Africa's Education champion; Rochas Okorocha celebrated At 57

Awarded a life coach of Imo state students by the 1st Republic of the National Union of Imo state Students(NUISS), Owelle Dr Rochas Anayo Okorocha is a Nigerian multi-billionaire businessman, education philanthropist and politician from Imo State, Nigeria who won the 6 May 2011 gubernatorial election in Imo State and was reelected for his second term on April 11, 2015, VAM reports.

He is the founder of Rochas Foundation, a charity comprising a number of special schools that are spread all over Nigeria that gives scholarship to the less privileged children in the Nigerian society counting up to 22, 000 pupils with an imminent plan to cover all African countries. In his first attempt, he ran on the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) platform and ran on the All Progressives Congress in his second shot. At both occasions, Rochas defeated his closest rival, incumbent governor Ikedi Ohakim and serving Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, Hon. EmekaIhedioha, respectively by a close margin of votes and had to go for reruns.

Rochas Anayo Okorocha

Background

Rochas, of Igbo descent, was born on 22 September 1962 and hails from Ogboko, Ideato South, Imo State. He attended Juladaco High School, Jos. He studied at the University of Jos obtaining a diploma in Public Administration. He returned to the University of Jos to obtain an advanced diploma in Public Administration and went on to study law earning a Bachelor’s Degree LLB and Masters of Law LLM from the same university. He also holds an honorary doctorate degree in Business Administration from the Federal University of Technology Owerri. He holds the Nigerian National Honour of Officer of the Order of the Niger (OON) with various traditional titles from the length and breadth of Nigeria with the title of ‘Owelle’, the best known. He has been bestowed with hundreds of awards both within and outside the country.

Career positions include President, Nigeria Red Cross Society, President/Founder, Rochas Foundation Inc, President, Rochas Group of Companies Limited, Pro Chancellor, African Business School and Former Chairman, Board of Nigerian Airspace Management Agency.

From Rags to Riches

Rochas Okorocha wasn’t born with a silver spoon in his mouth. He was born into a poor family. And as he puts it, “I found out that I was born into a home that is relatively poor from all the definitions of poverty. So, I understand from the onset that I have a task ahead of me and the name of the game is survival.” He said he had to work extra hard to make both ends meet by combining education with street trading. He said he didn’t have a straight school experience while growing up. He was involved in street trading at one point in time or the other. He said, “Honestly, there has never been a dull moment in my life. In fact, I engaged in too many things just for the sole purpose to survive”.

Okorocha, who acknowledged that he broke even early in life, said “The first one was at a very tender age of my life when I was selling used clothes. I broke even because I was able to buy a bus. I was able to buy a bus in secondary school and I bought television set in primary school as small as I was from the sale of oranges, coconuts and used clothes. What I do is that if I sell, I post some of the profits and at the end of the year I buy something with it. So, it has been a worthwhile experience but where I would say I made the first one million dollars, was as a commission agent from the sale of used equipment in Bauchi State where Balfour Beatty was constructing the Balanga Dam. When the company was winding up I was one of the agents that sold used equipment and I made N1.1 million when it was equivalent to $1 million dollars. And I put the entire money into the business of used cars then later graduated to the sale of new cars to what they called ‘Rochas Motors” but what made me really rich was real estate business.

“At the age of nine I bought a television set, at 14 I bought a bus, at the age of 19/20 I became head of a commercial school, at the 22/23 years I became a proprietor of a school and I went into cement business (BBC) in Gboko, Benue State. And at the age of 24 plus I got married, at the age of 29 I became a member of National Constitutional Conference, I became a member of Federal Character Commission thereafter then I went to contest for governor and failed and shortly after that I ran for presidency and later became a Presidential Adviser. I ran for presidency again. You see, I moved on and on in life with hard work and challenges.”

Early Political Career

Okorocha was a Commissioner at the Federal Character Commission and a Member of the National Constitutional Conference.  When democracy was restored in 1999, Rochas Okorocha competed in the primaries to be People’s Democratic Party (PDP) candidate for governor of Imo State, but lost to AchikeUdenwa.He moved to the All Nigeria People’s Party (ANPP), and was an unsuccessful candidate for President on the ANPP platform in 2003. He returned to the PDP, and President OlusegunObasanjo appointed him as Special Adviser on Inter-Party Affairs.

Rochas Okorocha formed the Action Alliance (AA) party in 2005, planning to become a Presidential candidate for the AA in the 2007 elections.He again returned to the PDP, and in September 2007 indicated that he was interested in becoming PDP National Chairman. After Governor Ikedi Ohakim decamped from the Progressive Peoples Alliance (PPA) to the PDP in July 2009, Okorocha denied that Ohakim had taken over the PDP in the state, saying he was named as leader since he was governor, but a proper PDP congress should be held to decide on policy.

Imo State Governor

Okorocha decamped from the PDP to the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA), to run as APGA candidate for Imo State Governor in the April 2011 national elections. Okorocha went on to campaign as APGA candidate and won subsequently. Rochas in 2013 decamped to the All Progressive Congress.

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) declared that the Imo State gubernatorial elections held on 26 April 2011 were inconclusive since the collation of results was marred by irregularities. The INEC ordered reruns in four local government areas and one ward, to be held on 6 May 2011. In the event, elections were not held in Oguta local government area due to a security threat. The final results had Okorocha of the APGA declared winner with 336,859 votes. He was followed by the incumbent governor IkediOhakim of the PDP with 290,490 votes. Former Senator IfeanyiAraraume of the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) was third with 107,068 votes. President Goodluck Jonathan congratulated Okorocha on his election, saying the people of Imo State had spoken through the ballot box.

In preparatory for the 2015 elections, former deputy speaker, House of Representatives, Hon. Emeka Ihedioha, threw in his hat for the governorship tussle. After being able to snatch away the PDP tickets from other contenders, he had to slug it out with the incumbent, Okorocha. The election eventually took place on April 11, 2015 after the first date was shifted by six weeks when the federal authorities cited security concerns.

INEC declared the April 11 governorship polls in Imo inconclusive, a development that led to the cancellation of elections in more than 250 polling units in 23 of the 27 local government areas. The Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC), Mr. Gabriel Ada, listed the state constituencies affected in the re-run to include; Ikeduru, Isiala Mbano, Isu, Oguta, Owerri West, and Oru East. He explained that the electoral commission ordered re-run for the governorship election because of the 79,000 difference between the votes scored by the leading and the second candidates. Again Okorocha won the rerun election fixed for April 25, 2015.

Projects of over 3,000 kilometres of rural roads adorn Imo State since his assumption of office.

He has changed the urban topography of the capital city of Owerri with 8 lane, 10 lane, 12 lane roads and constructed 6 inland roads linking old Owerri City to New Owerri capital city with beautification ambience and structures all over the city. The city has also witnessed two fly overs, two tunnels, several pedestrian bridges, tourist sites such as event centres and parks some of which include the famous Heroes Square with the Statutes Pavillion,  characteristic of major tourist sites in the world.

Governor Okorocha made sure that each of the 27 local governments in the state had 200 bed state of the art hospitals (donating 5 of them to the Army, Navy, Airforce, Police and DSS to run) with a standard accident and emergency response centre in Owerri capital city as well as a medical diagnostic centre of international standard.

He introduced free education in Imo State from primary level to tertiary and built over 540 new schools, 305 of them are one storey 12 class room buildings located in each of the 305 electoral wards in Imo State complimented by also state of the art ICT centres in each of the 27 local government areas of the state.

He also built 6 new universities, 4 polytechnics, 4 colleges of educations, 2 schools of nursing to compliment the several tertiary institutions in the state. His passion for providing free and qualitative education/philanthropy dates back several years preceding his entry into politics with the establishment of Rochas Foundation Colleges across the length and breadth of Nigeria with over 20,000 indigent children benefiting from full educational scholarships, 4,000 of them already graduates of various fields of human endeavour.

On his 55th birthday celebrations, he came out with a project that could best be described as a new course in African Integration and Empowerment when he took 5 indigent kids from each of the 55 African Countries, brought them under one roof at his newly established Rochas Foundation College of Africa (ROFOCA), Owerri, Imo State and offered them full high school scholarships.

In the area of his state economic policies, he enhanced agricultural activities by initiating the compulsory planting of palm trees in Imo by the citizens to boost the gains of the byproducts of palm trees with its chain value for the economic benefits of the state. The Imo State Polytechnic, Umuagwo under his directives is partnering with the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA), Ibadan on various green house farming projects.

With his job and factory creation programmes, he employed 3000 youths into the Imo State Civil Service and created industrial parks for artisans of different trades with the aim of massive exports of their products abroad. He also empowered 305 young men and women in each of the 305 electoral wards with a grant of one million Naira each for business startups, the same for 10,000 women with hundred thousand Naira each. 

He also built several international markets in the capital city of Owerri and many other rural markets to enhance commerce which is an economic mainstay’ of the people of Imo state and south east Nigeria. He boosted transportation in Imo State by the introduction of new safe and decent transportation system namely Taxi Imo and Bus Imo which also eased vehicular movement in the state.

He also built an ultra-modern international cargo airport adjudged to be the best in Nigeria to boost international trade between his home state of Imo and the outside world.

His infrastructural finesse included the construction of state of the art State Police Headquarters, State Prison Headquarters and facilities housing the National Union of Journalists, Christian Association of Nigeria to name a few.

The seat of government, the Government House which he renamed “The People’s House” from the colonial tag of ‘ Douglas House’ to reflect his people oriented policies has been transformed into a mini city of some sorts with brand new Governor’s lodge,  Two Exco Chambers, Two Banquet Halls,  Several New Executive Guest Houses and Presidential Lodge, State of the Art Chapel, etc complimented by breathtaking new landscape.

He introduced a new civic consciousness with an ‘Imo Anthem’ sung at state occasions with a mantra of “Imo Must Be Better”. ‘My Governor, My Governor’ as fondly called by his people has touched lives in a way that his legacy perhaps cannot but be written in one book but will continue to be in the minds and hearts of ‘ his people, his people’ in this generation and generation, yet unborn.

Rochas Anayo Okorocha is a Christian of the Roman Catholic denomination but who also believes in ecumenism and devotion to God. He spearheaded the building of the National Ecumenical (Christian) Centre in Abuja under the then President Olusegun Obasanjo. He also demonstrated this again while as a State Governor by building 27 inter-denominational chapels, one in each of the 27 local government areas in the state. For the first time in the history of the democracy in Nigeria, A 27 years old Godstime Chukwubuikem Samuel as special assistant to the Governor on students affair by Rochas Okorocha. 

He is married to Her Excellency, the ever charismatic and highly resourceful Ugo Nneoma Nkechi Rochas Okorocha, also a reputable philanthropist and the blissful union has produced six lovely & very enterprising children.

After successfully serving two terms as the Governor of Imo State, Rochas Okorocha is currently serving as the Distinguished Senator representing the people of Imo West Senatorial Zone in the Senate of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

Source: VAM Digital Newspaper

Reach us to promote your personality, Business: 08072633727