Okorocha’s dynastic ambitions and Igbo republicanism

The declaration by incumbent but outgoing Governor of Imo State Rochas Okorocha that his son-in-law would be the next Governor of the state has thrown up multiple issues. Mr Uche Nwosu is not only married to Okorocha’s first daughter, he also serves as the Chief of Staff to the Governor. The plan is for him to move from the outer room of the Governor’s office to the inner one.
Mr Nwosu is one of several persons in the nuclear and extended Okorocha family serving in the Imo State Government. After a period in his kitchen cabinet, Okorocha felt bold enough to name his sister to the Executive Cabinet as Commissioner for Happiness and Productivity. Okorocha’s government in Imo State replicates the model at Aso Villa where nepotism is the human capital management principle.
The first issue is the arrogance in the planned imposition. Okorocha speaks with certitude, audacity and a clear unconcern for any principles, structures or arrangements for managing power in Imo State. He implies that the state is his to do as he wills.
The planned imposition challenges all known tenets of democracy. The rub is his lack of subtlety. Politics is the game of the possible and the Governor of Imo State seems convinced that he can do all things through the power he wields. His prayer sounds like, everyman to himself, God for us all, Imo is my patrimony, and may the citizens do their worst.
In Imo as in most other states, there is an unwritten zoning principle. Okorocha’s ascendance as Governor was in line with that principle. He is from Orlu zone with his predecessor from Okigwe zone. After his eight years, it should be the turn of the Owerri zone.
Lacking in guile or subtlety, Okorocha’s brash assertion brings to light the insidious emergence of dynasties in the politics of Igboland. Many families from Anambra to Abia are hugging political offices as if it is a family inheritance. The Ubahs of Anambra tried to not only hold on to the Senatorial position but add Governor to it. A younger Ekweremadu has held office in Enugu simultaneous with the Deputy Senate President. Osita Chidoka wanted to be Governor just as his brother is in the House of Representatives.
Many are trying to follow the trajectory of the Nwodo family of Ukehe, Enugu State. The Nwodos are one of the first families to speak of a “political dynasty” in Igboland.From a regional minister in the First Republic, the Nwodos have produced a governor, minister, senator, commissioner and presidential candidate. One can state that in the case of the Nwodos, however, dynasty has come about largely by the fortuitous circumstances of opportunity meeting preparation. Outside of the military era, they used their clout and deposits in the bank of goodwill to attain their positions. It did not happen by imposition.
Groups in Imo State have risen to oppose Okorocha’s plan. The most significant is the one led by Dr Theodore Ekechi, a former member of the Okorocha cabinet as Commissioner. Their opposition is from within the All Progressives Congress. It should mean that Uche Nwosu would have to win over his party men first to emerge as gubernatorial candidate. Uche Nwosu last week issued a rationalisation. He assured that his father in law would not “manipulate” him as governor. Note his instructive choice of words. Nwosu avers: “This is another tool of blackmail employed by mischievous politicians who have been dislodged in the state. They claimed that if I become governor, Governor Okorocha would manipulate me and tell me what to do. If tomorrow they say Uche Nwosu is the governor, Okorocha will not say ‘let me give him a list’ like other people do”. Nwosu references Donald Trump and his appointment of his son-in-law Jared Kushner as his model. It is just as well that the Kushner appointment is unravelling for the inherent contradictions the Imo people fear could happen: privileging of family interest over state interest.
Okorocha’s dynastic plans raise salient questions about the vaunted republicanism of Ndigbo and the nature and character of Nigeria’s democracy. Is it a “money for hand back na ground” arrangement as the Governor purports? Or is there enough mettle in the Igbo tradition to resist imposition as Ndigbo did in their villages of yore? The egalitarian Igbo society privileges personal achievement while insisting on equality of all men. What has Uche Nwosu done for himself and by himself to qualify for the office of governor?
Imo State should be on the radar for all lovers of democracy in Nigeria and in particular for Ndigbo. What do the Oha(the people) of Imo state say? Will the voice of Oha count more than the assertions of onyeukwu (the big man)? How the game plays out would speak eloquently to these times.

 
Chido Nwakanma