Where is Rochas Okorocha?

There are certain power figures in Nigeria whose radar of influence exceeds that of the ordinary politician. Call them transcendent politicians, but these are the people who are regarded as having the ability to call for rains and winds in their regions. With Imo State and the majority of the South-east, Senator Rochas Okorocha is one such person. However, with the 2023 presidential elections in view, he appears to have disappeared.

What can one say about Okorocha? How do you catch his trail and pin it down? How do you find a word that means Okorocha? It would be disrespectful to call him a flibbertigibbet because of his many roguish roles in radical incidents in Imo, especially, where he used to be governor. However, despite his many doings, good and bad, he remains someone that many people look up to and expect to unveil his preferred candidate for the mantle of President Muhammadu Buhari.

Of course, this is only the most positive outlook on the position of Okorocha. There are certainly people, big and small, that would rather he disappeared from politics altogether and probably appear in 2043 as a redeemed guru ready to preach peaceful solutions to the world’s problems. Such views have never really bothered the man, not with one court case or another hanging over his head almost perpetually.

The last court case — and therefore, genuine sighting — of Okorocha was after he was freed of the charges of fraud pressed against him by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC). As he always does, the former Imo governor emerged victorious and promptly disappeared almost immediately after. Still, this is a sensitive period, so he may soon emerge from the shadows with that confident, I-know-what-I-am-doing look.

In the meantime, everywhere is silent on the location and ongoing doings of Okorocha.