There seems to be no end in sight in the recent media war between the Governor of Imo State, Rochas Okorocha, and a former Minister of Aviation, Femi Fani-Kayode, as the governor on Wednesday described the ex-minister as a man whose story began and ended with his father’s and grandfather’s names.
Fani-Kayode had, on Tuesday, through his Special Adviser on Media, Jude Ndukwe, described Okorocha as a man who was academically unfit to be a governor and had run Imo State aground.
Reacting on Wednesday through his Chief Press Secretary, Sam Onwuemeodo, Okorocha described the former minister’s statement as an unintelligent, unprovoked and unwarranted media attack against him.
He pointed out that Fani-Kayode would have responded to the issues he raised about the visit to President Muhammadu Buhari in London, United Kingdom, by some chieftains of the All Progressives Congress without going personal.
The statement read, “And on our part, as responsible people, we had delayed in responding to Fani-Kayode’s attacks or hesitated to take issue with him because most Nigerians had, before now, doubted his intelligence quotient and have 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 hard work and indeed, by God’s grace, and someone whose only claim in 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, yoghurt and indomie noddles. 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 And he has always claimed that even his achievements as governor in six years have superseded or exceeded the achievements of all those who had governed the state before him put together; and has challenged anybody with contrary view to come forward so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 Imo State governor added, “The problem with Nigerian 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 became a governor and a successful man both in business and in other areas of life. They are two different scenarios.
“One would have thought that the excruciating damage inflicted on Dr. Goodluck Jonathan and the Peoples Democratic Party by this same guy would have humbled him. The Bible says, “If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God that gives to all men and upbraids not and it shall be given him” (James 1:5).”
