GOVERNMENT OF IMO STATE
PRESS RELEASE

WHY WE HESITATED TO OFFICIALLY RESPOND TO FEMI FANI KAYODE’S UNPROVOKED & UNWARRANTED MEDIA ATTACKS ON THE PEOPLE’S GOVERNOR, OWELLE ROCHAS OKOROCHA.

Chief Femi Fani Kayode had thrown caution to the wind and unintelligently launched unprovoked and unwarranted media attack on the Governor of Imo State, Owelle Rochas Okorocha, for no other reason than the governor patriotically and harmlessly exercising the privilege of telling Nigerians and all men and women of goodwill, what transpired between the All Progressives Congress (APC) delegation and President Muhammadu Buhari in London.

If Chief Fani – Kayode had any problem with the visit or with the statements of Governor Okorocha, he would have dealt with such issues without going personal against Governor Okorocha.
And on our part as responsible people, we had delayed in responding to Kayode’s attacks or hesitated in joining issues with him because most Nigerians had before now, doubted his intelligent quotient and had also called for certain clinical examinations.

Again, there is obviously a very wide gulf between a man who has succeeded in every segment of life through the dint of hardwork and indeed, by God’s grace and someone whose only claim in the society or his only meal ticket is the late father’s name.

And we also know that spoiled and over pampered children do not know what it takes to have self-discipline and respect for others. They see everybody as ice-cream, tom-tom, yogurt and indomie noddle. Hence they can abuse anybody not minding the gaps.

Rochas Okorocha has succeeded in business, in politics, in education and as governor without brandishing any name except God. And he has always claimed that even his achievements as governor in six years have superseded or exceeded the achievements of all those who had governed the state before him put together. And has challenged anybody with contrary view to come forward so that they can compare notes.

The problem with Nigeria politics is that everybody is equal. And that is why a man whose story in life begins and ends with the father’s and grandfather’s names would be abusing someone who began life as a street hawker and ended up being a governor and a successful man both in business and in other areas of life and also has Masters Degree in law of the University of Jos without parental contributions. They are two different scenarios.

In his profile, Kayode talked about his coming from a “prominent Nigerian family”. Talked about his great-grandfather, Rev. Emmanuel Adedapo Kayode, and his grandfather Victor Kayode who studied law at Cambridge University and ended up a Judge. Then his father, Victor Adetokunbo Fani Kayode, also a Cambridge product and a “prominent political figure” then.

And for him, at the age of eight ( he was already at Brighton College, Brighton in the UK and also studied law at London University. And one can see that what Africans call “native sense” might have eluded him. And this “native sense” guides or helps one a lot including how to talk to people especially superiors.

For Rochas Okorocha, he has no name to brandish or showcase. His monumental achievements in business, politics, education, etal, could only be traceable to God’s awesome grace and hardwork. The differences between the two human beings are overtly obvious.

Finally, one would have thought that the excruciating damages inflicted on Dr. Goodluck Jonathan and the PDP as a party by this same guy would have humbled him. And I quote the scripture for him “if any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God that giveth to all men and upbraideth not and it shall be given him” (James 1:5). To God be the glory.

Sam Onwuemeodo
Chief Press Secretary to the Governor.