The last two weeks will go down in the history of Imo state as the period the good people of the state witnessed the height of malicious rumour, misinformation and falsehoods against the person of their Governor, His Excellency, Owelle Rochas Okorocha by a section of disgruntled and frustrated politicians and their hatchet men.

Employing outright lies and underhand and unethical means, the enemies of the state unleashed a string of rumours and campaigns of calumny intended to ridicule the Governor. First, they manufactured an irresponsible, infantile and highly laughable rumour that the Governor was dealt ‘a dirty slap’ by a ghost in government house and was consequently rushed to India for treatment. However, when the goons realised that they had made a caricature of themselves by the idiocy of their propaganda, they quickly modified the rumour, but this time going beyond the bounds of ethics and spewing the worst form of rubbish by circulating a death wish against the Governor. Though, even this latest balderdash, in all sincerity, made one highly reluctant on whether to be amused or annoyed because it showed the people for what and who they are.

Immediately the misinformation was released, it spread like wild fire, no thanks to some local tabloids and social media platforms, which, undoubtedly, have become potent tools of information and misinformation dissemination. With the growth and expansion of this medium, it has become easier for information, no matter how trivial, to be quickly circulated to the mass public. The problem however is that it is very vulnerable and could easily be hijacked and abused by enemies of very prominent persons (VPP) in an attempt to rubbish them. This unwarranted onslaught against the Governor has once more brought to the fore the need to regulate the social media. Even the release of pictures of the Governor in a relaxed mood with his daughter and grand children, including the newest baby in the house in the United States of America, did little to abate the spread of the rumour. Annoyingly also, as recent as a few nights ago, a picture of the Governor lying in state in a casket was circulated on Facebook, notwithstanding that he is back, healthy and hearty.

These malicious rumours against the Governor were fanned by his conspicuous absence from the state for a couple of days. It was however not as if he sneaked out without anyone knowing, for, the Chief Press Secretary, Sam Onwuemeodo, had repeatedly issued press releases to that effect. Hence, it is clear that the people behind it were intent on achieving political mileage out of it.

Mindful of the fact that rumours tend to be sticky and attempts at debunking them may indeed help to increase their momentum with its attendant widespread confusion and panic, I wish to state that the latest attempt by the enemies of the government to not only discredit the Governor but wish him death is the height of political rumour rascality. To keep silent is to acquiesce to their evil machinations, while debunking it is as easy as easy can be because the Governor is back, not sick and not dead.

Unarguably, innuendos and particularly rumours which are a form of misinformation that is characterized by statements that lack specific standards of evidence but which have the ability to acquire power and gather momentum through widespread social transmission and repetition, have become potent and insidious political force. Hence, their use in political circles as tools to discredit political opponents is long standing.

This ingenious tactics has been widely used in Nigeria.
If truth be told, these rumours emanated from the same people who had earlier unleashed several similar malicious and damaging falsehoods against the present government. The rumour is therefore traceable to the same people who, a few weeks ago, raised a false alarm on the planned bombing of some sections of the state capital and arms stocking in government house Chapel.

It is exactly the same people whose stock in trade is attempting to destroy our hard working and visionary Governor, Owelle Rochas Okorocha, and who had mischievously claimed that he was involved in human parts trafficking. The same enemies also had shamelessly claimed that the Governor had declared his intention to run for Presidency in 2019, and indeed circulated campaign posters to that effect. As a matter of fact, soon after he ascended office, it was also rumoured that Owelle was of Northern Nigeria parentage. The administration has therefore been besieged by an on-going rumour mill.

Indeed, without looking any farther, it is obvious that the proverbial distinguishable finger of the monkey has been detected in the soup-the hand of the opposition PDP, whose angst and frustration have known no bounds particularly since it was disgraced in the recently concluded rerun elections across the state. This thinking is both logical and practical for, some people are more likely to believe particular rumours mainly because of the political convictions they hold, as such rumours tend to be compatible with their partisan and political beliefs. Hence, PDP members and other disgruntled politicians are more likely to initiate and accept negative rumours about the ruling APC and its leadership. This is more so because when it comes to political rumours, where a person stands is significantly dependent on where he sits.

Thus, members of the opposition PDP fully appreciate the effectiveness of political rumours in the conduct of politics and have used it more than generously to launch attacks on the present government. This is however in spite of the fact that those who circulate these falsehoods never really believe in their veracity but merely derive pleasure from over indulgence in such calculated mischief. And, because our people love rumours and the state has a thriving rumour mill, it is often believed, wrongly or rightly, that ‘there is no smoke without fire’.

But there is the need to draw a distinct line between political rumours and those likely to result to anarchy and political upheaval. This is mostly because rumours are a very dangerous form of misinformation and therefore highly damaging for the functioning of democratic governance. As a result, the prevalence of rumours about those in government is indeed a major concern for the country’s nascent democracy as it hinders the dissemination of factual information while promoting misinformation and falsehood. It also impinges on the desire of the political system to establish an effective platform for mass participation in governance.

In our clime, rumours of the death of prominent leaders are common and have been used effectively in the past against perceived political enemies. For instance, the late Dr. NnamdiAzikiwe and the Owelle of Onitsha, before his actual demise was rumoured to have died many times. Former head of state and military dictator, late General Sani Abacha was also declared dead long before he died in 1998, while no sooner he was declared winner of the 1999 presidential elections, the rumour of former President Olusegun Obasanjo’s death hit the media and consequently led to a series of violent protests by his Yoruba kits and kin. Also soon after the late President Umaru Musa Yaradua emerged PDP’s presidential candidate, there was rumour that he had died in faraway Germany where he had gone for medical treatment. It took the deft handling of the falsehood by his mentor and political god father, Obasanjo, to dispel the rumour.

The late Igbo leader, Dim Chukwuemeka Ojukwu, equally was rumoured to have died in August of 2011. Even President Muhammed Buhari, as recent as last year was rumoured to have been incapacitated as a result of ill health when he was absent for a couple of days.
While some of these rumours are intentional-manufactured as jokes or sheer mischief, they are nevertheless expensive misdeeds. The irony however is that such stories only require the use of tweets and Facebook shares to generate unimaginable confusion and panic. Also the over indulgence of our people in rumours goes to show that its prevalence is rather a product of widespread ignorance among them because, irrespective of the levels of our enlightenment, some still find it difficult to reject or ignore incredulous information, particularly rumours that tend to paint the government in poor light.

Again, the current economic hardship in the country could equally be said to have resulted to a lot of distrust of the political system, and this encourages the temptation to hold on to negative information about the people in government.

No doubt, the bold decisions being taken by the action and visionary Governor, Owelle Rochas Okorocha, who has demonstrated great capacity and willingness to respond to the economic challenges facing the state, have been used by the opposition to incite the people and cause unnecessary distractions. However, let it be known that the leadership paradigms introduced by the Governor and the broad based revolutionary change he initiated can only be undertaken by a man with very strong political will and courage.

In spite of all of these, the rumours have shown themselves for what they really are-rumours and patent falsehoods. As our amiable and hard working Governor touched down yesterday in the state to the rejoice of well-meaning Imo people and the shame of the purveyors of the death wish, I wish him longevity, good health and divine direction in his determination to re-position the state for good. Owelle, I say welcome. Nno.

Well, mr/Mrs press secretary, you are being paid to write long epistle while I'm not paid to read them so I'll pass. Wether the governor is dead or alive makes no difference to me. Seriously you guys have a lot of free time to be listening to information and misinformation. Why don't you use those times to get to work and do that for which you were vote into power.

U have just done your work and I believe by now u must have received ur alert ...

Unstable set of ffools called Press Secretary.

Ndi uwa sef!

Hmm