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Ellen
Johnson Sirleaf has been in power since 2005 EPA
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Governor 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.
Media
report continues:
In
Owerri, Okorocha’s latest statue, a monument of President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf
of Liberia, is scheduled to be unveiled on November 9.
The
statue and two others, including that of Zuma are occupying a pride of place at
Freedom Square on Wetheral Road in the Imo Capital.
Zuma’s
30-feet statue was said to have cost a whopping ₦520 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.
Liberia's Democracy
'Under Assault'
BBC
Africa Live reports that Liberia's president says the country's "democracy
is under assault", after elections to find her successor were halted
indefinitely.
Ellen
Johnson Sirleaf spoke out in a radio broadcast two days after the Supreme Court
ordered the second round vote to be stopped while an investigation into
irregularities was carried out.
According
to Reuters, Mrs Sirleaf said:
Democracy is only as strong as its weakest link and at these
moments, our democracy is under assault. Our country’s reputation is under
assault, our economy is under stress.”
Libera's
next president should have been decided on Tuesday, 7 November, when former
footballer George Weah and Mrs Sirleaf's deputy Joseph Boakai were due to face
each other in the run off.
But
a complaint by the Liberty Party's Charles Brumskine, who came third in the
original vote, over alleged frauds and irregularities led the court to suspend the vote.
It is unclear when it will
now take place.
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