elapse before September 6, 2011, the exact date marking the first 100 days of his government.

Chinedu Offor, Senior Special Assistant to the governor on media matters, however, recently cleared the air on the administration’s position on 100 days in office. Offor explained that what his principal meant was that his administration would not fritter away public fund in the name of marking 100 days in office. The government, he said, would mark the day at least symbolically. He posited that the governor could decide to mark it either with a press conference or a state-wide broadcast with a view to telling the people of the state what their government has done within the past three months they put it in power. “But there is not going to be wasting public resources budgeting millions to celebrate. There is nothing to celebrate in Imo,” the SSA said.

Like all those arrayed on the side of Governor Okorocha’s administration, Mr. Offor went ahead to enumerate those things which in his thinking make his principal’s first 100 days in office worth celebrating. Top on the list was the free education which the administration declared on its inception. According to him, this is the first time in the history of Imo State that a government is declaring free and compulsory primary and secondary education complete with its ancillary services such as school bags, uniforms, shoes and building of schools in all the local government areas of the state.

Eze Samuel Ohiri, chairman of Imo State Council of Traditional Rulers, also sounded ecstatic about Governor Okorocha’s free education policy. Hear him: “If your recall during the campaign, the governor made a promise of free education in the state. Then many argued that free education was an impossibility. Now what is happening? Our children are enjoying free education. Today, students of Imo State University have had their fees slashed. Government is also going to build twelve classroom blocks in each ward of the state and these classrooms would be built to global standard.”

Another touted highpoint of Governor Okorocha’s administration is the creation of what he called fourth-tier system of government manned by the community speakers. During his maiden broadcast to the people of Imo State on June 6, 2011, the governor had among other policy statements pronounced the coming on stream of the fourth-tier of government which would function as his administration’s eyes and ears in the 535 recognized autonomous communities in the state. The community speakers who would be appointed by their communities would serve as the bridge between the governor and their respective communities, reporting directly to the state Chief Executive on issues affecting their areas. This arrangement, the governor argued, would speed up the process of grassroots development since all other intermediaries would no longer be relevant under the novel system.

However, fears have been expressed in certain quarters that the concept of community speakers for autonomous communities is nothing but Governor Okorocha’s subtle plan to pull the rug off the feet of traditional rulers who, many say, he accused of working against his gubernatorial ambition. Those nursing these fears hold that a situation where community speakers would now be accorded higher recognition above and beyond traditional rulers only conveys one message which interpretation is that traditional rulers are no longer relevant in the scheme of things.

But Eze Ohiri dismissed these fears as unfounded, emphasising that the functions of the two groups did not in any way meet or interweave. Traditional rulers, he pointed out, are still the custodians of culture, still in charge of security and peace of their communities. In other words, they are still the chief security officers of their areas. For the community speakers, their job is essentially to monitor and report the progress or otherwise of developmental projects sited in their communities.

Okorocha’s camp have also been thumbing up the recently launched Operation Rescue security outfit as another landmark of his first 100 hundred days in office. This, in the view of Chinedu Offor, is a tremendous stride because peace and security are the foundations on which the edifice of sustainable development is laid. “To have a sustainable development, you have to have peace. Imo is at peace. People are no longer scared. I mean it. You were here few years ago, those of us from the United States of America dared not set out foot here. Kidnappers and armed robbers were everywhere, but now that has gone down. That is a key concrete achievement. Imo is at peace,” he said.

But, even as the administration regales Imolites with talks about heightened peace and security, analysts contend that crimes like kidnapping and armed robbery are indeed on the upward swing. A few instances would suffice to buttress this standpoint. A few weeks ago, residents of Orlu town were thrown into midday confusion following the discovery of a corpse inside a Catholic Church in Eziachi. Soon, however, news emerged that the corpse was that of one Chief Chibuzo Okeke, business tycoon, transporter and CEO of CUO Motors. Chief Okeke, it was reliably gathered, was kidnapped two weeks earlier with the kidnappers making a demand of N60 million naira ransom.

It was similar tale of woe in Umuokanne, Ohaji/Egbema LGA on Sunday, 4 September, 2011 when kidnappers stormed a village church and kidnapped a middle aged woman. Luck, however, ran out on the kidnappers who were given the chase of their lives by the villagers who mobilized quickly and alerted security operatives. At the end of hostilities, one of the kidnappers was shot dead while one was arrested. These and many more perceived administrative misdemeanours of Governor Okorocha have provided arsenals which the opposition have been using to rubbish the administration’s 100 days in office.

Chief Blyden Amajirionwu, state publicity secretary of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, dismissed Governor Okorocha’s first 100 days as 100 days of executive lawlessness, administrative incompetence, workers unfriendliness and intolerance to dissenting views. With specific reference to civil servants in the state, the PDP image maker insisted that Governor Okorocha’s 100 days in office has been nothing but hell on earth for Imo workers. Said he: “Governor Okorocha claimed he came to power through the people’s vote, but now he is chastising the people with whips and scorpions. Civil servants are owed upward of two to three months salaries, which is impacting negatively on the overall economy of the state because Imo is a civil service state. Trading and other petty businesses are no longer moving because civil servants do not have purchasing power again. This same administration, because of millions it is making on cut on turn-over, COT, has made it a standing order that every civil servant, even those on eighteen thousand naira, must open a current account. What else can be more anti-people than this?”

Amajirionwu also slammed the administration for what he termed its lack of vision. He opined that it was this lack of clear cut action plan that brought the deluge of appointments that characterize the administration, noting that the unwieldy figure can’t in anyway contribute meaningfully to the development of the state. Besides, he queried where the governor, who has made a show of his administration’s prudence and accountability, is going to raise the huge sums required to pay a record 110 appointees.

Watchers of Imo politics have also singled out the explosive and scathing media attack launched in the Daily Sun publication of Tuesday, August 23, 2011 by the Imo League of Professionals, ILP, as the most incisive, factual and broad based analysis of trend of events since the administration of Governor Okorocha came on board. In a full page advertorial under the caption, “Before Imo Explodes”, the group had taken Governor Okorocha to the cleaners on three broad issues. One, the flagrant disregard of the laws of the land by the Okorocha administration. Two, the glaring evidence of fiscal irresponsibility. And three, the administration’s penchant to take Imo citizens for fools.

On the issue of lawlessness, the group made reference to the gale of dissolutions that has characterized Okorocha’s administration, including the controversial dissolution of elected council chairmen and councillors as well as his defiance of the state Chief Judge’s ruling that the governor has no powers to dissolve elected officials. With regard to the charge of fiscal irresponsibility, the group queried where the governor would source the N5 billion it proposed for rehabilitation of roads within the state capital and environs, saying the purported approval given by the state Assembly without recourse to supplementary budgeting smacks of disregard to laid-down fiscal expenditure procedures. Expatiating on their third grouse, the ILP said that most of the roads and streets pencilled down for rehabilitation were in good working conditions. Roads listed include Umaru Musa Yar’Adua Drive along Port Harcourt Road, Tetlow Road, Osuji Street and Mbaise Road.

As proof of its firepower, analysts have pointed out that the attack remains the only one that has received a formal response from the administration, meaning that it actually achieved exactly what the group had in mind. Indeed, the state Commissioner for Information, Obinna Duruji, had issued a quick response to the attack. However, as Mike Nwachukwu pointed out in his write-up captioned “Re: Before Imo Explodes: Where Okorocha And His Men Got It Wrong” and published in the August 31-September 1, 2011 edition of an Owerri-based newspaper, the government response fell far below the standard expected of 21st century leadership which ought to be characterized by sophistication and finesse. He said: “The simple interpretation to the commissioner’s absent-minded response is that the administration he is serving lacks the faintest sophistication. The muddling through could also mean that the administration’s insiders like Duruji have no answer to the charges of executive lawlessness against their arrowhead.”

But in-between these two extremist camps is the very small clique that held the view that 100 days is too short a time to pass a verdict on the present government. In this school is Chief Macdonald Amadi, former chief press secretary to the state’s former deputy governor, Chief Ebere Udeagu. Amadi satd that though Gov. Okorocha has been in the driver’s seat for the past 100 days, it must be remembered that he still has three years plus to make or mar himself. Furthermore, he argued that the governor as a new captain must sit down to study the environment very carefully before embarking on the arduous task of navigating the ship of state, adding that governance and leadership go beyond 100 days in office. Nevertheless, he cautioned the governor on complacency and self-imposed distractions which he claimed have started rearing their ugly heads, insisting that the latter most particularly has proven a potent and veritable weapon which the opposition have always used to disorganize succeeding administrations in the state.

Surely, it is no longer a matter for debate that Gov. Okorocha’s first 100 days has provoked intense debates across the nooks and crannies of the state. Yet, in the midst of the raging political confrontation, one point has been established: that the governor’s almost sky-high popularity rating on the eve of his inauguration has sharply dropped. Prince Cletus Nwaka, factional chairman of the All Progressives Grand Alliance, APGA, believes that the rating has dropped to as low as 60%. Many Imo people also think that the governor is not the magician he was thought to be.

But despite this not-too-sweet music presently swirling around the administration, its arrowhead, Rochas Anayo Okorocha, and his aides insist that Imo must be better.

Road to Biafra

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By December of 1969, watchers of the Nigerian-Biafran war concluded that this bloody fratricidal war will not last into January. They were wrong. A group of Biafran renegade officers, frustrated by the execution of the war, were prepared to sacrifice their lives to change the course of the war. By the tail end of December, they took the world by surprise and launched a bloody coup d'etat and took over the reins of power. Behind the success of this coup was the dreaded Biafran elite force – The Death Squad.

Captain Tega, leader of the elite Death Squad, was one of the army leaders that had successfully extracted and led his troop out of the Ore debacle when the Biafran army launched a blitzkrieg against Western Nigeria in an attempt to capture the capital of Nigeria, Lagos in August-September 1967. The squad had to survive the Ore jungles, amidst devastating Nigerian army onslaught, and protect the rear of the demoralized retreating Biafran western army desperate to get back to Biafraland.

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So Much For A National Health Bill

On Thursday, May 19, 2011, the National Health Bill, which defines, streamlines, and provides a framework for standard and regulation of health services nationwide, defines rights and duties of healthcare providers, health workers, health agencies and users, and provides guidelines in the development, promotion and formulation of national health policy, among others, was passed by the Senate of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

Chukwu: Nigeria's Health Minister

Prior to the passage of the Bill, angry Market Women Association members and several pressure groups had on Wednesday, May 18, besieged the National Assembly to protest against the delay in passing the Bill, threatening to go into the Chambers naked if security personnel prevented them from going in. It took the intervention of Senator Iyabo Obasanjo-Bello and Senator Gyan Dantong to pacify the protesting women.

But less than twenty four hours after the passage of the Bill, war of words broke out. Different factions emerged, with some speaking for and others against the Bill. Threats and ultimatums were issued, and the various factions challenged one another to public debates. The Assembly of Healthcare Professional Associations and Unions called on President Goodluck Jonathan not to give assent to the National Health Bill, saying “there will be no peace in the health sector if the bill becomes law”.

But the Nigerian Medical Association, NMA, had earlier in April called on President Jonathan to exercise his executive power and ensure that the National Health Bill is passed and assented to before the end of the last legislative and executive term. President of NMA, Dr Omede Idris, while addressing a press conference in Abuja, had said: “For the health bill to go through this current legislative assembly without passing it into law smacks of the government’s insensitivity to the plight of all Nigerians – adults, men, women, youths, children and newborns alike, health-wise. Over this period of six years, six million Nigerian children and 317,400 Nigerian mothers have died.” And so, the controversy went on and on.



Jonathan: President of Nigeria



Recently again, following the reassurance given to the Nigerian Health Sector Reform Coalition, NHSRC, by Nigeria’s Minister of Health, Prof Onyebuchi Chukwu, that President Goodluck Jonathan would soon assent to the National Health Bill, the Order of Knights of St. Mulumba, Nigeria, has joined in pleading with the President not to sign the Bill into law. In a full page advertorial in a national daily titled “Why The President Cannot Sign The National Health Bill” and signed by Bro Enoma A. Bazuaye-Ekwuyasi (Supreme Physician) and Bro Anthony C. Onuh (Supreme Knight), the exalted Order outlined numerous reasons why the President, in their considered view, cannot sign the Bill in question into law.

First on the list was that the Bill has exceeded the thirty-day period within which the Constitution allows the President to assent to it. According to them, the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria provides that a Bill passed by the National Assembly can only be assented to by the President within thirty days. Following, therefore, that President Jonathan has failed to assent to the National Health Bill since May 2011, he cannot possibly to assent it now.

The exalted Knights also pointed at the vehement opposition that has trailed the Bill, particularly from various health professional bodies in Nigeria, including the Pharmaceutical Society of Nigeria, PSN, Health Workers Association of Nigeria, Association of General and Private Medical Practitioners of Nigeria, AGPMPN, and the Association of Medical Laboratory Scientists of Nigeria, AMLSN. This, they said, signifies that these professional bodies probably had no input into the draft of the Bill or that the Bill failed to promote their respective interests, either of which would imply that the National Health Bill was not the people’s health bill because it lacked the people’s will and input. It was rather a contraption of a few senators who were hell-bent on making their authority felt and imposing a national health bill on the people of Nigeria.

But more worrisome to the Knights was Section 51 (1 and 2) of the said Bill, which provides that: “(1) A person shall not without the prior written approval of the Minister:- (a) manipulate any genetic material, including genetic material of human gametes, zygotes or embryos; or (b) engage in any activity, including nuclear transfer or embryo splitting, for the purpose of the reproductive cloning of a human being. (2) No person shall import or export human zygotes or embryos without the prior written approval of the Minister on the recommendation of National Ethics Research Committee.”

According to the Knights, the above provisions enable the Minister to play God, with unbridled powers to grant life and death to human embryos, harvest human egg and sperm, and even do business with them. In their words: “Simply, the section is aimed at legalising the manipulation, aggression and violence against Nigerian children, embryos and zygotes. A mere written permission from the Health Minister is all that is required for any person to have full legal backing to manipulate any genetic materials, including genetic material of human gametes, zygotes and embryos, import and export human embryos, as well as conduct any experimentation for human cloning and other purposes.

“Section 51 grants unquestioned and unaccountable powers to the Minister of Health. Through his written permission, he allows whomsoever he wishes to engage in any activity such as nuclear transfer, embryo splitting for the purposes of the reproductive cloning of a human being. These are activities that are morally and socially objectionable and a cause of serious concern, conflict and regulation in developed countries.

“The Health Bill empowers the Minister, through his written permission, (with or without the non-binding recommendation of National Ethics Research Committee), to grant a license to any person or group of persons to import or export Nigerian human zygotes or embryos to foreign countries for whatever purposes including cloning (therapeutic or otherwise), sale or as a gift to communities in countries with restrictive laws against such practices.

“Introducing Section 51 through the back door is treacherous and lacking in respect for the life of Nigerians and human society. This enigmatic clause is an affront on the dignity of man. The merchandising and trafficking on human gametes, zygotes, embryos or human cloning should be banned outright and not left to the whims and caprices of the Minister of Health.”

The exalted Order also condemned other activities of the Health Minister, whom they alleged has been hobnobbing with the United Nations Population Funds, UNPFA, and promoting various questionable projects and programmes that have nothing to do with the health needs of Nigerians, like aggressive free distribution of contraceptives, including injectable contraceptives, in all public health centres and institutions in Nigeria which he flagged off in April 2011.

In conclusion, the Knights of St. Mulumba restated the deplorable state of the health sector in Nigeria, arguing that as it is, attaining the health-related Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) is virtually elusive, given that health indicators in the country remain abysmal. While calling on the President not to succumb to the intense pressure from self-serving groups from within and outside Nigeria who are asking him to sign the Bill, but to withhold his assent until all the anti-life and other retrogressive clauses are expunged, they insisted that “the Health Bill in its present form is an invitation to more crises in the health sector. Nigerians deserve a Health Bill that will guarantee the health of all Nigerians.”

As it is now, that Nigeria needs a Health Bill is not in question. But with the controversies already generated by the Bill, and considering the issue of time lapse raised above by the Knights of St. Mulumba, the question is: will the President disregard these issues raised and go ahead to sign the Bill into a federal law, or will he subject it to further review before giving his assent? No doubt, the onus rests on President Goodluck Jonathan, and Nigerians are watching to see how it goes.

Okorocha And The Security Challenge In Imo

By Chuks OLUIGBO

When recently the Imo State government launched a special security outfit tagged Operation Rescue, the move was greeted with euphoria. There and then, the outfit was equipped with 100 security vehicles and gadgets purportedly acquired with N567 million belonging to the state which had been stashed away by previous administrations for over 12 years now in a hidden account tagged Traditional Institution Account. 

Imo D-Gov, Jude Agbaso (3rd left), accompanied by other personalities during the launch

 

Speaker after speaker at the occasion held at the Government House, Owerri, expressed optimism that the state was finally on the path to winning the war against crime in the state. Governor Rochas Okorocha, represented by his deputy, Sir Jude Agbaso, said that Operation Rescue, which is anchored on the combined team of police, army and state security service, is aimed at ensuring effective community policing in the state so as to prevent and curb crimes, especially with the approach of the ember months when crime rate is believed to be on the increase. Men of the team are expected to patrol all the communities in the state. He also noted that the flag-off was to showcase the preparedness of the state administration to combat crime in the state, adding that the 100 Ford brand security vehicles were acquired at the lowest price, while disclosing that a maintenance unit will be set up to ensure adequate maintenance of the vehicles.

Speaking also, the Commander, 34 Field Artillery Brigade, Obinze, Brig-Gen A. I. G. Danpome, expressed delight over Governor Okorocha’s security initiatives which he said are adequate to boost security and ensure safety in the state, stressing the need to back up the security vehicles with good logistics and digital communication equipment for more effective fighting of crime in the state.

The state Commissioner of Police, Mohammad Abudullahi, indicated that his command is ready to reduce crime in the state to zero level. He asserted that his men have embarked on ‘stop and search’ operations and will execute search warrant to fight car snatching, rape, kidnapping and other criminal activities and urged members of the public to partner with the team by giving vital information to the police urgently.

On his part, the director, State Security Service, Mr. Sam Kalama, described Operation Rescue as an integrated system of security, which would enable his command to swing into action for effective intelligence gathering and timely response in the fight against crime. He also said that the security vehicles would be stationed strategically to beat time and space.

A traditional ruler in the state, Eze Thomas Obiefule, also expressed optimism that Governor Okorocha’s security initiative would go a long way to ensure safety in the state, noting that all the traditional rulers in the state have been empowered with security votes and are as such in a position to fight crime in their various communities.

Before now, Governor Okorocha had emphasized security as one of the three cardinal points of his Rescue Agenda, the other two being health and education. The first thing he did was to announce the proscription of state vigilante, maintaining that vigilante groups would start and end at the community and local council levels. Literally, he handed over the security of the state to the traditional rulers who would now act as chief security officers within their various communities. To facilitate this, he increased the monthly allowance of traditional rulers from N80,000 to N100,000 as well as empowered them with monthly security votes. 

Some of the security vehicles provided for Operation Rescue

Next, the governor created the office of Mayor for each of the three zones of the state, namely: Owerri, Okigwe and Orlu. The Mayor in each of the zones acts as special adviser, Mayoral Affairs, to the governor. They are also charged with the task of maintaining law and order as well as fast-tracking development in their areas.

As laudable as the above initiatives may sound, and in spite of the euphoria and optimism they have generated, to what extent they have helped or will help to improve the security situation in the state is yet to be seen. 

To begin with, Operation Rescue is not the first of its kind. The immediate past administration in Imo State under Dr. Ikedi Ohakim did launch a special crime crack squad which it called Operation Festival, but the special squad unfortunately did not perform any special wonder. Regrettably, under their very nose, men of the underworld unleashed a grand festival of kidnapping cum armed robbery in the state with such impunity, and the anti-crime squad fell flat on their face. Government’s inability to rise up to the challenge led many people to suspect that perhaps the state government had a hand in the whole show, especially in the wake of the kidnap of Dr. Vincent Udokwu, two-time Chief of Staff to ex-Governor Achike Udenwa and Health Commissioner under the Ohakim administration.

Equally, across the states of the nation, we have had many such special anti-crime squads in the past. There have been special squads like Operation Sweep, Operation Fire for Fire, Operation Wipe, Operation Storm, Operation Rapid Response, Quick Response Squad, AIG’s Crack Squad, Operation Thunderstorm, and many more. Also, sometime ago when the high incidence of kidnapping and armed robbery in the South-East was becoming some sort of national embarrassment, it was reported that President Goodluck Jonathan, because he considered kidnapping as having the same gravity with terrorism, had implemented an Anti-Terrorism Squad, made up of specially trained police and military officers, to help reduce kidnapping and armed robbery in the region. Yet crime has remained at an all-time high, with suicide bombers now joining in the league, successfully bombing such high security locations as the police headquarters and the United Nations building in Abuja.

In the meantime, the ugly menace of kidnapping has resurfaced in Imo State, and the governor is seen to be doing nothing about it. Recently, precisely on Sunday, August 14, 2011, wife of the ousted chairman of Isu Local Government Area of the state was abducted on her way to her village church, with her abductors demanding N150 million ransom. Few days later, they were said to have called a member of the abducted woman’s family who told them he was in far away Abia State and that they should contact those closer home. That same night, the abductors stormed their victim’s country home, which incidentally is the palace of the traditional ruler of the community, and unleashed terror, shooting sporadically at the gates and in the air for over two hours, unchallenged. And there is a police station within earshot. Unconfirmed reports say that over 120 pellets were picked up at the scene later in the morning. The above is just one example of what is gradually becoming a weekly occurrence.

In the face of all this, it is no use over-stressing the point that the governor needs to really rise up to the security challenge in the state, and urgently too. It is understandable that the task ahead is an arduous one. But the governor must not make a show of fighting crime; he must be seen to be fighting crime. Crime fighting does not end in launching fantastic special anti-crime squad, by whatever name it goes. Past experiences have proved this point beyond reasonable doubt. There must be genuine willingness to fight crime. As ace stand-up comedian, Uche Ogbuagu, who incidentally is now in Gov. Okorocha’s cabinet, once said: “Anything the government says it cannot put a stop to, then it means the government has a hand in it, one way or another.” That is food for thought.

Furthermore, making traditional rulers chief security officers of their communities when many of them have questionable characters and some are known to collaborate with and even sponsor criminals is definitely not the way to go. It seems as if the governor is already preparing an escape route, a defence, in case of failure. He is the chief security officer of the state and must take full responsibility for it, not passing the buck to traditional rulers. Again, assigning traditional rulers with security votes at a time when the issue of security votes has come under serious question smacks of insensitivity. Is it not contradictory that a governor who made a public show of slashing the state security votes from N6.5 billion to N2.5 billion will turn around and increase the number of beneficiaries of the so-called security votes?

Already, opinions are rife that the governor may not after all possess any magic wand and that the whole mystery around the Owelle Rochas Okorocha phenomenon will soon be demystified. For many, Gov. Okorocha is gradually toeing the very same path that led his predecessor to his Waterloo. These may be mere opinions, but the governor needs to prove them wrong. The security issue in Imo may yet turn out to be his first real acid test for the governor. That he gave free education is taken for granted by many who think that it would have been a sin if he didn't, considering what he had already done in that sector as a private individual. How he handles the security issue, they say, may determine how his name will be written in the annals of Imo, and indeed Nigerian history.