I have watched with keen interest the theatrics going on in Abia State – one of the finest states that God ever created – and I have come to sad conclusion that Chief Theodore Ahamefule Orji should be blamed for all that is happening. Some people may not easily understand why I have drawn this conclusion. But you will get to know as we progress in this piece.
Let me quickly state that the reason for the imbroglio in God’s Own State is not hard to locate. It was the fall out of the recent judgment by a Federal High Court, Abuja which ordered the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to give Dr. Sampson Ogah, who came second in the governorship primary of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), the Certificate of Return without hesitation. The court also ordered that he should be sworn in to replace Okezie Victor Ikpeazu – the incumbent governor.
It is not the purpose of this piece to consider the legal implications of what has happened or engage in any debate as to who should be sworn in or not. What this article tries to do is to locate the blame of what has happened at the appropriate quarters. And this I hope to do with every sense of justice and seriousness.
A little reminiscence will help. How did we get to where we are? I have read some of the arguments for and against the judgment of the High Court on the tax forgery charges against Okezie Ikpeazu, including following very diligently how events have unfolded since I left office as governor some 9 years ago, and have come to the regrettable conclusion that former governor of the state, my successor, Chief Theodore Ahamefule Orji, laid the foundation for all the mess.
It started from his days as my Chief of Staff during which he committed some disgraceful acts. Unknown to many of us, Chief Orji had a hidden agenda which he pursued with ferocious determination but pretentious mien. He pretended he was a team player, while deep inside he harboured some dangerous and wicked intentions.
One beautiful thing about my relationship with this man is that I have always treated him fairly and tried, at each moment, not to bring his iniquities to the public domain. In all intent and purpose, I never wished him any ill-luck. Rather I took him as my elder brother, a confidant and an ally. But subsequent events have since proved that he never qualified for any of these.
To be honest with you, Chief Orji was opposite of whom I thought he was. He plotted all kinds of evil against me and everybody that is connected to me. Indeed, he had a desperate agenda to ensure I never succeeded in life after serving Abia State selflessly as governor. His fear was that I would expose the wicked things he did against me, which bordered on integrity and trust.
And so, his aggression against me, even though unwarranted, was propelled by greed, haughtiness, contemptuousness, garrulity and egoism. In any case, deep inside, I did not bear (and would never) bear any grudge against him.
- A. Orji’s emergence as governor was achieved with so much pain and deprivation. Many of our party people, ordinarily, did not want him to succeed me. They alleged he was a serial betrayer and a very feebleminded, egocentric person. But I did not give heed to anything they said because I thought I was dealing with a trusted friend and ally.
So, the seed for the crisis in Abia State since I left office as governor was sown by Orji as a way of entrenching himself in power perpetually and satisfy his long-strewn ambition to control the political landscape of the state.
But see how things are turning upside down. I have nothing against Governor Okezie Ikpeazu who emerged governor after the 2015 governorship election. Since he came on board he has tried the much he could to make significant contributions to the development of the state.
However, there are more to governance in the state than what many people see on the surface. Why are some forces bent on making the state ungovernable? Why has the state remained motionless since I handed over to Orji on May 29, 2007? Contraryto some allegations in the media, particularly on social media platforms, I left the state better than what was handed over to me .
Sincerely speaking, we inherited a state substantially underdeveloped; crippled by huge debts and many months of unpaid salaries, pensions and gratuities. There was nothing on ground to show for government presence when we arrived in Umuahia. Bu t we were not fazed by these challenges. Instead of crying over spilt milk we deemed it proper to trudge along. We sourced resources from private sources to steady the ship of state and chart a new course for development.
Gradually, we started restoring confidence of the people in government and building bridges across ethnic and religious lines. By the time we had spent 4 years in office the state had witnessed massive development in every facet of the state’s economy. In fact, it took us just three months to clear the backlog of salaries and build the first set of four roads that transformed Enyimba City of Aba.
Forget all the wicked insinuations in the media, orchestrated by Orji and his cohorts, no government before or after our own delivered the dividends of democracy as much as we did. Aba for instance, received due attention. Without sounding immodest, our government built over 120 roads in the city, which propelled development and set it on the path of economic buoyancy.
What T.A. Orji did was to openly sabotage our efforts to paint us in a bad light. He forgot probably that he was digging his own grave, because the people of the commercial city will forever loathe his person. They see him as their worst enemy and have vowed never to welcome him to the city. Their hatred for his person has seen him severally and openly molested. Reports had it that he was almost lynched when he foolhardily attended the burial mass for the late Catholic Bishop of Aba Diocese in late 2014 when he knew quite well that the people would not want to see him.
Chief Orji deliberately refused to develop Aba so that the city would deteriorate to such a level that the people would be turned against me. But his plot failed because instead of the people antagonising me they hail me each time I enter the city .
I challenge Chief Orji to take a walk with me into Aba and see who between us would be stoned. I am very serious with this challenge.
The harm Orji did to the state would haunt him and the generation after him. Apart from looting the resources of the state, he has also left a legacy of hatred among the various splinter-ethnic groups in the state. He was the person who stoked the fire of dichotomy between Ukwa Ngwa and Old Bende peoples of the state.
Today each sees itself as the rightful owner of the state. That should not be so. The vision of our forbears, which we tried to maintain all through our regime, is to see the emergence of an egalitarian, peaceful and progressive state devoid of rancour, mistrust and self-centredness.
For the 8 years Chief Orji superintended over the state all he succeed in doing was destroying all what we did in order to create the impression that we underperformed. But God knows that we came, did our best for our people.
My position does not mean we did not step on some toes. We did. Nonetheless, it was done without any ill-intention or desire to witch-hunt anybody. It was rather borne out of a genuine desire to move the state forward. Those who T.A. Orji aligned with after falling out of favour with me were the same people who we both fought against when they wanted to lord it over us and destroy our collective patrimony.
The political crises the state has witnessed since T.A’s emergence and exit as governor are all traceable to him and his family. And they are deliberately designed to disorient whoever will succeed him and make the state perpetually enmeshed in crisis.
Therefore, what is playing out today in the state would have been avoided if the rule of law and constitutionality had been allowed to prevail.
What Chief Orji did not factor in is the place of God in the affairs of men. He, nevertheless, has forgotten that evil has an expiry date and that whatever a person sows that he or she will reap. The time to reap all the evil he has sown in the state is gradually coming near.
The level of poverty, penury and hunger in Abia State is unimaginable. In fact, the state has deteriorated abysmally since he assumed office as governor and throughout his reign. He did not do anything that would profit the state and its people. Rather he engaged in self-serving ventures that have left the state poorer and more devastated than it had ever been.
What Chief Orji and his co-travellers thought was that God would not discover their sins and punish them. The day of judgement has come, the centre can no longer hold.
I know that his successor, Okezie Ikpeazu, has not found it easy managing the affairs of the state. He is barely holding on to his teeth to keep the state afloat. The problems created for him by his successor are responsible for the current state of decay the state has found itself.
If we should tell ourselves the truth Abia State is in for worse days ahead. I remembered handing over a very functional and debt-free state to T.A. The records are there for all to see. By the time we handed over Abia State had exited the Paris Club. Now, what is the position of things? The state was milked dry by T.A. and his family. He helped himself with the resources of the state to build a fiefdom for himself and family, leaving the state to groan under the weight of huge debts, crimes and poverty.
I can state unequivocally that the entire 8 years he spent in office was a complete waste as nothing concrete was achieved for which he would be remembered. As governor he applied all kinds of underhand strategies to undermine the integrity of his administration and compromise the quality of governance. The result was a divided state and a bruised people.
Generations unborn will not forget the disservice he did to our people. He set us back many years and left a legacy of hate and disunity. This is why the state has continued to degenerate and asphyxiate.
I regret to observe that no other state in Nigeria has gone through the kind of odium Abia State has been made to undergo in the past 9 years. Anything queer and preposterous happened under his tenure. Name them: political brigandage, economic backwardness, financial rascality, inter-personality and inter-communal clashes, restiveness, cultism and general atmosphere of insecurity.
So, it is not surprising that another type of absurdity has been added to the list with what is going on in the state at the moment. How our state will come out of the crisis is not yet known. For sure, it will come out bruised as usual unless something is done fast to stem it.
I have always wondered why Chief Orji was allowed to operate with such liberty when we have elders and other stakeholders whose voice could have helped appreciably if they had spoken out. Instead of calling him to order they chose to collaborate with him. This emboldened and intoxicated him to commit more atrocious and unconstitutional acts.
Nevertheless, I believe that whatever evil or good one does has a commensurate recompense. My worry is that the man has not shown any remorse for the devious way he ran the affairs of our state. I handed over to him with the optimism he was going to sustain the legacy bequeathed to him. Unfortunately, he turned out a terror – even to his own kindred. He destroyed every institution we established just out of sheer envy and vindictiveness.
Our state and people did not deserve the raw deal they got from him. Even now, whatever is happening in the state that has attracted negative publicity to it is his handwork.
It is now 13 months since he wangled his way to become a Senator. What has he been able to achieve for his people? I asked this question because there is open protestation by the people of his senatorial zone against some of his overbearing actions. Despite not doing anything to better their lot so far, he has been engaged in cold war with some of the stakeholders who have vowed to even it out with him.
In any case, one indestructible fact remains that Chief Theodore Orji has been a bad influence on our state and the people. His role both as a former governor and now a senator has not profited our state one bit. Instead it has brought untold hardship, pain and sorrow.
I know for sure that by the time the current dust settles we will be well positioned to see the nyash of the fowl.
Meanwhile, I profusely apologise to our people for endorsing him for governor ab initio.
FAREWELL, OJO!
The news of the sudden death of our brother, friend and colleague, Chief Ojo Maduekwe was received with rude shock. It was a death too many.
He died when his advice and sagacity were most needed. But we take consolation in the eventful life he led both in public service and politics.
He would be remembered for the robust role he played in steadying the ship of state as a lawyer, legislator, minister and politician. Posterity will write his name in gold.
We commend his spirit to the protection of God. while praying for the repose of his soul.