The Gov has done pretty well in the area of security, Energy distribution, primary and tertiary healthcare, development of human capital through various youth empowerment Programmes, infrastructural development...New essential structures like the workers secretariat, International Conference centre, remodeling of Abia hotels to boost the hospitality and tourism industry, the new high court buildings Umuahia and Aba...the more decent court houses the more judges the more jobs, the new Abia State library headquarters to boost learning and research, the Abia State Specialist and Diagnostic Hospital commended as the best in the entire south east and south south region, the new eye and dialysis centre in Umuahia, the new industrial market Umuahia and Umuahia Modern market to boost commerce and industry also to decongest the Umuahia city centre, the new motor Spare Parts and Mechanic Village at Ohiya Umuahia to create sanity and enhance environmental decency in Umuahia city centre, the new govt house Govt house currently situated in a private and rented property. A functioning skill acquisition centre training about 5000 youths currently. A new broadcasting House (BCA) building, a new JAAC, ASUBEB and Chieftancy affairs complex in Umuahia, A newly built ministry of Justice building in Umuahia, about 250 primary health care centres across the state, partnering with World bank to build Community Social Development program projects as demanded by communities in Abia State, A new House of Assembly Administrative and constituency complex within the HOA premises. A new ASEPA building, ASEPA is currently occupying a rented building, built &commissioned the Amaokwe housing Estate in Umuahia, Isieke, Amaudo and Aso small and medium income housing estates are currently ongoing in Umuahia, massive investment in the environmental sector...Opening up drains in Aba & Umuahia, provision of refuse dump equipment & Trucks etc. The govt has built numerous rural and urban roads in Isukwuato, Ohafia, Bende Umunneochi, Umuahia, Ikwu ano, Isi ala Ngwa etc including the 17 major Aba city roads recently embarked upon...Brass, Milverton, Ngwa Road, Faulks Road, Geometric, Ama Ogbonna, etc. All these are verifiable in addition to massive investment on security of lives and property. ABSG invested over 1.5 billion to evacuate power (electricity) from the Ohiya sub power station after the federal govt built but abandoned it. Power supply has improved in Umuahia and environs leading to massive boost in the small and medium scale enterprises sector. Umuahia, the capital city doesn't get dark at night as a result of the massive investment on street light project. Remember security globally requires huge investment and for Abia State to be known currently as a safe zone, massive investment is being invested to sustain the achievement made so far on security. All these and many more doesn't stop Abia State from having her challenges as a State but the good news is that those developmental challenges are being tackled with the funds available to the State without borrowing. Thank you!

A system of leadership that does not strive for a balance on its success
and continuity is very fragile and defective, and will not maintain
stability of leadership because the process encourages abnormality
measures. I have seen that T.A has been with nerve-racking passion that
seizes him, and has got the gradation mentality, and this phenomenal
apathy which has projected his drive to a greater level of helping him
pull a huge initiative. In aphorism, people generally are quick-witted
to dish out apocryphal connotation towards his administration but am
happy he has tried to silence them all, imagine Abia state has now stood
ahead of other South East states in road maintenance, this showed
commitment to development...i appreciate T.A 's effort to state
building..

some of the projects in abia state

A system of leadership that does not strive for a balance on its success
and continuity is very fragile and defective, and will not maintain
stability of leadership because the process encourages abnormality
measures. I have seen that T.A has been with nerve-racking passion that
seizes him, and has got the gradation mentality, and this phenomenal
apathy which has projected his drive to a greater level of helping him
pull a huge initiative. In aphorism, people generally are quick-witted
to dish out apocryphal connotation towards his administration but am
happy he has tried to silence them all, imagine Abia state has now stood
ahead of other South East states in road maintenance, this showed
commitment to development...i appreciate T.A 's effort to state
building..

Former Minister of Power, Prof Barth Nnaji, is the founder of Geometric Power Limited, the first indigenously owned private sector Power Company in Nigeria. In conjunction with Renatech, the company, in 2001, designed and built an emergency power plant in Abuja, supplying electricity to the Nigerian Electric Power Authority. It has also completed a $450 million Integrated Power Project (IPP) in Aba, which would be officially commissioned by President Goodluck Jonathan on October 3. In this interview with Abuja Bureau Chief, Madu Onuorah, and Emeka Anuforo, Nnaji speaks on the Aba Power Project, his firm’s partnership with GE to generate another 1000MWs, the cabals in the power sector and how to resolve the challenges of gas supply. Excerpts:

How do you feel, especially now that this dream has eventually materialised?

We are very proud that the Aba Power Project is finally coming to the completion stage. We have laboured in the trenches for years and have gone through many challenges, especially during the period of global financial meltdown’ yet, we completed the project. Even though we broke the ground in November of 2007, two things need to be noted: One is that we are still faster than a number of the National Integrated Power Projects. Two is that we are still the first independent power company to complete, except, of course, the oil companies and government projects. We are very proud of that.

What were the specific teething challenges; are there new challenges, especially now that the project is on stream?

You have to understand that, when we started the project, the country did not really have any reform programme for the power sector; the programme wasn’t really in full stream. The fact that we started this project at that time meant that the regulatory regime wasn’t in place.

Now, we talk about the Bulk Trader — that is an organisation of government that could sign power purchase agreement creditably and with the credit support of the Federal Government. Those things were not in existence. Most of the things that we needed to make the sector work were not there.

They actually came within this government now. Indeed, we faced tremendous challenges: The banks were not lending to the power sector (only a couple of them had the courage and the vision to do it at the time). One can understand, because the whole environment was opaque.

Again, policies of government, at a time, had flip-flops. For example, the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission was suspended in whole at a time without the people who operated government recognising that it would hurt investment. And so, investors that we had lined up began to backtrack once they saw that the regulator was suspended. What it meant is that you could not count on government, because it wasn’t enshrined in any regulatory framework. There are many issues at the time.

What about the cooperation you had with the then Ministry of Power, government agencies and establishments?

We had a good relationship with the government, which led to the agreement. The government structure supported it.

The President at that time, the ministry of power, the then NEPA were all in support to do the agreement. So, it was a very well thought out agreement.

Even the World Bank supported the Federal Government in devising the payment that would come from the ring fence. It was a leasing of Aba Ring fence, that is, the ring fencing of Aba and leasing the ring fence to Aba Power. So, Aba Power would annually pay a fee to the Federal Government.

But determining what that fee would be required a lot of work. They spent almost nine months developing it with the cooperation of the World Bank, because there was nothing there.

You can see when we talk about challenges; we had challenges of no precedence. Everything we were doing had to be with setting precedence. For example, asset valuation had to be done in Aba. We have done asset for the privatization now. But it had to be done at that time for Aba.

Interestingly, the values came to be about the same now, which means that it was well done. That value was used by the World Bank to do the calculation of fee to be paid to the government. There was challenge associated with fuel supply agreement, because the fuel was being supplied to PHCN companies at about 10 cents per unit and it was clear that there was no private company that would be able to get fuel to generate electricity at that rate, because the oil companies just won’t supply.

So, we had to now go for something that amounted to more than 10 times the price that PHCN was paying. That became the very first commercial agreement in the sector, very first commercial agreement, and that first commercial agreement helped to show how gas supply agreement would work. It took us two years to negotiate this. It was an agreement between NNPC, Shell, Agip and Total ‘— a joint venture of those four.

We also tried to get transportation agreement. If you are getting money from a bank, you cannot go on what is called best endeavour. That is if we are able to, we give it to you. If we are not, you don’t get. You cannot say electricity should be on best endeavour. Electricity should be stable. You must deliver reliable electricity to the people. We had to build our own pipeline. We built a 27 Kilometer pipeline. We saw that Aba infrastructure, even though we were leasing PHCN infrastructure, that there were only three sub stations. And that even if you had all the power for Aba, that you would not be able to get the power to the people, because the substations limited the amount of power you could sell to the people.

We had to build four brand new sub-stations, in addition to the existing ones, and refurbished the three existing ones. We also had to do all of those.

We now had to build new lines, 33KV lines. There is no place in Nigeria you would find the sort of poles that we have in Aba. We built them to last quite a longer time. These are some of the things we have had to do.

What then is the relationship between the distribution company, the one for the South East and Aba?

The relationship is a neighbour-to-neighbour one. Aba is ring-fenced and the Enugu Electricity Distribution Company is there. If you look at the Enugu Distribution Company, including Aba, you would have 14 units. Aba has two business units. This leaves the Enugu Electricity Distribution Company with the remaining 12. If you are going towards Port Harcourt from Umuahia, the boundary of Umuahia and Aba is where Aba Electricity Distribution Company starts, all the way to the boundary of Abia State and Port Harcourt. The same way if you are going from Aba to Owerri, by Owerrenta, is where the boundary is.

Now that this experiment has worked and the Aba Power Project is now on-stream, would a Nigerian have this confidence that, one day, in the nearest future, he or she would have uninterrupted power?

I am confident that we can achieve reliable electricity in certain areas soon. It is imminent that we would have reliable electricity for the entire metropolis of Aba. When I say metropolis, I mean the city and the environment.

Similarly, it can be done in Ikeja. You can also have it in Kano. You can do it in Onitsha and it can be done in Nnewi.

You can pick out certain areas that can stimulate the economy of Nigeria and channel power there, either by building captive power for that particular area within the ring fence. By the way, when you say building power for an area, you don’t actually have to build it in there. You can build the power plant and send the power to that location. It is dedicated power. It is about dedicated power for a particular area. So, this can happen in a number of places, and it is almost like if you make a circle and you begin to have drops of water. The water would be spreading. That is what an Aba kind of thing does.

In various places, it will begin to spread; reliable electricity will begin to spread until the entire place is covered, and it won’t take so long.

With the privatisation of the distribution companies, each one should have capacity to do it, but it has to have investment capacity to actually improve electricity distribution within the environment. I would say, if you come to Lagos, the distribution company that owns Agbara Estate could simply carve out that area and say it is an economic area, and that it is going to ensure that power would be available 24/7. They can do it.

The Gov has done pretty well in the area of security, Energy distribution, primary and tertiary healthcare, development of human capital through various youth empowerment Programmes, infrastructural development...New essential structures like the workers secretariat, International Conference centre, remodeling of Abia hotels to boost the hospitality and tourism industry, the new high court buildings Umuahia and Aba...the more decent court houses the more judges the more jobs, the new Abia State library headquarters to boost learning and research, the Abia State Specialist and Diagnostic Hospital commended as the best in the entire south east and south south region, the new eye and dialysis centre in Umuahia, the new industrial market Umuahia and Umuahia Modern market to boost commerce and industry also to decongest the Umuahia city centre, the new motor Spare Parts and Mechanic Village at Ohiya Umuahia to create sanity and enhance environmental decency in Umuahia city centre, the new govt house Govt house currently situated in a private and rented property. A functioning skill acquisition centre training about 5000 youths currently. A new broadcasting House (BCA) building, a new JAAC, ASUBEB and Chieftancy affairs complex in Umuahia, A newly built ministry of Justice building in Umuahia, about 250 primary health care centres across the state, partnering with World bank to build Community Social Development program projects as demanded by communities in Abia State, A new House of Assembly Administrative and constituency complex within the HOA premises. A new ASEPA building, ASEPA is currently occupying a rented building, built &commissioned the Amaokwe housing Estate in Umuahia, Isieke, Amaudo and Aso small and medium income housing estates are currently ongoing in Umuahia, massive investment in the environmental sector...Opening up drains in Aba & Umuahia, provision of refuse dump equipment & Trucks etc. The govt has built numerous rural and urban roads in Isukwuato, Ohafia, Bende Umunneochi, Umuahia, Ikwu ano, Isi ala Ngwa etc including the 17 major Aba city roads recently embarked upon...Brass, Milverton, Ngwa Road, Faulks Road, Geometric, Ama Ogbonna, etc. All these are verifiable in addition to massive investment on security of lives and property. ABSG invested over 1.5 billion to evacuate power (electricity) from the Ohiya sub power station after the federal govt built but abandoned it. Power supply has improved in Umuahia and environs leading to massive boost in the small and medium scale enterprises sector. Umuahia, the capital city doesn't get dark at night as a result of the massive investment on street light project. Remember security globally requires huge investment and for Abia State to be known currently as a safe zone, massive investment is being invested to sustain the achievement made so far on security. All these and many more doesn't stop Abia State from having her challenges as a State but the good news is that those developmental challenges are being tackled with the funds available to the State without borrowing. Thank you!

the new image of abia state

the beauty of abia state at night

Abia state at night

new look of abia state

Governor Theodore Orji of Abia State has admitted that it has not been an easy sail for the 22 year old state.

Orji who said this in a state-wide broadcast in Umuahia to mark the 22nd anniversary of the state, noted that many Abians in their private and public lives have made great sacrifices to bring the state to the level it is today.

He said that what the state has become in the “past 22 years remains the collective actions and inactions of the respective governments and our people”, which he said was the reason why the state continues to struggle to build systems, structures and other privileges of statehood which other states have come to take for granted.

Orji added that at 22 years, Abia State remains ‘a major work in progress’ and the present administration of the state has stepped up to be counted as one that has made the state better than we found it.

“This has been a difficult assignment, but we are resolved to laying the foundation for the sustainable development of this state, where the efforts made by our citizens can gain ready government’s support in the security of environments and adequate infrastructural facilities”.

While paying tribute to the state’s founding fathers, Abians in all works of life ranging from politics, military, commerce, industry, education, arts and the youths “who continue to give leadership and

showcase our state in good light”, reminded all that the task of rebuilding the state is still enormous with new frontiers to be surmounted.

“We need to rebuild our commercial, industrial and trading bases so that our private sector and enterprises will begin to support the efforts of our government in the creation of new jobs and employment opportunities for our youths.
- See more at: http://leadership.ng/news/280813/abia-22-not-easy-sail-gov-orji#sthash.zI3p0xHk.dpuf

It does not matter if the opponents and critics are making this point stoutly from partisan perspectives.To criticise the government is a not just a right but a duty of the opposition.T.A is firmly cultured with attentiveness that will ensure he never get distracted by the censure coming from all direction,as such is normal thing expected of people that are being governed....

It's high time we renounce our great size of hatred ,jealousy,enmity,envy and other form of treachery against T.A Orji who is at a very large extent had reclaimed his stand with plausible achievement so far ,which every blind man could see and a deaf could testify of without a call for an amplifier.Everything in life has to be approached the usual way,that is,one thing at a time,every step at a time : there is a popular adage that says " the journey of million miles begins with a step". Therefore,if T.A has given facelift to many parts of commercial town of Aba,for instance, he can as well attend to other things.So ,what exactly do u need T.A to do ? well, i want you to know that T.A who has registered quite an enormous achievement in recent times and who also does not have a start-stop syndrome that could pose a threat to many other projects in the pipe line; T.A Orji can not be distracted and he has vouch to reach out to every part of Abia State by carrying out massive and myriads of projects that will affect the life of citizens of Abia State to a very greater extent.don't be too fast to lash out criticism ,T.A has got some time left in his tenure ,it is not over until it is over

The youth empowerment programme of the State government is a wonderful initiative of the state Governor. It has greatly enhanced the living standards of the Abia Youth. I'm a beneficiary of it and i'm grateful to the Governor for this good enhancement objective.

criticism & scandals is not the way out of this scourge. All of us should identify with the Governor, knowing that the Governor is working the modality to better the deplorable conditions of Aba roads . There are many rural places in Abia state that has no road to bring out their farm produce, the Governor has constructed their roads, some still on going . Aba will wear a new look with no distance time. However, we all should support the government to achieve infrastructural development in the state. The Governor is trying, specifically in the area of security we have to give it to him. Every body knows when all kind of insurgent kidnapping, robberies, rape, etc was rampant in Abia state, especially in Aba metropolis. People deserted Aba cos of untold hardships submerged people in Aba. It took the Governor # millions & time to calm insecurity in Abia state. Lets thanks the Governor.

UMUAHIA — Governor Theodore of Abia State, has said his administration has continued to pay special attention to the infrastructural development of Aba, the commercial nerve centre of the state after long years of neglect by previous administrations.

In a statement by his Special Adviser on Public Communication, Mr. Ben Onyechere, the governor said: “Since the inception of my administration I have never lost sight nor waivered in my resolve to revise the infrastructural decadence in Aba for which reason the city’s commercial activities were almost grounded to a halt because of impassible access roads.”

“The decadent situation which is as a result of long neglect had virtually seemed an up hill task because of the enormity and extremity of disrepair for which government is now spending a fortune to rectify. Aba is not the only area that witnessed abandonment of the past but its residents were hypnotised to have believed deceitful propaganda with which the city was held down for a long time.

“In any case government has not claimed to have repaired all the roads neither has it said it can repair all the roads but has fruitfully embarked on a prioritization agenda with the target to start rebuilding the important roads which we have done from where we are spreading into the remote areas.

“Government is not averse to criticism most of which are politically motivated to undermine and disparage the image of government perpetrated through vulnerable interest groups. It is important to remember that Mbakwe wept in Aba and tried his best but since after him no other tangible attempt had been made in Aba before we came into power.

“In spite of all the natural and human induced impediments government is determined more than ever before to continue the ongoing rebuilding of the roads as well as activating the power plant which was newly build in other to alleviate the infrastructural deficits.”
- See more at: http://www.vanguardngr.com/2013/08/why-were-paying-special-attention-to-aba-orji/#sthash.fEDTf3is.dpuf

The Nigerian Debt Management Office has released the current Debt situation of Various states, as against the 2012 figures posted by Hope For Nigeria released two weeks.
Regrettably, some state debts have increased to between 20% to 50% in one year.

State With High Debt Figures::
1] Lagos (APC) $856.53 million (From $611Million in 2012),
2] Kaduna (PDP) $225.617 million.
3] Ogun (APC) $105.922 Million.
4] Oyo (APC) $74.376 million
5] Katsina (PDP) $72.527 million
6] Bauchi (PDP) $66.033 Million
7] Osun (APC) $62.341 million
===========================
States With Low Debt Figures::
1] Adamawa, $29.808million
2] Benue (PDP) $29.032 million
3] Bayelsa (PDP) $27.677 million
4] Anambra (APGA) $27.312 million
5] Plateau (PDP) $21.93 million
6] Delta (PDP) $18.85 million.
7] Borno (APC) $14.34million.

Experts are projecting that it may take Lagos state about 89 years to pay up all its external debts and this is three generation of Lagosians.
Cross River State is among the few states that some of their debt can be traced to project, example are the construction of Tinapa Business and Leisure Resort, as well as the Cable Car in Obudu Mountain Resort under the administration of former Governor Donald Duke.
ASK Your Governors, What they Used These Loans for?

more facts , that the governor is working

who says the governor is not working

The Gov has done pretty well in the area of security, Energy distribution, primary and tertiary healthcare, development of human capital through various youth empowerment Programmes, infrastructural development...New essential structures like the workers secretariat, International Conference centre, remodeling of Abia hotels to boost the hospitality and tourism industry, the new high court buildings Umuahia and Aba...the more decent court houses the more judges the more jobs, the new Abia State library headquarters to boost learning and research, the Abia State Specialist and Diagnostic Hospital commended as the best in the entire south east and south south region, the new eye and dialysis centre in Umuahia, the new industrial market Umuahia and Umuahia Modern market to boost commerce and industry also to decongest the Umuahia city centre, the new motor Spare Parts and Mechanic Village at Ohiya Umuahia to create sanity and enhance environmental decency in Umuahia city centre, the new govt house Govt house currently situated in a private and rented property. A functioning skill acquisition centre training about 5000 youths currently. A new broadcasting House (BCA) building, a new JAAC, ASUBEB and Chieftancy affairs complex in Umuahia, A newly built ministry of Justice building in Umuahia, about 250 primary health care centres across the state, partnering with World bank to build Community Social Development program projects as demanded by communities in Abia State, A new House of Assembly Administrative and constituency complex within the HOA premises. A new ASEPA building, ASEPA is currently occupying a rented building, built &commissioned the Amaokwe housing Estate in Umuahia, Isieke, Amaudo and Aso small and medium income housing estates are currently ongoing in Umuahia, massive investment in the environmental sector...Opening up drains in Aba & Umuahia, provision of refuse dump equipment & Trucks etc. The govt has built numerous rural and urban roads in Isukwuato, Ohafia, Bende Umunneochi, Umuahia, Ikwu ano, Isi ala Ngwa etc including the 17 major Aba city roads recently embarked upon...Brass, Milverton, Ngwa Road, Faulks Road, Geometric, Ama Ogbonna, etc. All these are verifiable in addition to massive investment on security of lives and property. ABSG invested over 1.5 billion to evacuate power (electricity) from the Ohiya sub power station after the federal govt built but abandoned it. Power supply has improved in Umuahia and environs leading to massive boost in the small and medium scale enterprises sector. Umuahia, the capital city doesn't get dark at night as a result of the massive investment on street light project. Remember security globally requires huge investment and for Abia State to be known currently as a safe zone, massive investment is being invested to sustain the achievement made so far on security. All these and many more doesn't stop Abia State from having her challenges as a State but the good news is that those developmental challenges are being tackled with the funds available to the State without borrowing. Thank you!

some constructed roads in Aba

roads in Aba

the governor is working

Governance in Abia and who made it better

It is true that governance in Abia state has procreated a lot of challenges, consequentially, greatest if the greatest. A few like T.A has comprehended what democratic leadership is and how democracy can be ran to improve development in the wider sense.Leadership starts with nerve-racking passion that seizes you, and will commove the gradation mentality, and this phenomenal apathy varies with leader to leader.
Governor T.A has the mental resources and intellectual gradients which determines how he responds to the challenges and this has yielded much advantages and brought lot of change, either to sustain, transformation, retain growth and uphold the validity of progress Abia state over a period of time.

T.A Orji has examined the backwardness and build up rot which ensues from improper handling of issues that could obviously be traced from the inventive period when Abia state was created . He is a leader that does strive for a balance on its success and continuity,attract development in its justifiable act of genuinely democratic-polity and systematic approach forming basis of a democratic reality.it is true that is widely believed that Abia state can be said to have had a dysfunctional domain of history of downsize performance coming way back as from the time of creation of Abia state. people cast aspersion ,its is an every day norm, and it is always said that Abia leaders, governors, present and past lack transparently most reliable structures, certain operative context and diplomats hinging on knowledge in all their varieties as their ultimate resources and have fallen below the immediate goal of democratization of the electoral process which contradicts what is been expected of them by their followers.

Unlike T.A Orji, some if not all those who were before him were focused on personal interest by employing constricted and artful leadership styles and made no difference. T.A has demonstrated his administration without cynicism, and such an operative system is a necessity to achieving a critical project. He has manifested a firm reliance and his relationship-oriented manner has create the affinity amongst the people of Abia state.

T.A is a leader who is not arrogance, he is neither hostile nor dominance. he is possesses the character of a leader that does not create deep-seated antagonism between his aides and his underlings . T.A ORJI is a leader who is ever ready to endure the trashed heaped on his head, and he must not revile.

The past leaders in Abia had assumed that we do not have any dreams to be fulfilled, they lost track of the rudimentary process which was important to embark on and lead us to our destiny. Propaganda ate deep into their system,selfish interest brought down their values , and the significant of democratic leadership was not met and which made them to fail in their very tenures.

Not too long again before the fruitless tenure of Orji Uzor Kalu collapsed under the weight of repression , dictatorship and autocratic.-he turned the Abia state to a political laboratory and came up with a grandiose political transition that was described as the most non-democratically and non-profitable in of its era which produced no democracy. An administration which created the dullardity of no transformation. OUK's dual tenures were an industry whose business experience held no water in democratic terrain. Obviously he was unable to diffuse the polity in good manner.

But after his eviction from office by constitutional duration, came a man we should support his efforts ,that are spontaneously bringing the desired socio- economic development. T.A Orji made the different and with total consummation we will encourage him to observe continuity and be more clinical in avoidance of uneven disposition of democratic and political influence in order to balance energetic sense of purpose with a concern for the service of others.

I have the initial burden of either writing this piece to correct an impression by a minute section of the press and few critics of Abia state governor, Sir Theodore Ahamefule Orji that tend to stand truth on its head and present falsehood as fact or allowing the mumble jumble they come to town with in the name of criticizing the Abia chief executive to be their albatross since fact is always sacred.
But something inside of me insisted that I must make these clarifications, having been closer to the system (since 1998) which these commentators are commenting on.



The ongoing new State Secretariat in Umuahia. Work started in January 2013. Work is completed.



The ongoing new State Secretariat in Umuahia. Work started in January 2013. Work is 85% completed.
The New Dialysis Center in Umuahia - completed. It has 7 Dialysis Machines.




The New Dialysis Center in Umuahia – completed. It has 7 Dialysis Machines.
The New Modern High Court in Umuahia - Six new air-conditioned Court Room - started January 2013 - completed


The New Modern High Court in Umuahia – Six new air-conditioned Court Room – started January 2013 – completed
The completed section of the new State Secretariat in Umuahia. Started in January 2013.




The completed section of the new State Secretariat in Umuahia. Started in January 2013.
Secondly, it will be unexplainable for anybody closer to the government of Abia state to maintain the studied silence when the opposite of splendid the political and social development playing out in Abia state is being forced on the unwary public.
Indeed, I appreciate the sentiments of a section of the media, and also their predicament. But what I can’t understand is the deliberate or will I say orchestrated plan to present one sided documentary of the development in Abia vis-a-vis the relationship between the two Orjis ie His Excellency, Chief T A Orji and former Governor Orji Uzor Kalu.
In as much as I agree that journalists should express their opinions strongly on certain issues concerning the state of affairs in the society, I also believe in the notion that objectivity is a significant principle of journalistic professionalism.
One can easily miss the point if he or she maintains a robust interest on a particular issue only to keep a blind eye on the other side of the coin. Me thinks that journalistic objectivity can refer to fairness, disinterestedness, factuality and nonpartisanship. This is why it is appropriate to present the fact as it is no matter how strong one’s opinion on a particular issue is. I regret to state that some of the commentators (by a section of the media though) on Abia Project is based on circumstantial evidence or hearsay and not on facts on the ground.
If they could distance themselves from the
evidence of a third party and come to Abia
state to witness the actual happenings,
their public perception of the events in
Abia would be anything but prejudice;
thus offering the reading public the best of their analyses on Project Abia.
Indeed, a trip to Abia will change the
perception of some Lagos and Abuja
based journalists who still mirror this
God’s Own State from its position before
2007. It is worrisome to read that there
are decaying infrastructure ie road,
electricity, pipe-borne water etc in Abia
when in actual fact the T A Orji’s
government alone has provided more
roads than all his predecessors (from
1991 when the state was created till
date) put together. As at the last count,
the 132KV at Ohiya substation that
supplies electricity uninterruptedly to
Umuahia, while the government had put up
the machinery to provide pipe-borne
water to the cities.
Today, every sector is being galvanized to
achieve optimum result. Is it in health
sector, education, agriculture, commerce
and industry, housing, security etc that
the government of Abia state is not
prioritizing? Time was when some people
in the state particularly Aba fled the city because of the rampage of kidnappers. It took the intervention of T.A Orji with the support of the federal government and
military to restore normalcy to the once
dreaded city. Now that normalcy has been
restored, international firms like Alkamali petroleum of Dubai, Junohermes, a South African firm, Imoniyame Holdings Ltd, Americare Inc USA are coming to do
business in oil and gas, agriculture,
banking and commerce etc. Today,
farmers are smiling their ways to the
banks courtesy of the N1 billion soft loans the government provided for them.
A trip to Abia will expose a lot.
Housing estates dot the landscape. They
include Amaokwe, Ehimiri, Ohiya, Ubakala,
Amuzukwu, Isieke, Osisioma, etc; most of
them have been completed and being
occupied, while others are at various
stages of completion. Or do we talk about
the establishment of modern diagnostic
health centres ie specialist diagnostic
hospitals in Aba and Umuahia. The high
courts and magistrate courts building
projects in Aba and Umuahia Just last
month, Governor T A Orji flagged off 16
roads in Aba to the delight of Aba
residents. And on Tuesday, 4December
2012, he went on an inspection tour on
these road projects to the tumultuous
welcome of Aba residents. It baffles some
of us when some commentators insinuate
that His Excellency is hated by Aba
residents.
Which Aba residents? His critics also
charge that civil servants are owed
monthly arrears of salaries and
allowances, yet none of these critics could point out the ministry that has not
received their salaries up to November
2012. To this end, he has received several
awards as a result of his quality
leadership. This year alone Ochendo has
been bestowed with the best Governorship
Award on Security, Icon of Democracy by
Champion Newspapers and Knight of
John Wesley by the Methodist Church of
Nigeria.
If there is a challenge in the payment of
pension and gratuities of civil service, it is not as a result of government dereliction but apparently because of some
bureaucratic bottlenecks. The government
is addressing that issue and very soon
senior citizens affected by this tailback will smile. Therefore, it is absurd to insinuate that Abia is not on the fast track of development. Actually, federal roads are in the state of disrepair. Enugu“Port Harcourt road, Aba-Ikot Ekpene,
Umuahia-Ikot Ekpene etc are impassable.
But critics blame Abia government for
their despicable state.
They fail to acknowledge the fact that the
T.A Orji’s government reconstructed
the Aba-Owerri road and Aba-Port
Harcourt road; all federal roads. We
expect commentators on Abia to question
why the federal government should shirk
its responsibility in this regard in Abia
state.
As a detribalized are focused leader, T A
Orji sees everything that belongs to the
federal government as his to keep in good
shape. Arguably, a politician that is
focused towards providing good
governance like T A cannot descend to the
level of blocking former Governor Orji
Uzor Kalu from rejoining the PDP. Kalu
has repeatedly said that he has no
intention of joining PDP or any political
party for that matter.
However, instead of abiding by that vow he
was reported to have applied to register
at the national level against the
constitution of PDP that stipulates that
intending members or those that left the
party and desire to rejoin should either
join or rejoin from their ward.
Even at that, and assuming that he applied
to register at his Onuibina-Igbere ward
level, he is still cannot be regarded as a
member of the party if the party at the
ward level thinks otherwise. It is one thing to apply for membership of an
organization and it is another for the
members to accept the applicant as a
member. There are determining factors. It
is not automatic. Therefore, if the rules
were bent to favour a particular
applicant, there is nothing wrong if some
stakeholders stage a protest. That is how
Governor T.A Orji was involved. It is
unacceptable to accuse the Governor of
leading the stakeholders to Abuja to
complain of the glaring case of violation of the PDP constitution while turning blind eye on the genuineness of the exercise.
After all, what is good for the goose is
also good for the gander.
Former Governor Orji Uzor Kalu should
not be treated differently simply because
he allegedly donated $1 million to facilitate the take-off and smooth running of PDP in 1998. The theory of Kalu donating $1 million to the PDP has become a recurring decimal without any empirical evidence to back the claim. The figure keeps changing as his supporters defend him over it.
As for politicians who joined PDP from
their former political parties. In as much
as I wouldn’t speak for the likes of
Senator Enyinnaya Abaribe, who left the
PDP to ANPP and back to PDP in 2003,
Senator Nkechi Nwogu from ANPP to PDP
and Vincent Ogbulafor who contested the
governorship of Abia state under the then
APP in 1999 before joining PDP in 2002,
it is obvious that these politicians
complied with the provision of the PDP
constitution before they were re-admitted.
They did not bulldoze their ways into the
party. The party is supreme and
therefore all joiners should be obedient to its rules.
What should concern every card-carrying
party member in PDP or any other party
for that matter is the insistence of the
practice of internal democracy by its
leaders. In underscoring the essence of
internal party democracy, Lenin wrote “it
means that all the affairs of the party are conducted, either directly or through
representatives, by all members of the
party, all of whom without exception have
equal rights; moreover, all officials, all
leading bodies, and all institutions of the party are subject to election, are
responsible to their constituents, and are
subject to recallâ€. This postulation
makes it mandatory for all; members or
applicants to subject themselves to the
rule of the party irrespective of their
former or present status.

Why Abia Will Not Go to Bond Market

Unlike most of his colleagues, Governor Theodore Orji of Abia State Government has ruled out going to the bond market to raise funds for the financing of projects in the state, saying that he would continue to manage the available resources.
Speaking during an interactive session with financial journalists in Umuahia, the governor said instead of issue raising debt from the fixed income market, he would rather work towards increasing the state's Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) to meet infrastructural needs.
“We want to cut our coat according to our size. When I take bond, when my allocation comes from Abuja, they will take part of it to settle for the bond. I will not be able to pay salaries and I may have problem in the state. So, it is better that I manage what I have prudently and increase my IGR. We keep putting our officials under pressure to increase our level of IGR.
“To take bond of N250 billion or N300 billion? I will never do that! I am happy with the structures we are putting on ground and when you go round the state you know it is prudent management. But when you raise bond, you may end up not even utilising the money for the purpose it was meant for,” the governor declared.
According to him, his administration was assiduously working towards attracting investors to the state as well as the reviving of ailing industries.
Orji revealed that the Nigerian Breweries in Aba has concluded plans to invest N17 billion in the expansion of its operations in the state.
He added: “So, in terms of industrialisation, we are trying. But government does not run industries. What we are doing is trying to bring in people that can revive our dead industries such as Golden Guinea Breweries Limited, which we have gotten and I am sure would be revived before 2015.

“The glass industry that we have in Aba is running. These are government industries. The others are privately owned industries. Therefore Aba remains key to us; that is why we are fixing the infrastructure. We want to repair all the roads, keep the place clean, provide security, so that people can come in and invest.”

According to the governor, his administration had embarked on youth empowerment programmes to alleviate poverty in the state and address the issue of kidnapping and other social vices.

“Today, Abia pays the highest minimum wage in the whole of the federation. We pay N20,100. Check out if there is any state that is paying that. Despite the fact that we are not very rich, we pay that amount and even the arrears. We introduced biometric system of payment to flush out a lot of ghost workers from the system,” he added.

It is so sad that people judge the Governor's performances from a distance without even visiting Abia State to see for themselves what actually is the truth on ground. From where am standing and judging from the past Governments that has come and gone in Abia State, His Excellency Chief Dr. T. A. Orji (Ochendu Ibeku) has done marvelously well and better that any previous government with reasons. It is only left for any other incoming Government to improve on what he has already done. Today, Abia is the most secured State in Nigeria, there are new structures all over Abia. I can go on and on etc

The Governor has extended his hands of development to cut across all sectors of the economy in the state. This is out of his humane nature. He keeps affecting lives on daily basis in one way or the other not minding the tight and elaborate schedule of his to make the entire state feel the impact of his administration. We must have to give our support to make things work for the better. Unhealthy criticism will not take us to anywhere, instead discouragements and hatred. Let us prove to our neighboring states that we can be in unity and achieve a lot, devoid acrimony. UNITED WE STAND, DIVIDED WE FALL.

The Governor has done more than enough for us in Abia...Just some few disgruntled elements will always say nothing.
This Governor has provided adequate security for Abians
Provided sound healthcare system...
A new International Conference centre is being built by this governor, A new secretariat, A new government house, A new international market, a new modern timber and allied market, 45000 youths are on monthly payroll+ 1000 youths receiving 10, 000 from ASOPADEC. I really can't join those of us with no eyes to condemn someone that has sacrifice much for us.

the governor of imo state known as Rochas claims to be a radical governor , and that is why developments in the state is moving radically and will never go well until the people of imo state will provide a better candidate for the state . when you come down to the Governor of Abia state T.A Orji, he is a gentle and obedient man , and that is why you see his legacy projects in the state will always speak for him , i will also appreciate his effort in funding security in the state .

Rochas of APC cannot force APC down our throats...IMO people should revisit his Governorship. IMO is broke and Rochas is frustrated. He should account for over 50 billion Naira he got from the bond market. Abia is not owing a dime, in Abia we spend according to earnings. For me i am blessed to know progress in Abia State. Some are very ignorant of happenings in Abia State under Governor TA Orji. The Governor is a history maker Governor. His legacy projects are all first in Abia....The dialysis centre, the secretariat, the international conference centre, the new govt house, the e-library, the high court in Aba and Owerri, the Ministry of Justice complex, the building of 9....100 beds hospital in the senatorial districts, the youth empowerment schemes...250 vehicles to the youths for free.. Ochendo is doing wonders and may God bless him more

But because Abia is God’s own state, God on His own predestined Orji like Moses into the court of Kalu and kept him there for an appointed time so that Abia could be liberated without the shedding of blood. After liberating us from Orji Uzor Kalu and clutches of his mother, Governor T.A.Orji went ahead to liberate us from kidnappers and armed robbers. Today, Abia is the oasis of peace in the South-east. After doing that, he went ahead to lay the solid foundations for infrastructural for Abia’s socio-economic growth. That is why you are seeing projects dotting the state. There is no way you can compare the era of the locust under Kalu and this era of liberty and prosperity under Orji.