Abia Will Stand Under Orji

It appears that even before the creation of Abia State in the year 1991, precisely on the 27th of August, God has Chief Theodore Ahamefule Orji in mind to reposition the state and create a solid foundation upon which Abia will be built.

Many Abians will ask why do I say so, does it mean that a state that is almost 23 years old never had a foundation? And my ready answer is, in the case of Abia NO.

The uncommon transformation going on in Abia today tagged “LEGACY PROJECTS” are supposed to have been embarked upon 23 years ago by the former Governors of the state which include military administrators and civilian rulers but for reasons best known to them they all chose to over look those projects that are supposed to be the foundational projects of any young state and that’s why you can’t stand anywhere in Abia to point at one project embarked upon by any of its former leaders both the military and the civilian governors not even the ones abandoned midway in form of abandoned projects, but rather what we have is a long list of dying or already dead industries and institutions which Abia inherited from the then eastern regional government under chief M.I. Okpara namely the Golden Guinea Breweries, the Modern Ceramics industry, the Aba Textile Mill, the farm settlements eg.Ulonna North and South etc. Abia also inherited from the then Imo State under the leadership of Chief Samuel Onunaka Mbakwe, industries like the Ogwe Golden Chicken, the International Glass Industry and the Imo Hotel Ogborhill Aba, also the the World Bank and low cost housing estates were part of what Abia inherited from the Mbakwe administration.

The Broadcasting Corporation of Abia State and the Ambassador newspapers were built by the then military administrator Frank Ajobena, while Chief Ogbonnaya Onu left us with only the Abia tower in 1992.

It’s quite unfortunate that while other states created the same date with Abia State are busy expanding the frontiers of what they inherited from their parent states, in the case of Abia the former rulers left them to rot.

That’s why I have always described Governor T.A. Orji as a governor laying a fresh foundation for the state after 23 years, in natural law its always easy to dig up the ground while it’s still very soft and wet but when the land has gone through years of dryness without being wetted you and I can understand the difficulty in digging up such a ground and the very first process of laying a foundation is to dig up the ground at such it takes courage, determination and extra strength to lay a foundation on a ground that has been dry for two decades plus. I make bold to say that Governor is God’s sent to Abia.

Ochendo has gone the extra length by building the structures necessary for the take off  of a state like Abia, while I don’t totally blame those who criticize the efforts of the present administration in repositioning the state and placing it on the right foundation it’s because we have had governors who did nothing to better the lot of the state and its citizens but rather concentrated on enriching themselves, their cronies and establishing personal businesses in other states and countries with the money meant for the development of Abia State and its citizenry.

In as much as criticism is a part of governance, every rational mind would appreciate the efforts of Chief T.A.Orji and the challenges in building pilot institutions for the state at the age of 22 plus, the projects he is undertaking now are projects he should have inherited being 8th person to man the affairs of the state. Abia before Ochendo should be described as an institution without an administrative base and I wonder how such an organisation will succeed.

Some people who do not see the efforts of the present administration are those who either do not know the history and background of the state or intentionally do not want to appreciate the developmental strides of the present administration under Chief T.A. Orji. Honestly, a lot has been done and many more are still being done to make Abia regain its glory as Gods own state.

Security is the foremost contract the people have with their leaders and its evident that Abia is a secured and safe state unlike what is obtainable in Abia State between 1999/2008 where by the state was held hostage at different times by the Aba Mafia, armed robbers or kidnappers which forced the people of Abia to form their own security outfit known as Bakassi Boys since the government as at that time has failed them, the lives and property of Abians were no longer guaranteed. The underworld gangs were in charge of the state while the government which has the sole responsibility of securing the people no longer care about the people they are supposed to protect until Ochendo came with the present security arrangement in Abia which saw all the criminals leaving the state or pay the supreme price for criminality. Today, Abia has been described as the safest state in the federation.

 In the area of health, Governor T.A. Orji “Ochendo” has built and equipped over 710 Primary healthcare centres, two Diagnostic centres in Umuahia & Aba, nine 100-bed General Hospitals across the three Senatorial Districts, a new Dialysis Centre and Eye Centre. He is also expanding and re-equipping the Abia State Teaching Hospital Aba, Chest Clinic at Amachara, Pediatric Clinic & Emergency Centre at Amachara etc.

As you can see, Ochendo is not only securing the lives and property of Abians, he is also safeguarding the health and lives of Abians. He has also paid off the debt the state inherited from the OUK administration and has been able to lift the state from its pariah status which the state was plunged into by the immediate past governor of Abia State Chief Orji Uzor Kalu when he entered into an ineffectual war of words with the federal government under Chief Olusegun Obasanjo and today Abia is not only seen as a friend of the government at the centre it also maintains a healthy relationship with other sister states and regarded as one of the most economically healthy state going by CBN index.

The state government under Ochendo went into aggressive agricultural revolution so as to make sure that Abians are not only healthy and safe but to ensure that they are well fed, that informed his decision to establish liberation farms across different LGA’s in Abia State which is intended to bring our youths back to agriculture and make the state self-sufficient in food production.

Before the Ochendo administration Abia youths were usually empowered with guns and machetes and the only employment known to them was thuggery but today the youths are now trained in different skills and trades and upon completion are given grants to enable them get established. Instead of giving the youths guns and machetes they are now being given vehicles without asking for pay backs just to get them gainfully employed and out of the street. Over 3,000 cars have been distributed to the youths of the state.

Aba that used to be very dirty which was formerly known as the dirtiest town in Africa is today described as one of the cleanest towns in Nigeria and Umuahia the state capital is now described as the cleanest capital in Nigeria courtesy of Ochendo,s ingenuity and leadership craftiness.

Because of his love for education he is building and renovating schools across the 17 LGAs in Abia State and has given school children free school buses that take them to school in the morning and bring them back after school hours. Ochendo’s  hardwork in education is evident with the last WAEC result where our children performed creditably well.

Its on record that Abia civil servants have not gone on strike for once since the inception of the Ochendo administration because of the understanding and care the governor has shown them. Today Abia State government pays higher than the federal government stipulated minimum wage for civil servants across the federation. The governor also built a state of the art Secretariat for Abia civil servants so as to enable them work in a serene and cosy environment.

The relocation of the Umuahia Main Market is a feat that seemed impossible in the eye of many, other governors toyed with the idea but do not have the will power to carry it out until Ochendo came and today Ubani Ultra Modern Market is a sight to behold, while the new Timber Market and Ohiya Mechanic Village has taken off full blast. The removal of these markets from the centre of the state capital is meant to decongest the state capital and give room for meaningful development.

The beautification of the state capital is going on from one corner of Umuahia to another, traffic lights are being mounted at major traffic spots and flowers are being planted along the major roads of Umuahia with monuments being erected at every round about to add beauty to the town.

Governor T.A. Orji also established Abia Roads Maintenance Agency (ABROMA) to take care of road maintenance in the state and the Abia State Oil Producing Area Development Commission (ASOPADEC) whose aim is to ensure that development gets to every nook and cranny of Abia State more especially the oil producing communities in Abia State whose youths became very restive due to long years of neglect by previous administrations but today calm has returned to such communities as they are seeing the gains coming from such communities.

In the area of housing, the Governor T.A. Orji administration has built quite a number of housing estates to ease the housing problem which is always one of the major challenges of a growing town like Umuahia. Some of the housing estates include: Amaokwe Housing Estate,

Ochendo Liberation Housing estate, Isieke Housing estate, New Ohobo Housing Estate, Traders Estate Ubani,Ochendo Liberation Estate at Amauba etc. The building of a new High Court building, ASUBEB building, the E-Library, ASEPA building and most importantly the new government house. It should be noted that some of these projects and many others which space cannot allow me to enumerate are foundational projects which a state needs to function but in Abia it has been lacking until Ochendo came. Some of our former governors rather than building the state chose to build their personal businesses outside Abia State leading to capital flight whereby Abia gets underdeveloped but their personal businesses are growing in other states and countries where they pay huge taxes to their host states and countries.

Even as his tenure is rounding up Governor Orji has promised to make sure that projects he initiated are completed before he leaves office.

He may not have solved the entire problem facing the state but the truth is that he has built a solid foundation upon which Abia will stand.

.Aguoru writes from Umuahia

486 Arrested Boko Haram Suspects: Abia State Government Warns Jigawa Lawmakers, Others to Allow Security Agencies to do their Job

The attention of the Abia State Government has been drawn to the statements credited to some lawmakers in the Jigawa State House of Assembly, where the latter had vowed to drag the Abia State government to court over the arrest of its citizens among the 486 Boko Haram suspects arrested by the army while travelling in a convoy of 35 buses in the wee hours of last Sunday morning.

The state government also has noted with dismay the reckless and unguarded utterances coming from some northern individuals and groups pretending to be the voices of the people of the North. These unpatriotic elements for no just cause have deliberately employed all kinds of guerrilla tactics to tarnish the good image of the Abia State government simply because it exposed and alerted the nation including the international community on the arrest of 486 suspected Boko Haram members by a team of vigilant and gallant soldiers on routine patrol at Aro Ngwa and Imo Gate along Enugu/Port Harcourt Expressway.

As a responsible government, we want to state categorically that Abia State government had at no time ordered the arrest of the 486 Boko Haram suspects travelling in a convoy of 35 buses. Instead, the suspected Boko Haram members were arrested by a team of vigilant soldiers on daily routine patrol at Aro Ngwa and Imo Gate along the Enugu/Port Harcourt Expressway, on the suspicion that occupants of the 35 buses were travelling at odd hours. The soldiers, who carried out the arrest, merely carried out their constitutional and legitimate duties, which are to protect lives and property of the citizens especially now that insurgency is on the increase in Nigeria.

The position of the Abia State government is that the security agencies should be allowed to thoroughly investigate this matter. Those meddling into this matter through their reckless and unguarded utterances aimed at whip up sentiments for the detained suspects are the real problems of this country. There is no need at early stage to trivialize this matter along religious and ethnic lines. The arrest of the 486 Boko Haram suspects by the army should be seen as a serious corporate endeavour which all well-meaning Nigerians should allow the law to take its normal course. The Nigerian security agencies have the capacity to do a thorough job at the end of the day; they need our cooperation at this moment not distractions from self-acclaimed ethnic bigots who never mean well for the nation.

The threat by some lawmakers in the Jigawa State House of Assembly to drag Abia State government to court if some of its citizens among the 486 Boko Haram suspects are not released to say the least is laughable and diversionary. Their utterances showed that they are lawbreakers and not lawmakers. Instead of the lawmakers to praise the Abia State government for providing the security agencies the enabling environment to discharge their constitutional duties they are busy chasing shadows. We challenge the Jigawa lawmakers to come to Abia to understudy how the robust synergy and relationship existing between the executive and State House of Assembly have ensured the atmosphere of peace and tranquility being experienced in the state today. Abia State government has not breached any law so we are not afraid of any lawsuit coming from the Jigawa lawmakers or any other group. The Jigawa lawmakers should come to Abia to be coached on the business of lawmaking. The difference is clear to all.

We implore the Jigawa lawmakers, the Arewa Consultative Forum, some individuals and groups of northern extraction trivializing the arrest of the 486 Boko Haram suspects in Abia, to channel their energies on things that will promote the unity of Nigeria not on things that will destroy the corporate existence of the country. All should join hands with the President Goodluck Jonathan-led government in the fight against terrorism and insurgency.

Signed:
Charles Ajunwa
Chief Press Secretary.

“Ochendo Has Done Well, Orji Uzor Kalu Call Your Attack Dogs Home”

Orji Uzor Kalu

“Only a foolish dog barks at a flying bird and a sheep must learn to obey the shepherd” were amongst the parting words of a popular but late musician referring to the sworn enemies of progress – and it rings true today amongst the present day naysayers and nihilists amongst the Abia State terrain who have refused to see the new Abia State and the success stories that have begun to take strong stem in the many sectors of the state in a manner that sets an unselfish tone for the future administrators of the beloved state to hit the ground running – unlike what was obtainable on the ground upon Theodore Orji’s arrival as the executive governor of State.

Not minding the glaring dilapidation which Abia State found itself upon the arrival of the present state governor – in addition to the noxious attempt by the Orji Uzor Kalu political family to play the role of godfather and godmother, the agents of Orji Uzor Kalu still find it necessary to spew un-calibrated and largely unguarded hatred aimed at the administrative head of Abia State all in the name of free speech and democratic society.

But what they fail to comprehend are the success stories that liter the present Abia State. They fail to observe the evil jinx that has been broken by the Orji administration without the shed of blood. The latent revolution that occurred to bring about the dislodgement of the mother queen of Abia state politics and governance was not an easy battle – and neither was it a selfish battle rather it was a battle for the future development of the state and the collective betterment of the citizens of Abia State.

The hold on Abia state and her development by the mother of Orji Uzor Kalu and Orji Uzor Kalu was not a secret and it was clearly not welcomed by the larger populace of the state because it was evil and dictatorial. Orji Kalu Orji, in his many unguarded talks, had boasted that the State will remain under his family’s control for the next 35 years before ‘outsiders’ are to regain the control of the state. The hoisting of Theodore Orji to the seat of Governor was to fit the role devised by the Orji Uzor Kalu family plot. Through the first few years at the ‘realm’ of affairs, the grip of the Orji Uzor Kalu evil dynasty appeared overbearing and damning to allow for the smooth governing of the state. It led to an administration that appeared unorganized. And as a result, the popularity of the seating governor plummeted while the Orji Uzor Kalu cherished the dwindling political currency – as they tightened the grips on the seating governor as to ensure he remains a puppet for the Orji Uzor Kalu family.

But God intervened.

Through a dedicated heart targeted towards the liberation of Abia State from the evil trips of the Orji Uzor Kalu family, Theodore Orji’s coming as the governor became an unexpected blessing to the people of Abia State – and an unexpected curse to the Orji Uzor Kalu family. And for this reason, Orji Uzor Kalu’s family and their hired guns have become unrelenting in their attacks on the person of the governor – and on the state in general. This is not minding that the governor had gone ahead to launch the rebirth of a modern Abia State through the erection of a new secretariat befitting of a state capital, a modern diagnostic medical facility capable of handling dialysis patients to the tune of over 60 per month at the subsided cost of less than N23,000 per session.

Also – the erection of three ultra-modern markets in the Umuahia vicinity and a befitting housing units for the traders to purchase at heavily discounted rates.  - the erection of housing units befitting civil servants of the Abia State civil service and the revamping of the judiciary systems by ensuring court cases are attended to in a timely and humane manner – this the governor achieved by increasing the High Court infrastructural capacity.

The transportation system in Abia was also revamped and given a new look. The transportation was streamlined to mimic what is found in New York or Florida – where all the taxis are identifiable and fares uniformly administered. Over 2,000 Toyota Sienna were procured and handed out free to qualified taxi operators [youths] as part of the Ochendo youth empowerment program. In furtherance of the youth empowerment program, the Theodore Orji administration has erected and equipped an e-library – which is at par with the types found in 1^st world countries.

But the Orji Uzor Kalu boys refuse to relent.

In one of their litany of attacks on the person and administration of the Governor, a one ‘Olaniyi Olayinka’ wrote in a piece titled “Orji Continues To Rape Abia”, he attempted to paint the governor a rapist but a careful read through his write up showed anger and just odored anger without edible substance. He began his diatribe with “Permit me to point out the following observations I have made in Abia State. They are about the governance in that state and the trick that Governor Theodore Orji and his aides are spreading everywhere”. But in his 729 worded write up he managed to tell some fibs and dangerous fabrications. The rest of the write up dwelt on insulting the Information Commissioner and the Federal Minister of Information.

Here him, “the Umuahia Central Market which they said that they have converted to a large environment at Ubeku Ubani, is where a trader pays over N450, 000 for just a shop for one month. The government in Abia State and its agents would call that money ‘just N450, 000.’” – A lie worth its value in the sewer. From the official records, each store was given away to the traders at N300,000 with a down payment of N72,000. In addition, an open area for those who cannot afford a store at the market was made available. Also, the market was equipped with 10 water boreholes and 11 motor parks – 17 restaurants are in built in the market. Shuttle buses that cost N50 each were provided and subsided by the state government to ply to and fro into town from the Market. Located next to the market is a 1600 housing units for the traders – the 1^st set of units will be ready by August 2014. The market is reportedly the biggest in terms of size in the south east.

He continued to add that “it is a known fact that the government of Orji occasioned hardship in the cause of leadership. Commercial activities are dead in that state owing to the unconcerned approach of the governor to rebuild the state in reality order than rebuilding it on the media.”  But little does he know that the Abia State of Orji Uzor Kalu is no more and belongs in the past. Using the Internally Generated Revenue [IGR] as a marker for the status of economic activity, then it may be clear the Theodore Orji Administration have increased economic activity and has reduced hardship on the people of the state. The IGR which was below 250million monthly increased to N500million monthly as a result of increased economic activity under the Theodore Orji administration. This fete was achieved while outlawing the touts and fake tax collectors who would normally harass and collect illegal taxes from innocent traders. Now, Abia government pays the highest minimum wage in the nation at the tag of N20,000 monthly.

But the Orji Uzor Kalu attack boys may have little choice in halting the unrelenting and empty netted attacks on the governor of Abia State. What appears remnants of the evil dreams of their master for the state seems to have been tossed into the dustbin of time as a result of the timely intervention of the governor to wrestle away Abia State from the grips of their master.

Orji Uzor Kalu should call his attack dogs home – away from the governor. It is only fair to Abians that he do so.

486 SUSPECTED INSURGENTS ARRESTED IN ABIA

The 144 battalion of the Nigerian Army, Asa in Ukwa West Local Government Area of Abia State last Sunday arrested a convoy of 33 buses conveying 486 suspected insurgents including eight females between Aro Ngwa and Imo Gate along the Enugu- Port Harcourt expressway.
The suspects intercepted around 3am on Sunday, claimed to have come from different parts of the Northern states and aged mainly between 16 and 24 and were said to be searching for jobs.
Briefing newsmen at the Headquarters of the 144 Battalion of the Army, Asa where the suspects are being detained, alongside the Chief Press Secretary to the Governor, Mr. Charles Ajunwa and Commander of the military base, Lieutenant Colonel Rasheed Omolori who confirmed the arrest, the Commissioner for Information and Strategy, Abia State, Dr. Eze Chikamnayo, explained that two buses escaped with their occupants.
Although Lieutenant Colonel Omolori declined comment, he said the incident has been reported to the Defence Headquarters, Abuja.
The Commissioner said the sheer size of the movement made it suspicious, adding that none of the suspects was able to identify the location they were heading to and wondered how such a long motorcade could not be intercepted by security personnel until they reached Abia.
Dr. Chikamnayo said that at the moment, the Army and other security agencies in the state were working to unravel the actual mission of the suspects and those behind the movement.
The Information boss thanked the state Governor, Chief Theodore Orji for creating the enabling environment and investing resources for security personnel to do their job effectively as well as lauded the men of the Nigerian Army and other security agencies for being alive to their responsibility.
He was of the view that if other security personnel in other parts of the country will do as much as their counterparts in Abia, insurgency in the country will be a thing of the past.
“I expect every state to work hand-in-hand with their security personnel to check insurgency. Every security problem is local and if we handle it locally it will be nipped in the bud,” he said.
He cited the case of Abia State during the days of kidnapping and how it was taken as an Abia problem and condemned the idea of demonstrating in Abuja over matters that should be handled locally.