BY


Cosmas Uchenna Nwokafor
08068254251, 08065812120, 08136377834


Background of the Study
Before and after the contact between Africa and Europe, ancient Nigerian societies had a stock of great exemplary leaders and torch-bearers at various facets of life. Colonial and post-modern Nigeria has continued to witness the emergence of great leaders whom in all their uniqueness have led Nigerians from one level to another like a driver who has a lot of commuters, full of human potentials heading towards a
special task. Certainly, the commuters’ life, at the interim, is at the mercy of the driver.
The life and mission of those commuters is in serious jeopardy if the driver is untrained, do not know the actual route to the intended destination, drives recklessly or has an ulterior motive, such as, leading his passengers to armed bandits or ritual killers or the similitude of the listed evil intentions. By this illustration, it arrives at asserting that to assess the validity of a good leader is as the resolve that his followers are happy with him, fulfilled and ends expectantly.
If the above illustration is fit to serve as a template for determining, criticizing or judging an ideal leader/leadership, what would be the common take of Nigerians on leadership in Nigeria?
One thing we must get a grip of is that leadership is not only consigned to political leadership. It cuts across, political, economic and socio-cultural boundaries. And as a Nigerian, my general assessment of leadership in Nigeria may not differ from the hue and cry of Nigerians: the country is moving backward at every count, development is replaced with stagnation while corruption is drastically at the increase, and Nigerians are continually loosing their breathe on the looming fate of their destiny. These drivers are the problem. Chinna Achebe in his booklet, the Problem with Nigeria, opines that the problem lies squarely on leadership failure, else there is nothing wrong with the Nigerian land, climate, water, air or anything else:
“The Nigerian Problem is the unwillingness of its leaders to rise to the responsibility, to the challenge of personal example which are the true hallmark of leadership”.
The central problems that have so far succeeded to unit Nigerians as a matter of reaching a consensus are often on the topic of bad leadership. It is however, not an entirely bad experience. This is because; men may not value or appreciate a flicker of light if they had not known a deep and tiring state of perpetual darkness. Nigerians are fagged out and are most willing to cast their lot on any true leader if they find one. Like the biblical nomads who kept watch at NIGHT and waited hopefully and patiently for that great messiah. Nigerians are looking forward to the emergence of such leaders that can salvage them from their dungeon of socio-political and socio-economic quagmire. These leaders are expected to sprout from all the areas of the indices of developmental avenues such as, industrial, traditional, professional, political, cultural, economic, religious, scientific, social, technological and educational aspects of life.
The institutions mentioned above are primordial and inherent to human existence. They are lurked up inside man from the origin of existence and could only come to life by the aid of education. Indeed, education is an illuminator. No society can rise above its lower level to a higher level without the aid of education. This means that education is the cornerstone for any development in man and his society. Thus, all the necessary channels and off-shoots of real development are the offspring of education. This may account for why Nigerian government placed premium on education. The report of the presidential committee on the preview of the 1999 Constitution states that:

“Government shall make Education the pivot of the nation’s social development, mobilization and ethical re-orientation of the citizens”.


It is unequivocally true that education is the hope of a realizable dream-Nigeria. It is also true that our leaders has also failed in the area of education, even though it is given a premium on our national (written) course. The Nigerian constitution stipulates that the government will provide free education to her citizens from the primary to secondary levels of education and through to tertiary level. The question is: is that what is obtainable in Nigeria of today? The answer is No! Our leaders have continued to fail. It shows their lack of vision and unpatriotic attitude by relegating the invaluable place of education to national development and their deaf ears to the agonizing cry of the masses. Yet, in spite of the popularities of bad leadership there are yet some exemptions.
However reluctant Nigerian government has been to educational concern, individuals, organisations as well as institutions are springing up educational centres to make up for the vacuum and loopholes, even though it has its drawbacks. The drawback is that these schools are expensive, thereby sidelining the larger percentage of Nigerians who are languishing in poverty. This is not to say that there are no well-meaning Nigerians, organisations and institutions who do not sponsor the less privileged to get education. There are a number of them. And anytime there is a mention of good-willed Nigerian or organisation with a passion for promoting literacy in Nigeria through voluntary donations and scholarship, the first name that readily comes to the mind of most Nigerians from the six geo-political zones is “Rochas Okorocha” or “Rochas Foundation”.
Rochas Okorocha and his Foundation is a household name in Nigeria in respect to educational support and promotion. He has demonstrated his strong passion for the development of education in Nigeria by issuing free education to the less-privileged Nigerians through his Rochas Foundation College Project as an individual philanthropist and revivalist. His wisdom is made bare by his clench to the popular Chinese adage that says, “Don’t give me fish, but teach me how to fish”. Himself, rising from a very poor background and grabbing an hold to an enviable national glory, did not attain this height by a mere chance, but by the leverage of education. For this reason, Rochas Okorocha channels his energy at alleviating the plight of Nigerians by offering free education to Nigerian children from basic education to tertiary education at his own cost as a businessman. This favour has been spread out to all Nigerians irrespective of tribe or religion. The same feat is being replicated in Imo State as he is now the governor of the state.
This paper is therefore concerned with the person of Owelle Rochas Anayo Okorocha, as can be gleaned from the caption. It intends to x-ray his efforts at entrenching an enlightened Nigerian populace and development of the human capacity for a virile Nigeria. Its motive should not be misinterpreted as a substitute for the stock-pile of works of recommendation and bootlicking of the person of Rochas Okorocha. Its main purpose is to score a point and fill a gap, and a very important one by considering his hitherto efforts towards the educational sector and the expected end. Thus, it shall examine Rochas Okorocha as an individual and his revolutionary steps at combating illiteracy in Nigeria. Finally, it shall consider his conventional approach towards his passion.

ROCHAS OKOROCHA AND EDUCATIONAL DEVELOPMENT
Rochas Okorocha has achieved tremendous success and prominence socially, economically and political with a particular intimidating high track record he has set in the support and encouragement of educational studies. And his profile is still rising.
Biography
The man, Owelle Rochas Anayo Okorocha (OON) was born on September 22, 1962 in Ogboko, Ideato South Local Government Area of Imo State. Coming from a humble beginning, he rose from grace to grace. He began the struggle for survival with hawking of groceries in Barkin Ladi, Jos and rose to become a proprietor of a commercial school.
In 1976, Rochas Okorocha started his secondary education amidst a life of privation, by the 1990s, Rochas was fully into public service. But he did not put aside academic life, and so combined both activities. His academic strife was quite rewarding as he was today adorned with quite a number of academic laurels among which are LLL.B and LL.M from university of Jos. Advanced Diploma in Public Administration, Diploma in Law and conflict management and PGD in management.
By 1996, Rochas Okorocha founded the Rochas Foundation as a philanthropy organisation, and in 2001 Rochas Foundation gave birth to Rochas Foundation College, which today has campuses across the Federation. This wing of Rochas Foundation is poised with offering free education to indigent Nigerian students irrespective of tribe or creed. The establishment was propelled by his passion for salvaging the suffering Nigerian masses by rendering free education to many Nigerian students so as to live above the penury line.
As a passionate humanitarian, Rochas is the president of the Nigerian Red Cross Society which is now waxing stronger than when he met it. Yet unsatisfied with his input to humanitarian work through his work at the Nigerian Red Cross Society, Rochas took a dive into politics at both state and national levels, so as to touch the lives of a greater percentage of Nigerians. In 1999, he represented Ideato South and North Federal Constituency were he served as the Federal Commissioner representing Imo State in the Federal Character Commission, and also won the position of the chairman of the Youth wing of Peoples’ Democratic Party (PDP) in the same year; 1999.
In the same year (1999), Rochas contested the gubernatorial election in Imo State but could emerge as the governor which he purportedly won but was denied the right to emerge due to the monster of god-fatherism prevalent in the Nigerian Politics. He further went on to contest for the ultimate position in Nigerian under the platform of All Nigerians Peoples Party (ANPP) in the presidential bid of 2003. Gaining the reputation as very stiff contenders for the 2003 presidential contestants, Rochas was later called upon and appointed the special adviser to the president on inter-party affairs.
As a naturally born revivalist, Rochas Founded a new political party known as Action Alliance, with the mission to ouster the old order and forge a new road map for a positive future: A Dream-Nigeria!
By 2007, Rochas Okorocha has built a strong political awareness for himself which instigated his move to run again for the presidential position in the 2007 general election under PDP. To prove his popularity, he came second in the PDP’s primary election after Umaru Musa Yar’Adua. Dissatisfied with the way things are done in PDP both at the state and national levels. Mostly dissatisfied with the way things are done in PDP, Imo State, Rochas decided to join All Progressive Grand Alliance (APGA) in the build-up to the 2011 general election. He was picked to gun for the gubernatorial contest by APGA for Imo State governorship position. And with a landslide victory over his competitors, Owelle Rochas Anayo Okorocha emerged as the undisputed governor of Imo State and was sworn in on May 29, 2011.

Rochas Foundation Education Wing
Rochas Foundation (RF) Group is a non-governmental, non-profit and non-political organisation incorporated in February 1998 in Nigeria, with a firm commitment to charity and philanthropy. The primary focus is to ensure a credible future for Africans by offering free education to indigent Nigerians from the primary level to secondary levels.
The Rochas Foundation College began from Owerri in 2001. Today, it has five colleges at Kano, Jos, Ibadan, Owerri and Ogboko in Imo State; the home town of its founder. The foundation provides free tuition, books, uniforms, boarding and hostel facilities. Free feeding, medicare, transportation and monthly allowances for its students. Additionally, an exchange programme is sponsored by Rochas Foundation for .............. read more @


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