*IMAGINE IF OWELLE ROCHAS OKOROCHA HAD TAKEN THE FUNDS ALLEGEDLY MISAPPROPRIATED OVERSEAS?*

There is no gainsaying that the continued attack on the business and political interests of Sen. Okorocha is going badly. Unlike some commentators, who must have their satellite reconnaissance of the outcome — I don't see how one can make definitive judgments about the presidential ambition of the former governor. But it is clear that the conspiracy on the other front—at home—is in trouble, largely because it is being waged in a ham-handed manner with a basic approach that is utterly misguided.

Some Igbo politicians play politics of annihilation, and Imo State is the atomic capital. Without being immodest, many of the commentators on "Imo Air" are uninformed about the Public-Private Partnership ( PPP) with Air Midwest and Dana Air respectively. A lot of the comments are driven by unpretentious mischief and politics.

Unfortunately, the major players in the Rochas administration have failed to defend their principal and his government and have unwittingly surrendered the narrative to the transducers of Sen. Okorocha to spew lies against his person on many of the issues.

Imo Air was conceptualized by Chief Ikedi Ohakim's administration and the initial counterparts' funding advanced to the company was inadequate as specified in the partnership deal with Air Midwest.

It is a known fact to those in the aviation industry that the Air Midwest deal suffered a setback when the Ohakim's government could not fund the purchase of the second aircraft which was a prerequisite in securing an operational license from the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) to conform with the standards and recommended practices of the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO).

In 2017, Imo State Government under Sen. Rochas Okorocha relaunched Imo Air to be operated by Dana Airline, the partnership contract was for 10 years. Any unbiased commentator should interrogate why the two partnership deals failed instead of the revisionist diatribe against a particular regime.

The second original sin according to the latter-day saints against Sen. Okorocha was the insider dealing in the public-private partnership between the Imo state government and the Rochas Foundation.

The climax of the crisis was the "recovery" of Eastern Palm University, Ogboko, renamed after a foremost nationalist Kingsley Ozumba Mbadiwe. The university was approved by the National Universities Commission in 2016 as the 42nd state-owned university in Nigeria and academic activities commenced in 2017. Notwithstanding the bad press, a second university for Imo State is another resounding legacy of Sen. Okorocha.

If you live in a glasshouse, you should change clothes in the basement. Unlike other governors ( past and present) that have no visible investments in Imo State, Sen. Okorocha has identifiable investments and job creation which have been targeted by his transducers. Imagine if Owelle Rochas Okorocha had taken the funds allegedly misappropriated overseas to build hotels and casinos, or set up universities abroad? Where are the investments of the puritanical moral gatekeepers and saints or maybe they have not diverted our resources to private accounts?

The ongoing legal clash and its outcome could determine the rules of engagement in political mischief. But in a new era of insecurity where Imo State has bigger worries, the epic struggle between the gladiators calls for settlement that should be more wrist slap than the head butt.

The current campaign against Sen. Okorocha has had its mythology, a lot of which doesn't apply to the actual issues. Otherwise, we will have to get used to permanently being distracted and therefore, unable to hold the current government accountable unless that was the intention all along. In many ways, this is the most important front of calming things down. And we are losing.

I come in peace ✌️

Chidiebere Heavens Agwunobi Esq.