For Senator Okorocha , it has always been about competence and vision:
The hanker after ethnic sentimentalies by the so much oppressed and manipulated masses is not peculiar to Nigeria, Africa or even the ‘unfortunate sides of the world’, as I like to describe those countries and parts of the world, with the least creative, least patriotic, least perceptive and least compassionate political leaders. After all, America, with its vaunted enlightenment, education and liberalism is being led by a man whom many believe to be bigoted and the Democratic Party’s push for his ouster is seemingly pivoted on ethnic sentiments.
Politicians all over the world build their strategies on issues and outright propaganda that appeal to the fancies of the manipulated masses. This is why it may be fair politics in America to speak about restoring the American values of freedom, diversity and promotion of tolerance and a promise to create more jobs, provide security for Americans all over the world and fund medical and technological researches that shall make the world a better place, the campaign rhetoric in Nigeria would be about providing pipe borne water, completing the second Niger Bridge, fighting corruption and probably tackling insecurity.
The American politician would be careful not to be seen as a bigot, in any sense of it. In fact, one of the most potent weapons a political opponent could use against you is anything that portrays you as homophobic. It doesn’t matter how long ago that happened. We all saw how a speech made by Biden in which he tried to push his conviction about winning convincingly among Black voters was taken out of context, we saw how Trudeau struggled to retain his position because pictures of him wearing the Black Face mask were dug up by his opponents.
But, in Nigeria, our politicians proudly promote bigotry. In fact, power shift to the South and which part of the South it will shift to, have become the only issues upon which our presidential campaign has been hinged on. Our politicians understand that majority of our people seem to have a false understanding of political kinship, hence, they tend to pander to the pull of ethnicity rather than merit and competence.
Senator Okorocha described this situation as; “a wrong understanding of ethnic love”. In one of his speeches, he argued that the best way, a politician could show that he truly love his people is by providing education for his own people who can’t afford good education on their own and providing food for those who can’t feed and shelter for his next door neighbor who can’t afford modest shelter.
Senator Okorocha is one of the few Nigerian politicians who have refused to be mount the horse of ethnicism in order to win the support of their people. He has always declared his pride in his Nigerianness and told anyone who cared to listen that his Igbo identity is something he would always cherish.
As a political leader, Senator Okorocha has always advocated competence over any other consideration. Senator Okorocha believes that Nigeria, at every level of leadership deserves to be led by those with the right vision, the right mindset and the right passion to improve the lot of the common man. In all his political engagements, his constituency has always been the common people and his motivation has always been to better their lot. He has never believed that tribe qualifies or should qualify one for an elective or appointive office, but, track record, vision, integrity, competence and preparedness.
When Senator Okorocha ran for the presidency of Nigeria in 2003, he didn’t campaign on the basis of being Igbo or Southerner, but on being competent and possessing the right visions for a prosperous and equitable Nigeria. When he ran in 2007 and again in 2015, the motivation remained the same, and if he is going to run in 2023, it will be because he believes in his capacity to make Nigeria great again and as well better the lot of ordinary Nigerians.
