By Prof. (Mrs) Chinyere Emenalo, Chairperson, Association of South Eastern Professors (ASEP) Aba Branch, Abia State.

Let’s talk about hometown fabulists for a hot second.

When you’re in a social setting and casually asked, “Where are you from?”, obviously the point isn’t to quickly hear the answer and get it out of the way. It’s to start a conversation that illuminates how your life experiences have shaped you, what values you stand for and how you represent the ethos of your hometown.

Of course, in every party there is always the attention seeker, that one unpleasant fellow who would falsely lay claim to a great city, purely out of a groveling need to be validated by the fame of a city who values they do not represent.

A claim to be “made in Aba” would be a claim to represent the ethos of a people who are integrous, enterprising, dogged, driven by the need to bring about change and ever resilient in their pursuit for improvement. To be made in Aba you’d have to earn it as it goes beyond fancy talk.

Made in Aba is a brand that has over the years, been associated with men of integrity like John Udeagbala of J.U. Udeagbala Holding, Chief Anthony Enukene of Tonimas, and Mazi Clement Owunna of Starline, all great men who have left legacies and added value to the city, providing jobs and contributing to development.

Made in Aba is a badge of honour that cannot be associated with pathetic hometown fabulists like Enyinnaya Abaribe.

Let’s talk about Enyinnaya Abaribe for another hot second; a man who chose to malign Sen. Orji Kalu in the pages of his wrongly titled book, MADE IN ABA.

The writer recalls that several years ago, Enyinnaya Abaribe, stranded at a Lagos motor park, was offered the position of deputy governor of Abia State on a platter of gold by Sen. Orji Kalu after he was given a free ride to Aba by the then aspiring gubernatorial candidate.

As a running mate, Abaribe benefited from a free election campaign and fully paid election implementation that allowed him to occupy the second highest seat of Abia State.

The revenue generation of any government is given to the most trusted ally to handle because in it lies the life blood of that government.

In a leap of faith and a clear expression of trust, as Abia governor, Sen. Orji Kalu entrusted his deputy, Enyinnaya Abaribe, with overseeing the revenue generation efforts of the state. This was a clear departure from the norm of keeping deputy governors as ceremonial figureheads only.

As the man in charge of the purse of the state, Enyinnaya Abaribe had a sacred duty, not just to Abia state as a whole, but especially to Aba. This is because Aba was the main revenue generating center of the state and also the city with the most government infrastructure and highest population of Abians to be serviced with the generated revenue.

Alas, what did the Umuekwensu (children of the devil) son of Obingwa do with the yam belonging to Aba people, hung on his neck like the proverbial goat? He started eating it forgetting who it belonged to.

Like a Judas, instead of focusing on the best strategies to achieve the task given to him, he devoted his energies to raising alternative receipt booklets for the internally generated revenue of the State (as testified by the Governor Orji Kalu himself in his tell-all book, “My Life”).

For Enyinnaya Abaribe, the final destination of generated revenue was to his private pocket and not for the challenges Aba was facing at that time. Which is why it was a no-brainer that Enyinnaya Abaribe was infamously impeached for fraudulent activities.

Till date all access he has to the common wealth of the people has ended up in his private account and he is yet to prove pages 214 and 215 of “My life“ by Orji Kalu wrong.

People made in Aba do not steal from the commonwealth of Aba people.  There is a distinction between made by Aba, made from Aba, made for Aba, made with Aba and made in Aba.

Enyinnaya Abaribe is far from the last but could be better described by his own words on one occasion “I am made with Aba”. To this the writer fully agrees that there is no better description for his book than “MADE WITH ABA”.

To be made with Aba means that the resources of Aba meant for Aba people were used up in the making of one man. This is the best description considering that few months before he was chosen to be deputy Governor, he was struggling to raise money to run for state house of assembly with nothing to show for all his eloquence as a lecturer.

When you are made in Aba, you are Aba’s product because Aba will own you, enjoy your quality, defend you, promote you and market you to others outside Aba to embrace you as a proven quality product.

But when you are made with Aba, it means you took from Aba; it means you denied Aba what belongs to them; it means you suppressed Aba to enrich yourself like the bourgeois in the ancient times against the commoners.

READ MORE: https://nigeriainfodaily.com/2021/03/06/1999-2003-how-abaribes-plot-to-remove-orji-kalu-as-governor-backfired/

story for d gods

Abaribe have been treacherous all the way