What is the government’s policy on infrastructure?
Abia State had, for 20 years, operated with no administrative infrastructure, no capital. It operated from a rented apartment. Late Commodore Emeka Omeruah gave the state a rented apartment on its creation, and that rented apartment, unfortunately, is where Abia State is still operating from.
Abia State had, for 20 years, operated with no administrative infrastructure, no capital. It operated from a rented apartment. Late Commodore Emeka Omeruah gave the state a rented apartment on its creation, and that rented apartment, unfortunately, is where Abia State is still operating from.
It is instructive to note that the former governor who stayed here for eight years did not think it wise to put in place structures for effective governance. What Governor T. A Orji is doing is a planned progression that will lead Abia to its destination, because we sat down and came out with what we call Abia Marshall Plan.
In it, we have two plans - Umuahia Master Plan (the administrative capital) and Aba Master Plan (the commercial nerve centre); and of course the third master plan which has to do with the other parts of the state such as Ohafia, Ukwa, etc.
Any plans to build a new executive mansion for the state?
We’ve gone beyond planning; we’ve started. We will build a new Government House, and a new workers’ secretariat. This new workers’ secretariat will accommodate all the ministries. The old one we are now rehabilitating is the structure the Babangida administration gave to all the states on creation and, unfortunately, that is the only thing Abia State has to show after 20 years.
We’ve gone beyond planning; we’ve started. We will build a new Government House, and a new workers’ secretariat. This new workers’ secretariat will accommodate all the ministries. The old one we are now rehabilitating is the structure the Babangida administration gave to all the states on creation and, unfortunately, that is the only thing Abia State has to show after 20 years.
What we are doing now is to reinforce that building from the foundation, remodel it, and rebuild it literally with the modern expectations of a secretariat in mind. When these are completed, Abia will now have one-stop shop for conducting government business. A visitor from outside the state will not need to criss-cross the whole state to transact his business.
When you put this entire infrastructure near to one another, you enjoy the economy of scale. If you bring in one or two 500 KVA generators, all the ministries will be powered. You don’t need to duplicate facilities. What we are building here (within the vicinity of the secretariat) is a horticultural garden. When completed, the entire environment will change. We are doing this for the first time after 21 years; evidence that Governor T. A. Orji is laying a solid foundation for Abia State and he is even then, charting a course for the future generation.
Is this part of the master plan you talked about?
Yes, this is part of the Umuahia Master plan. It involves taking care of the three arms of the government - the Executive, the Legislature and the Judiciary; making sure that they are fully equipped to perform their constitutional functions. We are building new structures for the legislature, new structures for the judiciary - new court rooms and remodeling all the old ones.
Yes, this is part of the Umuahia Master plan. It involves taking care of the three arms of the government - the Executive, the Legislature and the Judiciary; making sure that they are fully equipped to perform their constitutional functions. We are building new structures for the legislature, new structures for the judiciary - new court rooms and remodeling all the old ones.
Our governor came from the administrative cadre; he rose from being a clerk to becoming a permanent secretary; he understands that if the administrative infrastructure is dysfunctional, you cannot be talking about any other form of development.
He believes that we should be able to make the state functional; we should be able to have all the backbone that is needed to make sure that the state runs efficiently. And, by the way, let’s ask this question, why are we doing these 21 years after the creation of Abia State?
The governor talked about steady power supply…
Umuahia enjoys the highest quantum of electricity in the whole of the South East. It is not debatable; you can get your statistics from PHCN because we have a power station at Ohiya which the federal government put in place but they could not evacuate the light (power) from there and it has been there for over a decade.
Umuahia enjoys the highest quantum of electricity in the whole of the South East. It is not debatable; you can get your statistics from PHCN because we have a power station at Ohiya which the federal government put in place but they could not evacuate the light (power) from there and it has been there for over a decade.
What this government did was to spend billions to evacuate that power. It is true that it is federal government that built the power station but the people that will eventually benefit are Abia citizens. We asked the federal government, do we have your permission to go in and evacuate this light for the benefit of our people?
We moved in with our money and it was commissioned by the former Minister of Power, Prof Barth Nnaji. And now, Umuahia enjoys uninterrupted power supply. That is why you now see all the industries coming back because electricity is key to any form of industrialisation or development.
What is the cardinal focus of this administration?
The cardinal focus of this administration is in four planks. One, is to do what we call democratisation, we want to expand the democratic space; we want to make sure that democracy works in Abia. Two, infrastructural revolution. Before this is security. You cannot talk about infrastructural development without providing the enabling environment. Constitution makes it very clear that the reason for the existence of government is the security and welfare of the people. Security in Abia is the best.
The cardinal focus of this administration is in four planks. One, is to do what we call democratisation, we want to expand the democratic space; we want to make sure that democracy works in Abia. Two, infrastructural revolution. Before this is security. You cannot talk about infrastructural development without providing the enabling environment. Constitution makes it very clear that the reason for the existence of government is the security and welfare of the people. Security in Abia is the best.
The senate came here to do there Press Retreat for a whole one week, they made it very clear that all the investigation they made before making that choice proved that Abia is the number one when it comes to security in the south east and among the first three in the whole of the nation. Coming from a place that was almost a pariah state less than two years ago, you can see why all bodies; local and international, are giving our governor awards. Abia State is now the most secured in the South East.
The fourth one is reorientation, development and empowerment of the people, very important to us. All these are all encompassing. We know that all the states have secretariats but when you do a comparative analysis of what we are doing and what you see in other states, you see that we are delivering quality projects that will stand the test of time.
These, for us, are legacy projects that will define the epoch of Governor T.A.Orji so that in future when one asks who did this they will say it was during the time of Governor T.A.Orji. We want to be able to leave landmarks. Even if you don’t like the shape of his nose at least you will acknowledge that it was during his time that these projects were executed. Gone are the days when you build a particular kitchen line and call it public building.
Public buildings in Abia State today are some of the most modern and expensive in the horizon thereby conferring some form of honour, aura around the Abia person. When you have a visitor and you say come let me take you to my office or our secretariat, the Abian will have that feeling of pride. Mind you this is vis-à-vis our monthly allocation. Go to those states where oil money is flowing and compare the quality of work. Some of them, with all their oil money, cannot do what we are doing here.
What is the administration doing in terms of welfare?
What we are doing in terms of welfare is outstanding. We are doing what we call empowerment. This is the only state in Nigeria that has, since after the election in 2011, employed 4500 youths in one day. When we told our people to brace up for the blessing that will come with this government, some thought we were joking. They are in what we call our youth empowerment scheme. We engage youths, at least 20 per ward across the whole state.
What we are doing in terms of welfare is outstanding. We are doing what we call empowerment. This is the only state in Nigeria that has, since after the election in 2011, employed 4500 youths in one day. When we told our people to brace up for the blessing that will come with this government, some thought we were joking. They are in what we call our youth empowerment scheme. We engage youths, at least 20 per ward across the whole state.
They will be put through what we call self-reliant programme in our skill acquisition centres in the various Local Governments. We pay them as they learn a skill. Then after the programme, if you are able to show capacity in the area you have chosen, the state will now fund you. Of course, it is a revolving scheme.
No other state has been able to do that. And that explains the security in Abia State today because the moment you took 4500 young people off the streets into skills acquisition, you have indirectly solved the security problem because security threats are carried out by human beings. See the landscaping here (at the secretariat). Anytime you come here, you will remember Governor T.A.Orji.
The governor talked about N1 billion grants for youth agriculture. Could you please throw more light on that?
The name of the game is agriculture. Food security is very important for this country. You saw what happened after the flooding. Many states began to scavenge for food. That is the foresight of Governor T.A. Orji for him to have seen into the future. The best way to grow the state is to keep the young people busy. Those who do not want be in the skill acquisition scheme and want to own their own farms.
The name of the game is agriculture. Food security is very important for this country. You saw what happened after the flooding. Many states began to scavenge for food. That is the foresight of Governor T.A. Orji for him to have seen into the future. The best way to grow the state is to keep the young people busy. Those who do not want be in the skill acquisition scheme and want to own their own farms.
We found out that it will be a lip service to just say go back to the farm because some of them do not have the wherewithal to even start off a little farm. We now have a scheme, we went to the Central Bank, guaranteed with our own allocation, a revolving loan of N1 billion. Any youth who shows evidence of where he is going to set up poultry, piggery, a cassava farm or a fish farm, as soon as his traditional ruler guarantees and the local government guarantees, you are given the money and we have disbursed N1billion through that process.
That is why if you go to ishi gate where we have our market; you will be amazed at what you are going to see. Our youths are now proud; they wear their uniforms and say this is coming from my farm. Part of why you benefit more is when we see evidence of what you did with what you were given. We structured it in a way that if you want a loan, we say ok, you want poultry, you need N400, 000 or N500, 000, ok. If you show evidence of prosperity in the use of that money, next season come we give you N1 million. That acts as an incentive, a catalyst for more productivity.
So, the minimum is N500,000…?
It is not minimum; it is structured based on the kind of farm you want to do, the kind of application you make. There are people who have been given over a million, others have been given less. It depends on what the individual needs. At inception some even got up to N2 million depending on the proposal they have and its viability; then we disburse.
It is not minimum; it is structured based on the kind of farm you want to do, the kind of application you make. There are people who have been given over a million, others have been given less. It depends on what the individual needs. At inception some even got up to N2 million depending on the proposal they have and its viability; then we disburse.
Is an International Conference Centre such a priority project in Abia State?
An international Conference Centre in Abia State is important because it offers us the opportunity of tapping into the tourism market. The tourism industry is very lucrative, it belongs to the future. It is also important because we want to take advantage of conference tourism.
An international Conference Centre in Abia State is important because it offers us the opportunity of tapping into the tourism market. The tourism industry is very lucrative, it belongs to the future. It is also important because we want to take advantage of conference tourism.
All this empty space you see here (site of the centre) will be turned into something similar to the millennium park in Abuja, a horticultural garden where people can organise their weddings, exhibitions, where Abians can heartily come for recreation, where festivals can hold. It is not just a place for regular meetings.
Your Governor seems not to have too positive a perception by the public. What is responsible?
In your mind, between the perceptions you have of this government and the reality on ground is what we are working on; we want to bridge that perception gap. Governor T.A. Orji, with less than N4billion allocation every month, is delivering international standard public buildings and facilities that are not available in the oil rich states. If this is not prudence, then tell me what it is.
In your mind, between the perceptions you have of this government and the reality on ground is what we are working on; we want to bridge that perception gap. Governor T.A. Orji, with less than N4billion allocation every month, is delivering international standard public buildings and facilities that are not available in the oil rich states. If this is not prudence, then tell me what it is.
A man who pays out N2.5 billion as salaries to civil servants every month and has less than N1billion to do every other thing from security to anything is able to deliver these world class buildings in less than two years. This is when he became effectively in charge of affairs of this state….
What do you mean by that?
Some of you do not understand when we say that we were under subjugation here. We were in a situation that was worse than apartheid. All we had as a state was ensconced into a family that assumed the role of a monarchy. It took Governor T.A. Orji a democratisation process to liberate Abia. That is a major milestone. We were liberated before we could have these buildings and facilities. So, Governor T.A. Orji gave us not just liberty, he also gave us security, infrastructure, empowering people.
Some of you do not understand when we say that we were under subjugation here. We were in a situation that was worse than apartheid. All we had as a state was ensconced into a family that assumed the role of a monarchy. It took Governor T.A. Orji a democratisation process to liberate Abia. That is a major milestone. We were liberated before we could have these buildings and facilities. So, Governor T.A. Orji gave us not just liberty, he also gave us security, infrastructure, empowering people.
We are delivering over 100 world class structures across Umuahia that is why you can never think of criminality here now. Umuahia is like a huge construction site. Anyone who wants to earn a living has a reason to come to Umuahia because government is prudently investing heavily in the city. Tell me why Nigerians did not give this governor security award? It had to take people from Ghana to recognise that Aba that used to be a pariah is now safe to live in.
Last night I intentionally took you out around 1am and we drove around the town. You saw how neat the town was at night, the street lights. None of you thought twice about going out with me. And even me as a commissioner, I went out without any form of security escort. What does that tell you about Umuahia? You can’t but give kudos to the performance of Governor T.A. Orji except one is mischievous or ignorant. If you mean well, you should encourage him because he is doing what Napoleon could not do.
He has restored the dignity of Abia person, hope in the Abia masses and has put Abia in an irreversible course for progress and prosperity. Ochendo T.A. Orji is a second term governor; if he were not a patriot; he would have said I am already on my way out.
But because of his patriotism and vision for Abia State, he is doing extra work to put the State right . This is the New Umuahia, what you see here are new roads opened up by the Governor to have a catalytic effect not just on government activities but also on private investment.
React to an allegation that the Governor acquired a whole street in Umuahia, ejected the tenants.There is nothing like that. Let me tell you, one, Governor T.A. Orji is from Umuahia, from Ibeku. He is an indigene of the city centre. His father was a traditional ruler in Umuahia. His family was the ruling house even during the colonial era.
He is not a Johnny just come in Umuahia. Are you saying he should not build in his father’s land? Where then should he build? I think he should be congratulated for believing in Abia, building in Umuahia.
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