8th November, 2017
Gov. Rochas Okorocha of Imo is set to unveil the statue of another African president, weeks after a national outrage over the unveiling of a multi-million naira statue of President Jacob Zuma of South Africa.
Okorocha’s latest statue, a monument of President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf of Liberia, is scheduled to be unveiled on Nov. 9.
The statue and two others, including that of Zuma are occupying a pride of place at Freedom Square on Catheral Road in the Imo Capital.
Zuma’s 30-feet statue was said to have cost a whopping N520 million.
Okorocha displayed Johnson-Sirleaf statue on his twitter handle: @GovernorRochas, saying that the Liberian leader would be honoured during her visit to Imo on Nov. 9.
“The Liberia President, Mrs Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf is set to arrive our dear Imo State for a two-day working visit on Thursday, 9 Nov. 2017,” Okorocha twitted.
On Oct. 15, Okorocha unveiled Zuma’s gold-cast monument, drawing intense criticism from critics nationwide.
The critics accused the governor of spending huge money on `meaningless projects in a state that had not been able to pay workers and pensioners as and when due’.
The critics also cited various corruption cases linked to Zuma and the recurring killing of Nigerians in the former apartheid enclave, arguing that giving such honour to Zuma was wrong.
They wondered why Okorocha would choose to honour Zuma, ignoring South African anti-apartheid icons, including Nelson Mandela, Oliver Thambo and Walter Sisulu.