Governor Rochas Okorocha has warned the people of Imo State not
to envy his wealth, saying that doing so might mean envying the God that
created him.
The Governor disclosed this through a press release by his Chief
Press Secretary, Mr. Sam Onwuemeodo, on Monday, saying: “Let me make a
confession. Giving has not made me poor. Giving has rather made me rich. So I
stand bold to say today that I am a wealthy man. And let no one envy me because
you may be envying the God that created me. The more I give, the more I get and
no one can stop me from giving. And I have transferred the spirit of giving to
my children. First, to my wife who has never stopped building houses for
indigent widows and has built over 270 houses to that effect”.
The Governor’s warning came as the Rochas Foundation during the
weekend celebrated its twenty (20) years of existence with its founder,
Governor Rochas Okorocha, saying that giving, especially to the less-privileged
ones, has made him rich instead of making him poor.
The Governor added that the more he gives, the more he gets,
even as he noted that “Twenty years ago, no one would believe that these
thousands of children would have been the beneficiaries of this foundation.
Most of you do not know what propelled me into doing this. It is a contractual
agreement which I signed with my creator out of the hardship and difficulties
of life that I went through. In the course of prayers I prayed God almighty
that in any way you bless me, I will bless others and in any way you give me, I
will share with those who do not have. That was my submission to God almighty”.
Governor Okorocha also said: “But today, crazy as I am, in my
ideas and thoughts I have extended Rochas Foundation to Africa. I’m in a hurry
because I will not live in this world forever. I could be in pain when I must
have passed through this world and still having a lot of children of Africa not
educated because opportunity is not provided for them. I will not sleep well
neither will I depart this world until every child in Africa finds a classroom
to go into.
“As I do this, I have only managed to take about 17,000
children. We enroll about 1,000 children yearly, but that is not enough, it’s
like a drop of water in the ocean. So, this day is not just a celebration, this
day is a wakeup call on all government officials and all those in any form of
power or authority and those who have been given privilege of life of wealth,
should help those who do not have.
“I don’t know the economic problem we suffer today or the HIV or
the Cancer we go through today, or the Ebola of yesterday, I don’t know who
will find solution. It might be that rejected and dejected child in the village
whose parents are no longer alive. Let every child be given a chance to go to
school. Today is a clarion call for volunteerism, and I want to request all the
ambassadors to please sign up as volunteers. Identify a child anywhere in
Africa and create opportunity for Rochas Foundation to meet with the child. We
might not put him in our schools, we may plead with others schools to accept
them. We want to become the bridge between the haves and the have nots. If only
education will be made free Africa would be a better society.”
He noted that “The biggest problem of Africa is not hunger, the
biggest problem of Africa is illiteracy. So, join me today as I launch Rochas
Foundation vision 2050 to take 1 million African children especially those who
have no food to eat and give them education. If it could be done in 2030, we
could have made an attempt in solving Africa’s biggest problem.
“I suffered a great deal trying to convey a message. For the
politicians, it was a way of setting up a political campaign, and so I committed
an offense. And to others, probably this young man must have made a lot of
money and is looking for a way to display his wealth. And to some others, he
came to dramatize his wealth; and to some very few people, very very few
indeed, they said let’s give him a chance, maybe he has a calling with his God
Almighty.
“Perhaps, most of you who do not know me would still be
wallowing in this confusion of who Rochas is, my mission, where I’m coming from
and where I’m going. And even, this misrepresentation now characterizes my
political life. For whatever I do, I get interpretation. When I created the
Ministry of Happiness, I created interpretation. When I created a tourism site
opposite us here where men and women are honoured, people discuss it. So
everything about Rochas is a story and people discuss it,
“I have tried to sit down in my quiet time to find out why
everything I do becomes a big news, I couldn’t find an answer. So I have given
up by saying that this is my life and this is what God has made me to be”.
Comments
Post a Comment