THE IRREDEEMABLE LIAR THAT IS ORJI UZOR KALU

Caution and decorum, attributes that are expected of former Governors were cast to the wind like tempests on page A4 of the Vanguard, Monday March 16^thand page 49, of The Sun on Wednesday 17^th March, 2015. These acts confirmed the fact that Kalu, the accidental former governor of Abia State is an irredeemable liar. In his words on the Vanguard, ‘I did not vote, they caged me into my house with four Armored Personnel Carriers.’

 When asked if this will not happen again, he boasted, ‘it will not, our people will burn down the state. We are ready for them; we are not going to take it from anybody. The governor cannot try it. If he tries, it will be the end of his administration. Because I have left him for too long….’

As against these spurious claims and empty boasts, Kalu voted in booth 006, in Igbere in 2011 and thereafter granted an interview to journalists numbering over five, representing Vanguard, the Nation, Daily Independent and more. To his claims that 4 APCs were mounted in front of his house, how many tanks are there in the military installations in Abia as to position four of them in Igbere?

It is very unfortunate that Kalu has nothing else for Abia youths except lies and lies. Recall Kalu’s lies of having been re-registered as a PDP member where he quoted a dubious card number. This was borne in a release signed by his Media Assistant, Salvator Amadi:  the ex-governor returned to the party on January 16, 2013 and was issued membership card number 9787945 in his ward A in Igbere, Bende Local Government Area.

 Recall too, his claims of a waiver to contest on the platform of the PDP for Senate. In another situation, Kalu feigned knowledge of a conscious Senatorial PPA candidacy and blamed his registration in PPA for senate on an errant aide? Now in the Vanguard, Kalu admitted contesting for Senate in PPA where he intends to bring changes in the Senate.

Could kalu give what he doesn’t have? His infamous legislative experience was very short-lived- an experiment in the military era that would be too much of a risk to allow Kalu such a chance now. While governor in Abia, he was a truant- only arriving when the monthly allocation was available. What does Kalu know about debates, analytical arguments and sequence to make legislative contributions in Abuja? Kalu at best could be a speculator as he neither reads nor allows true dialogues.

We said it to all who could listen that Kalu was only insistent to join the PDP as to cause chaos, a situation where he thrives like the native doctors do in turmoil. When Kalu presented his forged re-entry into PDP in Igbere, Abia stakeholders stormed Abuja for which Kalu pelted them with invectives. That Kalu can’t be tired of lies and deceit is baffling to sane people who keep wondering how a former Gov. cannot kick such embarrassing habits. One of Abia leaders said it that Kalu was a virus who only would infect the party Ochendo has stabilized but many thought it was a joke, now Orji Uzor Kalu has shown his true colours of unbridled mendacity and duplicity.

When Orji Uzor Kalu wrote in his column on the Sun of Saturday March 14^th, he claimed that most of the Ochendo legacy projects were drainpipes. Kalu on air at AIT denied that there were projects. He has constantly written in his blackmail page that he calls Leadership series and insinuated in the past that there are no projects. Now he has admitted that there are projects but refurbished projects. More lies from the spin master.

People have always asked kalu to point at one project he did but none can be seen. In truth, Abia people should know that Kalu is Abia public enemy No1. All he wants are that these goodies of Ochendo administration shouldn’t have been. The funds that converted to Hospitals, Diagnostic centers, International Conference centre, E-Library and others should have ended in his pockets and added to his dirty bank accounts.

The world is watching and many people know the history of these projects. These are available because ministers of the Federal Republic of Nigeria came physically to lay the foundation stones of many like the BCA, ASUBEB and ASEPA Houses, the International Conference Centre and others. Dr Adesina, Hon Minister for Agric, and former Ministers Labaran Maku and Dr Onyebuchi Chukwu were in Abia to lay the foundation stones of ASUBEB, JAAC, BCA and ASEPA Houses built by the Governor from the scratch. Or is it the new markets which Kalu through his agents dissuaded the traders from occupying. What does Kalu need to gain from all these cocktail of lies?

Kalu spent 8 years of waste and plunder in Abia and not even any meaningful project to show for it. That Ochendo is building and contracting is worth celebrating but, Kalu doesn’t want the world to know the difference therefore his quantum lies to cover up and diminish.

The tragedy of Kalu’s doings is that he has no integrity. Whether he tells 1000 lies does not mean anything to him. Like the fairies in Macbeth, fair is foul and foul is fair. Lies and truth don’t make any difference if you employ the OUK dictum.

His threats to burn down Abia in 2015 elections give credence to the accusations that he is the mastermind of many crimes in Abia. Except the government of Abia ignores him, he is as good as a treasonable felon. Let the truth be told that Orji Uzor Kalu is at the end of his political games. None can trust him even the people he is holding nocturnal meetings with. As a self-acclaimed master strategist, he now targets estranged PDP politicians and promises to help them but they too know that Kalu is politically down and just as he could not make the senate in 2011, now rejected by Abia PDP, his next ploy is to forge a PPA/APC/ APGA alliance as to regain his indirect rule through an APGA gubernatorial. A note of warning to any who will be careless to take him seriously: remember his Nzuko Ndi Igbo project, Igbo Presidency and many others that have all turned out to be big time hoaxes.

 

Hilda Ifeoma Ifegwu writes from Umuahia, Abia State.

Orji Uzor Kalu and his many faces of lies and deceits

Couple of months ago, the former Governor of Abia State, Orji Uzor Kalu made a public declaration through his SUN Newspaper that he is back to PDP and that he never belonged to PPA. He went as far as lying before the people that his PPA Senatorial form was purchased and filled by one of his aides who he demanded to make a public apology for getting a form for him without his consent.
For some of us who are familiar with his tricks and deceptions, knowing his criminal activities in the past and present, we concluded that OUK is applying his usual Gamji way of life in an era of political sanity in Abia State.

Nevertheless, a man who cannot change will never change and thank God the PDP leadership at the National level and President Goodluck Jonathan accepted the rejection of the chameleon by Abians facilitated by Abia PDP stakeholders and other well meaning Abians.

However, it is now made open to the General Public that the Man who castigated the leadership of the PDP in Abia State for letting the world know that one person cannot belong to two different political parties at the same time. Especially into a strong a Party that won all the elections in Abia State in 2011 without a mediocre going about with a virus with intention to destroy that which he couldn't build.
Now it is officially official that Orji Uzor Kalu (OUK) is the Abia North Senatorial Candidate for the PPA, the Party he founded and funded. As usual, he sneaked into his Igbere Country Home few days ago to begin his campaign for the Senate.

Interestingly, he is a candidate that saw a big disgraceful defeat in 2011 when he contested for Senate under his PPA Platform and in 2015, my very good friend and a credible candidate from Arochukwu, Mazi Mao Ohuabunwa, the PDP Senatorial Candidate for Abia North will finally facilitate his final political burial.
Orji Uzor Kalu must be in another world if he ever think that Abians that rejected him and his mother wouldn't reject him again. Nonetheless, the people of Abia North especially the great people of Abiriba that he caused so much pains upon by destroying their beautiful community are fortunately alive to pay him back once.

We will all live to celebrate yet another political defeat of a man who ruled a State without a single visible project but left Abia indebted to different financial houses and to the people. 

Nnaji writes from Umuahia

THE BANKER WHO MURDERED DATA

The status of some individuals should guarantee respectability and heighten personality. Conversely, the behavior and utterances of some of our politicians raises a lot of doubt about their claims of the ability to govern and thus sends the wrong signals to our budding youths. Our upcoming generation should in the real sense learn from the older people, especially the so called upper class. Such despicable behaviors in our adults who are expected to leave examples have given politicians dirtier names than was previously ascribed to them.

Should people who aspire to lead the country and the states be a merchant of lies? Should a party flag bearer at the level of governorship blackmail to occupy the topmost seat? Should not his ways and manners, speeches and utterances be a standard which others should emulate? That the wrong people for one reason or the other have found their ways to top political situations where they did not merit to be is no reason that we should continue to lower the average thus spiraling down and down in the scale of honour.

On Sunday February 15, 2015, on page 54 of the Sunday Vanguard, one Charles Uzoukwu wrote in favour of Alex Otti and his gubernatorial quest. I wouldn’t have written because a lot of trash keeps dropping on daily bases but this case impugns on data and it is necessary for us to correct lest other unsuspecting members of the public take it as truth.

Oddly enough, this wrong statistics ought not to be bandied by Alex and his group as we assume that they know better. You don’t need blackmail as a tool if you have facts. Ordinarily, somebody at the level of Otti who stepped off a high stool in the banking industry where facts and figures are more sacred than other places shouldn’t be caught telling blatant lies and feeding the public with faulty data in today’s world of data super high way.

According to what Charles heard from Alex Otti, Abia is the least developed of all states with many years of failed promises from PDP, the same PDP that Otti first berthed and ravenously wanted to purchase the guber ticket. According to Otti too, ‘statistics show that mortality rate in Abia, particularly at child birth is among the highest in the country.’ These are white lies and I am sure that people who follow trends in Nigeria will attest that Abia even in the next two years without a single medical input in the health sector and without a new project be it in road, housing, education, human development that you call empowerment, Abia cannot fall into such degradation. That’s due to work already done, by the present administration. Abia cannot he the least developed. I will give instances.
Abia Health is the most robust and has gone through quantum changes. Ask Professor Onyebuchi Chukwu, former Minister for health who when in office visited Abia for not less than three times. In these visits, he commissioned one vital project or the other and suggested on areas where urgent attention were necessary. His Excellency Chief T. A. Orji took him seriously and carried out whatever suggestions as if they were laws. The Primary Health Centres have been updated to 710 which at the same time offer maternity services. He has equally updated what he met at the secondary and tertiary health sectors with dialysis machines, 10 new General Hospitals, Eye, Chest Centres and a place for ENT. To enhance healthcare, Abia pays the CONHESS and CONMESS, special salary scales for health staff.

In 2013, at the 37th AGM/Scientific Conference of National Association of Optometrists, [NOA] Chief Orji was awarded Prime Ambassador of the Health Sector. Medical and Dental council of Nigeria has approved Abia state specialist Hospital and Diagnostic centre for medical internship training. Could a state rated this high by a professional organ have high rates of mortality?

Abia State since 2007 has witnessed development in all sectors. More schools have been built, refurbished and re-equipped. More teachers have been promoted and schools enrolments have increased. For the seven years and more, no single student and pupil in primary and secondary has paid a dime in school fees rather the ones in Umuahia and Aba go to school on Government sponsored wheels. Abia could not hold high caliber conferences but now could do so with the multi-floored and multi-roomed International Conference Center accredited to rub shoulders with the ones in the top cities of South Africa. Abia has an 90% completed Government House, functional E-Library, new Civil Service Secretariat, new business Malls in Umuahia and Aba, power evacuated from the Ohiya power station which has improved energy supply in Umuahia, and neighboring towns like, Oboro, Obowo, Uzoakoli, Bende etc. Our youths have been empowered beyond expectations in all the LGAs.

The security situation that frightened the brave and lion hearted were handled with utmost dexterity making a police boss to admit that Abia is a case study.
There is gender sensitivity with more women appointed and elevated. There are policy overhauls that ensures the continuous existence of interventionist agencies like ASOPADEC, CSDP, ADP, ABIA LIBERATION FARM, ABROMA, that are concurrently carrying out projects in different parts of the state. Are these components of underdevelopment? That shows how ignorant and poorly equipped a man who vaunts to govern a state is. It practically means that if Otti is elected, he would invest public fund in the wrong sector as he does not know where the shoe pinches.

So many questions for Alex Otti. Outside his misinformation, there are many issues on integrity. He consolidated his Aro personality by building in Arochukwu. When the present policy insisted in zoning, he changed nativity with the speed of lightening. These are certainly no marks of greatness. Alex refused to respect equity. His ancestral home of Arochukwu, land of great men and his adopted home of Nvosi in Isiala Ngwa North are all not in Abia South which probably was the reason he skedaddled from PDP in a feat of desperation.

As a successful citizen from the banking industry, we expect more good examples from Alex on decorum not marginality. Let him too be careful of what he says today for these may come back to haunt him or his offspring tomorrow.

Eddie Onuzuruike

Opposition Politicians and their worthless propaganda...Madubuko Hart

The opposition politicians in Abia State are playing dangerous politics of blackmail and propaganda against the government of Governor Theodore Orji. In their desperate quest in the smear campaign, they would bomb their political offices and label the government as the perpetrator.

They would want to plant dangerous weapons in the state to cause chaos and would run to the media shouting that the government was it that wanted to do so. They would not have money to pay for their children’s school fees and you see them shouting that teachers in the state are on strike.

Then it baffles one to pause how a government that had spent billions of naira in fighting insecurity that it met in the state would go back to abet it. Impossible! It will never.

It is the sheer crassness of the opposition politicians to sully the government of Governor Orji and, they are not succeeding. Governor Theodore Orji remains the only honest and sincere governor of Abia State since its creation 23 years ago. The state did not take off till Governor Orji came to power.

Because the governor has a listening ear, many people who absconded to other states like Enugu, Port Harcourt, Abuja are now returning to the state, creating full action in urban life in all areas of the state.

Governor Orji is so transparent that Abia people had wanted him for a third term in office if the constitution had allowed that. He is an honest and visionary leader. He is not into politics like some people to steal but to leverage the state from the level of woes; and he has achieved that.

One aspect of Governor Orji that is so alluring is his love for education and making sure that education in the state tops in his priorities. Youth empowerment has become his trademark, and the youths in the state would be missing him as his tenure as governor is fast approaching.

Government is continuum. I was so elated when the PDP delegates elected Dr. Okezie Ikpeazu (PhD), as the party’s flagbearer in the state. Ikpeazu is a man that knows administration and cares.

He would create a lot of job opportunities and see to the welfare of pensioners and sundry. So, Ikpeazu would be improving on the areas that the present government has laid the foundation and map out other measures on the areas where the present government is yet to carve a niche.

Abia people are not playing the ostrich and the state is not the worst state in Nigeria. It is propaganda when critics write that Aba is one of the worst towns to live in, in the world. If it is so, then the millions of people we see residing and doing business in Aba would not have been living in that place. Opposition politicians should desist from their worthless propaganda.

Hart writes from Lagos

2015 Governorship; A Golden Opportunity Abia Southners Should Not Trivialize

The human mind, at times, suffers from either induced or false amnesia. This is pronounced when man tries to write or narrate his past and deliberately obliterates critical ingredients or elements of his past. Any time this happens, man ends up presenting a truncated history.

Since processes that will end up in establishment of next round of democratic leadership in Abia State started about a year ago, many advocates of power shift to Abia South have, in their various arguments, reminded their audiences that since the creation of Abia as a state in 1991, none of the nine local government areas of Ukwa and Ngwa geo-political zone of the state has been able to produce a governor for the state.

This inability has been real despite the fact that a good number of indigenes of the zone, which is administratively known as Old Aba Division, had severally attempted being governor at one time or another.

In the first democratic election that took place in the state in 1992, the duo of Dr. Gerson Amuta and Chief Lambert Nmecha of blessed memory strongly aspired to become governor of the state on the platform of the defunct National Republican convention, N.R.C. At the Party’s primary election, both Dr. Amuta and Chief Nmecha lost to Dr. Ogbonnaya Onu, who would end up becoming the first democratically elected governor of the state.

In 1998, which marked the commencement of Nigeria’s third Republic, political personalities of the Old Aba Division were also in the race for the governorship of the state.

The likes of Architect Dan Nwankwo, Dr. Max Nduaguibe and Chief Chukwu Wachukwu came out with Vigour gunning for the governorship of Abia. Again, they lost to Chief Orji Kalu who emerged as the state’s number one man.

2003 did not present any dull moment for the highly populated people of Old Aba Division. In that year, Chief Enyinnaya Abaribe, immediate past Deputy Governor of the state, relying chiefly on his gregarious ‘Otu Onu’ political outfit, strongly contested the governorship of the state on the platform of defunct All Nigeria People’s Party; A.N.P.P. Again, the result was not different from those of 1992 and 1998. Chief Enyinnaya Abaribe lost to the incumbent Governor; Kalu.

Still determined to break the jinx of not producing the State Governor despite being the more populated zone of the state, the trio of Chief Okezie Orji, Hon Tony Enwereuzor and Radical Hon. Chinonyerem Macebuh were at the scenario of governship contest in 2007. As if the geo-political zone had some issues to resolve with destiny, the three lost as Chief Theodore Ahamefule Orji eventually emerged victorious.

Then came 2011. Chief Theodore Orji was constitutionally qualified to re-contest as an incumbent governor and he did. For the umpteenth time, another politician from Old Aba Zone, by the name of Chief Regan Ufomba, showed interest and contested on the platform of All Progressive Grand Alliance; APGA. Expectedly, Chief Regan Ufomba kissed the dust.

The combined experiences of the people of Old Aba Division in their previous quests to clinch the governorship of the state from 1992 to 2011 are a clear indication that a people who do not put their art together would only be like wanderers in a labyrinth. It is also a pointer to the indisputable fact that power, apart from being divinely determined, is negotiated.

In analyzing the challenges of the people of Old Aba Division to emerge as the Executive Head of their second tier of government, the histrionics of the development should not be limited only to the twenty three years of the existence of Abia State. Before the first Republic, the people of Onitsha had produced the Premier of Eastern Region in the person of Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe, from 1954 to 1959. When Dr. Azikiwe’s National Council of Nigerian citizens, N.C.N.C., went into alliance with Sir Ahmadu Bello’s Northern People’s Congress; N.P.C., Zik, as Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe, was fondly called, became the Governor–General of Nigeria while Sir Abubakar Tafawa Balewa of N.P.C. became Prime-Minister. As nature abhors vacumm, Dr. Michael Iheonukara Okpara, a prominent son of Old Bende became Premier of Eastern Region. Between 1960 and 1966, Dr. Francis Akanu Ibiam; a world class statesman of Afikpo extraction, was Governor of Eastern Region.

Both during colonial and first Nigerian Republic, no indigene of Old Aba Division attained the height of either a Premier or even a Governor.

As it is chronologically clear, military interregnum separately lasted for twenty-nine years in this country. During that very dark era of Nigeria’s nationhood, many military officers of Igbo origin were appointed military Governors of different states.

To begin with, Colonel Chukwuemeka Odimegwu Ojukwu was appointed the military Governor of Eastern Region by the Head of State and Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces of Nigeria; Major–General Johnson Thomas Umunnakwe Aguiyi-Ironsi. Ojukwu hailed from Nnewi. Rear Admiral Ndubuisi Kanu, Major–General Ike Omar Sandara Nwachukwu and Navy Captain Christopher Osondu, three of them from Isuikwuato, had been Military Governors during the period. Commodore Amadi Guy Ikwechegh, an indigene of Igbere in Bende was also a Military Administrator during the period under review. Air Commodore Samson Emeka Omeruah, who hailed from Ikwuano, was a military governor.

Should any body forget the very charistimatic Military Administrator of Lagos State and later Niger State; Commodore Ebitu Oko Ukiwe of the ancient Abiriba entrepreneurial origin?

The list of military officers of Igbo extraction that served as Military Governors or Administrators may not easily be exhausted here. By the time one remembers the likes of Commodore Alison Madueke, Colonel Chinyere Ike Nwosu and Lt. Colonel Anthony Obi, who all were military governors at one time or another, the question that glares one at the face becomes, where were the people of Ukwa and Ngwa all through that longperiod? It was obvious that no Ukwa or Ngwa man had enough contact to influence being a military Governor. The highest position an officer from the whole of Old Aba division could attain during that era was merely an Acting Military Governor of Anambra State which was achieved by Group captain Monday Ikpeazu when the Governor was on leave.

A frank deduction here is that the people of Old Aba Division have not, so far, only failed to harness their natural numerical strength in order to galvanize their political fortune and growth in a democratic setting but equally proved incapable of establishing any network of meaningful contact that could have enabled, at least, one of their own to have emerged a military governor during the days of military dictatorship when what mattered was merely who one knew.

The above scenario, which slightly tilted towards hopelessness and frustration, should not currently be forgotten by the people of Old Aba Division as the leadership of People’s Democratic Party; P.D.P, in the state, under the philosophical guidance of Governor Theodore Ahamefule Orji, has, purely out of democratic philanthropy and magnanimity; expressly resolved to have the next Governor of the state come from Abia–South senatorial zone of the Old Aba Division.

This posture by the People’s Democratic Party is an exemplary manifestation of uncommon commitment to equity, fairness and natural justice. Who ever that raises an eye brow against this justifiable popular resolution of the Party must surely be an enemy of democracy and natural justice. It is, however, very strategic and of utmost importance that the people of Old Aba Division should naturally realize that what Governor T.A. Orji and the People’s Democratic Party are irrevocably set to do for them is equivalent to handing power over to a people purely on a platter of gold. They should not mismanage it. At this stage in their political history, common sense demands that they should encourage the leadership of P.D.P. assist them achieve what they brazenly proved incapable of realizing since ages. They should eschew internal bitterness amongst themselves; a characteristic trait that had been their bane since time immemorial.

No matter their individual frame of mind and urge for power, Abia 2015 Governorship should be perceived by all and sundry in Old Aba Division as a golden opportunity that should not be trivialized and allowed to slip due to inclination to unpatriotic individualism and its attendant inordinate ambition. A stitch in time, can always save nine.

Chief (Sir) Don Ubani; ksc, JP
(Okwubunka of Asa)
Umuiku-Isi-Asa, Ukwa-West

SOUTH EAST PDP disowns Orji Kalu

The South-East zone of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has refuted rumours about former governor of Abia State, Orji Uzor Kalu, returning to the party.

The party’s National Vice Chairman, South East zone, Col. Austin Akobundu (rtd), who confirmed this said that the rumours were figments of the peddlers’ imagination.

Speaking in Enugu, Akobundu said, “He is neither registered in his Igbere ward nor recognized as having done so in Bende local government area, let alone being accepted at the state level of the party as a returnee.

“For the avoidance of doubt, Orji Uzor Kalu is not member of PDP. The fact that he visited some friends at the national secretariat of party in Abuja and later took photograph with some unsuspecting national officers and former political office holders as published in two national dailies does not make him a member of the PDP. The party has constitution, guidelines and laid down rules by which it conducts its affairs including how returnees should be reunited.

“Kalu, we should recall, was a governor at a time when our dear National Chairman, Alhaji Adamu Ma’azu, was holding sway in Bauchi State. That Kalu had gone to our national headquarters to felicitate with his erstwhile colleague probably in company of others does not automatically qualify him as a member of the PDP.”
It will be recalled that the former governor left the PDP in 2011, after he lost the Abia North Senate race.

OPEN LETTER TO CHIEF ORJI UZOR KALU (2)

RE: What happened to the ₦1 trillion Abia earned during your tenure (1999-2007)? My second advise or infact warning, is that you should henceforth desist from harassing Gov T.A Orji. Just think about it, are you the only Governor who disagreed with his successor in office? Why all the fuzz? Have you ever heard Dr Peter Odili, Chief Attah, Mr Donald Duke, Alhaji Bafawara, Dr. Chimaroke Nnamani, Alhaji Adamu Muazu etc, say anything against their successors? There is something fundamentally childish and unbecoming about this whole episode. Can't you simply get on with your life, really? But if you choose to persist on this course, and keep abusing Governor T.A Orji, we are firmly resolved to answer you in kind. Our people have decided that this nonsense has gone on for too long. It has to come to an end now!

Let me say upfront that I had intended to make these exchanges with you, civil and educated. Apparently, you are not so minded. Your diatribe against me last Wednesday, in your Sex, Crime and Gossip tabloid, was a sickening reflection of the perverse quality of your mind and its chronic inability to rise to the rigorous demands of cerebral discourse.

I was not disappointed, knowing you, artful dodger! Your intention was to distract me from the core issue of your dismal performance as governor of our dear state and even more importantly, your prodigious squandering of the over N1 trillion Abia state earned in that period. Sorry sir, i will not fall for that cheap trick! It is the oldest trick in the business, hurling abuses in order to divert attention. Let us face the issues which i believe Abians and millions of other Nigerians are really interested in. What did you achieve as Governor in 8 years and what did you do with the N1 trillion Abia earned, internally (1GR), and externally, from the federation account? This is the question history will forever pose to you.
You were elected Governor in 1999 and entrusted with the responsibility of leading Abia State and adding value to her. It was an esteemed mandate. Abia had suffered immensely in the hands of various soldiers of fortune who governed her under the military. Umuahia, the state capital, was the epic centre of the Nigerian civil war, having served as the capital of the defunct Biafra. As a young man, many had expected you to see your election as a historic opportunity for a new generation of leaders to seize the moment and put Abia on the path of sustained socio-economic development. But eight years after the fact, what was your record? You claimed in your initial onslaught against Governor T.A Orji, that he is now converting the projects you established as his own. What projects? You assumed office in 1999 and inherited a dilapidated and ramshackle Governors lodge and residence. These facilities had been requisitioned by the first military Administration when the state was created in 1999. You spent eight years living and working in the same make shift buildings. You didn’t build a governor’s lodge.

You didn’t build a governor’s office. You didn’t build a state secretariat, (even Governor Achike Udenwa of Imo State whom you often made fun of at your dinner table built a state secretariat.) You didn’t build an office for the judiciary. The house of assembly is still occupying a temporary office. The commissioners quarters your predecessor started was not completed. Unknown to millions of Nigerians, Abia state is therefore the only state of its age where the seat of Government is still located in temporary buildings, 23 years after. For eight years, the broadcasting corporation of Abia state functioned in temporary apartments. Indeed, everything under you was temporary. You didn’t build even a single dualized road in 8 years. You didn’t build one hospital or even a maternity, or a market, except the Igbere evening market. You ignored Aba, Abia’s commercial nerve centre and allowed that great town to lose traction and become wasted. You left Umuahia worse than you met it, allowing the golden Guinnea Brewery to collapse. Sir, what did you really achieve in Abia State? What did you give to Abiriba, your next door neighbour and Arochukwu, the community you claimed to have adopted? I once asked Chief Emma Nwokoro why you treated Arochukwu so cruelly.

You ignored the collpased intra city roads and didn’t pay attention to the perennial water shortage. Yet, at every opportunity, you would go to Arochukwu visiting with many of their illustrious sons. What of Ukwa-Ngwa, what is your record there? The strategic road which passes from Umuahia through the heart of Ngwa land, Ururuka road, and which you announced on television that you would reconstruct, was abandoned. You didn’t build a stadium. You didn’t build even one secondary school. You didn’t set up a University. It was Gen Ike Nwachukwu who set up the Abia State University. Governor Evan Enwerem set up the Imo State University. Governor Sam Egwu set up Ebonyi state University.
So your Excellency, what did you achieve in Abia that T.A Orji is now claiming? Please tell me? Practically, anything of note in Abia State today which Okpara and Mbakwe did not build, was built by Gov. T.A. Orji… New governor’s lodge, new secretariat, new governor’s office, new conference centre, new judiciary complex, new general market and new office complex, etc.
THE TRIAL OF ORJI UZOR KALU.
You were elected Governor and subsequently re-elected. The governorship is a full time job. But that was not the way you saw it. For you, it was a part time job, a platform to expand your fledging business empire, SLOK, using the time and resources of Abia State. So while the fortunes of Abia state were dwindling under you, the fortunes of your SLOK business empire was expanding exponentially. While in office, you set up an airline, SLOK AIRLINE. You set up a bank, First International Bank, Gambia. When you attended board meetings of the bank in the Gambia, Abia state government usually paid your bills and the ecstacode of the officials in your entourage.
You set up a shipping line. You set up an insurance company, while a plethora of companies fronted for you in the construction business. You increased your equity in the defunct Hallmark Bank Plc. You set up a newspaper, The Sun and also applied for a license to set up a bank in Nigeria. Meanwhile, the State owned Newspaper, the Ambassador, was deliberately allowed to vegetate. You didn’t build any housing estate. Meanwhile the only one which the military government had established, the Ehimiri Housing Estate, you acquired over 24 units for your personal use.
ICING ON THE CAKE: In 2007, you took us on a tour of your palatial castle in Igbere. You were in an expansive mood that day and so failed to note that the look on my face was actually a grimace.
I was put off by the grotesque display of opulence and was greatly troubled by the sublime irony of it all. For 8 years, you built virtually nothing in Abia state, not even an office to work from or a residence to live in: And yet you built a palatial mansion, fit for a Saudi King, in your village, just 20 kilometres from Government House! You showed us the guest chalet, 72 rooms, the large lecture hall, larger in your own words than the main hall of the Nigerian Institute of International Affairs (NIIA), the tennis courts, the various swimming pools, the 22-hole golf course, the land you mapped out for the proposed aerodrome (to land small gulf stream jets) the orchard, e.t.c, One question that kept ringing in my mind that day was not where you got the money from (the answer was quiet obvious) rather it was, “so you know how to build befitting structures and you didn’t build even a lodge for the governor of Abia State?” Your Excellency, I am still curious: why? Was it an act of wickedness or plain selfishness? Did you nurse a psychological hatred for Abia and her people? What did our people do wrong by you? How could you, a young man – given such a wonderful opportunity – so crassly abuse it? How could you have treated Abia as war booty? All the contracts in the Ministry of Information, at least during my tenure, were executed by the company belonging to your brother, Prince Nnanna Kalu. For 8 years, the Ministry of Environment was absolutely under your mother. She nominated all the commissioners and managed all the contracts. Choice real estate in Umuahia and Aba, were allocated to your family or interests representing them. And yet, when Governor T.A took over, you wanted that regime to continue. You asked him to cede the Abia State Government-owned General Hospital in Umunanto, the only one in the zone, to you to serve as the teaching hospital of your proposed SLOK University of Technology. Haba Oga, can it ever be enough? T.A’s refusal, (documented) is part of your bitterness towards him. What you may not know is that it was Abia Elders who advised him not to cede that hospital to you. They argued that you made enough money to build a hospital if you needed one.

That is also my considered view. No government in Abia State, now or in the future, should so indulge you again. You have made enough from the system. Something should be left for the people of Abia State. Abia is not a vassal of the Kalu family!
MATTERS ARISING FROM YOUR RESPONSE IN SUN NEWSPAPER
Oga, i sincerely do not relish the prospects of rummaging in the sewer with you. I believe that adults can, and in fact should conduct debates, no matter how contentious the topic, with civility. Nevertheless, I am constrained to respond in kind to you not really because I wish to descend to your gutter, but mainly to make a crucial point to you. Your Excellency, you do not possess a monopoly of rascality, loud mouth or foul language. Well, don’t blame me, you asked for this, now here goes, sir.
You accused me of disagreeing with my father, and yet buried him in style. Well, I did o! So what’s the big deal with a son disagreeing with his father on occasion? Which young man does not? But what of you; did you have a father? When did he die, and how was he buried? I am referring to the father of a governor, the self-acclaimed richest man in Abia State? You once said that your father never visited you at the Government House throughout your 8 years as governor. Please why was that so, if i may ask? Could it be because he was bitter with you? And why? Does it have anything to do with the occultic and incestuous desecration of sacred maternal values in his family? Which father would be happy to so share his wife? Indeed, your Excellency, you should be the last person to talk about morality and family values. The truth is that you have none. You are morally bankrupt, through and through. The funny thing is that it is common knowledge. You made your choice a long time ago to pursue the god of money. And I must say, you have succeeded. But the price is that you are bereft of honour and integrity. You should not complain, after all, you got what you always wanted – wealth. You believe that with money you can purchase anything. Your latest project is to become a Papal knight. Well, you are allegedly a Catholic and know the rules. So which wife will you present? Ifeoma, Ifeyinwa, Gladys or Waziri?

You accused me of not having a home in Abuja or Lagos and that I beg for adverts for my newspaper. You are correct sir. I am a tenant in Lagos and I don’t live in Abuja so I don’t need a house there. But look at it this way, your Excellency; you have houses in Lagos, Aba, Umuahia, Igbere, Abuja, Dubai, Charlotte (USA), Maryland, (USA) London and South Africa; all of them residential! And yet every night you sleep only in one room and in one house. Don’t you think the joke really is on you? If I may ask, what really are you seeking with this primitive accumulation of wealth? The wise man wrote in the book of Proverbs: “don’t envy the wicked man his riches, in a twinkle of an eye they would develop wings and fly away!” As the Igbo also say, “A beggar is better than a thief” And I would add, he is also better than a serial looter, an abuser of public office and an aggrandiser!
A judicial panel of inquiry recently concluded an inquiry into the disappearance of the Goss Printing Machine purchased by your predecessor, Dr. Ogbonnaya Onu for The Ambassador newspaper. It is alleged that a former top Govt. official spirited it out of government warehouse in Ahiake to Lagos, where it is being used to print a certain tabloid.
I remember that the panel summoned you, but you declined to appear. But sir, between you and I, tell me, do you know anything about the missing printing press? I also understand that it is part of the charges the EFCC arraigned you for.
The problem you have is that you don’t make a distinction between the public and private. As governor, you abdicated the duties for which Abia people hired you, and instead leveraged on the position to build your personal financial empire. You forgot I was still commissioner when you set up The Sun Newspaper in 2001 and saw how you shamelessly and recklessly used your office to market the newspaper.

You forced all state Government owned ministries, parasatals, institutions, local governments, e.t.c to place regular advertisements in it. You harassed government agents, contractors, counter parties, banks and other institutions, to patronize it. In 2003 after your re-election, my friend Mr Vin Mgbemena, former MD of Orange Drugs Ltd, placed congratulatory adverts in This Day and Champion newspapers, for you. You were angry and queried him why he didn’t place the adverts in The Sun. After his meeting with you, he told me that you are an amazing character. “He didn’t even thank me for the adverts, he was peeved that it was not in The Sun”. To imagine that you once aspired to contest for the Presidency. Just imagine you as President of Nigeria! Hmm, you would convert NNPC into a subsidiary of SLOK Group! And they say you want to be senator! Ha, ha, ha!!! Please, on what record of achievement, if I may ask? The amazing thing is that despite your fabulous wealth, you are so pathetically cheap and beggarly. Do you know the common joke about you among the Lagos in-crowd? That you are the only governor who rather than add to your friends pockets, would rather take even the last kobo from them. The late Tayo Aderinokun told me that he and the bank used to buy air tickets for some of your foreign junkets.

Your former friend, Prince Sunny Aku is relieved that he no longer has to pick your bills when you are in Lagos and pay for the cost of your private jet rentals. Chief Chikwe Udensi still rues how much he spent on you. Remember in 2001 when we were in London and Governor Ibori gave you eight hundred pounds for Chuka Odom, former Hon. Minister of State, FCT? You took three hundred pounds from the money claiming, “after all, if I didn’t give you the job, James would not have given you the money, Chuka Obu asi? ( Chuka, is it a lie?)” Of course Chuka agreed with you. Please sir, how many governors can descend so low? But of course that’s you. No amount is too small, just as no amount is big enough. Should I talk of your former staffer you had recommended for appointment. When as a mark of respect he brought the C of O of the four plots of land he was allocated in Abuja? Remember what you said to him, “I will take one, give one to Odiuko (your mother) and one to Nnanna (your brother)!” You collected three and left him with only one. That’s how you accumulated your buildings in Abuja and all over the world. However, let me ask you sir; truly how much is enough? Will it ever be enough? What is responsible for this craze for material acquisition, a craze that recognizes no moral inhibitions? I fear o!
There should be a limit to everything. But you recognise no limits. No role is too low or degrading for you. As you told Chijioke Nwakodo and some others long ago in Umuahia, “the difference between you and the typical person is that there is no limit to how far you can go to get whatever you want!” You see sir, it is this amoral disposition that has always worried reasonable people about you. Even in those days when we tried to repackage you, that was the feedback we always got from the public. “He cannot be trusted!” You would agree, they have a point. They recall the early years of the Babangida administration when a certain “upsart” presented a letter allegedly signed by Gen Sani Abacha to Governor Amadi Ikwechegh on the strength of which he was appointed the chairman of the Cooperative and Commerce Bank (CCB). Subsequently, it emerged that the letter was a forgery. DHQ tongue-lashed Ikwechegh who promptly nullified the appointment thereby making you the shortest serving Chairman of a bank in the world. Sir, some people still remember. They also remember a certain youngster who was surreptitiously admitted into Government College Umuahia in the 70′s as the alleged son of the famous Nnanna Kalu. The story of the pugnacious Maiduguri-based businessman who cut pieces of paper and mixed them up with naira notes and announced a huge donation at the Borno State Public Appeal Fund Lunch, has became legendary.

I understand that your Excellency is angry with Abia State University for withdrawing your B.Sc (Hons) Political Science certificate. Pray tell me, what would a reasonable institution do regarding that odious episode? Is it right that a Visitor to a University would enrol in the final year class of the same University, more than a decade after dropping out from another university, write exams and expect to be examined objectively by the same lecturers who depend on him for their salaries and career advancement? Haba, oga, don’t you have ‘stop’ in your dictionary? For your information, there have been intense speculations in Abia over who actually wrote that exam, including the final year project. I have my suspicions. Could it be that same “very close aide?”
If the truth is to be told sir, you live in a glass house, as someone who phoned me last week said. You know it, so why are you embarking on such a risky venture of throwing stones? But I know why.

You are doing what we Lagosians call “ogboju”. You assume that you can shout people down. Or maybe because you have set up a sprawling newspaper empire, no one can dare you. However, you are wrong. If you like, you can set up a dozen more newspapers, and employ a legion of journalists to launder your image. But as William Shakespeare prophesied long ago, “not even all the waters of Arabia can wash away this stain!! Sir, you are besmirched for life.
It is wrong and unconscionable for you to set up newspapers to launder your image, turning a national newspaper into a personal album and turning otherwise respectable professionals into attack dogs. No Publisher has done that in the history of the media in Nigeria. A friend of man keeps count of how many times your picture makes the front cover of THE SUN and the ailing NEW TELEGRAPH. No other publisher so abuses his newspaper. Indeed, you have no sense of propriety. How can you devote two newspapers to attack your successor in office regularly?

In normal circumstances, no editor would accept what you are doing, especially this idea of a column being ghosted in your name weekly. What is that! You have corrupted the profession. Now you want to be President of NPAN? Ha, as what? Anyway, be rest assured that some of us will review our membership as soon as you succeed in buying yourself into that esteemed position. I don’t believe you possess the nobility of character to lead such an August body. Oga, with due respect, allow me to advise you as your former strategist. Calm down a little and be a bit more circumspect. You can’t continue hustling in the same manner you were doing in Maidugiri over twenty five years ago. You are all over the place, running around. Usually, as people age, they tend to slow down and become more measured and even dignified. This business of hawking proposals all over town at your age and level, harassing governors and all, is demeaning. In government house circles in Uyo, you have become the butt of jokes over your repeated attempts to talk Governor Godswill Akpabio into investing in your New Telegraph. He does not want to. Can’t you get the message? He believes that what he has done for your Sun newspaper group so far is more than enough. It is also quite interesting that you are struggling with New Telegraph.

Three Managing Directors in less than six months, and still counting. I heard you also had to slash salaries a few months ago. Now that you are no longer governor to leverage on your office, may be you can appreciate how difficult it is to publish a daily newspaper. And these are early days yet. After squandering the N500m “loan” you obtained from the coffers of SUN NEWSPAPERS account with Fidelity Bank, part of the quarterly N250m Government PR largesse paid from that our brother’s office in Abuja, now you will be forced to bring out your own money. That would be crunch time, since you don’t like spending your own money; indeed, you are an OPM (other peoples money) expert!
My second advice or in fact warning, is that you should henceforth desist from harassing Gov T.A Orji. Just think about it, are you the only Governor who disagreed with his successor in office? Why all the fuzz? Have you ever heard Dr Peter Odili, Chief Attah, Mr Donald Duke, Alhaji Bafawara, Dr. Chimaroke Nnamani, Alhaji Adamu Muazu, etc, say anything against their successors? There is something fundamentally childish and unbecoming about this whole episode. Can’t you simply get on with your life, really? But if you choose to persist on this course, and keep abusing Governor T.A Orji, we are firmly resolved to answer you in kind.
Our people have decided that this nonsense has gone on for too long. It has to come to an end now!
Finally, my dearest oga, pay attention to the wisdom of the ancients: No king reigns for ever. You know why? Otherwise he would become God and no man can be God. Nothing lasts for ever. No one holds all the aces. No one knows everything, not even Albert Einstein, voted as the most intelligent man of the millennium. The path of wisdom is to know when to stop.

Ask any law enforcement officer, the reason most criminals are eventually caught is that they don’t know when to stop. You would remember the old saying “every day is for the thief, but one day is for the house owner.” Whereas you can fool some of the people some of the time, you certainly can’t fool all the people all the time. Biko, if you ask me, i will say you have tried. But in all honesty, it is time to stop, even if it is only to review. Your first son (the one outside wedlock) will soon marry and you will become a grand pa. All these gra gra, what is it in aid of?

As the late British writer, Enoch Powel once opined, “every political career eventually ends in failure.” It is especially so for those who don’t know when to stop. Artful dodgers do get caught.
As the Igbo say, it is the small shit that spoils that “place.” It is true that old soldiers never die, but then they also fade away! In the theatre, when an actor overstays on the stage, the audience eventually boos him off.
In the old Oyo empire, when an Alaafin desecrates the land as you have done, the Oyomesi will present him with the calabash of death. His tragedy is his own making. Obviously, times have changed. But when a recalcitrant and cantankerous has-been refuses to heed the sunset, he becomes cannon fodder for children at the moonlight play.
Your Excellency, I regret to say this, you have left us with little choice. It is not only sad, it is really tragic

“The Lies And Lies of Orji Uzo Kalu” Is a Reaction to “Reign of Terror

UKPAI UKAIRO ESQ.
PRINCIPAL PARTNER, UKPAI UKAIRO ANDASSOCIATES, LEGAL PRACTITIONERS,
118 TENANT ROAD, ABA,
0803338268

Orji Uzor Kalu, a former civilian governor of Abia State murdered sleep in   REIGN OF TERROR BY ABIA TRIUMVIRATE, Saturday Sun, August 9, 2014, p.71 which appeared in KALU LEADERSHIP SERIES (KLS), a regular weekly column. The need to challenge the preposterous claims and set the records straight is the raison d’être for this intervention. It is my sincere expectation that the conversation will be unhindered in the interest of developmental politics founded on facts and not fiction.  But, first thing first! Let me hoist a tapestry of the character disposition of Orji Uzor Kalu in order to foreground our discussion.

 

I need to state immediately that I do not buy Sun Newspaper. This is because the alter ego of the stable, Orji Uzor Kalu,  for reasons that will appear clear hereunder, is an unserious character with grandiose disposition carefully crafted to hoodwink the unwary.  

 

Again, I also doubt the propriety of a newspaper owner creating a column for himself in his newspaper where he enjoys the uninhibited license of publishing his articles at will, without regard to quality whilst enjoying an unlimited access to those who will permit or deny a rejoinder. This is an issue which I think the NPAN should look at.

 

 Finally, KLS is one of those crafty designs for image-laundering of Orji Uzor Kalu. The truth is that he has no leadership credentials except as is enough to deceive and cheat. When he celebrated his one hundred in office during his first tenure I published a letter to him where I predicted that he will bring unmitigated disaster upon Abia State. I regret that I was proved right.

 

 Leadership is reflected in family and public life. On both fronts Orji Uzo Kalu is not a good market. That is why he cannot teach any positive values. If you listen to Orji Uzo Kalu speak ex tempore in public you will know that even the  KLS is a product of faceless writers who are in his payroll. It is not a case of somebody knowing how to write but being handicapped in public speaking. He simply cannot deliver a coherent message with the same erudition that characterizes KLS.

 

The capacity of Orji Uzor kalu to lie is legendary. But it has served him so well that he has elevated it to an arts form. This was how, growing up in Aba in the 70s’, he grafted  Kalu to his name because he wanted to be seen as the son of Chief Nnanna kalu, a business mogul from Abiriba who at that time was a household name in business circles in Aba. In Igbere, the Village of Orji Uzo kalu, every one knows that “Kalu” does not feature in the family tree of Orji Uzor kalu.

 

 The same trait was again at play when Orji Uzor Kalu mounted the podium in Bornu State of old at a launching of a development fund and made a donation of a sum of money that was mind-boggling. As it later turned out, when the cartons with which the money was delivered were opened, pieces of papers were the content.

 

Of course it is all well known that Orji Uzor Kalu falsely claims to have been a student in University of Maiduguri. According to the fable, which he craftily weaved, he voluntarily abandoned his course of study because some of his co-students who were expelled following a students’ protest were not recalled with him. This story line is of a course a tortoise-said-this-and-that story. It is a historic fact that the students who were expelled went to court and the titanic legal battle they waged moved from the High Court to the Supreme Court.

 

Again, it is an established fact that Orji Uzor Kalu remains the only Nigerian who flaunts a High Court Order that validated a WAEC result in the name of one Orji Uzor Johnson as his WAEC Certificate. For those who might have forgotten, the story is worth retelling, albeit, briefly. While Orji Uzor Kalu was Governor, a certain character whose whereabouts is presently unknown claimed that the WAEC result of Orji Uzor kalu did not belong to him. Pronto, Orji Uzor Kalu approached the High Court presided over by Hon. Justice S. N. Imo, who was the Chief Judge at that time. In the suit he filed against WAEC he claimed that a WASC result in the name of Johnson belonged to Orji Uzor Kalu. In the fastest legal proceedings ever conducted in any judicial system the Chief Judge granted all the reliefs.

 

It is worth recalling that it was the WAEC result and the Court judgment that Orji Uzor Kalu later used to procure admission for a full-time degree course in Abia State University whilst being the visitor to the said University in his capacity as the Governor of Abia State. Interestingly with the severance of his fraudulent influence the Senate of the University has since recalled his certificate.

 

The unimpeachable Truth is that all the core assertions in the said article are false in the extreme. They represent the quintessential trait of the character flaw of Orji Uzor Kalu: a capacity to lie and lie with a aplomb.

 

In the very first paragraph of the article Orji Uzor Kalu claims that Chief T. A. Orji, the Governors of Abia State, is engaging in “campaign of hate against, me and the people of Abia State”. This is an absolute lie. Orji Uzor Kalu is a victim of the repercussions of his misdeeds in Abia State. That is the reason why he cannot freely walk the streets of Aba and accordingly has carefully avoided a visit to the town he grew up and, I dare say, loved to be.

 

 Few years ago he was booed at a popular road junction in Aba-Owerri Road when he was identified in a pothole-induced traffic jam. On that fateful day sachet water and oranges were freely hurled at the vehicle of the former Governor. Trust Aba people in their disavowed of evil! It is the distaste by the people of Aba for the eight years of waste under Orji Uzor kalu that he attributes to the Governor. As I write I challenge any one who cares to visit the numerous drinking joints in Aba and mention either the name of Orji Uzor Kalu’s or his mother.

 

 The claim that Chief T. A. Orji is engaged in a campaign of hate against the people of Abia State is a lie taken too far. There is nothing at all no matter how minor to support such wild accusation. It is thus not surprising that Orji Uzor Kalu could not cite a single example of such campaign. As somebody who has lived in Aba since 1972 I have no hesitation in saying that the assertion that Abia State is under siege is a make-belief.

 

However, one thing is clear. The havoc Orji Uzor Kalu and the mother wrecked on the people of Abia State is far too fresh that they have reason to fear for their lives. What are the facts to back up this assertion? Under Orji Uzor Kalu and mother several hapless political jobbers were railroaded to different shrin where they took oath of personal allegiance. The victims of this idolatry are very much alive and they are bitter.

 

Again, it was Orji Uzor Kalu that masterminded the storming of the Abia State House of Assembly sometime in his first tenure in his office. The House of Assembly was damaged and several house members wounded by the thugs who were openly identified. The reaction of Orji Uzor Kalu was predictable. He donated ten Million Naira only for the repair of the damaged property. No body was arrested and no body prosecuted.

 

Again, Orji Uzor kalu should remember the “Orie Ohabiam 32”. If he has forgotten I need to remind him that thirty two young men died in a cell maintained by a Vigilante group midwifed by him. No body was arrested. No body was prosecuted. The families of the victims were never compensated. Their bitterness against Orji Uzor Kalu is so portent that it can permeate his high security walls.

 

Also, Orji Uzor Kalu should remember the two youngsters from Ubakala, aka the Ubalala two, who were killed at White House, Umuahia. Every hand pointed at the Governor and the mother and until now no body was prosecuted.

 

There are several other cases of mysterious deaths under the nose of Orju Uzor Kalu. However, let me not bore readers with such other examples. Let me just conclude by challenging Orji Uzor Kalu to cite one examples of mysterious death since 2007 which can be traced, even remotely,  to Chief T. A. Orji.

 

Let us remember our initial thesis: that Orji Uzor Kalu is a pathological liar. Thus when he asserts that “what we have in Abia State is total siege”, you can be assured that a spin doctor is at work. When Orji Uzor Kalu and his mother were in charge they looted several lands meant for public purpose. A clear example is the scramble for Ayaba Umueze land which was acquired for a Teaching Hospital. In a brazen display of non-pareil greed Orji Uzor Kalu shared out the land to Slok Nig. Ltd., his company, his brothers, mothers and co-travelers in perfidy.

 

Still in their demonstrable lust for money Orji Uzor Kalu’s mother converted every open space in markets in Aba for the building of stalls which were allotted, for re-sale, to members of Nweke Cabinet – a reference to all the favour-seeking hangers-on who  regularly thronged the residence of Orji Uzor Kalu mother at Nweke Street, Eziama-Aba, a sub-GRA in Aba.

 

In addition open spaces were converted into Motor Parks, Kiosks stands and shops which ensured the environmental defacement of the entire Enyimba City. It is these illegal structures, the manifestation of the debasement of values under Orji Uzor kalu, that are being demolished. Orji Uzor Kalu is only crying because when they erected the structures they knew of the illegality but had proclaimed to the beneficiaries that nothing could happen. In the celebrated language of that accursed time: Usu enwegi onu ( bats cannot bite).

 

Accordingly, when Orji Uzor kalu contends that Abia State is no more congenial he is right in a way. For evil men, fraudsters and idolators Abia State is no more congenial. However, for persons who are genuine in their aspiration for development Abia State remains the destination for good returns on investments. It is a known fact that Aba houses the highest number of SMEI in sub-Sahara which is the reason why the biggest private electric power generating part is being established in Aba.

 

I must, however, concede that the sackking of non-indigenes by the Chief T. A. Orji administration was inconsistent with the status of Abia State as a cosmopolitan state. Accordingly, I was one of those that urged for a reversal of the policy. It is heart-warning that the policy has been reviewed leading to the on-going re-engagement of the workers.

 

 For the umpteenth time let me say that it is not true that we live in fear in Abia State. On the contrary the air of freedom is unprecedented. Today a private radio station in Aba offers every body the platform to air views that were not possible in the heady days of Orji Uzor Kalu’s administration. In 2013 the Aba Marathon became a symbol of the air of freedom in Aba. The claim, therefore, that no where is safe in Abia State is the figment of a mind that is haunted by the evil deeds of the past. Think of Lady Macbeth seeing spots of blood  in his hand or Great Birnam Wood charging towards Macbeth in battle.

 

Let me at this stage address the issue of double-taxation in Aba . I agree that this is a major issue in governance. As a tax practitioner and a legal practitioner it is real. However, two quick points are necessary. It is a national problem as all the states are involved. Again, it was worse during the time of Orji Uzor Kalu. I can recall vividly that the regime of illegal tax started with illegal levies imposed on landlordsin Aba. Without any law in place the agents of Orji Uzor Kalu moved into action and started forcing payments of diverse sums. At the same time commercial bus drivers started paying what then known as thirty naira, for short, which was said to have been approved by “mama” – a reference to the mother of Orji Uzor Kalu. The ferocity with which the payment of levies was enforced, when Orji Uzor Kalu was governor, is still recalled with anger in Aba.

 

Let us fast forward to now. Recently, Governor T. A. Orji convoked a tax summit in Abia State. The summit was a reaction to criticisms of the regime of multiple taxations in Abia State. During the time of Orji Uzor Kalu such a platform was not possible because “bats had no mouth”. The outcome of the summit has not been made public but Governor T. A. Orji has already directed the suspension of all revenue agents pending when all the taxes are harmonized. I dare say that such directive was not possible under Orji Uzor Kalu arising from the insatiable appetite to grab.

 

I am honestly amazed at Orji Uzor kalu’s complaint about the air waves being inundated with praise-singing and booth-licking. When he was Governor his mother became on radio, a political Amazon of our time. She was daily equated with having equal intellectual and political prowess with every great woman in history. Such was the time! Today, while it is generally accepted that the tone of some pronouncements on the air waves are handiwork of over zealous fans of the Ochendo Magic there is nothing near the absurd level that heralded the Orji Uzor Kalu era. It is not for nothing that the NBC, at that time, imposed a fine of =N=500,000.00 on the state radio station in lieu of revoking the license.

 

I dare say that the comparison of Abia State and Bornu State is absurd in the extreme. This is the reason why I can safely say that Orji Uzor Kalu is living in a make-belief world. The camaraderie in Abia State is palpable. The Youth Empowerment Scheme of Chief T. A. Orji has put smiles on the faces of uncountable families. Orji Uzor Kalu,, as governor distributed wheel barrows, old vehicles abandoned by his aides and motorcycles. Today, what Chief T. A. Orji is distributing are vehicles that are in good stead for transportation. The difference, as they say, is clear!

 

Orji Uzor kalu claims that when he was governor he “treated people with dignity, respect and love”. This is absolute nonsense. We need to know whether oath-taking before diverse shrines was consistent with respect for the dignity of the human person. It is also worthy to recall that Orji Uzor Kalu insulted every known politician in Abia State. His caustic attack on Chief Ojo Maduekwe is a metaphor for the point I am making. In this respect it will be recalled that, out of clear mischief, he stoutly claimed that the name “OJO” was not of Igbo origin and therefore that Chief Ojo Maduekwe was not an Igbo man.

 

While America was fighting the evil of Taliban, Orji Uzor kalu conjectured it as a fitting name for all other politician who refused to kiss the poisoned chalice of mother and son for filthy lucre. With the toga of Taliban stuck on every politician, except his ilk, the message to his agents was clear: treat the opposition in the same manner Americans were treating the Taliban in Afghanistan! For Orji Uzor kalu to turn round few years later to claim a behavioral pattern that is inconsistent with his avowed public stance is another manifestation of the lies and lies of Orji Uzor kalu.

 

It is laughable that Orji Uzor Kalu can claim he groomed Governor T. A. Orji. As I write this piece Orji  Uzor Kalu has no graduate certificate from any University in the world. Yet he has the effrontery to claim that he groomed a graduate of a foremost University in Nigeria, the University of Ibadan! This is absolutely unbelievable. Orji Uzor Kalu grew up in the ghetto of Aba and by the time he became Governor all he had to his name, as shown in his certificate with which he contested elections in 1999 and 2003 is his WAEC certificate. Another known attribute then was that he was wildly traveled and a close friend to some military autocrats. Some also falsely thought he had money, not rich, because even today his character flaws betray him as being poor. How then it is possible that Orji Uzor Kalu groomed Chief T. A. Orji. On the contrary, it was Chief T. A. Orji that did all he could to attain a turn-around of Orji Uzor Kalu from seeing everything as “business”  and “game” to the real issues of governance. Regrettably, Orji Uzor kalu was and remains merely a “game man”: somebody who cheats, deceives and lies for personal advantage or gains!

 

That Orji Uzor Kalu attempts to stick on Governor T. A. Orji the “traits of arrogance, meanness, brutality or greed” is shocking because there is no action of the Governor that can be cited in support except in respect of the absolute and damning rejection of the Orji Uzor kalu’s negative tendencies. It was the negative tendencies highlighted by Orji Uzor Kalu that garlanded his administration. Every Abians recalls that at the height of his infamy Orji Uzor kalu asserted that his family will be in charge of Abia Governance for   fifty years. It was also at this time that he threw up his brother, over night, to run and win election under Action Congress to represent Aba North/South Federal Constituency. The hapless brother, thrown up to highlight Orji Uzor Kalu”s political dexterity was later referred to as “deaf and dumb” because not for once did he make any contribution in the House of Representatives.

 

Let me remind Orji Uzor Kalu that rejection of evil is obedience to God. And he who loves God has no business with die-hard sinners. The position of Chief T. A. Orji, as I understand it, comes to this, metaphorically speaking, : I either serve (nay work) with God or mammon and because I am serving (working) with God I will show absolute and irrevocable rejection of mammon.

 

Orji Uzor kalu claims he openly fraternized with everybody when he was Governor. This is absolutely false. I can attest that he once attended Chief Ojo Maduekwe’s daughter’s traditional marriage when no invitation was extended to him. That was a clear example of an uncivilized man who saw the whole thing as a game to bemuse his host. It is remarkable that even after that visit the political darts they landed at each other because more furious. So, what was the aim of the visit? Pretended love by a hypocrite. I do not think a well bred technocrat like Chief T. A. Orji, is caught out for such charade!

 

One of the attributes of Orji Uzor Kalu, as earlier highlighted, is the un-canny ability to make assertions that will appear true to the unwary. He came up with this strategy  when he rhetorically asked if Chief T. A. Orji “will have the courage to walk the streets as many of us do today when he leaves office as Governor?” inherent in this statement is that Orji Uzor kalu can walk the streets freely. I know he can do so in the streets London, New York Washington and even  Lagos. Let him try it in Aba or any other part of Abia State except Igbere.

 

Before Orji Uzor Kalu became governor he was the poster boy of good life in Aba. He was the stand-by boy of the rich with whom he enjoyed to associate with. Because he attended Primary School in CKC, Aba, Secondary Schools in Eziama High School, Aba and Government College, Umuahia he walked the streets with joy filled approbation. Even as governor he enjoyed this sociable image which he cultivated as a façade of deceit. But that was then. Today, his person throws up disdain and opprobrium. I challenge him to test the water.

 

For clarity it needs to be said that each of the assertions of Orji Uzor Kalu in his article are either premised on false ground or intentionally skewed. He claims he never visited government house after he left office. That may be true. But he always desired Government House to be visiting him and his mother. The competence and moral fortitude of the Governor are evident in his ability to reject such contraption; an attitude that Orji Uzor Kalu calls meanness.

 

 

It is right to underscore the fact that Orji Uzor Kalu claims that he does not embark on wild-give chase. But that is exactly the opposite of Orji Uzor kalu. While Governor of Abia State he demonstrated this character flaw. In his first 100 days in office he set up a committee headed by the venerable Chief Akwuiwu (SAN) to investigate illegal sale of property in GRA, Abia State. The report was never made public. Also, Orji Uzor Kalu, as governor, set up a Panel of Inquiry into what was known as Igbere crisis. Of course not a word was heard of the report. Also, it was the same “game-man”-trait that made the Governor to set up a committee on hand over of Schools to their owners. Of course no School was handed over to the original owners until the end of his tenure. Several other examples could be pointed out but the above three are, in my view enough, to support our contention.

 

It is right that Orji Uzor Kalu is preaching moral rectitude, peace and harmony. But he has to step out now and apologize to Ndi Abia. His Government of deceit, blood-letting and idolatry are still fresh. His was the typical Egypt. His write-up shows that he is an un-repentant sinner. He needs our prayers only but not our association. We in Abia State have long left Egypt. There is no going back “Enyi Abia Alawala! .

 

Finally, it is apt to stress that Chief T. A. Orji is humane, honest and caring. These are attributes that are rare is most leaders. He should not be distracted by the likes of Orji Uzor Kalu. As the great Zik said History shall vindicate the just.

PPA Chieftain Lampoons Kalu for attacking Orji

Factional deputy national chairman of the Progressive Peoples Alliance(PPA), Ogbuishi Benjamin Oborota, has described the recent press attack by former Abia State governor, Chief Orji Uzor Kalu, on incumbent Governor Theodore Orji as “myopic and an afterthought”.

Reacting to Kalu’s description of Orji as a chameleon, Oborota said the write up was “an expose to the shallowness of the former governor who maintained a chief of staff for eight years without discovering him.”

He said it was disappointing that someone who prides himself as a master strategist could not uncover a chameleon in his cabinet for eight years, to the extent that he would recommend a chameleon to succeed him as governor. “This shows the daftness of the master strategist, and further confirms that his writings might actually have been authored by surrogates as suspected in several quarters,” he added.

He said that Kalu’s claim that he never knew the true nature of Orji was false because all persons who had any business to do in Abia State when the former governor held sway knew that the state would have collapsed on Kalu’s head but for the then versatile chief of state, who is the current governor.

The PPA deputy chairman said that under Kalu, Abia State had descended to such decay that merit was thrown overboard in favour of “mamacracy where allegiance to the former governor’s mother determined progress in appointment and the award of contracts.”

He maintained that during the years between 1999 and 2007, Abia was under siege where governance was turned into a family business.

Oborota said that the assumption of office in 2007 by Orji staved the trend of political migration of Abians who had fled intimidation, kidnap, economic strangulation and assassinations to Abuja and Lagos.

He noted that Kalu fell out with Orji when his failed attempt to corner the state’s monthly allocation was resisted by the latter, “which resulted in the unprecedented query of a sitting governor by a political party.”

He expressed surprise at Kalu’s blind claim that Abia had lagged behind during Orji’s tenure, wondering when last the former governor visited the state.

He urged Kalu to visit Umuahia with the view to marvelling at the great transformation of the city centre where the dilapidated main market, auto spare parts market and the industrial estate he had ignored for eight years have been relocated and modernised, creating space for these massive developments currently ongoing.

Breaking News: Five people killed by OUKs aides in Igbere

At least five people were killed today at the Camp Neya home of Orji Uzor Kalu at Igbere in Bende Local Government Area, Abia State Report reaching us through our reporter and many other eye witness accounts stated the Former Governor of Abia State was in His home town to declare his interest to run for the Abia North Senatorial seat in 2015 on the platform of PPA. Our reporter who witnessed the incident said that some PPA supporters who came to welcome kalu were kept outside before the ex Governor arrival.

It was gathered that out recklessness of Kalu's convoy drivers on his arrival, some of his supporters who attempted to enter when the gate was opened were knocked down by Kalu's back ups vehicles that were on high speed. Apart from the five people, 4 old women and a male teenager, several others were wounded. The deceased were later taken away by Kalu's aides.

However, according to conformed reports, the sad situation did not stop Kalu who was not perturbed to declare his interest for Abia North Senate in 2015 before the remaining worrying guests Kalu was said to have excused himself into his mansion when he noticed the worrying faces before him following the ugly incident. The Bende Divisional Police Officer and his men were seen at the scene of the incident, restoring peace and order.

APC leaders are a bunch of loud mouths – Onuoha-Bourdex

Pioneer telecom expert and aspirant to Abia North Senatorial district seat in the Senate on the platform of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Abia State, Dr. David Ogba Onuoha-Bourdex, in this interview with select journalists looks at the many socio-political challenges facing Nigeria, Emmanuel Uzodinma reports for DailyPost:
President Goodluck Jonathan has approved the sum of N1.9 billion to battle the Ebola scourge; how do you see this initiative against the backdrop of the many socio-political challenges facing President Jonathan?
Well, I have always expressed the belief that God positioned President Goodluck Jonathan as Nigeria’s leader at this critical point in our nation’s history. I think your question is coming from the background of the prolonged security challenges in the country especially the insurgency in some parts of the country.

Let me say that Jonathan has proved that he is the best man for the job. From day one, the President started battling some grave challenges including natural and man-made obstacles to smooth governance. I hope Nigerians have not forgotten how the President was psychologically traumatized by the needless squabbles over whether the country should obey the Constitutional provision that the Vice President should become President on the event of incapacitation or death of the president. That furore was shortly succeeded by another round of distraction over whether the President should contest the presidential election or not in line with Peoples Democratic Party’s zoning blue print.

As if those were not enough distractions, President Jonathan’s election in a landslide victory was followed by an unwarranted regime of violence instigated by those who believe that they hold exclusive right to the country’s leadership. The nexus between that ogre of violence and the insurgency by the Boko Haram Islamic sect has not yet been fully explored. Should I now forget the flood disaster that left unimaginable social and infrastructure disaster in 2012? At one point after another President Jonathan has been battling some extra ordinary challenges that never before confronted any Nigerian leader.

I had to go down the memory lane to be able to not only answer your question but above all put it in the real perspective. By rising to the enormous emergency health challenge posed by the Ebola outbreak, President Jonathan has shown that he has been toughened by the series of adversities that have been the lot of his chequered presidency. He has proved the sincerity of his assurances to Nigerians that he would fight for their welfare. So by approving the sum of N1.9 billion to contain and address the challenge of the killer virus, the President has shown that he cares. The swiftness of that gesture also shows the humanity and responsiveness of the presidency.

Recall that the president explained that the N1.9 billion will be used to intensify measures to contain the spread of the disease such as establishment of more isolation centres, case management, contact tracing, recruiting additional personnel, screening at the borders and procurement of required items and facilities. The President went further also to declare the control and containment of the Ebola virus in the country, a national emergency. The immediate release of the fund which the president approved was therefore a practical demonstration of the seriousness the situation calls for. The huge sum would help in no small way in the establishment of additional isolation centres, case management, contact tracing, deployment of additional personnel, screening at borders, and the procurement of required items and facilities as the presidency outlined.

But how do you see the president’s request for N1 billion to confront insurgency, which is being dogged by division among legislators some of who refer to the cloud surrounding the alleged missing N49.8 billion oil revenue?

I think the senate committee charged with investigating that claim by the former Central Bank Governor, has come out with a clear declaration that such a humongous amount was not missing from the treasury.

That brings me back to what I was trying to explain earlier that a lot of sentiments have been built like a stone wall to distract the president. What I believe President Goodluck Jonathan needs, is the collective solidarity and support of all Nigerians as he tackles the myriads of socio-political challenges confronting our country at this point of its development. Certain commentators have alluded to the politicization of the insurgency to blame its escalation on a particular political party. I do not want to reject the suggestion that the Boko Haram insurgency could be serving the political interests of those who do not want President Jonathan to succeed in office.

However, I think the time has come to tackle the insurgency headlong as a clear affront on Nigeria’s sovereignty. Therefore the import of President Jonathan’s request to the National Assembly for approval for the release of the N1 billion to tackle national security, is that he wants to adopt a different strategy. It would therefore be childish for any lawmaker who is aware of the national embarrassment the insurgency is causing our country to withhold consent on the altar of political considerations.

With due respect, the Senate has shown more maturity in issues of this nature than the House of Representatives because the lower House seems to be always on the lookout for hidden political considerations or benefits in its examination of executive communications or requests. There is no doubt that the insurgency; especially the abduction of 219 girls from Girls Secondary School in Chibok has shown that the Nigeria military is in dire need of modern sophisticated equipment and hardware to tackle the intricate terrorist warfare. If part of the money being requested by the President would go to upgrading the military arsenal, I think it should get unanimous approval. When such challenge came upon Mali, it took the assistance of the French army to dislodge the Islamists who wanted to carve out a separate colony for their nefarious activities. President Jonathan has said that Nigeria would not cede any segment of the country. Nigeria is a big country and should demonstrate the capacity to defend its territorial integrity. The National Assembly should endeavour to be on the same page with the President on this issue of battling insurgency. As such I feel the legislators should grant the President approval for the contingency fund in this period of national emergency.

As zoning seems to be threatening most state chapters including Abia, don’t you think the arrangement would continue to haunt the party in 2015?

Attempts by the opposition to use zoning against PDP has continued to backfire. Despite its bogus claim as the bastion of internal democracy, the recent national convention of the All Progressives Congress, (APC) convinced Nigerians that the leaders are but a bunch of loud mouths whose lips and lives have very big gaps. That they do not do what they say came to light when they zoned the national chairmanship of APC to the South-South. Now I have it on good authority that they plan to tinker with the zoning arrangement further to accommodate a presidential running mate from the same South-South.

But regarding that wonderful innovation of zoning by PDP, the plan was to reduce bickering that usually follows nomination of presidential candidates in the party. The idea was also to deepen the search for credible candidates instead of crowding the field with many aspirants some of whom may be out just to win attention. What happened in 2010, though unforeseen; was an attempt to interpret the zoning arrangement without accommodating the superiority of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

It is therefore such narrow approach to the implementation of the zoning that created the fuss we witnessed at the demise of our former president Alhaji Umaru Musa Yar’Adua. As you can see PDP has weathered that storm and I would like to reiterate the aspect of zoning which was disclosed by the Ebonyi State Governor, Chief Martin Elechi. The elder statesman stated that what PDP zoning sought to do was to extend the federal character principle which states that President and Vice President, Governor and his Deputy as well as Chairman and Vice Chairman should not come from the same ethnic group. That is the aspect that endears PDP zoning to Nigeria citizens. The arrangement should not make people lose sight of merit and competency. After all the electoral system gives the voters the last say! That is how it should be; whatever political parties do to win elections is welcome to the extent that it should not take away the right of the people to have the final say. Parties can zone, but the people can un-zone during the election by electing the man/woman they like. It is as simple as that.

I think President Jonathan has given Nigerians what they treasure most through the electoral reforms. The principle of ‘One man, One Vote’ is the ideal instrument to make power belong to the people in a democracy. That is part of the reason I urge Nigerians to support President Jonathan for a second term in office so that he could deepen this democratic culture and enhance good governance in Nigeria.

All eyes seem to be on your state, Abia as the 2015 election draws near; the Governor, Chief T. A. Orji has shown interest to go to the Senate and yet speaks of zoning the governorship to Abia South, which is raising some controversies; do you not think the Governor seems to be biting more than he can chew?

You journalists have a way of postulating abstractions. The reality on the ground in Abia State is that the Ochendo phenomenon marks the refreshing turning point in Abia politics and social life. Governor T. A Orji has in a quiet way brought down the transformation agenda of President Goodluck Jonathan to the practical experience of Abia people, both young and old. Therefore when Abians from all walks of life talk of him as the liberator, people from outside the shores of the state seem not to understand what Ochendo means to us. Governor T. A. Orji has through an uncommon understanding of statecraft lifted Abia State and Abians from the morass of official greed compounded by the waste and extravagance of the preceding years. Men and women now freely express their political preferences and ideas as opposed to the choking system of voodoo politics of yesteryears. Top of that Ochendo has raised a new consciousness among the people that it is easy for the government to provide a combination of physical and stomach infrastructure for the benefit of the masses. The legacy projects and economic empowerment programmes of the governor has made him the rallying point for leadership in the state. As such when the governor said that the search for the next Abia governor should start from the South, he was carrying out his responsibility as a leader instead of keeping the people in the dark. As a famous consensus builder, empathic and visionary leader, Governor T. A. Orji wants to mobilize Abians in the search for the appropriate candidate to succeed him in office and carry the touch of liberation further. His position should therefore not been seen from the narrow prism of political exigency but as a call for voter inclusion and involvement in the search for the next governor. Like I said before, Ochendo is not extinguishing the people’s right to the final say on who becomes the governor through the expression of their votes.

I can understand the apprehension in some quarters that the governor may already have a candidate settled in his mind as the next governor. But that is far from the truth. If it were to be his intention atleast he should have kept mute like one of the South East governors did who warned his loyalists against aspiring for the position of governor saying that he had a candidate in mind. But the democratic credentials of Ochendo have never been and cannot be in question.

As a true leader of men, our governor does not want to shirk his responsibility of opinion leadership. He calls a spade by its name and always means what he says. That is why the people of Abia Central Senatorial district, including the incumbent Senator Nkechi Nwogu, have freely and unanimously endorsed him to represent them in the Senate of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. And it shall come to pass! Abians are happy with the governor and wherever he leads, we follow.

DAILYPOST