Okorocha’s 3,000 “China” jobs in Imo
By COLLINS Ughalaa

On Thursday, October 27, 2016, Governor Rochas Okorocha took his melodrama in the state to a higher pedestal when he announced to the weary and hungry people of the state that he would be recruiting fresh 3,000 for fresh jobs in the state. He said the fresh recruitment is part of the new deal with his newest bizarre creation, the State Development Council, to fill vacant positions in the state civil service. Okorocha gave the hint at the Government House, Owerri, during the swearing-in of his new commissioners for the state civil service commission and the ministries. The Governor, in his usual characteristics, said the 3,000 jobs would spread across the 305 INEC wards in the state, mandating every ward to nominate 10 persons for the new job openings.
One would wonder if the Imo State still has a civil service. In the era of hard and biting national economy and in the era of shattered state economy and dislocated populace, job openings would have been good news. But not so with Okorocha. This is because of the reasons I will give hereunder.
The people of Imo State no longer trust and believe the Governor. This is because of their practical experiences with him, not what he says on national television. The people of the state know that whatever Okorocha touches dies. For example, Governor Okorocha built walkovers or pedestrian “bridges” at City School, Emmanuel College, Freedom Square and IMSU Junction, but nobody makes use of them for more than three years now. The people are afraid the substandard structures could collapse anytime and nobody wants to suffer for the Governor’s love for substandard projects. The people saw the Governor building the so-called walkovers with mere blocks and nobody wants to give his life in exchange for substandard construction work. After all, they say that seeing is believing.
Again, the Governor in recent time has spent the scarce resources of the state in building what he calls tunnels in the state capital, but the people do not trust him. They have since abandoned them and the Governor has closed them down because of shoddy work. The people have a chieftaincy for the Governor’s substandard projects: they call it “China roads”. Thus this “China” job does not sink with the people also.
But there are more cogent reasons the people do not believe in the phantom three thousand jobs. Apart from the fact that Okorocha’s hands are busy with nothing, families in Imo State have not forgotten their experiences in 2013/2014 when the Governor came up with his Youths Must Work Scheme. Many people left their lucrative jobs elsewhere to return to seek for civil service jobs in their state only to be fooled by their state government. The Governor claimed that 25,000 people were employed in the process. But it was shocking to learn that the graduates employed by the state government were placed on N20,000 salary. As if that was of not enough, the state government owed them years of unpaid salaries. And to hit the nail on the coffin, the state government unceremoniously sacked them. This is notwithstanding the fact that the people were never given any letter of appointment. They were only used for the purpose of the 2015 elections and dumped. Today, many of them roam the streets, looking for ways to sustain themselves.
Okorocha is in a hurry to beat God in creations. He had created Imo My Pride which has also fizzled out after the elections. The only structure standing is the Imo Security Network. All other structures have since collapsed because they were sinking sand. He went on building 27 general hospitals in the state. None of them is put to use. He embarked upon building 27 ICT centers in all the 27 local government areas of the state, yet none has materialized. The only thing that has materialized are the roundabouts that have become deathtraps. Okorocha created Imo Center for Advance Professional Studies (ICAPS), but where is it today? Everyone has been sacked and the Governor has gone home with the keys.
Okorocha’s 3,000 jobs is another shenanigan to be in the spotlight. He is building another structure for 2019 general elections. Why must the communities nominate 10 people for the state’s civil service jobs? Is the Governor making any political appointments to warrant nomination? Where in the world do people make nominations for civil service jobs? Why can’t the Governor make it open and competitive so that only the best and most suitable persons would be employed to pursue a career in the state’s civil service? Why not allow the state’s civil service commission to drive the process and throw it open to all? When was the vacancies for the jobs advertised? Or is this a proof that the Governor does not follow due process in the running of the affairs of the state? By mandating the communities to nominate 10 persons for the new jobs, what the Governor is doing is find political compensation for members of his party, the All Progressives Congress (APC). He only wants to reward the thugs that played various roles in the 2015 elections with some kind of jobs.
The greatest headache in Okorocha’s new job is whether the people will be paid at all, because the same Governor has not been able to pay the civil servants and pensioners in the state their salaries and pensions 100% due to lack of funds. From where would the government get the funds to pay the fresh 3,000 people he wants to recruit? For about seven months workers in the state receive about 50% of their salaries, even though the official statement says it is 70%, in a strange salary cut in the civil service.
When Okorocha became Governor in 2011, he inherited Ikedi Ohakim’s 10,000 graduate jobs fully engaged. But he chose to sack them all, and till today the 10,000 graduate jobs loss has gone like a pin thrown into the ocean. Never to be found again. Instead of reinstating them the “wrecking” mission government has chosen to go after phantom job schemes that have not worked.
Ohakim’s 10,000 jobs was open to all. It was competitive and threw up only the best. In fact, there has been rumour that a top official of the state government who graduated from IMSU did not scale through the competitive process. This rumour has been on for a long time. To be qualified for employment under the 10,000 jobs programme of the Ikedi Ohakim administration, one did not need to be nominated by anybody. You did not need to know any commissioner or traditional ruler or SAs. It was your qualifications that would pick you and not even the Governor. It was so transparent and based on merit. The Ohakim’s administration had to engage the service of KPMG to be part of the process, and in turn four screening centers were established for ease of reach to the people. The jobs were well advertised in the newspapers.
It is worthy of mention that at the time of the 10,000 jobs the Ohakim’s administration was not embroiled in labour crisis and no worker was paid 50% of his salary, despite the economic mealtdown of that time. It must be pointed out also that Ohakim’s 10,000 graduate jobs was a strategic response to the economic meltdown of the time. Through the 10,000 graduate jobs, Imo State was billed to have more than N450m in the pockets of the people. This was a clear effort to insulate the people from the shocks of the economic mealtdown. The effects of this singular strategic move were adequate to keep the state economy strong and running. But all that fell like a pack of cards once Ohakim left the scene, with no consideration for the families that would suffer. All legal attempts by the victims were rebuffed with government might, and in the end the leader of the 10,000 jobs was murdered in cold blood on the eve of the 2015 governorship election in his village home.
The Governor has left no stone unturned in his clear effort to beat the Ohakim record. But he cannot because he is Rochas Okorocha, not Ohakim. Ohakim is the architect of 10,000 jobs. He is the face of job creation and youths empowerment. He was the first governor in Nigeria to take such huge task when everyone else said it was impossible. Newspapers had written editorials saying Ohakim was doing the impossible. But he did it. The 10,000 graduate jobs was not a fluke. They were duly employed and given letters of appointment. Having set the standard, governments at various levels now copy Ohakim and talk of thousands of jobs. That is legacy that speaks.
Today, Okorocha has been on a marathon to beat Ohakim’s 10,000 graduate jobs. This informed his ill-conceived and politically motivated 25,000 Youths Must Work scheme that blew up before the beneficiaries started work. The marathon to beat Ohakim is also the reason the Governor has come up with the 3,000 “China” jobs. But all this of this is fluke. It is a smokescreen for 2019 general elections.

k

I know that anything Okorocha do or say is always a bad news to u,meanwhile he is still the best Governor in SE.let me start from structures.

more

good

some of his schools

more

IMO is better

God bless okorocha

paid agent above weldone you are really working for your pay

you can see this general hospital in all the 27 LGAs in IMO state Kudo to Okorocha.

health sector is working

IMO my home

Okorocha has done well