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

BREAKING NEWS! EFCC ARRESTS ALEX OTTI

Reports just reaching our news desk says that the former MD of Diamond Bank has been arrested by the EFCC. Otti a factional governorship candidate of APGA in Abia state was picked up at the Murtala Mohammed Airport Lagos this morning on his way to Sam Mbakwe International Airport Owerri.

Otti our source said was arrested based on the petition written to the anti corruption agency by Diamond Bank over the missing 10 Billion Naira after the sack of Otti as the MD. When our reporter contacted the campaign manager of Otti on phone, he confirmed that his boss is in EFCC office Lagos. "My boss was not arrested, he was invited by EFCC over some issues with Diamond Bank, he will soon be released, are you ok?"  He concluded

Is Ochendo Global truly a bad leader (1) John Okiyi Kalu

Permit me thank you for your responses to the congratulatory message posted on my Facebook wall on Sunday in honor of my State Governor, Ochendo Global TA Orji. I understand and appreciate the various perspectives and really never expected that just one congratulatory message is enough to change hearts and minds hardened over the years by a persistent and unrelenting media attacks on a man I know to be a good leader and a good man to boot. The only exception to this appreciation are those who descended to the gutter of ignorance and patterned illiteracy of resorting to abuse as a way of making their points. You failed your parents, teachers, pastors and our educational system. Whoever taught you that abuse is a form of public debate needs to be stoned ASAP. He has given society the type of members we will rather confine to the gutter. Yet I will pray for you to change for the better, for my sake and that of humanity. I have also taken measures to quietly delete those I consider below baseline of reasonability from my personal wall, in obedience to the age old saying that no matter what you do for an animal it will always prefer to enter the forest. One thing you can take to the bank is that the abuses didn't get to me and will not change me or my views on the man Ochendo Global. I even told a "concerned" friend of mine that if I were an aircraft I wouldn’t be a stealth bomber but rather a Boeing 747 that takes off against the wind.

 For me, life is not a popularity contest for which I must follow popular views and sacrifice my conscience for popular acclaim. I also do not have political ambitions that require popular acclamation to succeed. For those who know me, I have been there several times. The last time was on the issue of Igbo representation at the National Conference where some sought to make issues out of General Ike Nwachukwu's leadership of Ndigbo at the event. My “unpopular” position then was anchored on three premises: General Nwachukwu was the unanimous choice of the delegates, not imposed by Ochendo and he is the best available material who will do better than others before him. The usual populist crowd descended on my person and position heavily but I took off against the wind, as usual. Where are the populists now that Ike Nwachukwu has led the most productive Igbo delegation to the national conference? Have they congratulated him or even sought to put pressure on the Presidency to implement all the agreements of the conference? Have they even assessed the outcome of the conference beyond the knowledge that a section of the country they claimed Nwachukwu was mortgaged to is railing against the outcome? "Whosai", they have gone on another unproductive populist expedition.

Before venturing out to answer the question formulated by the title of this note, permit me to say that you must understand leadership to know who is a good or bad leader. The simplest definition of a leader in the applicable context is "a person who leads or commands a group, organization, or country". I suspect that most of us are leaders in one form or another including leading at family, club and associations levels. The devil is in whether we are good or bad leaders. (I leave us to pass judgments on ourselves). But if you have ever failed in leadership you already know who a bad leader is because you know yourself. Likewise if you have ever succeeded in a leadership position then you know what good leadership means.

In a broader sense, Leadership has been described as "a process of social influence in which one person can enlist the aid and support of others in the accomplishment of a common task" (Thank God for Wikipedia). The key to knowing a good leader is therefore whether he or she accomplished  "key tasks" using the resources available to him or her. To know that, you must first know what those key tasks or challenges are/were. If you know that you can then grade the person to know if he failed, passed, excelled or otherwise. Such an assessment must be based on well-defined parameters with weights attached to each item based on what the assessor considers to be most or least important. But we must avoid the endless expectation trap because no single leader is capable of solving all the problems of a people and every solved problem brings new challenges. It is therefore fair to say that every leader will solve some problems and leave others unsolved for the next leader. That's why we say governance or leadership is a continuum.

One thing that is known to all students of leadership is that every leader confronts unique challenges in time and measurement of his effectiveness is based strictly on how he managed those challenges. Not in the absence of new challenges after him. George Bush faced 911 challenges whereas Obama is facing ISIS challenge. Both men also confronted economic issues but at different times the economic challenge might be more important to Americans while at another time the military challenge will require more attention. May be it is fair to say that Bush handled 911 better than Obama is handling ISIS and resurgent Islamist terrorists whereas Bush failed to handle the economy well and Obama did better. As apparent as that may be, in measuring which of them is/was a good leader you necessarily must define parameters and the surrounding circumstances which we call "facts behind the figures" in the business management world.

What exactly were the real challenges faced by Ochendo administration on assumption of office and in the course of service as Governor? Permit me to itemize the most pressing issues in no particular order.

1.  A near non existent capital city (Umuahia) lacking in the most basic of infrastructures including state owned government house, office and home accommodation for civil servants and near zero social life.

2.  A state pocketed by a cabal of the privileged with an oozing air of spiritual impurity and ‘cowboyism’ as a brand of leadership with "the more you look the less you see" achievements.

3.  A highly polarized state as a result of what started from a "girl-related" misunderstanding between his predecessor and his deputy that practically pitched Ukwa-Ngwa against Old Bende axis of Abia.

4.  A devastating criminal brigandage bench marked by kidnapping and armed robbery that totally paralysed the state's commercial hub, Aba, and it's environs. Virtually everyone who is somebody fled Aba and commercial activities grounded to a halt. Some of us who loved Aba found it hard to see a recovery path for the town and we naturally relocated our businesses and families to safer climes.

5. The security situation at Aba even impacted neighboring cities like PH, Owerri and Uyo with the spill over effect that citizens of some of those towns were even discouraged by their state governments from traveling to Aba as they also contended with their own versions of kidnap business boom across the South East and South South.

6.  All major markets at Aba including Ariaria market were almost totally shut down with less than 20% operation level.  Key industries like NBL, IEA, and Lever Brothers were badly affected while banks and many other financial institutions scaled down operations, relocated or closed completely. 

7. The state had backlog of unpaid salaries arising mostly from the mismanagement of local government funds by cronies of those in government.

8. High debt profile arising from Mbakwe era debts and heavy borrowing by the preceding regime for projects that nobody can point to even with the left hand.

9. Personal insecurity was the order of the day with citizens afraid to speak up at the risk of a visit by assassins and sundry miscreants who were agents of those in and around the corridors of power. Many unexplained murders were recorded.

10. Aba roads decayed as a result of neglect and failure of few "reconstructed" roads within 2 years. That was compounded by the total failure of key Federal roads and the old drainge system at Aba.

11. The political space was closed with Abia elders and stakeholders shut out of governance and the state was officially in the bad books of the Federal Government.

12. Terrible sanitation system at Aba in particular. The culture of dumping refuses on the road, gutter and anywhere but waste bins continued unabated.

13. Educational performance was dropping rapidly with decaying school infrastructure, ill motivated teachers and poor school management. The state was not in the top 5 brackets in WAEC and the state owned tertiary institutions (ABSU and Abiapoly) barely existed.

14. Terribly poor transport system with motorcycles (okada) flooding Aba and Umuahia roads as the major source of transport. Only the orthopedic hospitals can tell how many Abians were coming in for treatment in those days and to make matters worse, the bikes became the preferred vehicles for armed robbers and kidnappers.

15. Usable health care essentially was given by only the General hospital at Aba, Teaching hospital and Queen Elizabeth Umuahia (aka FMC Umuahia). The greater numbers of citizens were treated by patent medicine dealers (aka chemists) and traditional healers

Having formulated the top 15 issues that the Ochendo regime faced at inception and while in power, I am tempted to grade him on all the issues given that I am the one setting the exam. But I will also welcome a new examiner to formulate his own issues based on his understanding of Abia state (before and during Ochendo's regime) and grade the Governor. Such examination should naturally pass the test of objectivity and knowledge obtained by observation and testing of facts (also known as science). It is only when you have done so dispassionately that you can contest my position that he is a good leader. I know what second hand information obtained from a hostile media (mainstream and social) can do to someone. For instance, last December we visited Abia state Government House as a group to see the Governor and present what we considered pressing Abia and Igbo issues to him for review and action. One of those on our delegation was a foreign-based Nigerian who previously formed his opinions against the Governor based on what he has been reading as well as the poor state of Aba roads. He was among the selected team that initially went in to see the Governor to request that he meets us as a group. The Governor obliged them and met us late in the evening. All through Ochendo's presentations and explanations on the challenges of leadership in the state, this same person was clapping for him, nodding approval and later told others and me that the man is a grossly misunderstood person. I don't know if the attraction of populism has forced him to change that view today and I sure will like to know. Or may be he came to Umuahia with the mind set that he was coming to meet a fabled "moron" and was merely excited that he met an Ochendo who was by far better than he was made to believe. Na only him waka come so Na only him know.

I speak and write of an Ochendo Global I have studied from far and near. I speak of a man whose picture hangs in my private parlor for over 3 years now because I not only like his stablizing leadership style but also feel a little like him-misunderstood but well intentioned. I write about a man surrounded by powerful enemies of means who have succeeded in swaying the minds of millions against him to use just one criterion to judge him negatively-Aba roads. I am even surprised by some of his transducers who had hitherto argued that we are too backward as a people to place roads at the top of the ladder when measuring leadership efficiency in Nigeria. Not that I actually agree with them because I still think that Africa in general is still at the level of infrastructure development. More so when you are looking at commercial cities whose people are mostly traders and farmers. They need good access roads in addition to other things. For me, a healthy mixture must be in place for the overall progress of the state and the spread should be such that all areas of the state have values from the government.

With your permission, I will now do the job of a rating agency, albeit an amateur agency. I expect to show some form of bias because I like Ochendo and most of what I will discuss may not be apparent to you. Some details, I will gloss over for the sake of peace and unity of Abia, as presently constituted. What most know about Ochendo Global are basically whatever the controllers of the media establishment choose to tell the public. Unfortunately, Ochendo Global is "old skool" and will likely not pay what others pay for positive media reviews. As I was typing this note, I saw a colleague of his from a neighboring state who was celebrating his birthday on television when I tried switching channels I noticed that AIT, Channels and NTA were all carrying the birthday event "live and direct". I know what that means in taxpayers naira and kobo terms and can tell you that even if you point a gun at Ochendo he won't spend such money for "onyonyo". Is that good in this day and time? I will leave his media team to answer and may be share their frustrations working for a fiscally conservative retired civil servant as against the young cowboy of Abia 1999-2007.  It might well be also argued that a bit of that conservatism explains why Ochendo chose to work with the same core executive team that worked with his predecessor. Most cowboys of today's Nigeria will assemble a fresh team of their own they can trust, but not the trusting Ochendo with good conscience.

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> 

Someone reminded me on my wall about the latin phrase "Vox populi, vox Dei" which loosely translates to "the voice of the people [is] the voice of God", I smiled inwardly knowing that vox populi killed Jesus even without as much as a proper charge against Him. And when Pilate insisted on proper review, vox populi merely responded with "crucify him...let the sin be on our head and our children's head". I leave historians to review that Biblical travesty that happened with all those who truly knew Jesus refusing to speak out so as not to be mobbed by a manipulated crowd. Amazingly that included his apostles and sundry men and women who benefited from His ministry on earth. While as Christians we condemn the Jews of those days, how many times have we as individuals bulged at the prospect of challenging popular views? Our situation is made worse by the new social media where to remain “popular” you must tow popular lines or refuses to speak up as people are being lynched. It is tempting to ask if we don't have people who truly know the essential Ochendo at Nigeria social media community. Or have they all been silenced by the Jewish mob?

I will take a stand because I usually take a stand. I took a stand on Stella Oduah, Ike Nwachukwu, Sanusi Lamido and many others. I am taking a stand on Ochendo Global. 

For long I personally opted not to engage on Abia issues principally for 2 reasons: I preferred to work behind the scene and help get things done for our people given that I have reasonable access to those in government. Secondly, I know that once I publicly take up an issue there is no retreat no surrender. I will surely take sides with the truth I know and good conscience.

Nobody on either side of the Abia debate will ever, in good conscience, tell you that I said Aba roads are in anywhere near satisfactory state. I have continuously engaged my contacts at State and Federal levels on the poor state of some key roads at Aba. One online friend on my wall while commenting on the poor state of Aba-Ikot Ekpene highway posted a picture as proof of Ochendo's failure. What he didn't know was that “his” picture was actually taken by me in 2012 as part of my appeal to the Federal government to come to our rescue and as published on my wall; from where someone apparently picked it up and circulated until it got to the person who reposted it to my wall ostensibly to chastise me. Funny, he even presented it, as current picture whereas I know that Federal road is worse than that, currently. I have videos I will publish on Federal roads in Abia state and a documentary on them is under production. I will publish them extensively in December if I don't see movement of caterpillars along those roads with serious intentions from the Federal Government.

Similarly, I have pictures of Osusu road, Ngwa road, Ohanku road, Obohia road, Ariaria and Milverton that I have already forwarded to people I know in ABSG. Those are state roads in need of urgent fixing, and many more are in similar conditions. I have received assurances that work will commence on some of those roads latest October. If I don't see action by mid October, I will also publish them. But if I see action, I will publish the action. I will not behave like some of my friends who inundated social media with images of George’s field Aba but when it was fixed no picture was published even though we all see the transformed George’s park daily.

Someone asked me why I still support Jonathan fiercely even with the bad Federal roads and I replied that road infrastructure is only one of my parameters for measuring good leadership. On many other issues I consider him a good leader, especially for holding Nigeria together at a time like this and under extreme stress. He passed my leadership test even without scoring excellent on all issues of governance. It is the same standard I use in measuring Ochendo, Amaechi and others. When I say Amaechi is a good administrator but a divisive politician, I know what I am saying. If to you it means I hate Amaechi or even sold out to him, why should I lose sleep over that? Uwe ezu oke is someone's name and I apply uwaezuoke (you can't have it all) principles in measuring leaders. But I don't forgive leaders who kill. Jonathan is not a killer. Ochendo is not a killer. Amaechi is not a killer. Fashola is not a killer. Sullivan is not a killer. I have varying degrees of affection for them and you may wish to add that I LOVE humble leaders. They win all the time with me because I understand where the virtue called humility comes from. It comes from the spring called humanity and only few fetch water from that spring.

Now here is a practical human joke. Many of my fiends that are abusing Ochendo also support Jonathan. Amazingly they feel no qualms that South East Federal Roads are in bad state under Jonathan's watch. Possibly they also feel he has done well on other scores. But once Abia and Ochendo is involved, they curse and rant about Aba roads as prima faciae sole measure for good governance. Are they well or just playing populist politics? Is it not possible to apply same standard of measurement of leadership across board? I leave that to social scientists.

Back to my emergency rating job which I intend to do in no particular order. Based on what Ochendo met on the ground and the resources available to him, I will score him 45% with state roads. (Since this review is not about Jonathan, don't wait to read how I rate President Jonathan vis-à-vis South East roads). I have looked at Abia's budget from 2007 to 2014 and believe that Ochendo could have done more inner city roads at Aba in particular. Yes, he fixed Azikiwe road, Geometric road, Georges, Ehi road by shopping centre, Milverton (which later failed), Eziukwu by Aba Owerri road, and a few other bad portions, his revenue stream could have accomodated a minimum of N2b expenditure per annum on Aba inner city roads. With that amount over a 7-year period, things would have looked a lot better. May be the massive funds injection into securing Aba since 2008 impacted on that alongside other challenges he faced. But the least we expected was that every dry season some maintenance work will be done on Aba roads pending when the required funds for brand new drainage system becomes available to make the roads stand longer after rehabilitation. He could also have leveraged on his good relationship with President Jonathan in the past 3 years to get the Federal government to make an intervenion at Aba with special emphasis on the 3 major Federal roads that serve as entry and exit points to Aba. To his credit is the fact that inner city roads at Umuahia have improved on his watch. I like the look of Ogurube layout, Azikiwe road, new Okpara roundabout and others.

That brings me to his performance at Umuahia as the capital of Abia. Feel free to say that I felt let down that the regime before Ochendo virtually left Umuahia the way it met it. I can't wait to read a cogent reason why the fabulous Camp Neya private home of our ex-governor was built without an equivalent new government house at Umuahia in 8 years of that regime. My only consolation is that I have seen the new government house under construction by Ochendo and I feel a sense of pride at the ongoing work. I hope and pray that come May 2015 our new expected Ngwa born Governor will live and govern from that architectural masterpiece. As someone who has gone round Umuahia including Oguruibe layout, aptly described as new Umuahia GRA, I am satisfied with what Ochendo has done. I have visited the new twin state secretariat complex, ASUBEB building, E-library complex, wonderfully finished international conference centre and many more projects that can provide the foundation structures for the emergence of a new Abia. I applaud the vision and the courage that relocated the Umuahia market away from he city centre with a new sructure rising rapidly beside the new Okpara statue with water fountain. Based on what he met and leaving behind, I can confidently score Ochendo Global 80% with improvements on the status of Umuahia. May be some will begin to see the usefulness of his efforts after the anticipated creation of Aba state next year.

To properly position the improvements at Umuahia you might need to compare it with other new state capitals created same time and at same income bracket. There is no basis to compare Umuahia with Owerri or Enugu, like many want to do. Under Ochendo, Umuahia is now properly positioned for further growth.

Security is another area Ochendo has done very well. Today you can leave your house at 9pm at Aba to go and eat ukpa and nkwobi at George’s street, listen to ‘sekem’ music at Enitona or evergreen Terminus hotel and check into Benidon at 12am without fear. It was not always like this. A time was when I personally won't be outside at 5pm in Aba. I know even traders were not able to buy and sell freely in those days. Even the area of personal freedom, including right to agree or disagree with those in power, is greatly enhanced under Ochendo. It could even be argued that the lack of "fear factor" is responsible for many of the false publications against the Governor we read online including comically fictional ones like the adapted nollywood tale of an army captain pummeling his son or his son killing his PA. That people even believe and spread such information without iota verification shows how much we have degenerated.

On security I will score him 90% because he faced a massive challenge and was able to pacify the situation and bring the state back together. He has not been sending assassins after his opponents and that also counts greatly. There are no muscle men in Abia breathing down people's necks in and around the government house. I am yet to read of people being taken to shrines to swear allegiance to anyone and people no longer disapper anyhow. Unlike the past, there are no headless bodies here and there in Abia. I salute Ochendo immensely for that because I know there was a time we couldn't even attend night vigils to pray against social evils. Today, you can criticize the Governor in broad daylight from the pulpit without fear of persecution. But a time was when all the pulpits in Aba silently muttered prayers to God to come and liberate us.

On simple emperical basis of published WAEC results I make bold to say that educational sector in Abia is in good hands under Ochendo.For two consucative years the state has maintained second position behind Anambra. Some states that were in the first 3 before have dropped without notice or hullabaloo. But I can bet that if Abia had dropped from second position two years ago to 3rd last year it will be front-page news. Even the new school structures built by Ochendo have led many to debate if projects funded partially or wholly with SURE-P state allocations should be counted as achievement of the incumbent Governor. Amazingly the same lynch mob failed to make same distinctions with some state SURE-P funded Rivers model schools or even check how their favorite State Governors funded their own projects. The debate only quietened after I showed my friends a copy of a state budget that captured SURE-P revenue. May be we need a special online school to teach people that by law all Federal revenue, including SURE-P, must be shared between the 3 tiers-Federal, State and LGA. If the Federal applies its share to counterpart funding of Niger Bridge or Lagos-Ibadan road, they are Jonathan's projects. Likewise the states can apply their shares to projects of interest within the programs mandate area.

To think that all that argument came because people are bent on denying one man his due honors shows the enormity of the challenge Ochendo is facing with negative media. Well, that won't stop me from scoring him above 70% on educational improvements. I know the condition of ABSU and Abiapoly he inherited and have no doubt that both tertiary institutions are better off today. For those who don't know, Abia State is blessed with four functional Universities including Federal, State and private universities. All top class institutions. The State has two major cities to cater for, Aba and Umuahia with Ohafia rising.

Since my mum passed on 2 years ago I have not visited the teaching hospital at Aba but I have seen unverfied images that are not looking very good. But the last time I was there it was in good condition with improved access to diagnostic facilities. Umuahia has a modern diagnostic centre and it is full credit to the healthcare infrastructure in Abia that we hardly read of Abia Government officials flown abroad for medicare. I recently visited a top government official in the state who was involved in a ghastly motor accident as he was receiving treatment at Umuahia. In most states in Nigeria people at his level would have been flown abroad with chartered air ambulance and loads of hard currency. He was treated in Umuahia and returned back to work within six weeks. Again, on the strength of the massive proactive preparation I witnessed first hand in response to possible Ebola outbreak eventuality, I will score Ochendo above 70% on healthcare improvement. I also took into cognisance the over 30 new health centres scattered around rural Abia that sprung up on Ochendo's watch.

No doubt the transport system in Abia is much better than Ochendo met it. His empowerment schemes for youths and transporters have worked well. His courage in banning ‘okada’ from Aba and Umuahia roads is worth applauding. I challenge anyone who witnessed a better empowerment system in Abia to speak up. I am not interested in discussing "wheel barrows" as empowernment tools but I am permitted to wonder why the wheelbarrow man was celebrated whereas the man who gave many buses and taxis as empowerment is abused. Is it because the later is not in control of a mega buck media empire? As far as improvements in transport sector are concerned, I will score Ochendo 75% because he didn't do monorail for us. I want Abia monorail from Aba to Umuahia so let me keep 25%. But don’t imagine I don’t know about the tricycles he gave out free to many Abians.

Early last year I noticed appreciable improvements in waste disposal at Aba. When I asked questions I was told about a model waste collection system that rewards those engaged within the system. Does anyone know why that model failed? Aba is back to it's old self in the past three months. I noticed that the rot started again after whispers about possible gubernatorial annointing of the AGM in charge of Aba who was reputed to have arrested the poor sanitation situation. Word out in the street is that his rivals to the plum job are delibrately sabotaging him to weaken his prospects. That might not exactly be farfetched because I once passed a neat road at Aba on a Friday evening but by the next morning as I was driving out of town I noticed a massive refuse heap on the same road. By Monday morning I saw pictures of same road with the refuse heap in one national tabloid. That same day the image showed up at Facebook as another evidence of Ochendo's failures. Politicans get heart sha.

My grand mother told me that “onye ndiro gbara gburugburu na eche ndu ya nche” (a man surrounded by enemies watches diligently over his life) so there really is no sustainable excuse for the return to poor sanitation. Moreover, the state of the final disposal points at two different locations along the PH-Enugu highway are not exactly good advertisements for diligent painstaking effort at improving things. The authorities at ASEPA should push the dumpsite further away from visible locations along the highway. Alternatively, they should think outside the box and construct an indigenous incineration unit for waste management. Surely the know how exists at Aba, the fabled Japan of Nigeria. Unleash the genius and the solution will appear. But since Umuahia is even cleaner than before, I will award 60% to Ochendo on sanitation improvement. Should I score Aba people on sanitary practices too? Nada!!! Make I still dey waka along Aba streets freely maka umuazi iwum barabara na ala. But umu guy ibem, ejigh dorty anya ishi bikonu.

A lot of people don't know or don't care to know the real revenue profile of Abia state. For most, Abia is an "oil producing state" with one gold mine of a commercial town called Aba. On paper, they are right because Abia is listed among the oil producing states with the oil deposits found around the Ukwa axis of the state. Aba was also a commercial hub in Nigeria, though the correct characterization should be "used to be". When people talk about Abia as an oil producing state they conjure an image of a state flush with cash and oil installations like Akwa Ibom, Rivers and Delta states. The only way I can expain the difference is to state that in 2014 Akwa Ibom budgeted about N470b, Rivers N485b, Delta N451b, Anambra N145b and Abia N115. The size of the budget of each of the first 3 states approximates to more than four times that of Abia. Even then, Abia only recently joined the above N100b club. In 2009 Abia budgeted N65.24b and the budget was not even fully implemented because of revenue shortfalls. By 2010 Abia's budget size was still N65.7b. For those who can't see the picture well enough, MTN's monthly revenue is about N60b. Furthermore, Aba ceased to be a "major commercial hub" in 2009 following the kidnap siege. Key industrial concerns left Aba for safer havens. How much do you exactly expect impoverished traders to deliver in taxes? In case you don't know, it is doubly difficult to collect taxes and levies from traders than organized private sector. Where was the "massive" IGR from Aba expected to come from? Aba traders effectively started recovering in 2012 but business is still very slow. Only NBL has effectively returned to Aba with plans for expansion in the card. Thank God. PZ is holding out well and never abandoned Aba people but their operaions are at a much lower scale now. Staff strength is reduced too. Equitable has effectively been killed through a misguided communal action. Those are the key drivers of Aba's industrail challenge. Can Udeagbala's soap factory do for Aba what Equitable was doing for the town? My answer is NO. Even those who now buy bombardier jets don't have a single investment at Aba outside real estate acquired while in power. Amazingly these are the same people that fund the massive anti-Ochendo social media lynch mob.

"God dey" and "dia is God" mean same thing-God exists and will judge us all.

I make bold to state that outside the situation with Aba roads, Ochendo has scored highly on most fronts. History will credit him with stabilizing Abia and laying the real foundation for the emergence of a great Abia. If he can muster the resources to do at least 10 inner city roads at Aba, including Federal owned PH and Ikot Ekpene roads, he will be celebrated on a grand scale by May 2015. The incoming government will then take up the challenge of first relocating Ariaria and ahia ohuru markets as well as reconstruct the drainage system and pursue the development of a new Enyimba city around Osisioma before doing any further road work in the current old Aba city. Government is a continuum and it is fair to say that if Ochendo had met good roads he wouldn't have bothered with new roads at Aba but will rather invest on other towns like Umuahia, Ohafia, Abiriba and Arochukwu. I do not expect his successor to spend too many resources at Umuahia beyond maintaining the facilities Ochendo has put in place. The challenge is at Aba and we should focus there for the next 3 years at least. Hopefully Ochendo will deliver another legacy of midwifing the first Abia Governor of Ngwa origin.

When the new politically assembled social media warriors for the cause of Aba and Abia tell us that Aba people are suffering, I agree partially with them. Our points of disagreement are on two fronts: Aba is not Abia but one of the cities in Abia. Secondly, while it is politically correct for them to locate the problems of Aba with the state government, I will rather move further and tell the whole world that Aba "problems" stem from three distinct groups: Federal and State governments have failed to do their part and the people of Aba have also contributed to their own woes.

If the Federal Government led by our President Goodluck Jonathan had reconstructed Aba-Ikot Ekpene road and highway that is now unusable, Port Harcourt Aba that is in near state of total failure and the associated entry points to Aba which are all within Federal jurisdiction, visitors to Aba will atleast have good access to the town. Business will boom because a good percentage of those who patronize Aba markets come from Akwa Ibom, Cross Riverand Cameroon.We are cut off totally from them because of the poor state of Ikot Ekpene-Aba and Ikot Ekpene-umuahia highways. Unfortunately most citizens can't make the distinction between state and Federal roads, but the law is clear on responsibility for Federal Roads maintence. Likewise if the state government had leveraged on the current good relationship between the Federal Government and the state (from 2010 to date) they would have impressed on the leadership at the centre the need to do the needful for Abians that voted for both governments as well as approve world bank funds for reconstruction of Aba drainage system.

It will be too generous to excuse residents of Aba too. In the first place, some of us warned about the dangers of the 2008-2010 kidnap wars with emphasis on the potential to devastate the state socio-economicallly. Many of the movers and shakers of Aba that fled in those days are yet to return, having settled in Lagos, Abuja and Enugu. Whatever investment associated with them is gone with them. Sometimes I also wonder if Aba people need government to teach them how to properly dispose refuse. A typical Aba resident will wake up midnight and sneak out to dump refuse on the street and gutters. If it rains in the daytime, they have a refuse disposal boom day. They drop wastes for water to carry to possibly Government House Umuahia for collection by the Governor. Even those who come to designated dump sites will rather dump refuse around the dumpsite instead of into the provided collection bin. Emere ya unu eme bikonu?????

There is an emerging fourth group responsible for Aba woes. They are the social media political hirelings who have no sense of allegiance to the great Enyimba city beyond working for their paymasters. They have continued to thoroughly demarket Aba and scare away visitors. Please someone should answer me honestly: does it make sense for a resident of Aba who has been living there for years, buying cars and new clothes to come to social media and tell the world that ‘Aba stinks’ and is dead? If Aba stinks, why are you still living there? Or are you a pig that thrives on stinking wastes? One of them even recently abused Aba people and claimed that there was herpertitis B outbreak in Aba. And people clapped for such barefaced mischief and lies. Even during the scary early days of Ebola outbreak, there was no attempt these mischief-makers spared to scare people with false reports of Ebola outbreak at Aba. All that because of politics????

Let me tell those who are resident at Aba and are involved in spreading such information: you are hurting yourself. You are the provernial cricket that was being roasted and yet believed it was producing oil. In case you dont know, the number of visitors to your shop is reducing because people are afraid to come to Aba because of what you have been writing and sharing about Aba. Even those from other states that are helping you to rebroadcast them must be thanking their God for their luck in getting a ‘mugu’ that will help them kill off Aba as a commercial hub and take the businesses to their preferred towns and state. Every customer that Aba loses will certainly show up at another city's market. And without those businesses Aba is nothing even with all roads tarred and plastered like heavenly streets.

Even if you want to join the lucrative online critics trade, please take time to learn how to criticize without harming yourself and people you love. It takes more time to build than to destroy and I can assure you that even if you fix all the roads at Aba it will take years to reverse the ill feelings you have created towards Aba, all because you want to help your master bring down Ochendo. Unfortunately for you and your master, Ochendo will complete his 8 years tenure whether you like it or not. To add salt to your self-inflicted injury, his people will elect him to the Senate without your vote, if he chooses to run for Senate. It is really as simple as that. My humble advice to you is to concentrate on seeking out the best Ngwa man to replace Ochendo as Governor in 2015. When the next governor comes he will build on Ochendo's successes and learn from his mistakes. But if you continue to attack Ochendo and make it difficult for him to support the emergence of an Ngwa Governor that will focus on Aba, you will have to live with your handwork. I am from old Bende and have nothing to lose if the next Governor emerges from the moon. My only worry will be that I have not personally served the cause of equity and fairness. I can live with that. Can you???

“Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover. ”

—Mark Twain (1835-1910)

[Samuel Clemens] Humorist, Essayist, Novelist

O kwa unu sim puta? Aputalam!!!

JOK 23/9/14

Abia: The Wolves in Sheep’s Skin

By Hilda Ifeoma Ifegwu

The classical case of betrayal chronicled in the bible in the case of Jesus Christ and Judas litter the synoptic gospels of Luke, Mark and Matthew. It equally did not escape the profuse writings of king David, the psalmist in Psalm Chapter 41, verse 9, where he said: ‘even my own familiar friend in whom I trusted, who ate my bread, has lifted up his heel against me.’ William Shakespeare upped the tempo when he wrote Julius Caesar and portrayed Marcus Brutus as worst of all traitors and the expression, Et Tu Brute, [even you Brutus], is still in use till today and still playing out in many places on daily basis and at all levels of government, more critical in politics and business.

Such would not have been expected since Abia State has come out of the political woods, surviving political calumny, liberating the state from a stranglehold of a family oligarchy, overwhelming one of the most harrowing cases of kidnapping and armed robbery in the history of Nigeria.

Surprisingly and probably because of the insatiability of man, people keep working at counter points instead of supporting the government to improve their lots.

Well, the consolation is that in most cases of betrayal and sabotage, it has not been easy for the perpetrators of such magnitude of sabotage. Judas is still suffering till today as he is always in use as a very good example of betrayers. For instance, the names of the apostles are everyday in use with millions of namesakes, but I am yet to meet someone who answers Judas boldly. Even among our 36 governors, there are potent namesakes associated with early apostolic work- Emmanuel and Peter,for Delta and Anambra States respectively.

Chief T. A. Orji, Ochendo, in verifiable terms has turned Abia around with policy and tangible projects. More so on security and unity. It is no more news that Abia was fractious between 2007and 2009 but the governor began a re-engineering that brought Abia to a rock stabled place that has become an exemplar in case studies and reference point at home and abroad. If you can’t believe me at least you can take the words of Chief Onyema Ugochukwu, former and pioneer chairman of NDDC, PDP flag-bearer in 2007, who said in a newspaper interview that: ’Abia State PDP has never been more united than it is now. It has also never been more peaceful than it is now. And a lot of that credit goes to the governor, Chief T A Orji, who has done so well in bringing Abians together.’
Added to this testimony are the trend of firsts like the International Conference Centre, the new workers secretariat, new markets, advanced health delivery, the complexes in the courts, ASEPA, ASUBEB, JAAC houses and the new Government House. Exciting as they are to all lovers of development, not ignoring all these milestones of peace, security and policy initiatives, the monkey wrench is being so recklessly cast at work with high intent to sabotage the monumental ambience of harmony and stability in Abia.

These unyielding efforts are known, the sources of such distasteful services have been identified, especially those who lost position and have refused to be comforted but the funny and worrisome issues are those of insiders presently pretending to be with the present administration. They fund pseudo writers in the print world, energize hackers and blackmailers in the social media. Simply put, they hunt with the hounds and run with the hares. They are now warned as their nefarious activities are no more secret. It may be more honourable to quit rather than remain pretending. On a graver note, let them study the cases of Judas, Brutus in Julius Caesar and Dona Marina, a woman who betrayed her people to foreigners. In the wise words of Shakespeare: ‘How sharper than a serpent’s tooth it is to have a thankless child.

Abia State monthly IGR shores up to N500m

The Abia Commissioner for Information and Strategy, Chief Eze Chikamnayo, has said the state’s monthly Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) had increased to N500 million.
Chikamnayo said this while briefing newsmen in Umuahia on the outcome of the state Executive Council (EXCO) meeting on Wednesday.

He said that before now, the state’s IGR was between N150 million and N200 million monthly.
The commissioner attributed the increase to efforts of the government to ‘’plug all the loopholes in the revenue collection process.

He said that on account of the improved finances of the state, the government decided to recall the non indigenes who were sacked from the state civil service in 2011.
Chikamnayo said that at least 2,500 disengaged workers had so far been recalled.
He attributed the sack of the non-Abia workers to the dwindling revenue of the state government occasioned by the minimum wage policy.

The commissioner also said that plans were underway to establish pilot grazing fields in the three senatorial districts of the state.

He said that the measure was designed to check alleged menace of herdsmen and incessant crisis between some Abia communities and the herdsmen.

News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that some communities in the state, had at different times in the past, accused the herdsmen of destroying their farmlands while grazing.
Chikamnayo also said that EXCO resolved to establish more Liberation Farms in the agrarian communities in the state as part of the initiatives to boost food production in the area.
He said that the state government’s youth empowerment programme would also be rotated among the 17 local government areas in the state.

The commissioner said that the EXCO commended the complementary role of law makers at the state and National Assembly for the introduction of empowerment programmes in their constituents.
He said that the programme had not only created employment for the teeming unemployed youths, but also created employers of labour in the state.
Chikamnayo expressed delight that the proposed seaport in the state had received the approval of the appropriate government agencies.

He said that most of the projects, initiated by the current, administration would be completed and inaugurated this year. (NAN)

Orji, Father Of Empowerment; Says Iheasinmuo

Member representing Aba South State Constituency in the Abia State House of Assembly, Chief Nwogu Iheasinmuo has described Gov. Theodore Orji as the father of empowerment whose legacies will continue to endure in the state.

Iheasinmuo who stated this while handing over 7 Passat cars, 2 18-seater buses, 70 refrigerators, 5 air-conditioners, 2,000 pieces of clothes, 100 units of sewing machines, 70 giant deep freezers, amongst other items worth over N30 million to his constituents, said he was motivated by Gov. Orji’s benevolence in giving out free cars, buses and skill acquisition programmes to the people of the state.

“What we are doing today is in keeping faith with our campaign promises of empowering our people from time to time. The empowerment programme is geared making self dependent. We will continue to do it as the Lord strengthens us. My representation of Aba South will continue to attract people-oriented projects and empowerment of the people of my constituency. There is a need for every political office holder to put in place an enduring empowerment programme to reduce the poverty level among our people I’m following the examples set by Gov. Theodore Orji, Ochendo, who I call the ‘Father of Empowerment’ who has been giving free cars, buses and skill acquisition to empower the people of the state,” Iheasinmuo said.

While presenting cars to the ward chairmen, Chairman of the occasion and Deputy Chief of Staff to the Deputy Governor, Charles Ogbonna described the empowerment programme as first of its kind stressing that the type of items procured by the lawmaker has set him apart as a people friendly legislator.

He called on the recipients to make good use of the items to better their lives of their families and continue to support the Iheasinmuo and the state government.

Speaking at the occasion, Speaker, Abia state House of Assembly, Chief Ude Oko Chukwu who also commended Iheasinmuo for the programme urged the people of Aba South constituency to return the lawmaker for a second term considering his great contributions in empowering the people.
One of the ward chairmen who received cars simply identified as Emmanuel thanked the lawmaker for empowering them, adding that he has been a blessing to the people of Aba South constituency since he assumed office.

A Microcosm of Abia's Political and Developmental Macrocosm

By Ekekwe Egu
LET me confess that my choice of title for this piece, which in any case is my first in a long while, sounds weird. Having opted for a political and activity hibernation of sort, in the past few years, not a few would have expected me to debut from my self-imposed holiday, smoking with rage, and breathing furiously, vintage OTJ. But time and tide have changed with so many factors contributing to my simmering rather than combative approach in writing. I shall return to that later.

Secondly as one who even as an under-aged, cut his political teeth during the Second Republic, when such colourful politicians as Dr. K. O. Mbadiwe, Dim Emeka Odumegwu Ojukwu, Dr. M. I. Okpara and Chief Collins Obih (all of blessed memory), held sway in the old Imo and Anambra states, now South East geo-political zone, I underwent tutelage of sort under this great wordsmiths; men who elevated intellectual and factual politicking, laced with flowery clichés and euphemisms, that added so much colour and humor to our socio-political environment and lexicon.

In line with the above, Ochendolopment, my crazy manipulation, was coined to describe my assessment of the infrastructural and developmental progressions, given obvious economic constraints in Abia State. It is a critical evaluation of the application of the available limited funds and rates of success achieved, within a given time frame. In this piece, I will attempt an insight into the actual rate of development in Abia within this second and last segment (2011 to date), of the present Abia Government. I have also elected to ignore the period 2007-2011, variously described and rightly so, as the years of the locust. In so doing, one will draw inferences from and make comparative analysis of the earnings accruing to some of our neighboring states, alongside Abia. I shall also base my assessment on four major sectors viz: General Infrastructural Developments, Power Generation and Security.

One person whose courage I admire a lot, Governor Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi of Rivers State, cried out recently that only N14billion out of about N21billion accruing to his State, has been released for the month of July. Since that assertion remained un-replied even from the appropriate quarters, it stands therefore to reason that our dear Oluwarotimi was right that his State allocation for July was about N21billion. Within this period, the total that aggregated to Abia was about N4 billion. Succinctly put, the ratio between Abia and Rivers allocation is 1:5.

We have it on good authority that Akwa Ibom State earns much higher than its Rivers counterpart. It therefore stands to reason that the developmental efforts in these two states that share common boundary with Abia, cannot be compared with the latter, given their accrued earnings overtime. Howbeit, like the saying in Igboland goes, Ana eji isii ahu amata uto nshi: (translated: You can deduce the real taste of faeces from the foul smell of a fart).

The Bible equally place faithfulness in little assignment as a sign of what one can do with bigger assignment, if and when such is given. With the much the Governor has achieved with the little resources available to him, it stand to reason that if he receives half of what is accruable to Akwa Ibom, he will perform more. Whilst not stating that Abia is today an Eldorado, as that will be unnecessarily sycophantic, but it smacks of bad faith to ascribe nothing positive to the present government, especially in the area of provision of lasting and durable infrastructures.

Umuahia Capital and the indeed the State have of recent witnessed an upswing in infrastructures, viz: The Construction of a new Government House, a new Deputy Governors Lodge, International Conference Centre , new Secretariat Complex and remodeling of the old ones, several housing estates, the Ubani Umuahia Modern Market which is 95% completed, Judiciary and New High Court Complex at both Umuahia and Aba, ASEPA New Headquarters, the Umuahia Specialist Hospital and Dialysis Centre, the reconstruction of Amachara Specialist Hospital, several urban and rural roads at the three senatorial zones of the state amongst others.

One might argue that these are basic infrastructural edifices needed for the take off of the State, but these had been lacking in the past 22 years. With a few exceptions, all other successive governments, to say the least, have been retarding development of the State.
When early last year, I wrote commending the Orji -led Government for a breakthrough checkmating the perennial power supply in the state, not a few arm-chair critics attacked me, both on phone and on the social media.
Few months after, all these areas, including my Item, Bende Local Government Area homeland were re-connected to the national grid. Abians and Nigerians can indeed attest to the fact of the further success recorded in this sector, and equally on the aptness of my prediction. When truth is self evident and facts are so glaring, one need not adumbrate. It is only a matter of weeks that the Aba project under Geometrix will be commissioned. That way the light condition in Aba, and the entire Abia will be fully restored. Yes, it can only get better and better.

Insecurity has posed the greatest challenge in the country. In recent time, the menaces of kidnappers and Boko Haram have assumed an alarming proportion. Abia was a notorious case in point. Kidnappers under the inglorious leadership of the notorious Osisikankwu, had a field day taking people hostage for ransoms. Sometimes people were killed even after huge ransoms were paid.

It reached a climax with the abduction of the kind-hearted medical and legendary generous doctor of Victory Christian Hospital, Aba, who was kidnapped and brutally murdered somewhere in Isiala Ngwa, even after huge sums of money were reportedly paid as ransom. The outrage that greeted his murder was unprecedented. It was obvious that something needed to happen.

The synergy between the Abia Governmant and the Security High Chiefs, notably the Chief of army Staff, led to the arrest and killing of the murderous OSISIKANKWU gang, and the dispersal of the few remaining ones. Abia State citizens now live in peace amongst themselves. It was in recognition of these and the above, that Governor Theodore Orji, received an International Award in October 2012, for ensuring Adequate Security in Abia.

The most unfortunate aspect of it all was that Abia was a state that produced three high level security personnel, in the Army and the Police Force. Lt General Azubuike Ihejirika, the Chief of Army Staff, Ivy Okoronkwo, the then Deputy Inspector General of Police and politically Second In Command, while Azubuko Joel Udah, the then Deputy Inspector General of Police, in Charge of Administration and Operationally Number Two, were all from Abia State. Was it a failure on their part or was it a lack of idea on how to solve the perennial Abia Security Challenge.

Given that the DIG Udah, (now retired), as the Head of the Police Zones 5 and 6, was widely believed to be behind the blueprint of the Amnesty Programme in the Niger Delta region, it was almost impossible to toe that line of thought. It took the political will and sagacity of the Ochendo led Government in Abia, coupled with the tenacity and the determination of the Security High Chiefs of Abia state extraction, to proactively restore sanity and security in Abia State.

The synergy between the Abia Governmant and the Security High Chiefs, notably the Chief of army Staff, led to the arrest and killing of the murderous OSISIKANKWU gang, and the dispersal of the few remaining ones. Abia State citizens now live in peace amongst themselves. It was in recognition of these and the above, that Governor Theodore Orji, received an International Award in October 2012, for ensuring Adequate Security in Abia.

Ekekwe Egu, a public affairs commentator sent in this piece from Abuja.

SOURCE: VANGUARD

‘We’ve Tackled Kidnapping Through Our Youth Empowerment Programmes’

THERE WERE TIMES WHEN ABIA STATE WAS IN THE NEWS FOR THE WRONG REASONS, RANGING FROM KIDNAPPING TO POOR STATE OF INFRASTRUCTURE WHILE THE BRICKBAT BETWEEN FORMER GOVERNOR ORJI UZOR KALU AND GOVERNOR THEODORE AHAMEFULA ORJI COMPLETED THE SPICES. HOWEVER, IN AN INTERVIEW WITH ORJI, THE GOVERNOR TOLD ROLAND OGBONNAYA AND AHAMEFULA OGBU ON WHAT HE IS DOING TO REVERSE THE TRENDS, THE DEVELOPMENTAL FOUNDATION AS THERE WAS NOTHING HE WAS LEFT TO BUILD ON FROM THE PREVIOUS ADMINISTRATION AND HOW HE WAS ABLE TO ARREST INSECURITY IN THE STATE. EXCERPTS…

Do you have a template for the development of Abia State?

Of course yes, and that is the template I am using. The first was to lay solid foundation and that we have realised; that is security, which became a challenge. So we have our security template also; to be on top of security situation always, to sustain it because it is with the sustenance of this security that all the other templates will work. So we have gotten that. Now the next template is laying a solid foundation for Abia State in terms of projects, in terms of roads, in terms of infrastructure, in terms of ideology. There must be a foundation for all these things from where we will advance. I have a template in these areas, one after the other.

How far have you gone into the templates?

Of course we are moving very well and fast also because you have to be very fast to realise these ideals. In the areas of projects, I think we are doing very well. We tag our projects Legacy Projects because of these templates you have asked me and the answer I have given you that we are laying the foundation stone for the State.

We tag our projects Legacy Projects: we have a secretariat, we have not had one before except a dilapidated one built by the federal government; so we have a new one where we want to house all our civil servants and the project is almost 80 per cent completed and by next year, we should be unveiling it. We also have the International Conference Centre, which I am sure you must have seen also because we don’t have that type of structure in Abia. What we had was this Michael Okpara Auditorium, which can’t stand the test of time. It can’t contain people, it only contains about 400 people, but the International Conference Centre that we are building can contain 4000 people and it is of international standard. That is a legacy project and a foundational project.

If you go to our BCA (Broadcasting Corporation of Abia), you are men of pen and paper, but if you go to our BCA, it is nothing to write home about because they lack office accommodation. You can see 10 officers in one room.  We have now put a structure that has 48 rooms so that it will be convenient for them to work.

If you go to Ikot Ekpene Road you will see what we are doing for the judiciary. The CJ just left here now, he came to thank me. We are doing that for the judiciary in Umuahia and in Aba. We are building more courtrooms and renovating old ones. Why we are building more courtrooms is for us to first of all hasten dispensation of justice and then get more judges because when they want to assign judges, they come for inspection, if you don’t have court rooms they won’t give you and because of what we are doing, we were able to get the highest number of judges this period. They gave us five, so we are building in Umuahia, we are building in Aba and we are doing so in the ministry of justice.

What other measures have you taken to consolidate security in the State?

You will also see a police outpost we have built that will house both the senior police and military officers. That is done for security purposes; to secure the environment, secure the town, secure Abia State.

What other things can you point out that has been achieved within the life of this administration?

We have our dialysis and diagnostic centres, which been completed. We have one in Umuahia and one in Aba. For the one we have completed the building right now and we have paid for the equipment. The building is set, the next thing is to install the dialysis machines, we have paid already and they have given us one month under which the machines will be installed. This is to take care of the health of our people. You know once one is aging, there are certain diseases that crop up because of old age; one of them is renal disease that is why we have put that dialysis centre to take care of such patients.

In terms of healthcare also, if you go round you will see that we have 250 health centres on ground, equipped and working in all the local governments of the State to take care of our people. A typical example of what we are doing in the health sector is the Amachara Hospital; if you go there you will see that the place has been turned around. It is now a specialist hospital and totally turned around. We have put in a lot of buildings to house the doctors as well as put in place a lot of equipment to make it a standard hospital that can take care of any ailment. There is a Federal Medical Centre here, but it is not enough, the Specialist hospital is here but it is not enough and nothing can be enough as far as healthcare is concerned.
We are doing the same in Okikpe in Ukwa West Local government; we are doing the same for Arochukwu, one in each Senatorial zone, that is as far as the healthcare of our people is concerned because I believe that health is wealth and it is only a person who is healthy that can actually enjoy the dividends of democracy.

Why does it appear your administration has abandoned Aba, which is the commercial nerve centre of the East?

No. If you have been to Aba, you will see that we have started roads construction revolution in that place, not only in terms of road construction, but also in terms of drainage. We are desilting and channelling. We are desilting old drains and channelling new ones so that by the next rainy season, that place cannot be flooded again because that is the major problem that we have in Aba. It is going on right now and the situation has changed in Aba. If you go there you will hear what the people are saying because I told them that I don’t do construction work during the rainy season, that after the rains I will come and I have come with contractors everywhere. If you go there now, it is work and work and it will continue like that until the next rainy season and by that time, I am sure we must have done things that are very appreciable.

What other thing can you point at that your administration has used allocations of the State to achieve?

In the House, the other arm of government, we have not left them. If you go to the House of Assembly you see that their building has been renovated and new ones, legislative offices are there where the legislators can meet their constituents. We are building 24 offices for them. The Deputy Speaker who for long had no lodge, we have finished the construction of his house and he has moved in now.

We have what we call ASOPADED minerals producing area of Abia State, a creation of this government. We empower them every month through allocation; we fund them for development of the oil producing areas in Abia State and the establishment is doing marvellously well in terms of renovation of schools. They are even building roads. In fact, they helped us to build Ukwu Mango road in Aba. They are also empowering people, the youths, poor people, alleviating problems of the poor, paying for students who cannot pay for their WAEC exams or for university entrance examinations and awarding scholarships also to our youths, complimenting the efforts of government even though we have very good youth empowerment programmes here which has been on all along.

We have 4400 youths on our pay roll. They generate funds by appealing to individuals and with that fund they buy things that can encourage the youths to have some livelihood like tricycle, sewing machines, fridge, barbing equipment and distribute to them free of charge. They have done that severally; they have done for Osisioma, Arochukwu and in other local governments. In the Senatorial basis they have done for Aba, so they are yet to do for Abia central, so the youths are appreciative of that and I am sure this is one of the things that have reduced the incidence of kidnapping in Abia State. When the youths are empowered and are actively engaged, they will face their business, they will not think of any evil.

One thing that I have not mentioned to people and is part of our achievement is if you go Osisioma in Aba, there is this oil depot that has been there, which had not functioned for many years. It is functional now and NNPC pumps petrol and kerosene, they were pumping petrol before but we have now made it possible for them to also pump kerosene and from there, these products are distributed not only in Abia but to all other states of the federation like Enugu, Benue, Cross River and Akwa Ibom. We try as much as we can to make sure that products are pumped into that place despite the fact that we have some people vandalising the pipelines. We are on top of that situation. We have security agencies and our own people we formed in conjunction with traditional rulers to watch over the pipelines so that there will be free flow of these products. These are things we are doing.

Since you came, you would have witnessed steady power supply, it was not like this before. Before, we were living in darkness, but we were able to evacuate power from the 132 KVA power station that we have in Ohiyan to this State, to parts of Imo State and environs of Umuahia so that we can have light 12 or 24 hours a day. What the people are complaining now is that the thing is too much, when they put something in the fridge it will block. That is their complaint right now, that when they put their bulb the thing will explode; but we are sure we have done something in that sector.

If actually one can realise these objectives, I think we have laid the foundation for Abia. Like where we are staying, this building was Emeka Omerua’s property, we don’t have a standard government house, we are constructing one right now, a government house that is befitting of this State, not this type of place we are using as government house. If you go to Bayelsa, Akwa Ibom, Delta State—I was in Delta State the other time and my colleague showed me his government house and if you come here, you will be ashamed to come and sit here. So, these are the foundational projects I am talking about.

If I had a standard government house here, I won’t bother building a new one; I will use the money to build another thing. If I had a secretariat like others do, I won’t bother to build a new one; I will go for another project. If I had a standard conference centre, I won’t bother to build a new one, I will go for another thing; if I had healthcare projects that can take care of my people, I can expand and build few but this one is that you just have all these useless general hospitals without drugs, without doctors, not doing anything, so we had to lay the foundation. These are what we are doing.

Abia State used to host a lot of industries as typified by Factory Road Aba and of course the old Umuahia here used to have many industries, now most of them are gone, what is your government doing to reverse this trend?

In terms of industries, our major concern is to provide the enabling environment for investors to come in. From empirical evidence, which you know, government has been unable to run industries. We have the brewery here that was run by government, we have the modern ceramics, we even have the Abia hotels which we are now building a new one; these things were all in the hands of government and nothing actually happened, so we took a decision that we don’t have any business to be in business but what we do is to encourage people like you to come and invest and how do we encourage that? Provide security first and foremost, let the environment be secured to attract investors and then let the investors come. We give them the land and whatever they want for them to invest and many of them are coming. Since we got security under control, they have been coming on daily basis. We have signed MOUs with many and very soon they will start implementing them.

You mentioned that special attention is being given to Aba and opinions are that if well developed and well harnessed, for the small scale industries Aba used to be that it can generate enough revenue through taxes to fund development; are you doing anything to ensure that Aba recovers its lost glory and begin production again?

We are not happy that Aba has lost its glory, but now that I am at the helm of affairs, it is my responsibility to ensure that glory is gotten back. Now one of the things that ruined Aba was kidnapping. During kidnapping era, every business closed, business men absconded, entrepreneurs were not coming, nothing was happening and that was a lull for Aba within that period, so this government fought to restore security; that is the first achievement and if you go there now you will see business bubbling.

The next approach that we are taking is to make the environment conducive, provide the infrastructure that will attract investors; building the roads and making the town to look neat, desilting the drains that I told you, so that if an investor comes and takes a survey he will know that if he invests, he can recoup his money. So in terms of taxes we are trying to re-orientate the inhabitants of Aba because you see if you go to Ariaria market and ask three people or call 10 people and ask them to show their tax receipt, you will be surprised that none of them has any. Our people are averse to payment of tax, but you have to change their mentality so that they will know the value of paying taxes and how do you change the mentality?
Apart from advocacy, you provide dividends of democracy so that when they see it they will pay and that is what we are doing and we are getting response from this as some of them have started paying. When you go to them to pay tax they will but what they are complaining is double taxation.

Did you inherit any debt when you took over as Governor of this State?

Of course, almost N30 billion, that was what I inherited which is not even comprehensive because I did not include that of Local governments accruing from unpaid wages of local government staff and their allowances. When I computed the local government debts, it was N2.9 billion which I have paid. But the N29.2 billion is from the State, which I inherited. The figures are there including N26 million payment to Sun newspapers that writes nonsense about this State every day. Let Sun say it is not correct. Yes, I am liquidating debts gradually.

Is it not affecting the developmental drive of your administration?

Of course it is. The debts we are paying is weighing heavily on us because these debts are such that when they come first they take it apart from the external debts that they are taking from the federation accounts, these ones also we are paying but someone will come and tell you that he didn’t leave any debt for his predecessor, but we have the facts and figures.

What would you like to be remembered for when your tenure ends in 2015?

I want to be remembered for as a person who built the foundation on which Abia has taken off. I want them to remember me also as a governor who is sincere, who says I will do this and I will keep to my words. If I say I will do this I will do it and the ones I cannot do I will tell you I would not do it. They will never forget me for being the person who liberated this State from the clutches of bondage and autocracy. People are free, people are happy; as a man who united Abia as the man who liberated Abia.

The government we had here you know very well was a government that was not inclusive, wasn’t bringing in people but rather people ran away, notable Abians were not coming home, not because the place was not safe but because of the type of government they saw in place, a government that was not tolerant but today the difference is clear that the Abians are with us and they are contributing immensely, the ideas and all to move Abia to the next level.

In all these programmes in the sectors you enumerated, how are you funding them, are you borrowing? 

That is the thing. Talk of security; do you know that security is very capital intensive?  If you do not bring out money to fight security you cannot succeed. Do you send soldiers and policemen to go and fight kidnappers empty handed? Won’t you provide their vehicles? Won’t you buy their arms and ammunition shunt? Won’t you provide welfare for their families in case they die? I am giving account of my own security vote because I have used it to maintain security here, which every person knows about. So I don’t regret using any money at all from Abia State to maintain security in Abia.

What is your next move? The Senate like your colleague Governors or what is your next political bus stop?

I don’t have any political bus stop as of now; my political bus stop is to complete all the projects I am doing. That is my political bus stop as of now, the future will tell.

THISDAY