ABIA STATE: THE OCHENDO LEGACY


“Call a rose by any other name and it will still smell the same”. This Shakespearean axiom still re-echoes through the millennia to our present generation.
One name that readily calls to mind and is plausibly on the lips of every son and daughter of Abia State both at home and in the Diaspora is the unmistakable name of the incumbent State Governor.
Governor Theodore Orji must have fought mentally, psychologically and verbally to prove to the good people of Abia State and to the world at large that there is a world of difference between Orji the immediate past governor of God’s Own State and T.A. Orji the “OCHENDO”.
Fondly known as Ochendo, and unmistakably so in every ramification of that well-earned title, Governor T.A. Orji has proved to the people of Abia State and to the world at large that the people who were once abandoned and forgotten could still find solace in a God-sent and God-fearing son of their own. Through his laudable initiatives, he had proved that there is not much in a name. Days are gone when a monk could be identified only by his hood.
Little wonder the Igbos have a common saying that the soiled garbage of mechanics has made it impossible to distinguish between them and lunatics.
The situation in Abia State before the emergence of Dr T.A. Orji was one of dejection, despair and disillusionment. Business activities had grounded to a halt because most entrepreneurs had literally abandoned the urban cities to look for greener pasture elsewhere. Unemployed youth had either taken to the streets to try to burn off excess cholesterol by serving as motor-park touts, street hawkers of non-essential commodities such as packaged water, pop-corn pea-nuts, bread, et cetera.
During the period under review, pick-pocketing, house-breaking, armed robbery, prostitution and other forms of crime had reached nerve-breaking heights. People had completely lost confidence in the government of the day and by extension the government at the center.
Today, the story has drastically changed through the pragmatic initiative of Ochendo. He has proved to be a dependable pillar of support to the people of Abia State – both old and young.
All those youth who hitherto littered the streets and had menaced the inhabitants for so long have been rehabilitated overnight. Security presence in all parts of the State is heart-warming.
The Governor’s Youth Empowerment Project is one visible presence that would greet the casual observer from every corner of the State. These are translated into commuter vehicles which have made transportation within and out of the State less burdensome and readily available as well as affordable.
To crown it all, the Governor has in one package, OCHENDO LEGACY PROJECT which truly is a legacy he hopes to bequeath to the good people of Abia State, for which posterity should remember him. The Legacy Project which covers all areas of need of the common man, ranges from affordable housing scheme, medical-care and facilities, a befitting Secretariat complex, Civic Centres, one-stop shopping complex, standard motor parks, educational institutions including skills acquisition centres, et cetera.
All these projects have already translated into better employment opportunities, improved health-care delivery, civilized existence, environmentally-friendly atmosphere among others.
In fact, the people of Abia State have experienced unprecedented development during the remarkably short tenure of Ochendo that cannot compare to all the people that had governed the State since its creation.
This, indeed, is what legacy is all about. We cannot thank Ochendo enough than to pray that God Almighty in His infinite mercy should grant him the courage to contend with the ingratitude of most of his detractors. May Ochendo be endowed with unsurpassed grace and wisdom to continue to do God’s will, for posterity, in Jesus’ name.
Vincent Nnanna is a BBC Correspondent based in Cotonou

Shame on you. Clearly you are a paid psychophant. Repent or posterity will hold you and your children responsible for not calling a spade a spade.

Prince081: Shame on you. Clearly you are a paid psychophant. Repent or posterity will hold you and your children responsible for not calling a spade a spade.

leave the guy alone!
why una too like judging and passing judgment
Apc tufiakwa

Prince081: Shame on you. Clearly you are a paid psychophant. Repent or posterity will hold you and your children responsible for not calling a spade a spade.

Easy bru--- It shall be well.

VICTORCIZA: leave the guy alone!
why una too like judging and passing judgment
Apc tufiakwa

Sharrap!! He is not APC you phool. Can you have Orji as a Governor in your state? or is it because he is one of GEJ trolls of 2015?

Op are you not ashamed dat all you TA'S sycophants kip showing de same structures evrytym
God will punish anybody who comes here to say dat the Orji's emeritus n incumbent had done anything in Abia.currently Aba a city so blessed and well planned is in such filth,i cringe each tym i pass imo river into Abia state .
Abia if not mistaken is de least developed state and has de worst perf. Gov. In southern Nigeria
I hav decided to campaign against n oppose anything Orji in Abia state
ABIANS ARE NOW ANTI-ORJI!
ABIA MUST CHANGE FOR BETTER