Ugochukwu Emezue: Governor Orji’s Legacy Projects are a Monument to His Vision, Determination.


Mr. Ugochukwu Emezue is Chief Press Secretary to Governor Theodore Orji of Abia State. In this interview with journalists in Lagos, Emezue applauds Orji’s leadership style and development effort. Charles Ajunwa, who was at the session, brings the excerpts:

What is your take on the continued attacks on Governor Theodore Orji by his opponents, despite the governor’s development strides?
In life, when people see your good works, it is not every person that will appreciate what you are doing and that is exactly what is happening today in Abia State. There are people who have seen that Governor T.A.Orji has done so well and rather than support and acclaim what he is doing, they resort to promoting falsehood and bare-faced lies in order to deceive the general public. For me, the main goal of those who engage in these mischievous acts is just to seek attention and relevance. Unfortunately, these are people who never achieved anything while they were in the leadership of the state. Now that Governor T.A. Orji has surpassed what they did, they are threatened by Ochendo’s outstanding achievements, which have dwarfed whatever be their so-called leadership for years that were not useful to the people of the state. So these criticisms are mere distractions and the whole world has come to see that Governor T.A. Orji is outstanding in all facets. Such criticisms, we know those behind them and, of course, these are people we consider as failed politicians.

Can you name some of the major achievements of the governor?
Let us start to look at His Excellency’s achievements, first, from the area of security. You and I know that time was in Abia when Abians were unsafe, courtesy of the issue of kidnapping and other negative vices like armed robbery. But today the governor of Abia State has risen above these challenges; he not only wiped out kidnapping he also sustained security in God’s Own State and that has won him enormous goodwill and accolades anywhere he goes. Governor T.A. Orji has been honoured within and outside the country as the best governor in terms of security in Nigeria. So this simply tells you that security is one thing that is germane and dear to the governor towards developing the state.

In the area of health, this is one sector that the governor has scored 100 per cent in terms of making health care accessible to all Abians. Indeed, Abians have never had it so good before now. We have the Dialysis Centre, which was inaugurated recently by the Minister of Health, Professor Onyebuchi Chukwu. We have the Diagnostic Centres in both Aba and Umuahia, we have 250 health centres scattered across the state, in addition to a 100-bed hospital being built by the governor in nine local government areas of the state. We also have free medical services for all Abians, which is being administered through the office of Her Excellency, Chief (Mrs.) Mercy Odochi Orji. The governor is also erecting a new hall at the Abia State Teaching Hospital. The Nigerian Dental and Medical Association has approved Abia State Specialist Hospital for the training of our interns and very soon the homology centre will be ready for the general public to seek medical treatment. These are some of the things the governor has done in the area of health.

What has been the response of the federal government to the appeal by Orji during the inauguration of the Dialysis Centre in Umuahia that the central government should take over the Abia State Teaching Hospital?
It is an appeal that the governor of the state made, and we believe that President Goodluck Jonathan would accept our appeal because this is one hospital that Governor T.A. Orji has been able to put in place. And bearing in mind the resources we have to maintain most of these hospitals, it will be welcomed if the federal government can help us in this aspect.

What is happening in the area of agriculture?
The state government has done very well in the area of agriculture. You will discover that what we have today in the area of agriculture could best be described as a revolution. The governor has initiated what we call Ochendo Liberation Farms, which are scattered in the 17 local government areas of Abia State. The idea behind the establishment of the Ochendo Liberation Farms is primarily to train our youth and empower them so that at the end of the day they would become self-employed. The governor, because his love for agriculture, took N1 billion loan which was given to farmers in the state. In fact, the N1 billion loan secured by Governor T.A. Orji has in no small way helped the farmers in terms of increasing productivity. Today, Abia State has been adjudged as having the highest number of farmers in the whole of the South-east, which is a plus for us. Also, in the area of cocoa production Abia State is ranked first in the whole of the country and Chief David Onyenweaku, who is from Abia, is the best cocoa producer in country today.

In Ohambele, the rubber plantation there has been privatised by the state government. We also have the Songhai Farm, which is functional, and even recently the governor distributed cocoa seedlings to our farmers. The governor has remained supportive to the farmers since the inception of his administration in 2007. Like he said, he wants to achieve what late Dr. M.I. Okpara did and if possible surpass what the former premier of the defunct Eastern Region did in the area of agriculture.

What would you say about Orji in the area of youth empowerment?
Without sounding immodest, our youth empowerment programme has become a model for other states in the country. This is an empowerment scheme that has effected positively our youths and the governor has used this initiative to empower thousands of our youths. Apart from giving financial support to the youths, we are giving out laptops, tricycles, buses, hair barbing kits and many others to youths of the state. The idea is to empower the youths and make them self-sustaining and through the youth empowerment scheme we are also sustaining security. This is one area that the governor has recorded a great feat. The governor has continued to provide various items to the youths periodically and just a few days ago buses were given out to some youths to help them make ends meet.

What is your reaction to the recent allegation by one Norman Obinna, who described himself as an Abuja-based journalist, that most of the projects claimed by Orji never existed?
I am a journalist of many years experience and I personally know most of our colleagues. Of course, somebody called me and said he is a journalist based in Abuja. When I asked him where he worked, he said he worked with Compass newspapers and when I made my checks, I discovered that he was not a staff of Compass newspaper. When I approached him with this fact, he quickly retorted that he was an internet blogger. I asked him what actually he wanted from us, he said he had things written against Abia State government and he wanted us to react. I said, can you tell me some of these things, and the communication between us was done on the phone. He said most of them and I quickly reacted to his claims. At this point, he said no, that what he wanted was for me to settle him so that he could drop the story. He demanded for N5 million and I told him I could not give him such money. I told him if he could be bold enough that he should publish my own reaction in his story. When he finally published his story, he never included my own reaction. I am not moved by that kind of thing because he is a blackmailer. He is not a journalist that he claimed to be, any person can go to the internet and write all sorts of things and take it to any level. But for us, it is obvious that the so-called Obinna is being sponsored by those who don’t see anything good in Abia State. Obinna is a mischievous and misguided fellow. He is saying that the Dialysis Centre that we built is not functioning, which, of course, is not true. You people have visited this Dialysis Centre and other projects we have completed, including the ongoing ones. These projects are not fake, as claimed by Obinna. They are verifiable projects that people can see.

The Minister of Information, Labaran Maku, was here and he saw all these things. So is Obinna more exposed than Maku? The Senate President, David Mark, came here to inaugurate our housing estate, is Obinna higher than the Senate President? The Speaker of House of Representatives, Aminu Tambuwal, came here to inaugurate ASEPA (Abia State Environmental Protection Agency) building and the Industrial Market, is Obinna higher than Tambuwal? You can easily decipher where people like Obinna and his cohorts are coming from, people who are seeking relevance and attention. I even told the Obinna to come to Abia that we will be celebrating our 22nd anniversary of the creation of Abia so that he can confirm all the things I told him on the phone but he went ahead and published his story. For us, those things published by Obinna are tissues of lies because credible journalists have come here and they have seen these projects and reported them in their various medium. So we are not moved by such lies being propagated by Obinna and his co-travellers because we believe that the governor of Abia State has done very well. Obinna talked about Aba, there is no way the governor can turn Aba around in a day.

But what has changed in Aba?
A lot has changed in Aba in terms of the environment. If you go there you will see that the governor has done so much work. Look at all those big gutters blocked by refuse for many years, they have been scooped and water is now finding its level down to the stream. The government of Governor T.A. Orji is beautifying Aba; if you go to the Osisioma Junction you could see the great work carried out there. The governor has even created ASEPA for Aba and they are doing their work very well. The governor promised to do about 16 roads in Aba, and he was able to achieve 12 before the raining season set in. The remaining roads will be completed when we enter the dry season. After all, those who were there before him if they were able to do these things, all the governor would have needed to do was to add his own strength, but nothing was done. The Aba we are talking about today was in a big problem before the governor took over and he is cleaning up Aba and this is there for every journalist to see.

Is the Peoples Democratic Party government in Abia State not worried by the recent remarks by the state’s chapter of All Progressives Grand Alliance that the party would win the state in 2015?
With what Chief T.A. Orji has done in Abia, I’m yet to see anybody that can penetrate the state. That is a fact, we are not boasting but it remains a strong fact. And this is one PDP state where you see all the gladiators working together and there is no crisis in Abia State. The leader, who is the governor of the state, is in tandem with all the stakeholders in the party and whenever something happens you see them coming around to brain storm on the way forward. PDP is the biggest party in Abia State and there is no fear at all. T.A. Orji and Abia PDP are on the ground. In 2015, when they will be telling people, “This is what we will do,” the governor will be telling them, “This is what I have done.” That will separate the boys from men. So they have to talk anyway, but what is on ground will speak for us.

What should Abians expect during the 22nd anniversary of the state, which comes up later this month?
A lot of activities have been lined up to celebrate the day because when you look at Abia, what it was before and what it is today, you know that there is a huge departure, as a lot of things have been put in place. The legacy projects are there for everyone to see and I’m sure most of our colleagues who will also come around will see some of these projects themselves because everyday new things are happening. That is a fact. So I believe that 27th of this month will be a day to thank God for giving Governor T.A, Orji the strength, wisdom and knowledge to take Abia this far.------Thisday