Will the Media Siege on Abia End Now?

With the Abia State elections won and lost, will the media siege on the state end, asks Mike Nwachukwu.

As Nigerians across the different states rejoice over yet another smooth transition from one set of democratically elected administrations to another, it will be a different sense of celebration in Abia State. On Saturday, May 29, 2015, the good people of the state will sigh in relief in expectation that the siege laid on their state by two newspapers owned by one of their own will be over.

This is because though their outgoing governor, Chief T.A. Orji, has performed to their general satisfaction, this illustrious son of theirs has been unrelenting in using his two newspapers to wage a psychological war on the entire citizenry of the state for choosing to support the governor in its programme of transforming the state.

Although the quarrel between the newspaper mogul and the governor is a personal one, the former used his media prowess to paint the state in very bad light as a place where nothing works. The attacks on the state has been so persistent that but for the fact the Nigerians are familiar with the idiosyncrasy of the newspaper proprietor as a fellow who sees himself as the only shining star in the state, Abia would have since become a pariah.

The proprietary or otherwise of the media siege laid on Abians by one of their own is a topic for another day but the concern today is that even as Abians salute the man they finally refer to as “T.A.” for a job well done, it is difficult for Nigerians who never visited the state in the last eight years to believe that it is not an assemblage of never-do-wells.

Such is the tragedy of a people hitherto seen as among the most discerning and hardworking but now so psychologically battered by one man, impressing it upon them that after him no one else in the state matters.

Still, while this write-up is not necessarily an appraisal of the eight-year tenure of Governor T.A. Orji, its basic objective is to once again draw the attention of Nigerians to what the politics of hate could do to a people, who have in the last eight years collectively worked in one page under the able supervision of T.A.

The emphasis here is on the word, “collective”. For, even as the administration of Governor Orji proved its mettle in trying to improve the lives of Abians through the provision of infrastructural amenities, it will be perhaps most remembered for bringing the good people of the state to work together for their collective good. Anybody familiar with the state before T.A. Orji would easily agree that Abia was fragmented into many tendencies and that there was a complete breakdown of elite consensus.

The administration that preceded that of T.A. preferred to reign over rancor; its political elite virtually decided to dissociate itself from the state while the government of the day fancied itself as a champion of the federal republic instead of seeing to the welfare of the local citizens. But as Chief Orji bows out on May 29, 2015, it is to his eternal credit that Abia has been returned to a place where members of the political class work for a common goal, regardless of partisan differences.

There was this newspaper report some years ago quoting a certain Minister of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and who happens to be an indigene of the state as saying that he never visited the seat of Abia State government throughout the period he served as Minister. The reason, he was quoted, was the overbearing demeanor of the then governor who saw every member of the political elite as a threat and who even tended to abandon his own duties in Umuahia to concern himself (chiefly) with matters of the federation.

But providence threw up Orji who was actually part of the previous dispensation, to correct all that. With the benefits of an insider who witnessed the oddities of the hegemonic dispositions of his then boss, the first thing Orji did was to embark on reconciliatory moves to bring the elite back to the state to work together. That moves paid off handsomely and for eight years running, it has been near total equanimity among the political class.

The first indication is that the ruling party in the state, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), became so cohesive under Governor Orji and an example of party decorum. The second indication and perhaps the most significant is that Abia became the only state in the entire South-east, where you could find Senators and Ministers of the state’s origin sitting at the same high table with the governor in a function.
In the neighbouring Enugu and Ebonyi States, which like Abia are all PDP states, the governors and their ministers are hardly in talking terms. In Imo, it is war between the governor and virtually every other member of the political elite. In Anambra state, the fellow who held sway for eight years until last year did it all alone to the extent that he carried his travelling bags himself.

Political scientists all agreed on the point that seventy per cent of governance is made up of intangibles. The intangibles here include attitudes and dispositions such as allowing others to make inputs into governance. Above all, it entails consensus building and ability to ensure a stable polity, where acrimony is reduced to the barest minimum. Chief Theodore Ahamefule Orji, out-going governor of Abia State, scores quite high in this aspect which, on the converse, is where more than 80 per cent of state chief executives in Nigeria scores very lowly.
In agreeing that intangible achievements are very germane to good governance, experts point out that consensus building, which is the most significant outcome of that approach to governance, inevitably leads to the strengthening of government which should be the ultimate aim of democratic governance. In this sense, every successive administration only needs to improve on what the preceding one did with a cumulative effect on the wellbeing of the governed.

Unfortunately, the situation so far in the Nigerian experience is that each new governor comes with a mindset of outshining his predecessor. The first thing a new governor does, in most cases, is to demolish the institutions put in place by his predecessor. Even projects that are more than half way executed are abandoned and entirely new ones began at the expense of the people.

But soon, the people would discover that it is mere merry-go-round. The new administration ends up doing the same thing that was done before. Even where there are semblances of newness, they are white elephants projects that do not impact directly on the lives of the people apart from invoking the abused sentiments of Ihe Ahuru N’Anya (What the eyes can see).

To be sure, state governors who do not have either the academic or social background to run consensus building administrations have tried to make up that lapse by inundating their people with physical infrastructure that are in most cases phantom or achieved at provocative costs. In most cases, the people try to find consolation on the mere sight of such structures even where they are of the lowest qualities.
One people that once suffered the fate of the proverbial candle lit at both ends were the good people of Abia State. For at least eight years prior to the administration of Governor Orji, they were at once reduced to mere onlookers and at the same time saw nothing in terms of any meaningful effort to physically develop their state.

It was in such circumstances that T.A. Orji took over the affairs of the state but as noted earlier in this article, he realised that the first thing to do was to bring back the people together. In terms of physical infrastructure, the state could not boast of even a Secretariat more than eleven years after it was created. Civil servants crisscrossed the state capital between make belief private buildings that served as offices, with the attendant negative implications on productivity.

That is just one case but even as the governor made to give civil servants in the state a conducive environment to perform their duties, the security situation in the state became so bad, no thanks to the precedence created by the previous dispositions that encouraged political brigandage and violence in a bid to get even with anybody or group that showed any traces of dissent.

By 2011, just as the governor was settling down for his second term in office, the crime rate in Abia State, especially in the area of kidnapping, had risen so high that the state became a pariah state. Residents of Aba and the state capital, Umuahia, fled to other parts of the South-east. But calmly and not given to theatrics, Governor Orji knew that war was not going to be fought on the pages on newspapers.

Instead, he went into a rare collaborative effort with the security agencies and in no time, kidnappers were completely routed in the state.
Initially, some of his critics said it was a mere palliative effort but Nigerians eventually discovered that the criminals were gone for good. Till date, Nigerians still baffle at how the administration of Governor Orji did it as though it was a magic. But insiders said it was nothing of that sort. It was, they said, the result of the same rare ability in Chief Theodore Orji to get the best out of people by creating a conducive environment for them to work in.

Some of the governor’s critics try to dismiss the crime fighting feat as rather infinitesimal and something that cannot be over dramatised in appraising his administration. While no amount of pretences can diminish the importance of what the governor did in the area of crime fighting, it needs no exaggeration to state that he excelled even in the realm of physical infrastructure.

As noted earlier, for an administration that inherited little or nothing in that area, it is on record that Orji’s administration not only overcame the deficiencies but went ahead to overtake states whose chief executives placed newspaper advertorials and sponsored live television coverage to announce the completion of even the smallest project. To be sure, a tabulation of the things posted by the T.A. Orji administration is outside the scope of this write-up but it is not for nothing that the World Bank in 2014 rated Abia State as ranking in number four in infrastructural development out of the 36 states of the federation.

In late 2014, a fact–finding team raised by the Peoples Democratic Party, after an extensive tour of Abia State, declared Governor Orji as the best performing governor in the South-east. The team, which arrived the state against the backdrop of orchestrated newspaper campaigns by the latter day newspaper mogul, was quick to say that there was a “media conspiracy” against the governor aimed at diminishing the giant strides of his administration in raising the bar of governance and delivery of democracy gains to the door steps of the people.

Upon arriving the twin–tower state secretariat complex built by Governor Orji, the leader of the team rather unconsciously exclaimed, “This is second to none”. The edifice in a 200-office ultramodern complex that relieved the agony of civil servants, who for several years had made do with ramshackle rented apartments scattered all over the state capital, Umuahia.

There is the 5000-seat capacity international conference centre initiated and completed by the Orji administration. There is the new Government House which the state could not boast of after 23 years of its existence but now in place. There is the e-library complex.
There is the Joint Account and Allocation Committee (JAAC) building and the Abia State Universal Basic Education Board (ASUBEB) building. For Health, there is the diagnostic centre built by the administration and equipped with the latest technology. The hospital is now a major referral centre in the Eastern part of the country.

We can go on and on but as noted earlier, it is not edifices that matter. Unknown to those who try to rate the governor from what some emergency columnists write about him in the newspapers, Abians do not even look at T.A. through that provision. They look at him from the point of view of a liberator, who brought them out from the jaws of the caterpillars of the common wealth who pillaged the state resources in a manner it suited them while the cow that produced the milk languished in severe want.

Initially, keen watchers of events in Abia thought that Governor Orji orchestrated the bitterness of his former boss and ex-governor of the state, Dr. Orji Uzor Kalu, after he loosened his grip from the latter to be able to serve the people without let or hindrance. But they have since seen that the bitterness is real. Eight years after the fight began, the former governor daily deploys more deadly arsenals on Orji and his administration.

Some observers had thought that a line would be drawn at a point. But it gets worse and the only reason is that contrary to expectations that the campaign of hate would detract Governor Orji, he went ahead to post monumental achievements in the face of scarce resources. The bad news again is that the respite the people may experience now that T.A. is leaving the stage may, after all, be a temporary one.

In the newspaper editorials referred to as the beginning of this article, the authors served what looked like a notice to the incoming governor, Dr. Okezie Ikpeazu, after labeling him as “part of the infamous Orji administration”. As it is, therefore, Nigerians are waiting to see how the Abia State born newspaper mogul and his outfits will continue with their self-imposed assignment as the policemen of Abia State after the exit of Chief Theordore Orji who came, saw and conquered.
-Nwachukwu wrote from Umuahia

Eight years of uninterrupted action in Abia

BY EDDIE ONUZURUIKE

Most words put on the marble have a way of raising our consciousness. This is aptly true of the words of Martin Luther King, Jr. (1929 – 1968).

‘The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy. When it is said that truth is bitter, it is not bitter to all. It is sweet to some and sour to others. Especially where people feel so indifferent in the face of evil, the man who pronounces the truth may not be popular. In real situations if experience is anything to go by, it is evident that many hedge from the truth for their selfish reasons. Martin Luther comes to our rescue again when he stated that, ‘in order to be true to one’s conscience and true to God, a righteous man has no alternative but to refuse to cooperate with an evil system.’
By the foregoing, it takes a man determined to go down in history as a peacemaker and pacesetter to stand firm for justice to be done on issues no matter whose ox is gored.

Such was the case with the governorship situation in Abia where two out of the three senatorial zones had taken their turns and one was left out. It is shocking and ironical to believe that somebody boasted that the zone will be in such subjugation for many years, while Nigeria is known to have fought for other African countries to gain freedom, being more frontline than the frontline states.

While the quest to tilt the power balance towards the southern senatorial zone remained hazy, Chief T. A. Orji vehemently stated in many of his speeches that equity justice and fair play would come to play.
When a few of us who are writers condemned and mooted this anomaly, harping on the need for a positive change, we were cautioned especially when the topic pointed to issues on power shift. The question was, are you sure that the power that be will back you in the rotation in favour of Ukwa na Ngwa? Having been a Government House insider and a T. A. Orji watcher for long, I have never ever heard or seen the governor prevaricate or equivocate on minor issues, how much more on a serious thing as power shift. He is a man guided by truth and high moral principles and fully believes the Igbo dictum of ‘Egbe Bere Ugo Bere,’ translated to be Live and let’s live.

No condition is permanent, change is constant and the change symbol in Abia today is akin to the biblical saying about the stone refused by the builders becoming the corner stone. Ukwa na Ngwa have the mandate and a power tour instead of tussle is on in the state, all to the glory of God. Today, there is a reversal of the funny expression of always a bride’s maid but never a bride and other sobriquets like Ukwa na Ngwa as the land of deputies. All is history now!

It is on record that Chief T. A. Orji insisted and the leadership of Abia PDP saw the need and concurred. We may not go back to the problems and setbacks suffered, but it is scandalous that most beneficiaries opposed this novel idea for selfish reasons.

All Abia sons and daughters, mothers, fathers, clergy and laity should further affirm and extend the already existing equity law and practice in cultural union meetings, church groups and other political gatherings. Some people argue that zoning leads to mediocrity as it may not always bring out the best but the gains are enormous. In the efforts to correct wrongs sacrifices have to be made.


This is not the first time where Chief T. A. Orji has come out to stand firmly on issues that will move Abia forward. In many cases, such decisions and actions are first case situations.

Recall that the civil service; his constituency was the first time promoted massively from one level to the other.
Since the creation of Abia State, the civil servants have been sheltered in private and rented buildings. The secretariat built for the takeoff of the newly created states by the Federal Government then were only four floors accommodating four ministries only. It took only Ochendo out of past governors to decide and comfortably house the civil servants in a building complaint with International Labour Organization standards with elevators and ramp smooth for wheelchairs.

Going by the annals of today, Abia pays the highest minimum wage in Nigeria! He is equally the first Civil Servant to be elected Governor in Abia State! It is on record that Ochendo is the first to install industrial-sized elevators located at the new secretariat. The International Conference Centre is standing in Abia today rubbing shoulders with the ones in Abuja, Pretoria, Johannesburg and New York!
In Isiukwuato, a helipad was constructed to assist the military in their security works.

It is through the instrumentality of his governance that a female was appointed a provost and registrar in ABSU for the first time! Before now, dialysis machines were only seen in photographs or by those who can travel abroad, but Ochendo have installed six functional ones at the new diagnostic centers.

He has built the first Government House in Abia, independent of colonial structures. Most importantly, he is the first governor to genuinely advocate for and implemented power shift as contained in the Abia Charter of Equity. There could be more firsts if properly verified.

Other wonders are the E-library, the ASUBEB, JAAC and ASEPA Houses, the BCA 48 room complex, the Ultra-Modern High Courts. For the first time new agencies sprouted carrying out developments in the rural and urban areas like ASOPADEC, ABROMA, CSDP, multiple Skills Acquisition Centers, The Liberation Farms and old ones long starved of funds have been rejuvenated with counterpart funding among them, ADP, IFAD, ASUBEB and FADAMA.

Most of these are put in place to make Umuahia to look like a state capital and not at the detriment of other cities and areas as there are projects concurrently executed in the 17 LGAs.

In summary, Ochendo has taken on a total of over 500 roads since his first tenure.
Ochendo has left a template that our incoming governor has promised to adopt.
No doubt Dr Okezie Ikpeazu will improve on the records and Abia by all means will be better for it.

SEPA TO OTTI: PROVE YOUR NGWA ORIGIN WITH SUPPORT TO IKPEAZU

The South East Progressives Assembly(SEPA), a socio-political group has challenged the defeated governorship candidate of the All Progressives Alliance(APGA) in Abia state, Alex Otti to prove his claim of Ngwa origin by jettisoning the idea of challenging the victory of the Peoples Democratic Party(PDP) Okezie Ikpeazu.

According to a statement signed by Ebere Uzoukwa and Comrade Munonye Maximus President and Secretary of SEPA respectively, the group posited that only Otti's support to Ikpeazu will exonerate him from the allegation that he is either a usurper who suddenly changed his Arochukwu origin to cheat Ngwa people and deny them the opportunity of producing the governor already zoned to them by the ruling Peoples Democratic Party(PDP) or desperately seeking immunity to evade prosecution over alleged shoddy transactions while in Diamond bank as Group Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer.

SEPA also posited that Otti has the opportunity to prove that his  ambition to govern Abia is expressly tied to the collective interest Ngwa people that have never produced the governor since the creation of the state.

The statement reads: "It is with great joy that the executive and members of South East Progressives Assembly(SEPA) congratulate Dr. Okezie Victor Ikpeazu, Abia State Governor-Elect on his well deserved in the keenly contested governorship election of Abia state.
We graciously commend Abians for voting Dr. Ikpeazu of the PDP whose capacity to transform Abia is obviously not in doubt. Also worthy of commendation are the security agencies and the Independent National Electoral Commission(INEC) who displayed high level of professionalism especially during the April 25 rerun election.

May we remind the Governor-Elect Dr. Okezie Ikpeazu that expectations are very high especially as concerns to the rebuilding of the seemingly neglected Aba commercial city. The promises of regular and prompt payment of workers salaries, provision of quality and affordable healthcare services, good roads, infrastructural facilities  and other social needs should be ultimately accorded the deserving priority immediately on assumption of office as Governor of Abia on May 29.
We also wish to commend the governorship candidate of the All Progressives Grand Alliance(APGA), Dr. Alex Otti for his resilience and fighting spirit which obviously have changed the political landscape of Abia state. Interestingly, Dr. Ikpeazu's victory has provided the needed opportunity for Otti to truly prove his hitherto claim of Ngwa origin to everyone. Rather than challenge the collective will of the people at the tribunal, we do expect him to support his brother Dr. Ikpeazu and contribute his quota in the task of rebuilding and restoring Abia on the path of economic growth and development. Anything aside this common expectation will give credence to our earlier position that the ex-Diamond bank chief is either a usurper who sacrilegiously abandoned his Arochukwu origin in Abia North to assume the 2015 governorship zoned to Ukwa-Ngwa nation in Abia South that controls 9 out of 17 local governments in Abia or one desperately seeking immunity to evade arrest and prosecution over his alleged shoddy transactions while in Diamond bank as Group Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer.

On the other hand, we urge Abians to cooperate and support the incoming administration of Dr. Ikpeazu to enable him actualize the collective dream of building  a better and prosperous Abia state".

SUPPLEMENTARY GOVERNORSHIP ELECTION IN ABIA STATE SLATED FOR 25/4/2015

The Position of Abia State Government

Whereas the Government of Abia State is aware of the high level of injustice being meted to our party–the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the 2015 Abia State Governorship election;
Whereas the government of Abia State believes that only a peaceful and harmonious relationship among Abians can be a catalyst for sustainable socio-economic growth of our dear state;
Whereas the INEC Returning Officer for Abia State Prof Benjamin Ozumba has ordered a supplementary election in some units in the State with a total number of 179,224 registered voters as announced by him;
Whereas in the already released results by Prof Benjamin Ozumba, the PDP candidate Dr Okezie Victor Ikpeazu scored a total of 248,459 votes while his closest rival Alex Otti of APGA scored a total of 165,406 votes which gives Dr Okezie Victor Ikpeazu a clear lead with 83,053 votes;
Whereas the number of registered voters and the number of those that collected their permanent voters cards in the areas slated for supplementary elections in Abia State are of public knowledge; The Abia State government hereby states as follows:

1. The Abia State Government accepts that our party - the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) will participate in the governorship supplementary elections slated for 25th April, 2015 in the state.
2. Government, however, insists that card readers must be used for accreditation.
3. It is government’s position that INEC should configure the card readers to reflect the various units where supplementary elections will hold.
4. The card readers should be on zero and shall be inspected by the agents of our party – the Peoples Democratic Party, before and after accreditation to checkmate foul play.
5. The number of accredited voters should also be entered in the appropriate form and signed by all parties.
6. That no Chairman of a Local Government shall be molested or barred from observing proceedings at the collation centres as Chief Security Officers of their various local governments.
7. That we shall no longer tolerate the intimidation of our party members or accept a situation where INEC will allow more party agents or observers for a political party than the number allowed for the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

8. That no soldier should be at a polling centre, collation centre or inside any local government council as the impartiality of some officers has become questionable. It is also against INEC guidelines for them to do so.
9. That Abia State government insists that the Chairman of INEC Prof Attahiru Jega should come over to Abia State or send senior INEC officials to monitor the supplementary elections as we have no confidence in the Resident Electoral Commissioner Prof. Selina Oko and the State Returning Officer Prof. Benjamin Ozumba.
10. Abians are enjoined to come out en-masse on Saturday 25th April, 2015 and vote for the PDP candidate Dr Okezie Victor Ikpeazu where you see the umbrella (Mbalari).

Signed:

Dr A.C.B. Agbazuere
Hon. Commissioner for Information & Strategy
Abia State.

THE QUEST FOR POLITICAL POWER AND CONTEMPORARY ECONOMIC REALITIES IN NIGERIA

As it is well known, every season has activities that keep persons within it busy. Presently in Nigeria, individuals and groups, especially politicians and political parties, have kept themselves pre-occupied with the pursuit of political power that, expectedly, could be actualized in May, 2015. To that extent, every nook and cranny of the landscape of Nigeria is charged with a very high tempo of political jamboree, manoeuvres and manipulations. Typical of Nigerian politicians, promises are being made left, centre and right. The electorate may not be surprised to hear political aspirants promise to construct bridges where there is no pond, much more river.

A retrospective glance at Nigeria makes it clear that the country will be fifty-five years of independent nation-hood on October 1st, 2015, being the year of the anticipated next general elections. Any man at fifty-five who does not feelinsulted, if addressed as a child or even a boy, must be singled out for a special case study in psychology.

It is pertinent to recall that Nigeria held a lot of optimism for her citizenry at independence on October 1st, 1960. It was a country which leadership manifested vision, mission, patriotism, altruism and transparency. At the time of independence, oil and gas had not become the mainstay of Nigeria’s economy. Emphasis was maximally placed on agriculture and revenue so generated translated to quantifiable development projects. Income from palm produce was used to build the first indigenous University in Nigeria; the University of Nigeria, Nsukka under the first Premier of the defunct Eastern Region, Dr Nnamdi Azikiwe. In the former Western Region, Chief Obafemi Awolowo, as Premier of the region, harnessed resources from cocoa to build the famous University of Ife. In the same vein, Sir Ahmadu Bello galvanized resources from groundnuts and cotton to build the first University in the defunct Northern Region; Ahmadu Bello, Zaria in his capacity as Premier of the region. The country witnessed a buoyant and dependable economy. Nigeria’s balance of trade was assuring.

Before the discovery of oil in commercial quantity, which almost coincided with military adventurism in Nigeria, the Nigerian youths were known for their ingenuity and creativity. The educated amongst them were determined to make their marks in their chosen fields of endeavour and career. Those who could not go to school, took to agriculture, trade or one skill or the another. It was almost a taboo for a young man to come out from school and head straight to politics without first making a mark either in the public or private sector.

One might be tempted to say that the discovery of oil and gas in Nigeria meant more harm than good. This could be substantiate by the fact that Nigerians turned themselves into a mere consumer-nation instead of the producing-nation they had hitherto been. Nigerian youths, whose youthful energy should have intrinsically or extrinsically been channelled towards productivity, have, rather, resorted to being corrosive parasites  hanging destructively on the nation’s economy. It is today, therefore, common to see hundreds, if not thousands, of young Nigerians whose curriculum vitae only highlight their participation in political matters. More than sixty percent of the Nigerian youths do not contribute, in any productive manner, to the growth of the country’s economy. He that does not produce but only consumes is worrisomely and devastatingly a parasite.

As the saying goes, no condition is permanent. The oil and gas sector that regrettably made Nigeria and her citizens live a false way of life has been on a steady decline. Expected national revenue from the sector is no longer feasible. Budgetary implementations have become characterized by precariousness and extremity of pecuniary difficulties, if not impossibilities. The country’s currency; the Naira, has nose-dived to a level of economic discomfort. Many governments in the country appear to be at the cross –roads with the present economic realities.  

It is necessary to observe that because of the materialistic assumptions Nigerians have about governance, many of the present political aspirants to high positions of responsibility may not be in tune with current economic realities that are systematically engulfing every segment of the country’s economy. With the price of oil crashing on a daily basis, oil being recently discovered in some other countries, the United States of America’s policy of non-importation of petroleum from Nigeria, rise in illegal oil bunkering in the volatile Niger Delta region and the current irresponsible and most destructive insurgency by mentally deranged extremist moslems in both North-East and North-West of Nigeria, even including some parts of the North-Central, whosoever is aspiring to leadership in Nigeria in 2015, especially via the executive arm of government, should be prepared psychologically to inherit a system that may have just little, if not nothing, trickling from the Federal Account Allocation Committee, FAAC.

Any governor in 2015 that will be deficient in vision, enterprise, resourcefulness, transparency, ability to diversify his state’s economy and dexterity in managing and multiplying resources will feel terribly disappointed.

From every indication, Nigerians will not be ready to take excuses from Chief Executives who will fail to deliver on their mandates merely on the grounds that not much is received from the Federal government. Leaders, especially Governors, must be mentally articulate, resourceful and disciplined as to guarantee efficient and effective diversification of their moribund economies. They should also conduct a study on how Governor T.A Orji of Abia State has successfully managed the meagre resources of the state to place it where it is currently without borrowing any dime from the bond market. This piece will not be successfully rounded off if caution is not given that leaders that will succeed  in the next dispensation will surely be ones that will maintain a very reasonably safe distance from sycophants whose only contributions to governance are mischief, treachery, gossip, blackmail and opportunism. May God save Nigeria.

Chief (Sir) Don Ubani; Ksc, JP
(Okwubunka of Asa)

A KLEPTOMANIAC'S DIMENSION TOWARDS THE TRUTH

A KLEPTOMANIAC'S DIMENSION TOWARDS THE TRUTH
By Nneka Obidike writing from Abiriba.

Going by the online media trend of the controversial kingpin of controversies and mass deceit reminiscent of the devil itself. It is clear to OUK that karma has revisited upon him for the 3rd time at the 3rd attempt at relevance in public highlight.

He siphoned over $900mm in a single transaction and sent it to his private business arm, slok holding. Slok holding is a hydra headed entreprise funded from the abia state coffers. The coffers that is was replenished by the federal government with its statutory monthly allocation, niger delta derivation fund, oil windfalls, world bank loans, imf loans, ecology funds, etc

Slok Holdings has its hands in every pie ranging from shipping, banking, airlines, etc. The $900mm that was intended for the human capital and infrastructual development of abia has been secretly funneled into the great kleptomaniac's pocket and he is shamelessly regarded as worthy of an Abian. I reiterate he is not an abian. His citizenry should be stripped because of the untold harm, hurt and hardship he has inflicted on every Abian from 1999to 2007. By implication, he has set Abia back by 20 years. All thanks to Ochendo for making teeth grinding efforts to rescue the state from total decadence and death.

The implications of his kleptomania is many, but few are listed:
1) Due to his mad theft, the state teaching hospital is undeveloped. thanks to ochendo for his massive upliftments in the health sector. it would have been a goner. the kleptomaniac's has caused many to die because of lack of proper diagnosis and treatment. I place all the deaths during his era and beyond on his head. Their blood will continually haunt him.

2) Our schools are under developed. The theft has stripped the schools of the equipment, training, infrastructure, etc that they would have acquired if the schools were rightly funded. This includes the professionalism and expertise that would have been acquired by now.This mega lapse has caused the schools to graduate half baked scholars who are deficient in their chosen fields making them a failure to themselves psychologically. Ouk is the cause of these heartbreaks. His generations born and unborn will face the music.

3) Death Road networks. This has led to massive accidents, decreased commercial activities and armed robbery. The list is so many. The satanic influence of that theft would have aided a lot of breadwinners, businessmen, industrialists, etc but the kleptomaniac is so demonized to steal that he doesn't know.

4) Degraded norms and values. His mad theft has led to deaths and setbacks in the showcasing of our rich cultural heritage and this has negated and destroyed the tourist attraction that can draw people from all angles of the world and foreign exchange we would have enjoyed. We have lost a major reach at world class development and an opportunity at cultural exchange.

I must stop at this point because of the obvious pain and ridicule that this kleptomaniac called ouk has put all Abians through.

My grouse is that he has the impunity to come back to ask to represent abia north senatorial district.

I am insulted.

Every abian that is worth his salt is insulted. We must show this thief that abians are wiser and will not bow to his media hype, his angle at transformation, his lies at being the messiah. Filled with massive lies.

Breaking News! Orji Uzor Kalu Finally Arrested in Abuja

Former governor of Abia state Orji Uzor Kalu was today arrested at the gate of Eagle Square Abuja as President Jonathan declares his re-election bid. Our source said Kalu was arrested when he wanted to force himself into the arena with an unmarked car. Security men at the gate insisted that he should be searched before hewill be allowed, but Kalu who wanted to play smart told his driver to force his way in.

At this point the security men ordered him down, searched his car and in the process discovered some strange objects suspected to be bomb. He was promptly whisked away with other female occupants of the vehicle.

More details soon