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 have 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 should 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.
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
shocking 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 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, they 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 to
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-size
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
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 has 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.
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 in the 17 LGAs.
In summary, Ochendo has taken on a total
of over 500 roads since his first tenure. The
health sector has witnessed a quantum lift
with Diagnostic Centers in Aba and
Umuahia. Over 710 Primary Health Centers,
nine 100 bed hospitals, Ambulance services
in the 17 local Government Areas, capped
with placing Health Workers on special
salary scales of CONHESS and CONMESS.
Schools have sprung like mushrooms, our
children since 2007, have been in school
free in primary and secondary schools, with
free busing in Umuahia and Aba. Nobody
can deny the blue roofed model schools in
their multiples in all the Local Government
Areas. To enhance morals and strict
instructions, secondary and primary schools
have been returned to original owners.
The aesthetics of our capital of the state
have been enhanced by the building and
relocating traders to new markets. He has
touched the housing sector and others. Most
of all, the security and peace ambience
acknowledged by Paul Harris of Rotary
fame as ‘the greatest resource which a
nation can have is the resource of peace; it
counts for more than arable lands, more
than mines of untold riches.’ The world is
aware of these deeds, little wonder he has
been honoured at home and abroad and
awards are streaming in to the extent that
we have lost count.
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.
EDDIE ONUZURUIKE