THE city is very sensitive for a sitting governor to sneak into for an event being organised in his honour without informing his fellow governor in-charge of the state.

Okorocha ought to have alerted or reached out to Governor Orji ahead of the event or even invited him to celebrate with him. If time was a factor, he would have reached Governor Orji through his mobile number or at worst direct the organisers to send an invitation card to the state government.

Questions should also be asked as to why the organisers hid under religious banner to secure the Abia State Polytechnic Aba, a state-owned institution as the venue of the event, only to turn around at the last moment to make it a political gathering. This also raises question on the integrity and sincerity of the acclaimed men of God who happened to be the organisers of the event on behalf of Okorocha.

Today, we are all aware that everything and anything is possible under religious cover; that is why every right-thinking person and responsible government must be very careful of the questionable activities of the acclaimed men of God, who are deploying religious tools to destabilise our society for pecuniary and selfish interest.

Besides, as two sitting governors of sister states sharing common boundary, it is expected that there should be proper channels of communication between the duo to avoid this kind of ugly development. This was apart from the normal channels of communication among their aides.

I wonder why Okorocha has always refused to make use of such opportunities to do things right and proper since he assumed office as the governor of ImoState. Before his coming into office in 2011, the relationship between Imo and Abia states was very cordial and mutual. But everything suddenly changed with Okorocha’s grandstanding leadership style, often making a  mountain out of molehill in every situation to gain cheap political popularity.

Nobody is against and should be against  his style of leadership in as much as such he recognises laid procedures of doing things in government circle. This is why Okorocha and his aides must be call to order whenever they attempt to disrupt protocol. And this the Abia State Polytechnic authorities had done by cancelling the event. After all Okorocha’s birthday ceremony is not more important than the security of the state.

The recent episode in Aba involving Okorocha had once again reminds one of his abrupt and immediate closure of Abia Line Transport Company motor park in Owerri some months ago which caused a row between the two state governments and inflicted untold hardship on commuters using the transport company.

It took the timely intervention and pragmatic leadership approach of Governor Orji who upon his return from an oversea trip to resolve the matter in the interest of peaceful co-existence of the two sister states, taking into cognisance that two people cannot be mad at the same time. Not quite long, Governor Okorocha signed an abortion bill into law in the state without due consultation with relevant stakeholders.

The development pitched him against clergymen in the state before he made u-turn to repeal the law and apologised to them. Governor Okorocha, we all know, cannot and will not accept such disrespectful treatment he meted out to Governor Orji, a fellow state governor. Leaders must learn how to lead by example and accord respect to the exalted office they are occupying.

Constitutionally, the state governor is the Chief Security Officer of the state and should be in the know of any gathering or event that may pose security threat to the state. The governor also has the right to put a halt to such a gathering, if security report at his disposal shows that the state would be endangered by allowing it to hold. Okorocha should learn how to align himself with his fellow governors, especially those from the South East for economic and political development of the zone and the country in general.

He cannot do it alone and should not behave as if knows more than any of his colleagues. He must learn to be a team player and avoid issues that will always stir controversy for his government, and paint him and his government in a bad light. Okorocha should always remember the words of former American President, Abraham Lincoln, that character is like a tree and reputation like a shadow. The shadow is what we think of it; the tree is the real thing.