APPARENTLY unable to resist the lure of serial controversies, the governor of Imo state, Chief Rochas Okorocha, has recently created a Ministry of Happiness and Purpose Fulfilment and named his sister as its commissioner. The move has generated a lot of condemnations from the citizens of the state and Nigerians in general. This was after the governor erected statues in honour of Mr. Jacob Zuma, arguably one of Africa’s most reprehensible presidents, and Ellen Sirleaf of Liberia at humongous contract prices. This is not to talk of the scandalous Christmas tree for which he has attracted widespread opprobrium to himself and the country.
Okorocha had recently demolished the famous Ekonunwa market in a tragic process during which a 10-year-old boy was shot in cold blood by armed soldiers who, but for needless high-handedness, ought not to have been there in the first place. Governor Okorocha is very much behind in the payment of salaries and pensions of Imo State workers. And the people whom governance is ideally meant for and for whom the Ministry of Happiness and Purpose Fulfilment was created are far from being happy. On the contrary, many Imo citizens are frustrated if not virtually despondent. Is it then not absurd for Governor Okorocha to create a Ministry of Happiness and Purpose Fulfilment having assembled all the ingredients of despair and doleful sadness? How he intends to avail the citizens of Imo State with happiness through the mere creation of a ministry of the same name remains a mystery.
The whole essence of governance is about happiness and fulfilment of purpose for individual citizens and the general society. Therefore, creating a special ministry for that same purpose smacks of hypocrisy and humbug. Indeed, the sage, Chief Obafemi Awolowo, is famous for coining the phrase “life more abundant” as the purpose of governance. Governance ultimately should be about ministering to the peoples’ happiness in various sectors like health, agriculture and education. Indeed, in viable democracies, the people have the power to change their political actors based on how well they have delivered on expectations in these sectors.
Ironically, as a private citizen before his foray into politics, Okorocha had endeared himself to the public through his establishment of secondary schools of eminent standards in virtually all the geopolitical zones of the country. This was with the sole aim of providing education for indigent but brilliant students. Okorocha certainly made the beneficiaries happy in his private capacity sans any ministry. It is quite absurd for him to think that now that he is in power for a second term, he needs a superfluous ministry to do what he did so efficiently as a private citizen. Not only is the creation of the new ministry superfluous, it is certain to increase the overhead of the government unnecessarily.
If salaries and pensions remain on the indebtedness column of government expenditure, no Ministry of Happiness, irrespective of who heads it, will make the people happy. It is quite befuddling that Governor Okorocha misses this obvious point. The workers of Imo State certainly need their salaries, and the retired workers, their monthly pension arrears, to be happy in the festive period ahead. It is not likely that they will be satisfied by the mere creation of a farcical ministry whose functions are even impossible to define. For instance, if a private citizen of Imo needs N1,000,000 to organise his wedding and thus secure the “happiness and purpose fulfilment” that he has long craved for, would such a citizen be right to approach Okorocha’s new ministry for assistance or not?
We think that Governor Okorocha needs to be more circumspect in his actions. His recent actions have constituted a national embarrassment and he needs to chart a different path. The Ministry of Happiness and Purpose Fulfilment is a luxury that Imo State cannot afford. It should be disbanded forthwith.
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