DR. OKEZIE VICTOR IKPEAZU’S ELECTORAL LEAD VIS A VIS THE INTEGRITY OF PROFESSORS CHUKWUMA BENJAMIN OZUMBA AND SELINA OMAGHA OKO.
Scripted by Chief (Sir) Don Ubani.

In keeping with the reversed electoral time schedule, the Independent National Electoral Commission; INEC, conducted her second and last phase of 2015 general election on Saturday 11th April, 2015 in twenty-nine states of the Nigerian Federation. Inclusively-speaking, Abia State, which had her last governorship election in 2011, was one of the states the election took place in on the said date.
According to news reported by some media in the country, the election was marred by violent disturbances in some parts of Nigeria, even to the extent of many Nigerians losing their lives.
In Abia State, to the glory of God, no case of political assassination has been recorded since Chief T. A. Orji emerged as Governor. This is because the Governor and the People’s Democratic Party; P.D.P, do not believe that politics must be played with bitterness, hate and violence.
During the governorship and House of Assembly elections in the State, the opposition All Progressive Grand Alliance, APGA, that came into the contest, like a chicken infested with coccidiosis, exhibited unrestricted and inordinate ambition that was characterised by desperation and violent tendencies.
Inspite of all provocation, members of the People’s Democratic Party in the State maintained the discipline, maturity and equanimity for which they have always been known. As a Party that has its focus on the people, it successfully resisted every attempt by the APGA to drag her into violence and wanton destruction of lives and property of precious Abians.
No wonder, despite all clandestine manoeuvres by the opposition and few unscrupulous electoral officials, Dr. Okezie Ikpeazu still led his closest opposition rival; Mr Alexander Otti, with a record margin of eighty-three thousand and fifty-three (83, 053) votes in the gubernatorial election that the Returning Officer, Professor Chukwuma Benjamin Ozumba, declared inconclusive.
Suffice it to state, at this juncture, that the Returning Officer in the said election; Professor Ozumba, is a personality that should, ordinarily, be accorded a lot of respect and honour, taking into consideration his various degrees of accomplishment in medicine, academics, administration and social engineering. There will be hardly any person that would go through his profile as a Professor of Gynaecology, a one-time Dean of Faculty of Medical Sciences, a former Provost of College of Medicine of the famous University of Nigeria Nsukka, the initiator and founder of Professor Chukwuedu Nwokolo Annual Lecture Series and currently the Vice Chancellor of University of Nigeria, Nsukka that would hesitate, even for a second, to infer that Professor Ozumba deserves dignity and reverence from his fellow country men and women.
Even though the erudite Professor of Medicine may not be a learned gentle-man, as lawyers, out of professional sophism and braggadocio would put it, he must have been familiar with the duties and functions associated, if not by law, by convention, with a returning officer.
It may not be out of place to remind whoever that cares to listen that the good essence of Professor Attahiru Jega; a former Vice chancellor, drafting his colleagues in as electoral returning officers in Nigeria’s electoral system is to reduce, at least minimally, the human problems of imperfection, pettiness and gullibility and, by so doing, restore confidence and credibility in the country’s electoral environment.
On hearing that Professor Chukwuma Ozumba was the Returning Officer for the April 11, 2015 governorship election in Abia State, many indigenes and residents of the state were hilarious because they felt that a round peg had simply been put in a round hole.
With the caliber of Professor Ozumba coming to play the role of a big umpire, it was the thought of every Abian that the medical guru would not, in any way, exhibit the least iota of variegation in conduct or character. No one could ever have entertained the fear that such a personality that has been noted for scruples would ever conduct himself in a manner that could get more than two hundred and eighty thousand Abians bewildered to the extent of almost concluding that the Professor of pedagogy might have had his age-long integrity compromised by attractions that can not be deeper than being ephemerally pecuniary.
An internationally acclaimed academic of the height of Professor Chukwuma Benjamin Ozumba was not, in the least, expected, for whatever reason, to have allowed himself to be unhygenically and surreptitiously dragged into the murky depth of incredulous bigotry hinged on the sacrilegious impulse of material acquisition.
At the level of Professor Ozumba, the Anambra-born bibliophile is not expected to dabble into actions that would portray him as working at cross purposes with veracity and reality. A distinguished scholar like Prof. Ozumba, to whose credit there are more than three hundred publications, should not be vulnerable to any form of subterfuge that could lead him into actions that, when subjected to proper scaling and balancing, would end in projecting him as being avoidably inconsistent.
Generally-speaking, the governorship and legislative elections in Abia State went well in Obingwa, Osisioma and Isialangwa-North local government areas of Abia State.
There was no basis for any altruistic person to have contemplated tampering with the results as rightly declared by the respective collation officers in the three local government areas. The elections in the said areas were free, fair and credible, with the results reflecting wholly and entirely the wishes of the people where the elections took place.
Ironically-Surprisingly, the Returning Officer; Prof. Ben Ozumba, under whose directive the University of Nigeria, Nsukka had conferred an Honourary Doctorate Degree on Mr. Alexander Otti in Business Administration on January 26, 2013, in sharp contrast with the tenets of veracity, transparency and dignity, announced that the results of elections from the three local governments that every body in the state knows to be among the strong holds of Dr. Okezie Ikeazu had been cancelled. People were shocked to hear that Professor Benjamin Ozumba, who had been assumed to be of very high repute could quickly yield to cheap and damaging conduct that would end up calling his demeanour to question. The most disturbing aspect of the Professor’s conduct being that he condescended to the very porous mental level of saying that he took his inglorious action only based on observations made by International Election Observers. Ofcourse, at his level of intellectual development, he should have known that an election result already declared at a local government area by the appropriate Collation Officer should not be tampered with.
One may, however, sympathize with Professor Benjamin Chukwuma Ozumba for his moral crash in his regrettable outgoing in Abia State. This is because even if the Professor had wished to do a transparent job in Abia State, the leperous presence of the Resident Electoral Commissioner in the state; Professor Selina Omagha Oko, whose immorality and lack of transparency and integrity compelled the Professor Jega-led Independent National Electoral Commission to send her on a punitive compulsory leave in 2011 owing to her despicable behaviour during the governorship election in Imo State, was strong enough to corrupt him. It is an open secret that Professor Selina Oko had held clandestine meetings with cronies of Mr. Alexander Otti severally at a branch of Diamond Bank at Aba. Being morally bankrupt, Mrs Oko was all out to take maximum pecuniary advantage of the guber election in Abia State and since the desperation of Mr. Otti blind-folded him against the realities of Abia political situation, her avarice became fuelled to such a dangerous extremity that Professor Ozumba had to become a victim of her greed.
Nigerians would continue to wonder why a person like Mrs. Oko, whose kleptomania is evidently cancerous, should be allowed to remain in a commission that should symbolize discipline, integrity, transparency, hope and national pride.
It is, however, re-assuring that despite the finance-induced conspiracy that was hatched by both Professor Ozumba and Oko, truth later prevailed when reason dawned on Professor Ozumba who shamefully and remorsefully reversed his obnoxiously unwarranted cancelation of results from Obingwa, Osisioma and Isialangwa-North local government areas.
Abia State is Gods own sate and God is known for equity, justice and fairness. Despite the enormity of conspiracy mounted against the good people of old Aba Division, God has already shown that He is indeed, equity-keeping God.
Despite being inconclusive, the election result already released by the electoral body conveniently and comfortably place Dr. Okezie Victor Chibuikem Ikpeazu on an indisputably clear lead with a total superior vote difference of eighty-three thousand and fifty-three votes over and above Mr. Otti.
Advocates and supports of equity should, however, not rest on their oars for it is not over until it is over.

Chief (Sir) Don Ubani; KSC, JP
(Okwubunka of Asa)

IN ANTICIPATION OF DR OKEZIE IKPEAZU AS GOVERNOR-ELECT OF GODS-OWN STATE OF ABIA. SCRIPTED BY CHIEF (SIR) DON UBANI


The National Ambassador Newspaper is a tabloid owned and published by the AbiaState Government. For several reasons, it is currently being published weekly. This is an improvement from what the situation was before now when the paper found it very difficult to be published monthly.
Being weekly published, it is obvious that by the time this commentary could be published, the governorship and Houses of Assembly elections would have come and gone. Therefore, this anticipatory write-up would be read post-mortem.
On Saturday 11th April, 2015 the Independent National Electoral Commission will conduct elections for Governorship and State Houses of Assembly all through Nigeria, except in states such as Bayelsa, Ekiti, Ondo and Osun which governorship election schedule does not fall within this period, having had their governorship elections later than 2011.
In partisan politics, political parties have areas where, for many reasons, they are formidable. Presently in Abia State, the People’s Democratic Party; P.D.P, is overwhelmingly the political party to beat in any electoral contest that is freely, fairly and credibly conducted in the state. This is a fact that must be appreciated by any right-thinking observer, irrespective of what commentators that are blurred by myopia might be driven to say or write.
As it is said, the taste of the pudding is in the eating and example will always be better than precept. On Saturday 28 March, 2015, three elections took place in Nigeria, namely; Presidential, Senate and House of Representatives.
In the results that followed, P.D.P. swept more than ninety-five percent of votes cast in the Presidential election. P.D.P very conveniently won the three senatorial seats meant for the state and retained seven out of the eight House of Representatives’ seats of the state. The loudest but considerably insignificant opposition Party in the state; the All Progressive Grand Alliance, APGA, found itself visionless and rudderless as it obviously operated in a very strange and unfamiliar environment. It could only manage to secure the House of Representatives’ seat meant for Aba-North and Aba-South Federal Constituency. The reason for this one single Federal constituency success by APGA can not be far from the inexplicable hatred non-indigenes in Aba have against the indigenous people of old Aba Division. Despite the natural hospitality of the indigenes of Aba, settlers in Aba have always exhibited an uncommon quantum of odium and scorn for the Ngwas in whose land many of them, who came to Aba wretchedly naked and putrid, have been blessed with abundance of wealth. As long as they live, they are ritualistically inclined to hate anything that is associated with the growth of Ngwa land.
With the outcome of the Presidential and National Assembly elections in Abia State as lawfully released and published by the Independent National Electoral Commission, who ever doubts the capacity of the People’s Democratic Party to win both governorship and, at least, ninety percent of twenty-four seats of the State House of Assembly, would be a joker of the twenty-first century.
Talking based on facts and figures at the disposal of any disciplined, sane and developed mind, it would not, in any way, amount to exaggeration, stating that Dr.Okezie Victor Chibuikem Ikpeazu would sweep the votes of Abia electorate on Saturday 11th April, 2015 to emerge the fourth elected Governor of the State.
Based on this reality, which can only be doubted by a biased commentator or observer, Dr. Okezie Ikpeazu, by Gods grace, would be sworn-in on Friday 29th May, 2015, as the fourth democratically elected governor of the state.
In anticipation of this welcome development, Dr. Ikepazu, by now, must have developed his blue print for the eventual take-off of his government as soon as he is sworn-in. For now, an indisputable fact that no honest indigene or resident of Abia State would contest is the truth that the state needs a lot of infrastructural re-engineering. For any economy to find its footing, there must be a good and reliable network of roads within and outside its operational environment. The out-going governor; Chief T. A. Orji, has tried his best within the limit of resources available to the state. The truth, however, remains that much more would need to be done in terms of road infrastructure, especially in the state’s commercial nerve centre of Aba. Aba has a multi-dimensional net-work of roads and, once, the roads are put in their proper perspective, the lingering problem of internal revenue generation would be considerably addressed. It is on record that the first democratically-elected governor of the old Imo State; Chief Sam Mbakwe, Ph.d, relied much on revenue that was accruable from Aba. With the current dwindling fortunes in the country’s oil sector, the importance of internally-generated revenue, I.G.R; may not need to be over-emphasized.
Still related to the need for some degree of economic stability, if not independence, Dr. Okezie Ikpeazu’s anticipated administration would need to focus a lot of attention on agriculture. Any society that is incapable of feeding its members can not be regarded as being worthy of existence, not to talk of living.
As would be appreciated, every society has its peculiarity. Abia State, like some other states in the South-East, is disadvantaged in terms of land mass. This inhibition makes large-scale cash crop farming a bit difficult. But farmers could advance beyond the traditional peasant farming that they have practised for decades and which have not transformed their economic status. In this case, animal husbandry, such as piggery, poultry, goatery, snailry and other forms of agro practices that may not necessarily require much physical space but which engagement could, within a period of not more than six months, make the farmer smile home to the bank, should be encouraged.
Another thing that must not be forgotten or ignored for agriculture to be moved forward in the state is effective utilization of co-operative societies in the state. Abia people must start to appreciate the simple truth that no one can do it alone and that the more people could come together to work transparently in their overall collective interest, the faster they would get themselves economically stabilized and developed.
One of the major challenges of urban cities in the third word is refuse disposal and management. Many cities in contemporary Nigeria have lost their aesthetics due to poor management of refuse generated by urban dwellers. Unfortunately, most of the refuse dumps in this part of the world are sited in very strategically conspicuous corners of our cities, where they are carelessly left in various putrid stages of decomposition. The impression these sites creates in the minds of visitors to the cities is better imagined than told. Since the in-coming governor is very verse in the science and management of refuse disposal, it is hoped that he would add value in this respect by initiating the re-cycling of waste materials. This could be termed; “waste to wealth programme”.
To the glory of God, the Governor-elect by Saturday 11th April, 2015 is an accomplished academic. He appreciates the importance of education in modern global context.
The Governor-elect knows and appreciates that no society can advance beyond itslevel of education. Expectedly, he has to re-enforce the machinery of education in the state. One of the areas the Governor-elect would need to beef up is Technical Education. The fundamental objective of education is to guarantee liberation of the mind from mental darkness and at the same time facilitate social cum economic mobility of the liberated mind. With the down-turn in the economic fortunes of Nigeria, emphasis should no longer be on employment by government. Rather, the government should create the enabling environment required for her citizens to live a meaningful independent private live.
Technical education is one sure way of arming the Abia child with skills that can equip him or her move on in life without a futile long wait for white-collar jobs.
Security of life and property is a constitutional obligation of government. Already, Governor T. A. Orji has done very well in this very important aspect of governance. The Governor-elect would have to sustain and improve on this achievement.
Inexhaustively-speaking, the Governor-elect would need to run a very transparent government in order to achieve the laudable objectives of modern governance. He also would need to be very meticulous in choosing those that would work with him.Persons whose integrity can not be guaranteed, should have no business being in his government. Above all, present economic realities in Nigeria irresistibly demand that any government that wants to achieve irresistibly demand that any government that wants to achieve her aims within a record time, must be circumspect in managing cost of governance. There should be no time for jamboree or playing to the gallery.
As congratulations pour on the Governor-elect, it would be humbly but vehemently advised that he bears in mind, abinitio, that his return for a second term, by God’s grace, in 2019 would depend largely, if not solely, on his performance during his first tenure. Congratulations!

Chief (Sir) Don Ubani, KSC, JP

Sir PDP need to go back to the drawing board

Nice one

THE DEFEAT OF PRESIDENT JONATHAN DOES NOT MARK THE END OF THE PEOPLE’S DEMOCRATIC PARTY. SCRPTED BY CHIEF (SIR) DON UBANI

The affairs of man could, some times, be characterized by Vicissitudes. An English novelist, Thomas Hardy, captured this aspect of man in one of his classical novels; The Mayor of Casterbridge. The major dramatis persona in that novel; Michael Henchard, was elaborately portrayed from penury, resulting from drunkenness and misdemeanour, to wealth, arising from self-recovery and industry and again to bankruptcy and distress due to carelessness. In life, the first lesson a grown-up should appreciate is that no condition can ever be permanent.
The People’s Democratic Party; P.D.P, was formed in 1998, following the sudden death of Maximum Military dictator; General Sani Abacha. His death was synonymous with the proscription of the five Political Parties he had directed to be formed. The Parties were;
1. Committee for National Consensus; C.N.C.
2. Democratic Party of Nigeria; D.P.N.,
3. Grass-roots Democratic Movement; G.D.M
4. National Centre Party of Nigeria; N.C.P.N. and
5. United Nigeria Congress Party; U.N.C.P.,

The formation of the Peoples Democratic Party was the aftermath of a political cross-pollination and integration of various political leaders from different sections and segments of the Nigerian polity, who majorly had opposed the dictatorship of General Sani Abacha on the platform of Group 18, led by second Republic Vice-President; Dr Alex Ifeanyichukwu Ekwueme and which later transformed into G34.
General Abdulsalami Abubakar, as head of Military Government, had drawn a road-map for return of Nigeria to a democratic rule in 1998. In the elections that took place in late 1998 and early 1999, P.D.P had swept almost all the seats including the Presidency and governorship expect a few in the South-West, North-East and North-West where Alliance for Democracy and All Progressive Party had separately held Sway.
The Presidential election of 1999 produced Chief Olusegun Obasanjo as the President of Nigeria, on the platform of the Party. Being military-tailored, Chief Obasanjo was so dictatorial in handling the affairs of the Party that the culture of impunity became a permanent feature of the Party. The internal crisis that would later rock the unity and required cohesion of the Party was laid between 1999 and 2007 when Chief Obasanjo was President and ‘Sole Administrator’ of the Party.
The Party managed to hold itself together by winning the 2007 presidential election, with Mr Umaru Musa Yar’Adua as its Presidential flag-bearer. But it lost its grip on five South-West States of Ekiti, Ogun, Ondo, Osun and Oyo.
President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua died on May 5, 2010 in circumstances that could best be described as hide and seek His whereabout became so much of a controversy that the National Assembly was intrinsically compelled to evolve what became known as ‘Doctrine of Necessity’.
It was this doctrine of necessity that enabled Dr. Goodluck Ebere Jonathan to assume office, in an acting capacity, as president on February 9, 2010 pending when Yar’Adua would fully recuperate and resume office as President. Unfortunately, Yar’ Adua died and, so, Jonathan was sworn-in as President the following day being May 6, 2010.
Notwithstanding the controversy generated by the ailment, death of Yar’Adua and the ascension to power, Dr Jonathan managed to be elected as President and was subsequently sworn-in on May 29, 2011 as the fourth Executive President of Nigeria.
As President, he was committed to achieving laudable national objectives. Before his time, fertilizer distribution in Nigeria was severely marred by corruption. This was because there were a lot of middle-men in the network of its distribution. But his administration opened a direct link of communication with the farmers and, so, succeeded in doing away with middle-manship. Still on agriculture, Nigeria, under the administration of President Jonathan, became the highest producer of cassava in the world. His administration effectively encouraged rice production and successfully worked towards considerable reduction in food import.
As a seasoned academic, President Jonathan built fourteen Universities across the country. It is also on record that the Jonathan’s administration was the first in Nigeria to address the issue of almajiri. By simple definition, the almajiri are children who are born in the core moslem North of Nigeria and thrown into the streets to exist, not to live, by begging. The almajiri are, therefore, always at the beck and call of the northern political and religious classes for such heinous assignment as rioting and wanton destruction of live. That the core moslem North has always been the hot-bed of incomparable destruction of life and property has always been traceable to this class of unfortunately abandoned children. In his wisdom, President Jonathan built one hundred and fifty schools, with full free boarding and tuition attractions for them.
The aviation industry witnessed an extra-ordinary over-haul, courtesy of Jonathan’s government. Air-ports in Nigeria were a gory sight to behold before the era of President Jonathan. But he gave adequate attention to the aviation sector, to the extent that any foreigner coming into the county for the first time, would have good impression of the country he or she is entering into.
Many Nigerians, under the age of twenty, had not seen a train before the election of Dr Jonathan as President. This was because the railway sector of Nigeria’s economy had gone comatose before they were born. But today, Nigerians can conveniently travel from Lagos to Ibadan and Lagos to Abuja on rail. The Enugu-Port-Harcourt line has successfully been test- run.
The administration of President Goodluck Jonathan was able to address, in a fundamental manner, the problem of electricity during his tenure. At least, it appreciated that privatization was a key factor in realizing the country’s set goals in energy, hence it has holistically privatized the sector, leading to an improvement in power generation and distribution.
There are many achievements the Jonathan administration recorded which, for want of time and space, may not be accommodated here. But mention must be made boldly that, in the history of Nigeria’s democracy, the administration of President Jonathan was the most committed to the growth of Democracy. He consistently and constantly promised the people of Nigeria of a free, fair and credible election.
True to his promise, as soon as General Muhammadu Buhari of All Progressive Congress was pronounced, at exactly 03.47a.m on Wednesday 1st April, 2015, as winner of the March 28,2015 Presidential election, having polled fifteen million, four hundred and twenty-four thousand, nine-hundred and twenty-one as against President Jonathan’s twelve million, eight hundred and fifty-three thousand, one hundred and sixty-two votes, President Jonathan, who had earlier personally called Gen. Buhari and congratulated him, made a national broadcast, accepting the situation as it is and urging his Party members to remain law-abiding in the face of the development. This is an attitudinal exhibition which no other Nigerian had shown and for which Dr Goodluck Jonathan will continue to be remembered by generations yet unborn. He has set a classical example in Africa.
As President Jonathan put it, members of the People’s Democratic Party should not mourn over this loss. Rather, they should look in-ward and tell themselves what went wrong. It may not be out of place to acknowledge that avoidable internal squabbles must have affected the fortunes of the Party. It may also not be unlikely that some trusted allies of Mr President might have withheld some of the resources made available for Mr President’s re-election. Above all, the culture of impunity might have been the last straw that broke the camel’s back.
All the same, crying over spilt milk at this point may not amount to any relief. The courts are still there to determine the eligibility of any contestants. P.D.P. members should, therefore, work harder to guarantee the success of their gubernatorial candidates and those of state Houses of Assembly on April 11, 2015. There is still light at the end of the tunnel.


Chief (Sir) Don Ubani; KSC, JP

THINGS TO REMEMBER AS CHIEF T.A. ORJI GOES TO SENATE. SCRIPTED BY CHIEF (SIR) DON UBANI; KSC, JP

The creature called man is endowed with many gifts and qualities. This is why he is the most developed and sophisticated amongst Gods creation. His level of attainment in different areas of development notwithstanding, he has continuously manifested signs of imperfection. Man is not and can not be God and, so, can not be infallible.
Because of his natural imperfection, man, atimes, suffers, deliberately or unwilfully, from amnesia. Amnesia which, literally translated, is forgetfulness may not necessarily be associated with senility, which is a state of the mind in which forgetfulness becomes a near-permanent feature as a result of old age or ill-health. A healthy young man, full of blood and vitality, could also forget either in parts or even details, of developments in his most recent past. It is only God that is perfect and, therefore, does not suffer any flaw, including amnesia.
As the first the round of the 2015 general election approaches, it has become necessary that the good people of Abia State, especially the electorate in Abia-Central senatorial district, made up of Ikwuano, Isialangwa-North, Isialangwa-South, Osisioma, Umuahia-North and Umuahia-South, should have an ex-ray of political developments in the state in the past four years. Their appreciation of the period under review should not be limited to issues of politics but should serve as veritable indices in evaluating an administration.
Growth of any society has always been synonymous with the society’s ability to effectively assess and evaluate her enterprise, engagements and leadership. For any measurement and evaluation to be accurate and rewarding, the evaluators must be dispassionate and unbiased.
Arising from the above premise, it becomes useful for Abians to count the achievements of Chief Theodore Ahamefule Orji as Executive Governor of Abia State and, without mincing words, name them one by one.
In the first instance, it has to be established that any man that is worth his salt definitely has a constituency he naturally or socially belongs to. Chief T.A. Orji, by social cum administrative integration, has his constituency within the ambits of the civil cum public service.
By dent of hard work and prudence, he rose to the apex of the Abia civil service and meritoriously retired as a Permanent Secretary. Knowing that he is a product of the public service, the first thing he did on assumption of the office of the Governor of the state was to give a command promotion to every public servant in Abia State. This command elevation did not inhibit the Abia Public servant from observing and enjoying his routine promotion as and when due.
It is on record that the Abia State government was the first in the Nigerian Federation to, not only accept paying a minimum wage of eighteen thousand naira but announce a minimum wage of twenty thousand naira per staff per month. Let it also be stated that Abia State government, under Chief T.A. Orji, is among the very few states in the Nigerian State that have removed the barrier that painfully made teachers to stagnate frustratingly on level Sixteen. Today a teacher can hilariously ascend to level seventeen; a salary position that places him on the same salary grade with a Permanent – Secretary.
Before the arrival of Chief Orji as the governor, the working environment of the Abia worker was everything but conducive. Staff offices were unevenly scattered in different directions within the state capital, in rented antiquated buildings. Inter-ministerial co-ordination was made extremely difficult while cost of doing government business in the state was really on the high side due to lack of contiguity and geographical proximity. But the environmental condition of the Abia worker has tremendously changed for good as the state government has put up edifices that can stand the taste of any architectural comparison anywhere in the globe as workers’ secretariat. This makes government transaction in the state a one-stop shop.
The Abia Judiciary, Primary and Secondary Schools have, under the administration of Chief T.A. Orji, witnessed an explosion in infrastructural re-engineering within their sectors. Judiciary officials, including Judges, Registrars, Lawyers and even those desirous of justice, teachers and their pupils and students now discharge their duties in environments deliberately tailored to boost their psychological affectation and, therefore, enhance optimum performance and result.
In the health sector, the administration of Governor T.A. Orji initiated innovations that made it possible that no Abian would exceed five kilometres before accessing a health facility. There is hardly any electoral ward in the state that has no medical centre. Apart from investment in the grass-roots, the administration of Chief T.A. Orji built a modern diagnostic and dialysis centre at Umuahia and transformed the Amachara Hospital into a modern medical outfit.
As many would acknowledge, Abia State’s Government House, Since creation in August 1991, has been squatting on a building rented from the late Sampson Omeruah. Five military and two civilian governors had been tenants in the building before the emergence of Chief T.A. Orji as governor. To the glory of God and credit of Chief T.A. Orji, a new government house has sprung up in an entirely new development area in Umuahia. A project of an extra ordinary magnitude that has attained sixty percent completion, can not be said to be non-existent or not to have commenced.
The Michael Okpara Auditorium in Umuahia, which was built by the military, has a capacity of not more than six hundred seats. With growth in activities in Umuahia, it became necessary that a better designed and more spacious infrastructure had to be put up. Today, the administration of Chief T.A. Orji has begun the construction of an ultra-modern conference centre that is capable of hosting more than five different workshops or seminars at the same time, with a sitting capacity of not less than five thousand. The building aspect of the centre has been completed and is currently being furnished in line with its desired taste.
In terms of physical urban renewal, any one that is fairly-minded would attest to the fact that Umuahia, before the election of Governor T.A. Orji, was in the infrastructural category of Ohafia, Mbawsi, Omoba or Obehie. Indeed, Umuahia could then pass as a glorified village. But today, the difference is clear. Governor T.A. Orji has successfully engineered an infrastructural development and expansion of Umuahia.
It should also be mentioned that no society thrives in the absence of state guaranteed security. To this effect, Kudos must be given to Chief T.A. Orji’s administration for being relentless in providing security for the people of Abia State and their property.
The exploits of Governor T.A. Orji’s administration in agriculture should not pass without being mentioned. His plantain plantations in the state and his recovery, re-organization and re-evaluation of the Ulonna Farm settlement are bold efforts aimed at placing Abia State on a strong financial footing and independence.
Abians may not forget in a jiffy that schools owned by churches and other organisations in defuct East Central State were forcefully taken over by the administration of Mr Ukpabi Asika in 1970. The churches suffered from this deprivation for more that forty years before Chief T.A. Orji emerged as governor and, being a man that has respect for the church and people’s fundamental right, returned the schools to their former owners.
The administration of Chief T.A. Orji must be remembered for reconnecting the state to Nigeria’s mainstream politics. Many may have forgotten that there was hardly any love lost between Abia State Government and the Federal government before Chief T.A. Orji arrived at the gubernatorial scene. Through discipline, diligence and respect for superior authority, Governor T.A. Orji has made Abia State become one of the most reliable and friendly allies of the federal government.
The government of Chief T.A. Orji definitely stands as a trail blazer in the area of youth empowerment. There was a time in Abia State when her youths were given wheelbarrows and over-used motor-cycles as objects of empowerment. But Chief T.A. Orji came in and revolutionized the scheme, to the extent that many youths, in their hundreds, are proud owners of their own cars and buses. This development has helped reduce youth restiveness as the youths that benefitted from this act of benevolence are now enjoying useful existence on their own.
The legacies of Chief T.A. Orji’s administration are so many that no five pages of any newspaper can contain them exhaustively. It would, therefore, be unrealistic for any reader to expect to read in a single stretch, all the achievements of the governor T.A. Orji’s government; a government that was courageous enough to relocate the Ugwumabiri market from the centre of the state capital to a conductively distant Ubani-Ibeku, built a new timber market, motor spare parts’ market and dutifully relocated motor-park’s from the main township to its peripheral edges.
In rounding off this commentary, one achievement that must not fail to be mentioned is Governor T.A. Orji’s commitment to practical application of equity in the state, with particular emphasis on rotation of the seat of the governor. The governor has carved a niche for himself for being the first Abia helmsman to insist that power must shift to the Ukwa and Ngwa area of the state.
Sequel to his adherence to the Abia chapter of equity, the governor led the People’s Democratic Party in the state to arrive at the choice of a quintessential academic and consummate administrator; Dr Okezie Victor Ikpeazu, as the governorship candidate of the Party in the state. This is the healthiest development that has taken place in Abia State’s near twenty-four years of existence. No matter what cynics say is the under-current behind Dr Ikpeazu’s emergence, it is obvious that the people of Ukwa and Ngwa will, for the first time, be happy in a state they call their own.
With the volume of achievements recorded by Chief T.A. Orji as governor of Abia State, it is hoped and wished that his election into the senate would yield maximum result not only for his Abia-Central but the entire state of Abia.


Chief (Sir) Don Ubani; KSC, JP

ELECTRONIC CARD-READER AS A PRECARIOUSLY-TIMED INNOVATION. SCRIPTED BY CHIEF (SIR) DON UBANI.

The resilience, bravery and doggedness of the Nigerian political class, especially of the colonial era, made it almost imperative that, between 1914 when the Northern and Southern Protectorates were amalgamated by the British colonial administration and 1963, many constitutional innovations had to take place.
Of all the constitutions introduced by the British colonial government, the Hugh Clifford’s Constitution of 1922 was very significant because it was the first to introduce the elective principle and, therefore, stimulated the eventual formation of political parties. In order to contest election into the legislative council in 1923 as provided by the Sir Clifford constitution, Herbert Macaulay had formed Nigerian National Democratic Party; N.N.D.P. in 1923 while Barr H.O. Davies, Dr J.C. Vaughan, Dr Nnamdi Azikiwe, Dr. Kofo Abayomi, Chiefs Ernest Ikoli and Obafemi Awolowo founded the Lagos Youth movement in 1934, which later transformed into the Nigerian Youth Movement in 1936.
From the above preamble, it has become obvious that Nigerians has been in romance with the elective principle for ninety-two years; 1923 – 2015. It could, therefore, be reasonably argued that but for the unwarranted and unjustifiable intervention and interference by the Nigerian military in the political leadership of the country, Nigeria, by now, should have come over most of her electoral challenges.
At this juncture, it may be useful to have a run-down of electoral commissions in Nigeria since her independence in 1960. On assumption of office as Prime-minister of the Federal Republic of Nigeria in 1960, Sir Abubakar Tafawa Balewa established Federal Electoral Commission; F.E.C, which was headed by Chief Eyo Esua. This commission conducted the elections of 1964 and 1965. It was dissolved as a result of the first military coupd’e’tat on January 15, 1966.
In 1978, General Olusegun Obasanjo, as military Head of State, set up a Federal Electoral Commission, with Chief Michael Ani as Chairman. It was this electoral body that conducted the 1979 general election that produced Alhaji Shehu Alyu Shagari as the first Executive President of Nigeria.
President Shagari re-organized the electoral body, by way of nomenclature, in 1983 when he re-named it Federal Electoral Commission; FEDECO, with Hon Justice Oveie-Whiskey as the helmsman. Hon Justice Ovie-whiskey conducted the 1983 election that saw the re-election of Alhaji Shegari as President.
Alhaji Shehu Shagari’s government was over-thrown on 31st December, 1983 by Major-General Mohammadu Buhari, who consequently became the head of Buhari/Idiagbon Moslem/Moslem military Junta. Since Buhari did not believe in the tenets of democracy, he was only interested in abolishing the electoral commission. For the twenty months he held sway as military dictator, he did not tolerate any idea of setting up an electoral commission.
Following the successful over-throw of General Buhari’s dictatorial and draconic regime on August 27, 1985 by another coupist; General Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida, who was like a maradona, the National Electoral commission; N.E.C, was set up in 1985 and he appointed a highly respected erudite academic; Professor Eme O. Awa, as the chairman. Professor Awa, being a very principled scholar and gentle-man decided to resign his appointment in 1989 over an alleged disagreement with military President Babangida.
Consequent upon the resignation of Prof. Awa, General Babangida appointed another scholar; Prof. Humphrey Nwosu, who took over from his former teacher; Prof. Awa, in 1989 and served until 1993 when he conducted the election that has been described as the freest, fairest and most credible in the annals of Nigeria’s electoral contest and which was generally believed to have been won by one of Nigeria’s most generous and benevolent philanthropists; Chief M.K.O Abiola on June 12, 1993 but was inexplicably annulled by General Babangida.
The Political tumult and tumour that erupted as a result of the annulment of the June 12, 1993 general election could not be contained by any force of dictatorship, hence General Babangida Shamefully stepped aside. An unsustainable interim Government headed by Chief Ernest Shonekan was hurriedly and porously put in place in 1993 on the heals of General Babangida’s humiliating exit.
But before the emergence of Chief Shonekan as the head of the interim Government, General Babangida had relieved Prof. Humphrey Nwosu of the Chairmanship of National Electoral Commission and this could not have been, in any way, unconnected with Prof. Nwosu’s visible commitment to offering Nigerians a free, fair and credible election. In the place of Prof Nwosu, did Babangida appoint Prof. Okon Uya; 1993 – 1994.
After maximum Military dictator; General Sani Abacha, booted Chief Ernest Shonekan out as Head of Interim Government, he appointed Chief Sumner Dagogo-Jack as chairman of National Electoral Commission of Nigeria; N.E.C.O.N. General Abacha was generally suspected by Nigerians to have a President-for-life ambition. Chief Dagogo-Jack served between 1994 and 1998, during which he conducted elections for local government councils, State House of Assembly and National Assembly. The elected officers were not inaugurated due to the abrupt demise of General Abacha, except those elected into the local government councils.
The death of General Sani Abacha, which was widely celebrated across the country in 1998, ushered in the regime of a quintessential gentle-man soldier; General Abdulsalami Abubakar. General Abubakar renamed the electoral body as Independent National Electoral Commission; I.N.E.C in 1998 and there-upon appointed Hon Justice Ephraim Akpata as chairman of INEC. Hon Justice Akpata conducted the general election that ushered in Chief Olusegun Obasanjo as the second Executive President of Nigeria on October 1st, 1999.
Hon justice Akpata died in January 2000, giving room for President Obansanjo to appoint Sir Abel Guobadia as chairman of INEC. Sir Guobadia conducted the election of 2003 by which Chief Obasanjo was re-elected as President. The conduct of 2003 general election by Sir Guobadia was widely criticized by the opposition as falling, in every measure, short of transparency. Sir Guobadia’s tenure expired in June 2005 and President Obasanjo brought in Prof. Maurice Iwu as chairman. Prof Iwu conducted the 2007 general election that saw to the emergence of President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua. Prof Iwu has since been described by many critics as the most controversial electoral umpire in Nigeria’s recent electoral history.
President Goodluck Jonathan appointed Prof. Attahiru Jega as Chairman of Independent National Electoral Commission on June 8, 2010. Prof. Jega conducted the 2011 general election, which was adjudged to be free, fair and credible even though pre-election comments and insinuations by General Buhari had instigated post-election brutality and outright destruction of lives and property in the core Moslem – north, following the well-deserved electoral victory of President Jonathan.
Currently, Prof. Jega’s INEC has indicated strong commitment to introducing an electronic device called Card Reader for 2015 general election. There is no gainsaying the fact that for any country to grow her democracy, every loophole that stands against electoral transparency should be completely plugged. In this regard, introduction of an electronic device that can guarantee scientific cum technological accuracy would be a welcome development.
But from the reports of the test-run of the Card Readers conducted in 225 polling units and 358 polling points in twelve states of the Federation, it is very certain that the Card readers manifested some technical flaws, which made it impossible for many potential voters to be cleared for voting. This untoward development made the exercise appear precarious.
It must be stated that much interest had been aroused in 2015 general election. It has already taken both ethno and religious dimension, to the extent that the election is already explosion-prone.
An election of this nature and dimension is one that calls for meticulous and transparent handling. The sensitivity the 2015 general election has ignited is so fervent that the use of an unguaranteed card reader, which imperical exactitude is yet to be confirmed could create more problems than it was anticipated to solve. It is, therefore, imperative that the electoral commission should desist from contemplating subjecting the process of conducting 2015 general election to an expensive and very dangerous experiment. Any act or action that could threaten the unity and corporate existence of Nigeria should be avoided at this moment when predictions put Nigeria at a cross-road.


Chief (Sir) Don Ubani; KSC, JP
(Okwubunka of Asa)

WHEN A PEOPLE’S NATURAL INCLINATION TO HOSPITALITY IS THREATENED TO BE BETRAYED. SCRIPTED BY CHIEF (SIR) DON UBANI.

Any writer that is worth his salt is expected to be knowledgeable and versatile. The writer’s versatility serves as impetus with which he could delve into areas that non-writers may consider to be strange environments. On the strength of this postulation, it is necessary to reiterate the fact that the Ngwa sub-ethnic Nationalityis the most populous geo-historical group within the Igbo ethnic Nation of the Nigerian state. Administratively divided into seven distinct local government areas, the Ngwas have two local government areas that are fully urbanized and three others that are partly urbanized. These local government areas are; Aba-North andAba-South that are fully urbanised and Obingwa, Osisioma and Ugwunagbo that are partly urbanized. Let it be stated for the umpteenth time that Aba, courtesy of the wisdom of the British Colonial Administration, became both a district administrative centre and a major trading post in 1903, following the relocation of the Sub-district office from Akwete which had earlier been established in 1896.
Right from 1903, Aba became one of the two major commercial cosmopolitan centres in the defunct Eastern Nigeria, the other being Onitsha. The ease with which people who had started business just with little or even nothing emerged successful wealthy captains of industries and enterprises became so magnetic that just in twenty-six years of its existence; that was in 1929, Aba had become a socio-econo-political melting-point, not only for the Igbos but equally for the entire people of the former Eastern Region of Nigeria and also extended to the West African Sub-region. Aba became so central in the calculation of the people of the then Eastern Region that any single threat to the Aba Community was adjudged an unacceptable threat to the whole region.
In 1929, for instance, a warrant Chief; Chief Okugo of Oloko had, out of naivety, misinterpreted Assistant District Officer; Capt. J. Cook’s instruction on enumeration for tax payment. This miscomprehension which took place in BendeDivision ended up translating into a large scale women riot in Aba. This was simply because of the high sensitivity that hovered around Aba as a melting-point.
The cosmopolitan status of Aba had made it exceptionally unique as long as 1959,to the extent that out of the four Federal single-member constituencies that the Federal Government had allotted to the old Aba Division out of a total of seventy-three single-member constituencies allotted to the former Eastern Region, a non-indigene; chief Felix Okoronkwo, was seamlessly elected to represent AbaUrban in the Federal Parliament. Chief Felix Okoronkwo was re-elected in the same manner in 1964.
One of the great political amazons that conspicuously and consistently made her mark in the politics of the former Eastern Region of Nigeria was produced by thecosmopolitan engineering of Aba. Chief (Mrs) Margaret Ekpo; a Calabarian, cut her political teeth in Aba and, through a dent of hard work, was elected into the defunct Eastern House of Assembly in 1961, on the platform of the defunct National Council of Nigerian Citizens; N.C.N.C.
As at 1959 and 1961, it was only in Aba, out of all the townships in the defunct Eastern Region that a non-indigene had the privileged of being elected either into the House of Representatives or Eastern House of Assembly. Many non-indigenes had held sway as Executive Chairman in Aba; including Aba-North and Aba-South.
Presently, the two local government areas of Aba-North and Aba-South are presided over by non-indigenes of old Aba division as Transition committee chairmen. Not too long ago in the political history of Aba, the likes of Chief NgoziAnyaehie, Dr. Iboko Imo Iboko, Chief Eme Abali Mba, Chief Godwin Duru,Messrs Eleke, Ikwueche and many others, almost too numerous to be counted, had presided over the political and, therefore, economic fortunes of Aba.
In analysing this very uncommon poli-economic scenario, many persons who, mayat best be described as rabble-rousers, had tried to impute that Aba is ‘no man’s land.’ Some mischief-makers amongst them go to the very ridiculous extremity of claiming that Aba is a ‘conquered territory’.
To all intents and purposes, these claims of ‘no man’s land’ and ‘conquered territory’ are spurious in their entirety. The truth of the matter is that the people ofAba and her environs are people that are naturally given to reception, accommodation and hospitality. Ofcourse, it would be necessary to state that the disposition of a people towards others is influenced by many factors among which are;
1.
Natural environment
2.
Agricultural potentials and
3.
Belief system.
On natural environment, it has to be reiterated that no town in the whole of the South-east of Nigeria enjoys as much stability of topography as Aba and her environs enjoy. Nature so blessed the people of Aba that what it costs a man fromNjikoka in Anambra state or Udi in Enugu state to build a six bed-room bungalow could be used to start and complete a six bed-room duplex in Aba or her environ.Aba, as at date, has the best water in the whole of the South-East. It is only in Abathat someone can drill a bore-hole with less than one hundred thousand naira.
Aba, incontrovertibly speaking, has the most arable and naturally fertilized land for agriculture. The land in Aba and her environs has a range of soil texture that is loamy and, therefore, allows for good water penetration, good water retention and effective retention of soil nutrients. These natural qualities of the soil in Aba and its environs encourage farming with ease and facilitate good agro yield, which ends up enhancing the people’s economy. Thirdly and equally importantly, the averageAba indigene has a time-held and time-honoured philosophy of ‘live and let live’ which, literally translated into the Ngwa dialect, means ‘Onye egbula onye nbiarakeya’. This belief of the Ngwa man has been the main reason why Aba quickly grew in leaps and bounds. The Ngwa man had no qualms dispensing with his landon receipt of a mere stipend, just to accommodate his visitors. It has to be recollected that there are many groups in Igbo land that are averse to disposing their land to stranger elements. These factors listed above have consistently combined to tailor the indigenous people of Aba towards hospitality and tolerance which many myopic observers have unfortunately and irresponsibly misconstruedfor weakness to assert effective ownership and authority over their land and its affairs.
It is, however, a very sad commentary to hear some non-indigenes in Aba openly talk ill of the Governorship candidate of the People’s Democratic Party for the 2015 general election; Dr Victor Okezie Ikpeazu. None of these non-indigenes inAba who are busy disseminating propaganda of calumny and falsehood against the P.D.P. governorship candidate has been able to point out any flaw in his character or personality. The only thing they claim to hold against him is that he was brought out by the incumbent governor and, by their uninformed thinking, would beteleguided by the governor if elected.
This speculation stands debunked as it is neither here nor there. This is because any person elected as an executive governor who allows himself to be externally influenced to the extent of not achieving required democracy dividends for those who elected him should not hold any person to blame because what he has is executive power. Besides, the incumbent governor has said it for the umpteenth time that he would not interfere in the administration of whoever that will succeed him.
Non-indigenes in Aba, a good number of whom arrived Aba very penurious but have accumulated enormous wealth because of the natural hospitality of the indigenous people of Aba, should realize that Dr Okezie Victor Ikpeazu’scandidacy poses a moral burden on them as his aspiration symbolizes a pay-back time.
Besides, no indigene of old Aba Division had been a governor in Nigeria, be it democratic or civil, since Nigerian’s one hundred and one years of existence. It is also on record that Abia-North had ruled Abia State for eight years, in the person of Chief Orji Uzor Kalu; 1999 – 2007 while Abia-Central will complete her own eight years on 29th May, 2015 through Chief T.A. Orji. A vote for Dr. OkezieIkpeazu is a vote for equity, justice, good conscience and fairness
Any non-indigene in Aba who canvasses support for Dr Alex Otti, who hails fromAtani in Arochukwu of Abia-North, is not only being wicked and sadistic but isinhumanly betraying the natural hospitality of the indigenous people of Aba. The natural law of reciprocity must, of necessity, play out in Dr Okezie Victor Ikpeazu election.


Chief (Sir) Don Ubani; KSC, JP
(Okwubunka of Asa)

Pls stop accusing the state government for the attack

Nice one obj is an old fool

BEHAVIORAL CONDUCT OF A FORMER NIGERIAN PRESIDENTTHAT IS UNSTATESMANLIKE
SCRIPTED BY CHIEF (SIR) DON UBANI

Political thinkers and writers have, over time, been able to establish a distinction between a politician and a statesman. The politician, at any given time, ispreoccupied with the pursuit of the narrow and limited interest of his party and, in most cases, goals that may be considered gainful principally to his or her own section of the polity. To put it succinctly, a politician considers an issue from a parochial point of view and, more often than not, is concerned with gains of the moment. On the other hand, a statesman is one that is holistically concerned about the welfare and development of his or her polity, irrespective of natural divisions such as tribe, gender, religion or physical incapacitation. A statesman is he or she who, when a problem of any magnitude arises, does everything, within the legitimacy of his or her ability, to solve such a problem. A statesman is never associated with intemperance, just as he or she would not be known for fuelling crisis in whatever circumstance.
Statesmen, the world over, are role models. Younger generations look up to them as symbols of near-perfect standard of conduct in whatever field of engagements they are found.
Nigeria, nay Africa, has a long list of statesman. The likes of Herbert Macaulay, Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe, Alhaji Aminu Kano, General Aguiyi Ironsi and GeneralYakubu Gowon are a few examples of Nigerian Statesmen. At any given time in their lives, they always craved to work for the unity and overall developmentthe Nigerian state.
In the African continent, the persons of Dr kwame Nkrumah of Ghana, DrJulius Nyerere of Tanzania, Leopold Sedar Senghor of Senegal, Felix HouphetBoigny of cote d’lvoire and Anwar el-sadat of Egypt are conspicuouslyincluded in the list of Statesmen that Africa has had the privilege of producing.Of all the Statesmen mentioned above, there is hardly any known instance where any of them was associated with either an unpatriotic or indecourousconduct. Their primary focus was their desire to make sure that their country moved forward.
In contemporary Nigeria, there is a man that has been showered with God’s grace; left, right and centre. The man in question enlisted in the Nigerian Armyin 1958 where he met and became an intimate friend of late Major ChukwumaPatrick Kaduna Nzeogwu. By the time Nzeogwu came up with his military coupd’etat of January 15,1966, providence saved the man from being involved in the coup as his friend decided not to involved him having just returned from a military course in India. Who knows, if he had been briefed by Nzeogwu prior to the coup, could he have resisted the temptation of being involved? If he had been involved in that coup, could it have been possible he would be alive to attain the height he later attained? Colonel Benjamin Adekunle; alias Black Scorpion, as General Officer Commanding 3rd Marine Commando of the Nigerian Army, had fought all the battles under his fierce command during the Nigeria/Biafran war but no sooner had he been replaced by the man under review than the war ended and, just from the blues, the man took credit ofending the Nigerian Civil War. General Murtala Mohammed had, on 29th July 1975, overthrown the nine-year old administration of General Yakubu Gowonand supposedly purged the polity, especially the public service of putrid corruption only for the same man to become Head of State of Nigeria following a bloody but unsuccessful coup by colonel Buka suka Dimka that led to the assassination of Murtala Mohammed on February 13, 1976. Chief M.K.O.Abiola had, as it were, won a presidential election on June 12, 1993 only for theelection to be annulled by Military President Ibrahim Badamasi Babanginda. Pursuit for the ultimate realization of his presidential mandate led to the arrest, incarceration and mysterious death of Chief M.K.O. Abiola.
In order to placate the Yoruba ethnic nationality that had been evidently provoked and were visibly aggrieved, an indigene of Yoruba had to be made apresident. Meanwhile, the man had, on Monday March 13, 1995, been arrested and imprisoned by Nigeria’s Maximum Military Dictator; General Sani Abacha, and was almost rusting away in Yola Prison. Following the death of SaniAbacha on June 8, 1998 the man was released and before one could say Jack Robinson, the man had craftly outsmarted Dr. Alex Ekwueme and become Nigeria’s second democratically elected president. By simple arithmeticalcalculation, the man’s three-year tenure as a Military Head of State and his eight years as a civilian president have made him Nigeria’s longest serving Head of Government, having served eleven years cumulatively. But for Nigeria’s watchfulness, the man would have succeeded in elongating his tenure via a financially-induced constitutional amendment.
With the brief expose on the man, it becomes unbelieving for any body to doubt that God has shown a lot of grace to this man. In order not to subject one to further streak of suspense, it has to be stated that the man in question is ChiefOlusegun Aremu Okikiola Mathew Obasanjo; G.C.F.R.
From whatever perspective any one would look at it, the truth, which should be as constant as the northern star, is that the various unsolicited opportunities nature has graciously thrown open to the advantage of former PresidentOlusegun Obasanjo undeniably confer on him the envious status of a statesman.
As it should be, to whom much is given, much is equally expected. ChiefObasanjo, having, almost effortlessly, attained this great height is expected, at any given time, to exhibit a carriage that should be in conformity with his status. Whatever Chief Obasanjo should say or do is surely expected to reflect his status as a statesman. In comparative analysis, Chief Obasanjo is expected to have been raised to a distinct stage of nobility. His conduct should rank him in the same peerage as Ronald Regan and Jimmy Carter of United State of America, Tony Blair of Great Britain, John Kufor and Kofi Annan of Ghana and Alhaji Shehu Shagari of Nigeria.
At Obasanjo’s age of seventy-eight and his status, there are certain conducts no sane person would ever imagine could be associated with him. Chief Obasanjohad claimed to have become a preacher of the gospel of Jesus Christ while he was in prison in Yola. A preacher of the Lord Christ should be a preacher of love and peace.
Regrettably, Chief Obasanjo has severally failed to conduct himself in a mannerthat is commensurate with his Olympian Status. On Monday 16th February, 2015 one Surajudeen Oladunjoye, who was described by the press as a Ward Chairman of People’s Democratic Party in an area of Chief Obasanjo’s former residence had led a group of purported members of P.D.P to Obasanjo’sAbeokuta residence and in the full glare of the press and the public, ChiefObasanjo directed that Oladunjoye tears his P.D.P. membership card into pieces.

Many questions arise from Chief Obasanjo’s conduct;
(1) ​Is Chief Obasanjo’s tearing of his party card a conduct expected from a person of his status?
(2)​Is there any extent of provocation that can warrant any of his peers in Ghana,United Kingdom, U.S.A; Canada or France to tear his party membership card?
(3)​Was dramatization of tearing of his party membership card called for?
(4)​Does tearing of his membership card comply with constitutional mode of leaving his former party?
(5)​Is tearing of his membership card, in any way, a solution to the problems he thinks the party has?
(6)​By tearing his membership card, what did Chief Obasanjo want the younger Nigerian generation to learn from him?
(7)​Does tearing of his P.D.P membership card, a Party that made it possible for him to be President of Nigeria for eight years even when he had failed woefully in the polling unit where he voted, in his ward, his Local Government Area, his state and geo-political zone, not suggest that Chief Obasanjo has lost some degree of mental stability? And
(​Should one be wrong to agree with Chief Obasanjo’s first son; Gbenga, who had accused him of committing incest with his wife; Mojisola OlayemisiAmope?
​All in all, Chief Obasanjo’s demeanour has fallen short of a Nigeria Statesman, whose native origin of Abeokuta is known to be the cradle of Western civilization in Nigeria. This is unfortunate.


CHIEF (SIR) DON UBANI; KSC, JP
(OKWUBUNKA OF ASA)

GENUINE MANIFESTATION OF DETERMINATION TO GUARANTEE EQUITY IN ABIA STATE. SCRIPTED BY CHIEF (SIR) DON UBANI

It was the famous Jamaican singer, song writer, musician and guitarist, NestaRobert Marley, popularly known as ‘Bob Marley’, that openly advocated for justice instead of peace. The implication of this advocacy, which stands as a global phenomenon, must have been covertly and overtly appreciated by the founding fathers of Abia State who, in their philosophical comprehension and projection, agreed with the Jamaican Regae Maestro that no society can achieve peace andprogress in an atmosphere of injustice and inequity.
It would be completely unreasonable for any person to expect peaceful and progressive co-existence in a society where a section of it believes that her members are being marginalized and discriminated against simply only by reason of their geo-political origin, religion, gender or any other socio-econo-political differences. Where such myopic segregation exists, the people so affected naturally resolve to do everything, legitimate and illegitimate, to make sure the larger society does not, in any way, enjoy peace and equanimity. A situation such as this usually ends up breeding out-laws; armed robbers, kidnappers, rapists and other hooligans who would just be desperate to break the laws of the land, not minding the likely enormity of the consequences of their actions.
In such a situation, the society, including the parochial agents of discrimination, marginalization and injustices, becomes inundated with different kinds of vices. Law and order break down and resource meant for social engineering, such as education, health, infrastructure and public utilities, would be misdirected only to provide security. Investors would become afraid of the security and protection of their lives and investments and would, therefore, quit the environment, leading to capital flight.
Political, traditional, religious and economic leaders from the present Abia state had strongly been involved in the struggle that led to the creation of Imo State out of the defunct East Central State on the 3rd of February, 1976 by the military administration of General Murtala Muhammad. Before long, however, leaders from the present Abia State realized that there were unjustifiable and intolerable imbalances in the conduct of the affairs of the state, especially with regards to strategic appointments in the public service. In the Spartan Spirit of the Abia man, notable indigenes of Abia State such as;
1.
Dr M.I. Okpara
2.
Dr Anagh Ezeikpe
3.
Dr Agbara
4.
His Eminence, Eze (Dr) B.O. Enweremadu
5.
His Imperial Majesty, Eze Isaac Ikonne
6.
His Royal Highness, Eze (Dr) Roland Asobie
7.
Chief Paul Ogbonna of Asa, and others came up with the idea of having their own state.
The first thing they did was to choose a nomenclature that would be adjudged suitable and appropriate for the state of their dream. But before the question of nomenclature, the founding fathers of Abia State had intrinsically agreed withinand amongst themselves that their perceived state would be run on best globalstandard application of equity, fairness and justice. This philosophical undertone had to be captured and reflected in the naming of the state. The founding fathers, therefore, equitably resorted to the use of acronyms; A for Aba, B for Bende, I forIsuikwuato and A for Afikpo and summing it up as Abia. By this nomenclaturalarrangement, the old Aba Division, the Old Bende Division, the Isuikwuato andAfikpo Districts were all encompassed in the name Abia.
The founding fathers went further by assembling one of the most detailed and formidable equity-inspiringly tailored documents called ‘Abia Charter of Equity’. The synopsis of this charter was and remains that every geo-political Zone or segment in the state, when created, would not be marginalized in any sphere of the state administration but rather would be given adequate sense of belonging. TheAbia Charter of Equity had and still has a motto; Onye aghala Nwanneya! This simply means that every Abian was expected to see and treat his or her fellowAbian as either a brother or a sister and not as a stranger.
As God would have it, the struggles of the founding fathers were crowned withunquantifiable success on August, 27, 1991 when the administration of first Nigerian Military President, General Ibrahim Babangida, announced the creationof Abia state.
Regrettably, many heads of government who had held sway in the state, bothmilitary and civil, before Governor Theodor Orji, did not care a hoot about theAbia Charter of Equity, not to talk of its implementation. The consequences of such uncharitable neglect is best consigned to the rusty repository of history.
But in his own natural understanding and out of his own volition, Governor Theodor Orji feels convinced that continuous suppression of a people based on ethnic or sub-ethnic consideration has all the trappings of an explosively injurious aftermath and has, therefore, resolved to be guided by the spirit and dictates of theAbia Charter of Equity.
Not minding heavy pressure coming from left, right and centre, the Governor has remained adamant in his conviction that his successor should come from the oldAba Division of the state. He even deepened equity by propounding that since the state is presently constitutionally made up of three distinct senatorial districts or Zones and that since Abia-North had produced an executive governor that had governed for two tenures amounting to eight years and he, coming from Abia-Central and is on the verge of rounding off his consecutive second tenure that would amount to eight years, that equity demands that the next governor of God’s own state, after him, should hail from Abia-South Senatorial Zone.
As Usman Othman Dan Fodio; the Islamist Jihadist, would say, ‘Conscience is an open wound and only truth can heal it.’ Because Governor T.A. Orji stands on the solid grounds of conscience and truth, the People’s Democratic Party, both at the state and national levels, support him. The people of Abia State, especially the majority of them that have not killed their conscience because of quest for materialism, have evidently thrown their support for Governor Orji’s commitment to equity.
The combined forces of God, Governor T.A. Orji, the People’s Democratic Party and the electorate in Abia State have, as an essential preliminary step, positionedDr Victor Okezie Ikpeazu for eventual emergence as the next democratically elected Governor of Abia State; the first Governor of Ukwa and Ngwa extraction in the history of Nigeria’s one hundred and one years of existence.
The very populous, dynamic and ever accommodating people of Ukwa and Ngwa, nay the human community, should rise with one voice to glorify God for touching the heart of Governor T.A. Orji and the entire leadership of People’s Democratic Party; P.D.P, to resolve, in an unequivocal manner, to align themselves with thecourse of equity, fairness and natural justice.
The P.D.P delegates to the December 8, 2014 state congress that ended up castingtheir votes for Dr. Victor Okezie Ikpeazu as the governorship flag-bearer of the Party for 2015 general election should also be commended for choosing a man whose strength is anchored not only on the intimidating records of his academic excellence but equally on humility and sensitivity to the need of his fellow human beings and corporate existence of any contemporary society. The Abia electorate should see the candidacy of Dr Ikpeazu as a healthy development and givemaximum support for its realization.

Chief (Sir) Don Ubani; KSC, JP.

Ochendoism; a Political Philosophy (1)

By Godwin Adindu

By the time Governor Theodore Orji of Abia State runs his full circle on the hot seat, he would not only have left a legacy of a stable state and a stable polity, he would be adding a new lexicon to the political books and a new theory to political philosophy. I call it, Ochendoism. Many years to come, students of the history ofideas and students of political philosophy would marvel at the fact that, quite contrary to the popular norm, Governor Orji did not set out to propound a theory. He did not consciously set out to add to the body of knowledge. Yet, he gave a new meaning to governance. Ochendoism, as a new form of government, is a historical accident.

As a peculiar historical progression, Ochendoism is far more than an academic theory for an intellectual exercise and exploration. The theory is a new norm of governance and a new culture of political administration as demonstrated by Orjiin his adventures in Abia. Simply defined, Ochendoism is the government of rebirth, restitution and rebuilding; the government of the three R (RRR). It is an ethical imperative that saw a leader healing a traumatized people and rebuilding a polarized and fractured polity. It is the vision of a new rebirth that drove a leader to create a new beginning and a new society out of the wreckages of the past.

Essentially, the theory expands the frontiers of governance to add the agenda of peace and equity as a cardinal mandate of the king. It distills from the time-honoured definitions of power and democracy to prescribe, for the leader, the moral mandate of causing an attitudinal change, creating a new culture and evolving a new state out of an orientation that leaned towards barbarism. In this new Abia, Orji demystified the office of the executive governor and the leader presented himself as an ordinary mortal with feelings, remorse and compassion – with flesh and blood. In this spirit, the governor opened himself to hear and feel the thought and concerns of every citizen. He received every message directly and replied every message directly.

Ochendoism is revolutionary in practice as it breaks all class structures and createsa synergy between idealism in power and pragmatism. Orji demonstrated that the king must be the leader of all men and must appreciate the varieties of our common humanity. He dispersed power and created a rainbow coalition that involved the broad spectrum of the Abia society. Every group had a voice and a good representation.

Indeed, history must note that Ochendoism as a political philosophy emerged out of pragmatic action. Governor Orji’s political birth was into a raging war. He inherited nothing but war. History placed on his laps a society that was visibly at war, a state that was highly polarized and where the parties were at daggers drawn. Thus, his first major preoccupation was with social reconstruction. He would only succeed if he breaks off from the festering chain of an overbearing predecessor , pull the state and the people out of a cultural captivity and create a new world order. He took the bull by the horns and stamped his feet on the soil of Abia State as a visionary leader.

Having ousted a regime of anarchy with all its bloody vestiges and brought a ray of hope to a speechless people, he ignored the Mosaic code of “an eye for an eye” and set out on the path of truth and reconciliation. He threw out an olive branch and threw the door of government house open and in the frenzy of the newfreedom, all Abians, in one collective spirit, began to speak in one voice andenlisted into the new vision of Abia State. Thus, one major hallmark of Ochendoism is the building of bridges of understanding and the rebuilding of relationships. With a united house, he was now able to move on to the higher spiritual ground of restitution.

Apart from servicing debts incurred by the fallen dynasty, he commenced a large-scale programme of making amends and correcting the excesses of the past administration. This saw to the birth of many social-welfarist programme like the Ochendo Youth Empowerment Programme, which transformed Abia into a yellow state; the Hannah May Foundation, the pet humanitarian programme of the first lady; the student bursary Scheme and the student free city buses. There are many more. Borne out of a bitter experience of a generational youth deviance which manifested in the regime of criminality by the Abia youths, with the vice of kidnapping almost grounding the state, the empowerment programme is an effort at social reconstruction and capacity building. The resultant effect is the prevailing social stability in the state.

Significantly, Ochendoism sees the society as one common entity and seeks to resolve the primordial sentiments that have created barriers and divisions in the polity. It seeks to address the issues of inequity, domination and the imbalance of power. This is the background that informs the insistence of Ochendo that power must shift to Abia South of Ukwa Ngwa extraction. He is working very hard to achieve it. By seeking to break this jinx of power exclusion, Governor Orji demonstrated that the role of the leader is not just to manage men and the resources of the state but assuage the inner resentments and outer sentiments among groups that created deep-seated of disunity and apprehension in the polity.

By driving on the plant of the three Rs, Governor Orji created a new template for political administration and left an invaluable asset and legacy to the study and practice of political power. As the clock gradually ticks and the curtain winds slowly, Orji will confidently step out to the market square to show himself approved a workman who does not need to be ashamed. Very soon, he would demand for his crown. He would say after Paul of Tarsus: “I have fought the good fight. I have finished the race. I have kept the faith.”



Adindu is the President-general of the Abia Renaissance Movement (ARM)

POSTPONEMENT OF NIGERIA’S FEBRUARY 2015 GENERAL ELECTION IN ITS TRUE PERSPECTIVE. WRITTEN BY CHIEF (SIR) DON UBANI
Impatience has remained one major weakness in the life of man. Man is always in a hurry to achieve results, not minding if it is properly or improperly done. This flaw is mainly common with the black man, especially of the sub-saharan region.
The Independent National Election Commission had, in January 2014; released a time-table for Nigeria’s General election for 2015. According to the table, Presidential and National Assembly elections were scheduled for February 14, 2015 while Governorship and House of Assembly elections were meant to take place on February 28, 2015.
True to the tenets of democracy, certain conditions were expected to be fulfilled before the elections would take place. One of such conditions is that Nigerians who have attained the constitutional age of eighteen years and above should be duly registered as to be eligible for the polls. It was also stipulated that between January 2014 and February 26, 2015, every participating political party would have concluded her primary elections and campaigns.
It has to be stated that it is the inalienable right of any Nigerian citizen that has attained, at least, the age of eighteen and is of sound mind to freely choose who governs or represents him or her. To do otherwise, would amount, unacceptedly, to disenfranchisement of such a citizen.
On Saturday, 7th February, 2015, merely seven days to the February 2015 Presidential and National Assembly elections, the chairman of Nigeria’s Independent Electoral Body; Prof Attahiru Jega, in a well publicized and attended meeting with political stakeholders, members of the civil society and the press, announced that it had become imperative to postpone the February 14 and 28 elections.
As Prof Jega put it, the shift in date was contingent upon two reasons. The first is the state of insecurity in three North-Eastern States of Adamawa, Borno and Yobe, where the Islamist Fundamentalist gang; Boko Haram, had held sway for some time and which activities in the recent past and, even currently have become extremely dastardly and, therefore, would not allow enough time and attention to be paid by the security Agencies to election matters. The second reason the electoral umpire adduced for the postponement bordered on challenges arising from distribution of Permanent Voter’s Card; P.V.C. Before the official announcement of the postponement, it had been severally speculated that about thirty-four percent of eligible voters had not been able to collect their permanent Voter’s Card. This short-fall in collection was touted to be above twenty million voters. This, if it were to be left unaddressed, would have amounted to unwarranted, unlawful and unpardonable aberration of the fundamental right of the affected Nigerians as they would have sufferred disenfranchisement.
Arising therefrom and justifiably too, the INEC Boss, having consulted appropriately, informed Nigerians that the elections will now take place on Saturday 28th March, 2015 and Saturday 11th April, 2015. It is believed that this extension, by six weeks, would give ample opportunity to both the Nigerian Security agencies and the Independent National Electoral Commission to make up their perceived areas of inadequacies and deficiencies.
It has to be relocated that the National Security Adviser to President Goodluck Jonathan; Col sambo Dasuki (rtd), had on Thursday 22nd January,2015, in far away London, advised the Independent National Electoral Commission to postpone the February 2015 General election to allow Nigerians access their voter’s card.
Apart from the professional advice by the National Security Adviser, the constitution of the Federal republic of Nigeria 1999, as amended, provides that elections could be conducted as long as they are not less than thirty days to May 29th of the year of the elections, which is the constitutional date for the swearing of both the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and Governors.
Based on this constitutional provision, it is crystal clear that the postponement under review has not, in any way, run fowl of Nigeria’s constitution. Rather, it will save the nation from expensive embarrassment as any election in which citizens, by no fault of theirs, are disenfranchised, can not qualify as a credible election.
Since the announcement of the postponement of February 2015 election by the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, some prominent members of the main opposition political Party, the All Progressive Congress, A.P.C, have gone to town with all manner of misinterpretation and, even, threats. They have, as usual, accused the People’s Democratic Party; P.D.P of being the architect of the postponement. Interestingly, the A.P.C. tries to pretend to have forgotten that during the consultative meeting that the chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission had with principal political stakeholders on the question of postponement, nineteen registered political Parties favoured postponement while only six spoke against it. This is, therefore, a clear manifestation of the disposition of a very high majority of political Parties in Nigeria that postponement of the February 2015 election is an option that is good for the health of Nigeria’s democracy.
In any case, the hullaballoo the main opposition Party in Nigeria is making over the election postponement is entirely baseless. This is simply because the postponement by the Independent National Electoral Commission is not, in any way, at variance with both the Electoral Act and the constitution itself. Besides, the President has assured that May 29th 2015 remains sacrosanct for the inauguration of the next administration.
At this juncture, it has to be pointed out that postponement of the election dates has been an age-long development in the history of democracy. In 1848, the French government had to postpone its federal election just because many of her citizens had just been enfranchised but were not properly enlightened on the implications of such a civic attainment and, therefore, needed some time to be so enlightened. In Canada, a general election into the House of Commons had been billed to take place in 1916 but was shifted to December 17, 1917. The Canadian authorities had cited the emergence of First World War as their reason for the postponement.
In the two instances of both French and Canadian postponements, no opposition party in either of the countries threatened fire and brimstone because the interest of their father-land was uppermost in all their considerations and calculations. Ironically and embarrassingly, more than one hundred years after the French and Canadian experiences, Nigerians, who are having their own experience for the first time in a democratic setting, are conducting themselves in such a manner that is completely bereft of understanding, patriotism and decorum.
The time has come when the opposition in Nigeria should learn to conduct itself and affairs in a way that depicts discipline and patriotism. It should also appreciate the inalienable rights of the Nigerian citizen and should, therefore, desist from encouraging the disenfranchisement of the Nigerian citizen, which could lead to circumstances which end result could be unto ward.


Chief (Sir) Don Ubani; KSC, JP
(Okwubunka of Asa)

INTELLECTUAL DEFICIENCY THAT GIVES WAY TO UNETHICAL BEHAVIOURIAL CONDUCT; SCRIPTED BY CHIEF (SIR) DON UBANI.
In any civilized clime, political and leadership decisions are arrived at through a systematic process of persuasion. Whoever that wants people to be aligned tohis or her intents or goals, achieves it via a refined and reasonable system of reasoning and conviction. Once someone is convinced that the idea before him or her is in his or her interest and, probably, in the interest of the larger society, his or her commitment to the pursuit of such an idea becomes irrepressible.Persuasion or conviction is the exact antithesis of coercion or suppression. It,therefore, follows that for a leader to have a large support-base, he or she must profess an ideology that is acceptable to the masses. For any idea or concept to be accepted by a people, the initiator of such an idea or concept must take theresponsibility of convincing those who ordinarily would not imbibe the idea.
Democracy, in consonance with the essentialism of dialogue, encourages leaders to engage themselves in debates, with the hope of convincing, in a dispassionate manner, their audience. The first televised presidential debate in the United States of America took place in a television studio in Chicago on September 26, 1960 and it was between Sen. John F. Kennedy of Democratic Party and Vice President Richard M. Nixon of Republican Party. Kennedy won in the election. In 1980, there was a Presidential debate between PresidentJimmy Carter of the Democratic Party and Mr. Ronald Regan of the Republican Party. Mr Regan was victorious in the election that followed. As at 2012, there was a well-televised Presidential debate between President Barrack Obama of the Democratic Party and Senator Mitt Romney of the Republican Party. As it turned out, Mr Obama emerged the winner of the contest.
Election debates offer the debaters a unique opportunity of being independentlyand impartially assessed by persons who may not have come across them before but whose individual opinions could aggregate to bring about their victory orfailure in a given contest.
Since the return of Nigeria to the path of democracy in 1999, efforts have continuously been made to improve on the conduct of elections in the country. The Independent National Electoral Commission; INEC, has been growing from strength to strength, learning from its mistakes and progressing on a gradual but steady and re-assuring basis. Initial pessimism that many Nigerians had harboured against the electoral body is systematically giving way to cautious optimism. Hope is gradually returning to the electorate that their votes may afterall, count.
One innovation that has come into reckoning in Nigeria election environmental is the birth of Nigeria Election Debate Group; NEDG. This Group, unarguablymade up of seasoned and unbiased Nigerian professionals and technocrats, has brilliantly created a platform on which Presidential Candidates and their running mates could separately but concertedly reach the Nigerian electorate by making their stand on sensitive national issues such as corruption, unemployment, poverty, youth restiveness and insecurity known to the people and stating, in a very convincing manner, how they intend to address those issues, if elected.
Kudos must be given to the Nigeria Election Debate Group for coming up with this wonderful initiative. If the spirit of the initiative could be imbibed and sustained by principal political actors, it would simply help the country’s democracy grow and become the envy of politicians from other African countries.
It is, however, worrisome that instead of the Nigerian Political class to applaud, with one voice, this well thought out idea, there have, rather, developedinexplicable discordant tunes. This situation has arisen from the stand of AllProgressive Congress; A.P.C., not to participate, in any manner, in the on-going debate.
Politics is best practised using the jaw-jaw approach instead of resort to bickering, odium or violence. Nigeria’s present political reality is that the People’s Democratic Party is the Party in power at the Federal level while the All Progressive Congress is the main opposition Party. At a time when the country’s economy is having some challenges, it would even have been advantageous for the opposition Party to latch on the opportunity provided by the debate to attract the support of Nigerians by coming up with very convincing reasons why the electorate should give her an opportunity to serve. With the purported determination of the main opposition to have a slot at thePresidency, many well-meaning observers had thought that the All progressive Congress should have jumped at the birth of Nigeria Election Debate Group and its attractions.
Rather disappointingly, the All Progressive Congress has openly dissociated itself from this noble course of political enlightenment. It ‘decreed’ that none of its officials or candidates should participate in the debate. This is a very unhealthy development in Nigeria’s march towards consolidation of her democracy.
This development is more disturbing when it is viewed from the backdrop of the insinuation already making the rounds that the Presidential Candidate of the All Progressive Congress; Major-General Muhammadu Buhari, does not possess even a secondary school certificate which is the minimal constitutional requirement for the highest political office in Nigeria.
In the light of the controversy oozing out of General Buhari’s Certificate, his participation in the Presidential debate should have opened a window for people to assess his intellectual capability to preside over the affairs the most populated country in Africa and the whole of the Black world, certificate or no certificate.
It must be stated that for any citizen to preside over the affairs of Nigeria, such citizen must be above mental average and should be one that can hold his head very high amongst Heads of States of other nations. Nigeria and her citizens deserve a head of state they can be proud of and can openly say; “this is ourPresident”!
In rounding off this piece, it is very necessary to remind the leadership of the All progressive congress that since there is the allegation that General Buharidoes not possess the required Secondary School Certificate, shielding him from participating in the Presidential Debate could be interpreted by many Nigerians to mean that he is intellectually deficient and should, therefore, not be exposed to intellectual ridicule and humiliation.

Chief (Sir) Don Ubani; KSC, JP
(Okwubunka of Asa)

2015 GENERAL ELECTION AND OMINOUS SIGNALS FROM THE CORE MOSLEM NORTH OF NIGERIA. SCRIPTED BY CHIEF (SIR) DON UBANI

In a civil polity, the unity and progress of the citizens are driven by simple adherence to the rule of law. By this assertion, it is believed that, in whatever corner of the polity a citizen may find himself or herself, such a citizen shall be at liberty to exercise his or her fundamental human rights. Ofcourse, some of the rights are;
(1) The right to live, (2) the right to hold and express personal opinion, (3) freedom of association and (4) freedom of choice of religion.

Even though Nigeria, as an entity, came into being by sheer force of arms, through the amalgamation of 1914 of the Northern and Southern Protectorates of Nigeria by the British Colonial administration, first generation leaders of the Nigerian State knew that a federal constitutionalism, anchored holistically on the rule of law, was inexorably essential for the healthy growth of the country.

The intendment of the Federal Republic of Nigeria’s Constitution of 1999, as amended, is that every citizen of Nigeria has the right to transact his or her legitimate business in any part of the country, without any inhibition. In this particular context, transactions may not be limited to commerce and industry. It includes both religious and political engagements. The effectiveness of the application and implementation of the rule of law is the only thing that can guarantee and sustain the faith and confidence of the citizenry in the polity. It is equally important to state that it is not only the government that enforces this principle. The individual citizen, family, community and, even, the tribe are constitutionally obliged to observe and abide by the rule of law. It is the attendant assurance that evolves from the plausibility of the rule of law that makes an indigene of one state to live and establish his or her enterprise in a state completely outside his or her geo-political zone.

According to the time-table released by the Independent National Electoral Commission, general election will take place on the 14th and 28th of February, 2015 in Nigeria. In tandem with democratic practice, political parties and their candidates have already gone into action; campaigning from one place to another, depending on the size of their constituencies. The essence of a campaign exercise is normally to canvass the support of the electorate. In order to achieve this objective, the party in question could come by way of pictorial or graphic reminiscences of what it had achieved in the past and would go ahead and release a master plan of what it intends to do again if re-elected. For a party that is in the opposition and wants to take over from a party in power, it must work very assiduously to make sure that it portrays itself as a party that has the capability of being a better alternative to the incumbent. The process of realizing this goal is usually and expectedly characterized by civility and finesse both in words and action.


As it is cultural, democracy is not characterized by crudeness of thought, uncouth language or violence. Democracy, as a practice, is meant only for those that are civilized and refined.

It would be recalled that in 2005, the central Intelligence Agency; C.I.A, of the United States of America had allegedly predicted the disintegration of the Nigerian State by 2015. In as much as the authenticity and potency of this prediction were not clear, it remains the responsibility of every law-abiding citizen of Nigeria to make sure that the hornet’s nest is not, at anytime, especially at this critical moment of Nigeria, stirred.
Nigerians may not need to be reminded that, between that prediction and this January 2015, many untoward developments have taken place in Nigeria. Militancy had reigned in the Creeks of the Niger Delta Region! Armed Robbery and Commercial Kidnapping became instruments of economic survival in almost all parts of the former Protectorate of Southern Nigeria!! As if Nigeria’s vices grow in an astronomical devastating order, the North-East and, to a large extent, the North-West of Nigeria are currently being held hostage by a notoriously most inhumane insurgent Islamic fundamentalist gang that has been responsible for the death of thousands of innocent Nigerians, especially Christians in the two affected regions of the North.

As many Nigerians may not have forgotten, the impunity and bravado with which Boko Haram pursued its criminality, especially after Dr. Goodluck Jonathan’s election in 2011, could not have been if there had not been a political angle to it. To be precise, the core Moslem North had done everything it thought would help achieve a retrieve of political power from the South in 2011 by massively supporting retired major General Muhammadu Buhari; an Islamic Fundamentalist, who contested on the platform of congress for Progressive Change but was overwhelmingly defeated by President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan of the People’s Democratic Party; P.D.P; a Christian of Southern Nigeria extraction. That simple electoral success of President Jonathan was automatically turned into a pyrrhic victory by the Boko Haram that went on rampage, unmistakably acting as the militant wing of the Northern Political Class. The consequences of the criminality of the Boko Haram was, for all intents and purposes, extravagantly putrid. In an overt reaction to the defeat of General Buhari, the gang burnt many churches in the Moslem North, killed and maimed thousands. Ofcourse, the initial targets of the mayhem by the Islamist gang were Christians, churches, Igbo traders and their wares and non-moslem Nigerians living in that part of the country.

But like a tiger on which back a jingo had ridden to intimidate, hurt or even devour his assumed enemies and which ended up killing its master, the Boko Haram has grown wilder than the Northern Political establishment had ever imagined. As Chinua Achebe would aptly put it, ‘the Falcon no longer hears the Falconer!’ Things have fallen apart. The Boko Haram now kills even its financiers. The Moslem North has become a typical example of an insecured and failed region. The economy of the North has been decapitated by self absurdity. For the North, the centre has collapsed and, therefore, may not hold even in the next fifty years.

If there are observes who had thought otherwise, their optimism has now finally been dashed into pessimism by the recent signals coming from the Moslem North. Only very recently, President Goodluck Jonathan’s campaign convoy was unwarrantedly attacked by supporters of All Progressive Congress in Katsina State. As if that was not enough, President Jonathan and Members of the People’s Democratic Party; P.D.P, were again brutally attacked in Bauchi, to the extent of six body guards of President Jonathan being seriously injured. This means that if the Body Guards had not been professionally patriotic, the President of Nigeria; a Christian, southern and Niger-Deltan, would have been flown back to Bayelsa a dead man. Again, in their emboldened march of impunity, supporters of All Progressive Congress, on Sunday 25th January, 2015 burnt to ashes two vehicles belonging to President Jonathan’s campaign team at Suleja in Niger State.

From all indications, these signals from the core Moslem North are not, in any way, healthy for the survival of the Nigerian State.
Already, Chieftains of Niger-Delta militancy have met in Yenegoa in Bayelsa State and have vowed to return, not even ‘fire for fire’ but ‘hell for fire’.
For this pronouncement to be collectively made by the likes of Asari Dokubo, Tompolo and Boyloaf, it certainly means that Nigeria may not be very far from the likehood of reality of the prediction by the Central Intelligence Agency of America. Just as a tip of the iceberg, a campaign podium put up by the All Progressive Congress in Okirika in Rivers state for its campaign was recently bombed. This could be a signal that the Niger Delta Militants are now ready to make real their threat to retaliate any iota of reckless attack on their son; President Jonathan.
Despite the colossal damage already caused by the ethnol/rebigious activities of supporters of Major-General Muhammadu Buhari, the situation which is like a boiling cauldron could still be saved through the intervention of General Buhari. Any failure to do what is needful at this moment of precariousness, might lead to a situation with untoward consequences for the Nigerian State. Let Nigeria be saved.

Chief (Sir) Don Ubani; KSC, Jp
(Okwubunka of Asa)

​
2015 GENERAL ELECTIONS IN NIGERIA AND THE NEED FOR NATIONAL COHESION AND STABILITY.
SCRIPTED BY CHIEF (SIR) DON UBANI.

As obtainable in any democratic setting, the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria of 1999, as variously amended, authorizes periodic elections into the various states’ Houses of Assembly, The House of Representatives. The Senate and The Presidency. The essence of this constitutional provision is to allow the Nigerian electorate the opportunity to either express their appreciation of public office holders they had previously elected and who had performed creditably and, so, deserve being re-elected or to pass a vote of ‘no confidence’ on non-performingelected public officers and elect new ones.
This constitutional opportunity at the disposal of the electorate to effect changes in its societal leadership is what makes democracy beautifully enduring. In this case, the elected public officer should always be mindful of his or her actions as they would be used to assess him or her during the next election. It also instills cautions patience in the electorate not to take laws into their hands, knowing that an elected public office holder who has performed abysmally poorly can always be voted out of office after four years as stipulated in the country’s groundnorm.

February 2015 will witness four different elections into the various Nigerian legislative chambers and the executive Councils. To be precise, Presidential and National Assembly elections will take place on Saturday 14th February, 2015 while Governorship and States’ Houses of Assembly elections have been duly scheduled to hold on Saturday 28th February, 2015.
In accordance with democratic culture, political parties have swung into action, campaigning from one constituency to the other in order to showcase their previous achievements and also convince the electorate, via pyrotechnics, on their preparedness to add value to their lives.
Democracy is synonymous with civility and decency. Democrats are known to be urbane. No democrat that knows his or her onions would want to be associated with vulgarity or use of foul language in his or her public engagements. Even in extreme cases of provocation, any real democrat would avoid making provocative statements. The ultimate aim of democracy is to heal, re-assure, reinvigorate, unite and prosper the people and never to injure, disillusion, weaken, disunite or pauperize the people.
In any electioneering campaign, political utterances should be properly and decorously guarded. A politician seeking the mandate of his or her people, should always be pre-occupied with cohesion and unity of the people he or she intends to represent or govern. Above all, the safety of life and property of the electorate should be uppermost in his or her oratorical pronouncement.
A candidate that mounts a podium during a political rally and freely resorts to the use of invective or anchors his or her speech on the basis of sectional,religious or class sentiments, is, in every calculation unworthy either to govern or, even, represent a people.
It would be recalled that before the Presidential election of 2011, a Presidential Candidate of one of the Major Political Parties that participated in the said election had threatened that if he did not win the contest that the ‘blood of baboon and monkeys’ would flow all over the country. True to the threat, there was unprecedented record of loss of human-beings and properties in a certain section of the country after that particular presidential candidate lost in the election.
Life, in any human society, is believed to be sacrosanct. It is only in a very low animalistic kingdom that life is wasted and destroyed with impunity. This is why God, in His wisdom, separated human-beings very widely from wild animals such as lions, tigers, cheetahs and pythons that naturally lack even the slightest modicum of humanity and are, therefore, cruelly carnivorous.
Electioneering campaigns for the February 2015 general elections have begun in earnest. Political parties have started criss-crossing the country in their bid to appeal to the reason of the masses whose fundamental right it is to determine who governs or represents them. It is expected that man, being specially endowed with a high intelligence quotient, would advance positively with every passing experience in the course of his sojourn on planet Earth. It would not be out of place to think that political leaders should by now, have learnt corrective lessons from instigating utterances of the past which gave rise to mayhem and wanton destruction of life and property in the northern part of Nigeria.
Not a few Nigerians are perturbed by the negatively infectious comments currently being made by some prominent political actors in Nigeria. Just recently,the Director-General of campaign organization of one of the leading political parties in the country has arrogantly and irresponsibly ‘boasted’ that if his party loses in the February 2015 general elections, it would take laws into its hand by constituting a parallel government at the centre. Many had thought by now that the said actor would have retracted that statement but alarmingly regrettably the statement, rather than withdrawn, had been orchestrated by the party itself. This statement is not healthy for Nigeria’s nascent democracy and portends a lot of danger.
Nigerians, from all walks of life, should, by now, have realized that it is in the over all interest of every citizen of this country that Nigeria remains intact and united. There is hardly any section or region that does not require the peaceful and healthy existence of the other section or region to continue to grow. Nature even buttresses this fact of existence as ‘no man or section of human enterprise is an island to himself or itself’.
It, therefore, becomes imperative that every political party or individual campaigning for the February election should say only those things that would unite and strengthen us and by so doing, advance and solidify our democracy instead of uttering words that tend to inject bitterness, rancor and violence in the body politic.
Without failing to remind Nigerian politicians, the ultimate aim of seeking political positions is to render services to humanity. It is ironical that in this part of the world, people seek positions only for personal selfish reasons and this is why the black man has continuously failed to join the comity of developed nations. How would a society grow when resources at its disposal are continuously mismanaged? It is this quest for insatiable materialism that has continued prompting public office seekers to make pronouncements or resort to actions or extreme re-actions that end up seeing innocent Nigerian citizens brutally murdered in cold blood in a particular region of the country. This is a time for Nigeria leaders to show patriotism and pay adequate attention to national cohesion and stability.

CHIEF (SIR) DON UBANI
(OKWUBUNKA OF ASA)

ABIA POLITICS AND ECONOMIC ESSENTIALISM OF UKWA PEOPLE;SCRIPTED BY DON UBANI

Despite man’s claims of knowledge and wisdom, no man has successfully faulted God’s impeccability. There is nothing God created or did that failed to be worth its creation or doing. In His perfection, God created the black, the white, the tall, the short, etcetera. In the same vein, God created the majority and did not fail to creat the minority. It, therefore, follows that in any human setting, two principle things must be on focus; it is either good or bad, success or failure, beauty or ugly, strong or weak, honest or dishonest. Both majority and minority naturally constitute the body politic of any human congregation.
As the nomenclature implies, majority connotes numerical superiority in any human organisation. Whether it is majority or minority, it is imperative that the development of the society is hinged on availability of both human and natural resources.
In most cases, development of human resources are best propelled by effective harnessing of natural resources. A highly populated society that is bereft of natural resources may be respected for its census but on a more serious note, may not be accorded much respect in the comity of societies as its economic growth may not be commensurate with its high population census.
Again, God, in His flawless wisdom, deploys unquestionable discretion in determining where He places precious natural resources. Knowing that minority ethnic groups could be brutally subsumed and injuriously suffocated by majority groups if such natural resources are located within the geo-political boundaries of the majority groups. By this divine wisdom and application, God makes the minorities essentially relevant.
A typical illustration of this assertion could indisputably be found in Nigeria. The majority ethnic groups in Nigeria are the Igbo, Hausa and Yoruba. These three ethnic groups probably have more than seventy percent of the totality of the Nigerian population. They, therefore, call the shot once elections are used to settle issues. But as God would want it, natural resources that account for about seventy-five percent of the country’s net income are divinely located in the minority nations of the South-South of Nigeria. Where some are located in the geographical vicinities of the majority ethnic groups, ironically and interestingly, such resources are located in the minority areas of the ethnic groups.
In Igbo land, for instance, the black gold, which is petroleum, is found in Ukwa and Ohaji/Egbema in Abia and Imo States, respectively. These two areas, for one reason or the other, are considered to be minorities. Yet, the economic relevance of both Abia and Imo states in the politics of oil in Nigeria is entirely hinged on these minority areas of Ukwa and Ohaji/Egbema. To break it down further, it is an open secret that the existence of Ukwa in Abia state is the only reason why Abia state is considered one of the nine oil-producing states of the federation and by courtesy of that fact, enjoys a thirteen percent oil derivation from the Federation Account.
As a result of the economic fortune that accrues to the State Government due to the strategic economic importance of Ukwa land and its people, it becomes preposterous for any right-thinking man to dismiss Ukwa people as a mere minority. Their economic uniqueness has roundly made up their population deficiency.
Ukwa people are basically made up of two distinct sub-ethnic nationalities; the Asa and the Ndoki. Before the 1976 Mamman Nasir Boundary Adjustment exercise, Ukwa Division included Obigbo, an Asa Community, that has since been re-named Oyigbo and ceded to Rivers state. It also includes Afam, an Ndoki Community that was also excised from the old Imo State to Rivers State.
The history of Ukwa people has been a chequered one. They had undergone deprivation, marginalization and frustration. Their fears of marginalization made it imperative that they had to articulate and present their fears before Sir Henry Willink’s Commission set up by the British Colonial Government to allay the fears of the Nigerian minorities in 1958. That administrative development was a very healthy and result-oriented one as it led to the creation of a federal constituency for Asa and Ndoki people in 1959 in the name of Aba-South Federal Constituency and represented by Chief O.C. Ememe. Sir Willink’s commission also gave rise to the emergence of two Regional constituencies for the Asa and Ndoki people in 1961,named Aba-South-West and Aba-South-East, respectively.
Under the leadership of Governor T.A. Orji, Ukwa people have had a true sense of belonging. The administration has shown visible commitment to the development of the area. Many indigenes of the area have been given very responsible appointments, including Commissioners, Permanent-Secretaries and even the Head of service of the state’s Public service. The Administration of Chief T.A. Orji, in its determination to address the many years of marginalization of oil-producing areas of the state, willingly and wisely established, via legislation, the Abia stateOil-Producing Area Development Commission; ASOPADEC, an interventionist Agency that has gone a long way addressing the problems of Ukwa people, including the rehabilitation of the Obehie-Obohia road. Currently, the state Government is neck-deep in conducting a feasibility survey that will metamorphose into the dredging of the Obuaku end of the Imo River in order to access the Atlantic Ocean. By the time this dream comes true, it would transform the economy of the state to a very high pedestal.
But with the recently concluded primaries of the People’s Democratic Party; P.D.P, in the state, a good number of Ukwa people feel bruised and annoyed. Their annoyance stems from the fact that, in the avowed commitment of the leadership of P.D.P in the state to assure equity, both the Governorship ticket and Abia-South Senatorial tickets of the Party were conceded to the Ngwas of Abia-South, to the exclusion of the Ukwas who feel that one of the tickets should have come to themfor purposes of deepening equity in the zone. To buttress their grievances, angry Youths have taken to the Highways demonstrating against what they perceive as glaring injustice.
In as much as they have a point in their agitation, the good people of Ukwa should not forget that opportunities in a democracy do not only come through elected positions. There are several appointive positions that their occupants could, if they are people-oriented, use to advance the course of their people. Besides, they should appreciate the fact that Governor T.A. Orji is very compassionate and does notabandon his friends and allies. The Governor has already set up a reconciliation committee made up of time-tested and experienced personalities. It is advisable that every genuinely aggrieved person should take advantage of this olive branch being offered by the Governor and, by so doing, give peace a chance.


CHIEF (SIR) DON UBANI; KSC, JP
(OKWUBUNKA OF ASA)

ABIA POLITICS AND ECONOMIC ESSENTIALISM OF UKWA PEOPLE;SCRIPTED BY DON UBANI

Despite man’s claims of knowledge and wisdom, no man has successfully faulted God’s impeccability. There is nothing God created or did that failed to be worth its creation or doing. In His perfection, God created the black, the white, the tall, the short, etcetera. In the same vein, God created the majority and did not fail to creat the minority. It, therefore, follows that in any human setting, two principle things must be on focus; it is either good or bad, success or failure, beauty or ugly, strong or weak, honest or dishonest. Both majority and minority naturally constitute the body politic of any human congregation.
As the nomenclature implies, majority connotes numerical superiority in any human organisation. Whether it is majority or minority, it is imperative that the development of the society is hinged on availability of both human and natural resources.
In most cases, development of human resources are best propelled by effective harnessing of natural resources. A highly populated society that is bereft of natural resources may be respected for its census but on a more serious note, may not be accorded much respect in the comity of societies as its economic growth may not be commensurate with its high population census.
Again, God, in His flawless wisdom, deploys unquestionable discretion in determining where He places precious natural resources. Knowing that minority ethnic groups could be brutally subsumed and injuriously suffocated by majority groups if such natural resources are located within the geo-political boundaries of the majority groups. By this divine wisdom and application, God makes the minorities essentially relevant.
A typical illustration of this assertion could indisputably be found in Nigeria. The majority ethnic groups in Nigeria are the Igbo, Hausa and Yoruba. These three ethnic groups probably have more than seventy percent of the totality of the Nigerian population. They, therefore, call the shot once elections are used to settle issues. But as God would want it, natural resources that account for about seventy-five percent of the country’s net income are divinely located in the minority nations of the South-South of Nigeria. Where some are located in the geographical vicinities of the majority ethnic groups, ironically and interestingly, such resources are located in the minority areas of the ethnic groups.
In Igbo land, for instance, the black gold, which is petroleum, is found in Ukwa and Ohaji/Egbema in Abia and Imo States, respectively. These two areas, for one reason or the other, are considered to be minorities. Yet, the economic relevance of both Abia and Imo states in the politics of oil in Nigeria is entirely hinged on these minority areas of Ukwa and Ohaji/Egbema. To break it down further, it is an open secret that the existence of Ukwa in Abia state is the only reason why Abia state is considered one of the nine oil-producing states of the federation and by courtesy of that fact, enjoys a thirteen percent oil derivation from the Federation Account.
As a result of the economic fortune that accrues to the State Government due to the strategic economic importance of Ukwa land and its people, it becomes preposterous for any right-thinking man to dismiss Ukwa people as a mere minority. Their economic uniqueness has roundly made up their population deficiency.
Ukwa people are basically made up of two distinct sub-ethnic nationalities; the Asa and the Ndoki. Before the 1976 Mamman Nasir Boundary Adjustment exercise, Ukwa Division included Obigbo, an Asa Community, that has since been re-named Oyigbo and ceded to Rivers state. It also includes Afam, an Ndoki Community that was also excised from the old Imo State to Rivers State.
The history of Ukwa people has been a chequered one. They had undergone deprivation, marginalization and frustration. Their fears of marginalization made it imperative that they had to articulate and present their fears before Sir Henry Willink’s Commission set up by the British Colonial Government to allay the fears of the Nigerian minorities in 1958. That administrative development was a very healthy and result-oriented one as it led to the creation of a federal constituency for Asa and Ndoki people in 1959 in the name of Aba-South Federal Constituency and represented by Chief O.C. Ememe. Sir Willink’s commission also gave rise to the emergence of two Regional constituencies for the Asa and Ndoki people in 1961,named Aba-South-West and Aba-South-East, respectively.
Under the leadership of Governor T.A. Orji, Ukwa people have had a true sense of belonging. The administration has shown visible commitment to the development of the area. Many indigenes of the area have been given very responsible appointments, including Commissioners, Permanent-Secretaries and even the Head of service of the state’s Public service. The Administration of Chief T.A. Orji, in its determination to address the many years of marginalization of oil-producing areas of the state, willingly and wisely established, via legislation, the Abia stateOil-Producing Area Development Commission; ASOPADEC, an interventionist Agency that has gone a long way addressing the problems of Ukwa people, including the rehabilitation of the Obehie-Obohia road. Currently, the state Government is neck-deep in conducting a feasibility survey that will metamorphose into the dredging of the Obuaku end of the Imo River in order to access the Atlantic Ocean. By the time this dream comes true, it would transform the economy of the state to a very high pedestal.
But with the recently concluded primaries of the People’s Democratic Party; P.D.P, in the state, a good number of Ukwa people feel bruised and annoyed. Their annoyance stems from the fact that, in the avowed commitment of the leadership of P.D.P in the state to assure equity, both the Governorship ticket and Abia-South Senatorial tickets of the Party were conceded to the Ngwas of Abia-South, to the exclusion of the Ukwas who feel that one of the tickets should have come to themfor purposes of deepening equity in the zone. To buttress their grievances, angry Youths have taken to the Highways demonstrating against what they perceive as glaring injustice.
In as much as they have a point in their agitation, the good people of Ukwa should not forget that opportunities in a democracy do not only come through elected positions. There are several appointive positions that their occupants could, if they are people-oriented, use to advance the course of their people. Besides, they should appreciate the fact that Governor T.A. Orji is very compassionate and does notabandon his friends and allies. The Governor has already set up a reconciliation committee made up of time-tested and experienced personalities. It is advisable that every genuinely aggrieved person should take advantage of this olive branch being offered by the Governor and, by so doing, give peace a chance.


CHIEF (SIR) DON UBANI; KSC, JP
(OKWUBUNKA OF ASA)

DYNAMISM IN THE LEADERSHIP OF ABIA STATE.

“The taste of the pudding is in the eating’ and example is better than precept” are two rhetorical manifestations that stem from pragmatism. Leadership is all about systematically coordinated drive of a people within a given polity to articulate and achieve desirable objectives that essentially propel a comprehensive growth of the people. Leadership does not operate in a vacuum and, so, must be anchored on an individual, who stand tall amongst his peers who share the same vision and mission with him.
It is an age-long fact that no society prospers beyond its quality of leadership. Any human community that is led by a man that appreciates the significance of peace and security will naturally be driven within the ambit of the rule of law, which is hinged on equity, justice and fairness, as to allow equity and justice to reign is to faultlessly import peace and security into the precincts of any given geo-political entity.
As the book of Ecclesiastes in the Holy Bible aptly makes us realize, there is time for everything. Today in Nigeria, what is in vogue is the expression of interest by both individuals and political parties to clinch political power either at legislative or executive level of political engagement.
Within the African context, power is pursued with a whole lot of primordial and selfish considerations. To put it succinctly, power is passionately and not dispassionately pursued in Africa and the third world. This emotional attachment to power has been responsible for all the carnage so far witnessed in such places as Liberia, Libya, Rwanda, Mali, and without excluding Nigeria that is currently eclipsed in insurgency of a heartless order. Any frank attempt to X-ray the causes of political upheaval and its attendant economic destabilization of any of the countries mentioned above, would always reveal materialistic chauvinism of the extreme type, flowing out of its leadership.
Abia, a state that prides herself in the appellation, Gods own state, is, indeed, God’s own state. Despite all the political turmoil, tension and explosions, Abia, Gods own state, has remained peaceful, calm and very conducive for her citizens and inhabitants. As a state that believes in the omnipotence of God and efficacy of prayers, her citizens are not, in the least, surprised that God provided a leader of the nature of Governor Theodore Orji at a very critical moment as we are in now.
It is because God gave Abia a leader in the person of Chief T. A. Orji that there is relative peace at this period when almost every other state is singing ‘there is fire on the mountain’. If Ochendo were not the God-fearing, humble, considerate, and equity-driven personality that he is, by now the state would have been on fire, as a result of many years of bottled marginalization, discontent, frustration, aggression and attendant irrepressible agitation.
Political economists have always differentiated between tangible and intangible achievements in governance. Any government that is only capable of achieving tangible goals to the exclusion of the intangible ones may likely not be given an overall pass mark in assessment of her performance.
As the people’s leader, Chief T.A. Orji has master minded an efficient and effective cross-pollination of both tangible and intangible records of achievement within the period he has held sway in Abia state.
While recent party primary elections in many other states were characterized by violence, brutality and destruction of valuable property, primary elections in Abia, particularly within P.D.P., were very peacefully conducted. Take for instance, the senatorial primary elections of the Sunday 7th December, 2014 saw Governor T.A. Orji being, not only, unanimously but freely and fairly elected to fly the flag of the party in February 2015 senatorial election for Abia-central. As long as the people of Abia central, nay Abia state are concerned, senatorial mandate for Chief T.A. Orji is simply the least way of appreciating a leader that has given his best to his people and a further beckoning on the leader not to rest on his oars.
To crown it all, on Monday 8th December, 2014 more than Seven hundred statutory and adhoc delegates of the People’s Democratic Party congregated at Umuahia Township Stadium to freely and fairly, in a hitch-free environment, elect the Governorship flag-bearer of the Party for February 2015 Governorship election.
The election, in the true spirit of Gods own state, produced the most credible electoral result with a renowned academic, erudite scientist, consummate administrator, humble and transparent manager of resources, Dr. Okezie Victor Ikpeazu, emerging as the victor with a landslide margin.
This feat could not have been possible if God had not given Abia state a leader like Chief T.A. Orji at this very crucial moment of the people. God will continue to be glorified.
Now that the Primary elections are over, it is expected that, in the same spirit of Gods own state, all those that contested in the primary election but lost should realise and appreciate the indisputable fact that the Governorship of the state can only be occupied by one person at any given time. None of the contestants should be oblivious of the truth that it is only God that gives power to whomever He desires at anytime. After all, it is purely in vain the watch-man labours without Gods vigilance.
Counting on the dynamism that is inherent in the current leadership of Abia state, it may not be out of place to contemplate that the Principal of the leadership in Abia state, will bring all the gladiators to a round table for purposes of expected reconciliation, truce and reintegration. In party politics, like in any other human engineering, the more united the people are, the better in terms of productivity and result. There is no doubt that Ochendo will, true to his nature and pedigree, continuously prove that the taste of the pudding is in the eating and that surely example will always be better that precept.





Chief (Sir) Don Ubani, KSC, JP
(Okwubunka of Asa)

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‘THE INSANITY OF THE INSANE; THE CASE OF OKWADIKE IKPEAZU’

Misapplication and waste of resources have continued to be an avoidable hindrance to economic development and stability of man and the society. That one could wake up one morning, hire the services of an ignoramus who would not have the moral courage of identifying his real person but rather choose to hide under a false name and ask same to come up with a three-page newspaper publication that only expresses ignorance and falsehood is something that should give concern to many with conscience. This is more worrisome taking into consideration the present economic difficulties currently being experienced in the country.

On pages 46, 47 and 48 of The Nation Newspaper of Wednesday November 19,2014 one evidently unknown and uninformed ‘Okwadike Ikpeazu’, who claimed to have his base in Abuja, embarked on adventurism that only exposed him as an unscrupulous mercenary who merely wanted to feed the unsuspecting public with tissues of lies and deceit.

In the said publication, the purported ‘Okwadike Ikpeazu’ started with an ambiguity in the choice of caption; ‘The Insanity in Abia State – LeadershipVacuum? What he meant to achieve by associating the leadership in Abia State with insanity is some thing I think should be left with clinical psychologists who can only arrive at that after a thorough examination of the mental state of ‘Okwadike Ikpeazu’. This is important because for a man to publicly describe his country as ‘God–forsaken’, it must be indicative of the fact that he sees nothing good in his country. In this very regard, ‘Okwadike Ikpeazu’ must be a sadist of extreme order.

Insanity in a man could manifest itself in very many degrees. A man that is worth his salt will not caption his drab as “The Insanity In Abia State – Leadership Vacuum but goes ahead to insult the President of the country in the most unjustifiable manner whom he absurdly questions his wisdom in decorating Governor T.A. Orji with the national honour of commander of the order of the Niger; C.O.N. The uninformed commercial writer, in his frenzy of mental disorderlines, used a medium he had irresponsibly captioned “Abia” to portray Governor Martin Nwanjo Elechi as a leader that abhors continuity in governance. He equally went to the extent of hauling abuses on GovernorRochas Anayo Okorocha of Imo State and even his children. There is no doubt that the so-called Okwadike Ikpeazu is a maniac depressive.

Realities in contemporary Abia State Government make it imperative that when pipsqueaks like this nomenclatural camouflaged Okwadike Ikpeazu are poorlyrecruited to write on a subject-matter that they are, in every material particular, incompetent to write on, well meaning Abians would not bother to give any attention to such trash that is only good for the trash can. But because in irresponsibly exposing his porosity of intellectual comprehension of facts as they exist in Abia State, he overflew the banks of his stupidity by insulting thePresident of this great country and two other state governors, it becomes pertinent to disabuse the minds of a few who, innocently, could allow themselves to be tempted to be lured into feeling that a human being had spoken, not knowing that the said Okwadike Ikpeazu is only a morally bankrupt untutored hired writer.

Let me take, for example, ‘Okwadike Ikpeazu’s frivolous claim that Governor T.A. Orji, whose election, in 2007 was, according to him, the most bizarre, was unknown. This thinking can only come from an insanity-ridden Okwadike. Except for his insanity, Okwadike should have known that a gentleman that brilliantly passed through a Primary School as Governor T.A. Orji did, successfully went through a Secondary School before actualizing his Higher School Certificate at Holy Ghost College, Owerre, read English Language at the University of Ibadan, started his civil service career as an Administrative Officer in the Old Imo State, worked as an Administrative Secretary of National Electoral Commission of Nigeria, rose to the apex of civil service by becoming a Permanent Secretary and served as Chief of Staff to a sitting Governor for eight years can not, in any way, be said to be unknown.

The Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, was the electoral umpire of governorship election in Abia State in 2007. Based on facts before it, it lawfully declared Governor Theodore Ahamefule Orji as the duly elected Governor of the State and the state judiciary, in accordance with the law, swore him in as Governor. Some contestants in that election took him to court, evenupto the highest appellate court, as constitutionally stipulated then but the court, in its judicial responsibility, confirmed Governor T.A. Orji as the lawfully elected Governor of the state. What then constitutes ‘most bizarre’ in this democratic process that entirely passed through the crucible of the rule of law.Okwadike says that any election won by a duly cleared and certified candidate of a registered political Party should be regarded as ‘most bizarre’ as long as the person was merely in detention and not even prison. Okwadike should be ashamed of his ignorance. Governor T.A. Orji was not the first to win an election in West Africa while in prison. The late Dr. Kwame Nkrumah won election in 1951 while he was in detention in Forte James Prison and was consequently released by the Colonial Government in Ghana to head the government formed by his Political Party; Convention People’s Party, C.P.P.

Okwadike talked of collapse of infrastructure in Aba and even Umuahia. He specifically mentioned the road that leads from Abia Tower at Enugu-Port-Harcourt Express Road to Umuahia as one of the roads that typify his imaginedcollapsed infrastructure. There could not have been any better way of exposing the level of insanity in him other than using the beautifully dualized zero pot-hole Ossah road as his ‘case in point’. If Okwadike Ikpeazu had not been insane and naturally given to perjuries, he should have known that there is no way a state that has two major cities like Umuahia and Aba can finish rehabilitating all her inherited collapsed infrastructure in the two cities within a period of eightyears. Thank God Okwadike acknowledged that Governor T.A. Orji is building a Government House in his village in Umuahia even though he myopicallyasked; what road would lead to the Government House? It may be pertinent to state that Abia Government House can only be built in the state capital which isUmuahia. It can not be built in any other place, including Okwadike’s never-can be- mentioned village.

After Okwadike had unwarrantedly insulted Governor Martin Elechi of EbonyiState, he, being driven by insanity, quickly contradicted himself by praising him for building a state secretariat complex, modern market and dual carriage way into Abakiliki. One agonizing feature of insanity is that its victim only sees or hears occasionally. In the case of Okwadike, the lunatic spirit in him did not allow him to see or even hear of the dual carriage Ossah road that leads toUmuahia town, the dual carriage Bende road and the dual carriage Oguruberoad, both of which can separately lead to the befitting expansive Government House being constructed by the state Government headed by Chief T.A. Orji. Giving the benefit of Okwadike’s incurable insanity, no one should blame him for being off track. Otherwise, Okwadike and his unpatriotic sponsors should have commended Governor T.A. Orji for initiating and building three exotic markets in Umuahia; a feat no government in the state had achieved before. It is only one that has the misfortune of being blind, deaf and dumb in Abia State that can not applaud the Governor T.A. Orji’s administration for building, from the scratch, a twin four storey civil service secretarial complex, equipped with elevators. Since Okwadike did not tell us he is blind, deaf and dumb, no other reason can justify his crazy manifestation of absurdity other than being a prisoner of insanity. I am sure that if Okwadike could successfully ask for forgiveness for the atrocities he has been committing against nature and humanity, he could recover ten percent of his lost sanity and once that happens, he would be able to see that Chief T.A. Orji’s administration has completed an entirely new conference centre that is capable of accommodating more than five thousand guests at any given time. How would Okwadike see, hear or applaud this when nature has declared a corrosive war against him?

Okwadike is like a person the police would like to describe as ‘a man of no fixed address’. The name he uses is a false one and the address he claims defiesevery geographical definition and description. For purposes of this refutal, I have given a traceable address of mine and would go further by saying that I had the privilege of teaching for many years, both during the democratic dispensation of the second Republic and during the Military regime of GeneralsBuhari and Babangida. I want to say, without any fear of contradiction, that teachers in Nigeria have always had the challenge of not having their salariespaid as and when due. The reasons are obvious. Okwadike, being a nonentity, does not know and is incapable of appreciating the challenges of teachers in Nigeria. If he were sane, Okwadike should have said when teachers in the state were last paid. Again, Okwadike only exposed how unintelligent he is in his insanity. The Nigerian teachers have one of the most formidable labour unions in Nigeria; The Nigerian Union of Teachers. Does Okwadike want to tell teachers in Abia State that they are incapable of speaking for themselves?

In the same path of insanity, Okwadike talked of appointment of very poor persons as Transition Committee Chairmen of the Local Government Councilsin the state. Without bordering to waste precious time on a frivolous opinion of fickle-minded Okwadike, I strongly believe that in trying to disparage Governor T.A. Orji’s administration, Okwadike unknowingly promoted the administration as one that is committed to poverty eradication. Okwadike’s annoyance withAbia State government has, therefore, been traced to its favourable policy on poverty.

In furtherance of Okwadike’s rantings, he said that Abia State Governmentreceives thirteen percent oil derivation from the federation account and, in his ignorance, does not deploy it in the over all interest of the people of the state. True to his type, Okwadike, being a sadist, will never be positive in assessing any issue. If this were not so, he would have appreciated the fact that while the previous administration bluntly refused to establish Abia State Oil Producing Area Development Commission, the administration of Chief T.A. Orji, just on assumption, established the interventionist commission. Needless to state that the Agency has been wonderful in addressing many basic problems of the oil producing areas of the state.

No body that is worth his salt should be worried that Okwadike listed almost all the personalities that matter in Abia State and, in a very unwarranted disrespectful manner, dismissed them as men who see evil being perpetrated in the state but have refused to rise against it. Okwadike, by this generalization ofinsult, confirmed that he is insane and could be one of those unfortunate children that were given birth to by persons whose bio-mental stability may not be guaranteed. But the truth is that if Governor T.A. Orji had been associated with mis-governance in the state, there could not have been any magic all those dignitaries of Abia extraction insulted by Okwadike would have kept sealed lips. The simple fact that the Abia personalities of note have continuously openly associated with the Governor goes a long way to prove that the Governor has been piloting the affairs of the state in the most acceptable standard of governance.

For obvious professional reasons, I would not like to bring up Okwadike’shallucination that what Abia leaders of thought saw and kept mute is what Chief Arthur Eze saw and spoke out. I have taken this path of reason because Chief Arthur Eze came on road to Umuahia from Enugu on 27th of August, 2014. The only state roads he used were the Ossah and Library roads before he rode into Michael Okpara Auditorium. Even if it would be assumed that Chief Arthur Ezehad the most inexperienced and reckless driver, there could not have been any cause for the Anambra-born Chief to imagine, even in the least, that either of these two roads was bad. The two roads remain amongst the best roads in the whole of the south-east of Nigeria and, of course, Nigeria. The complaint by Chief Eze was the poor and discomforting state of the Enugu-Port-Harcourt express road which are presently being worked upon by the Federal Goverment.

Okwadike ended up disclosing the main source of worry of his sponsors when he spuriously alleged that Governor T.A. Orji is ‘playing god’ by zoning the governorship of Abia state to Ukwa/Ngwa axis of the state. He seemed to have satisfied his pay masters by expressing doubt if there would be a level-playing field for aspirants. He finally warned that any aspirant associated with Governor T.A. Orji would fail at the 2015 election.

In giving a resume of my attitude to Okwadike’s vituperations in the last paragraph above, it is germane to point out that Okwadike was hired by an inordinately ambitious governorship aspirant who even disowned his paternityin order to claim Ngwa origin and who has refused to acknowledge and respect the natural dictates of equity and social justice. The aspirant who is a mere political neophyte knows that Chief Orji Uzor Kalu was governor of Abia Statefor eight consecutive years; from 1999 to 2007 and he is from Abia North.Okwadike, though insane, should not be told that Governor T.A. Orji who will complete his eight years in 2015 hails from Abia-central. Okwadike’s master’sonly reason for being annoyed with Governor T.A. Orji’s strong belief in equity is because he and his master have time-held animosity against the people ofUkwa and Ngwa. As sectional Chauvinists, Okwadike and his master who has, out of greed, desperation, indiscipline and inexperience, impatiently decamped from P.D.P, having painfully realized that despite excess money he ambushed from the bank where he held sway, Abians have rejected him and his money and have, rather, settled very comfortably for equity. Let Okwadike be made to know, any time he may be lucky to recover from his state of insanity, that it was the People’s Democratic Party in Abia State that, in pursuit of equity, justice and fairness, formally resolved to zone the governorship of the state to Abia–South senatorial zone. It was not the decision of Governor T.A. Orji as an individual.

In rounding off this piece, I want to assure Okwadike and his frustrated master, whose wife has realized that Abians do not want her husband and has panickly taken to running a restaurant in Lagos preparatory to accommodating herhusband when it finally dawns on him that the most unwise decision he took was to give up his plump job in the bank, that Abians are unmistakably satisfied with the leadership of Governor T.A. Orji and will willingly elect whoever that P.D.P chooses from Abia – South as Governor in 2015.

As regards his poser on merit of aspirants from the Ukwa/Ngwa zone of the state, I do not need to remind Okwadike and his pay-master that the people of the zone parade a galaxy of eminently qualified politicians. Who on earth can doubt the qualification of an urbane academic like Okezie Victor Ikpeazu, Ph.D, who has taught in four different universities and has been in government for more than fourteen years of continuous unstained service to his father land?


Chief (Sir) Don Ubani; ksc, JP
(Okwubunka of Asa)

Nice write up

THE QUEST FOR POLITICAL POWER AND CONTEMPORARY ECONOMIC REALITIES IN NIGERIA
As it is well known, every season has activities that keep persons within it busy. Presently in Nigeria, individuals and groups, especially politicians and political parties, have kept themselves pre-occupied with the pursuit of political power that, expectedly, could be actualized in May, 2015. To that extent, every nook and cranny of the landscape of Nigeria is charged with a very high tempo of political jamboree, manoeuvres and manipulations. Typical of Nigerian politicians, promises are being made left, centre and right. The electorate may not be surprised to hear political aspirants promise to construct bridges where there is no pond, much more river.
A retrospective glance at Nigeria makes it clear that the country will be fifty-five years of independent nation-hood on October 1st, 2015, being the year of the anticipated next general elections. Any man at fifty-five who does not feel insulted, if addressed as a child or even a boy, must be singled out for a special case study in psychology.
It is pertinent to recall that Nigeria held a lot of optimism for her citizenry at independence on October 1st, 1960. It was a country which leadership manifested vision, mission, patriotism, altruism and transparency. At the time of independence, oil and gas had not become the mainstay of Nigeria’s economy. Emphasis was maximally placed on agriculture and revenue so generated translated to quantifiable development projects. Income from palm produce was used to build the first indigenous University in Nigeria; the University of Nigeria, Nsukka under the first Premier of the defunct Eastern Region, Dr Nnamdi Azikiwe. In the former Western Region, Chief Obafemi Awolowo, asPremier of the region, harnessed resources from cocoa to build the famous University of Ife. In the same vein, Sir Ahmadu Bello galvanized resources from groundnuts and cotton to build the first University in the defunct Northern Region; Ahmadu Bello, Zaria in his capacity as Premier of the region. The country witnessed a buoyant and dependable economy. Nigeria’s balance of trade was assuring.

Before the discovery of oil in commercial quantity, which almost coincided with military adventurism in Nigeria, the Nigerian youths were known for their ingenuity and creativity. The educated amongst them were determined to make their marks in their chosen fields of endeavour and career. Those who could not go to school, took to agriculture, trade or one skill or the another. It was almost a taboo for a young man to come out from school and head straight to politics without first making a mark either in the public or private sector.

One might be tempted to say that the discovery of oil and gas in Nigeria meant more harm than good. This could be substantiate by the fact that Nigerians turned themselves into a mere consumer-nation instead of the producing-nation they had hitherto been. Nigerian youths, whose youthful energy should have intrinsically or extrinsically been channelled towards productivity, have, rather, resorted to being corrosive parasites hanging destructively on the nation’s economy. It is today, therefore, common to see hundreds, if not thousands, of young Nigerians whose curriculum vitae only highlight their participation in political matters. More than sixty percent of the Nigerian youths do not contribute, in any productive manner, to the growth of the country’s economy. He that does not produce but only consumes is worrisomely and devastatingly a parasite.
As the saying goes, no condition is permanent. The oil and gas sector that regrettably made Nigeria and her citizens live a false way of life has been on a steady decline. Expected national revenue from the sector is no longer feasible. Budgetary implementations have become characterized by precariousness and extremity of pecuniary difficulties, if not impossibilities. The country’s currency; the Naira, has nose-dived to a level of economic discomfort. Many governments in the country appear to be at the cross –roads with the present economic realities.

It is necessary to observe that because of the materialistic assumptions Nigerians have about governance, many of the present political aspirants to high positions of responsibility may not be in tune with current economic realities that are systematically engulfing every segment of the country’s economy. With the price of oil crashing on a daily basis, oil being recently discovered in some other countries, the United States of America’s policy of non-importation of petroleum from Nigeria, rise in illegal oil bunkering in the volatile Niger Delta region and the current irresponsible and most destructive insurgency bymentally deranged extremist moslems in both North-East and North-West of Nigeria, even including some parts of the North-Central, whosoever is aspiring to leadership in Nigeria in 2015, especially via the executive arm of government, should be prepared psychologically to inherit a system that may have just little, if not nothing, trickling from the Federal Account Allocation Committee, FAAC.
Any governor in 2015 that will be deficient in vision, enterprise, resourcefulness, transparency, ability to diversify his state’s economy and dexterity in managing and multiplying resources will feel terribly disappointed.
From every indication, Nigerians will not be ready to take excuses from Chief Executives who will fail to deliver on their mandates merely on the grounds that not much is received from the Federal government. Leaders, especiallyGovernors, must be mentally articulate, resourceful and disciplined as to guarantee efficient and effective diversification of their moribund economies. They should also conduct a study on how Governor T.A Orji of Abia State has successfully managed the meagre resources of the state to place it where it is currently without borrowing any dime from the bond market. This piece will not be successfully rounded off if caution is not given that leaders that will succeed in the next dispensation will surely be ones that will maintain a very reasonably safe distance from sycophants whose only contributions to governance are mischief, treachery, gossip, blackmail and opportunism. May God save Nigeria.



Chief (Sir) Don Ubani; Ksc, JP
(Okwubunka of Asa)

The most interesting feature of democracy is that the voice of majority determines the way of the people. As a concept, democracy could be appreciated in segments. The majority opinion in a family constitutes the overall view of the family. This same principle applies in a village or community setting.

As an on-gong development, the leadership of the People’s Democratic Party in Abia State under the equity propelled guidance of Governor T. A. Orji, willingly, freely and democratically resolved to effect power rotation to Abia –South in 2015. This decision has been welcomed by all admirers of equity and natural justice. As would be expected, where ever there are twelve, the likelihood of having a Judas may not be completely ruled out. So, no body should be astonished that there are very few power-hungry individuals who have decided to sing a discordant tune.

It is interesting to note that two wealthy individuals who have thrown their hats into Abia State 2015 gubernatorial ring on the misconception that the amount of money they accumulated via the banking industry and subsidy on petroleum would vitiate the passion for equity and natural justice amongst the people of Abia State have become victims of parasitic hitherto ‘wealthy’ business men who, out of inability to manage their resources, have had their businesses collapsed and are now helplessly andfrustratedly hanging on the two wealthy aspirants, even for their daily bread and needs. These hangers–on know quite well that their masters will fail abysmally but the survivalist tendency in them fires them on just to exploit the much they can before it dawns on their masters that they are merely swimming against the tide of equity and natural justice.

At this juncture, it would be necessary to remind the entire people ofUkwa and Ngwa that to whom much is given, much is equally expected. The leadership of the People’s Democratic Party; P.D.P; having pronounced Abia – South as the zone from where the next elected governor of the state will come in 2015, it is expected that the people will treasure this very uncommon opportunity with a lot of determination, decency, hardwork and gratitude. They are expected to sink their differences in order to take full advantage of this magnanimous consideration by P.D.P in Abia State.

Pundits are, therefore, excited that on Thursday 6th November, 2014 the entire people of Ukwa and Ngwa converged at the Industrial complex of Elder Emmanuel Adaelu in Osisioma–Aba and, in a unanimous voice, chose a quintessential academic, consummate administrator and grass-roots’ politician in the person of Dr. Okezie Victor Ikpeazu as their consensus candidate for the February 2015 governorship election in the state. In arriving at this very important decision, the people of Ukwa andNgwa took a holistic consideration of who would fly their flag and fly it without blemish.

It is also heart-warming that the people of Abia-south senatorial zone had earlier, in the country-home of Rt. Hon. Adolphus Wabara; former President of the senate of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, resolved that Dr. Okezie Ikpeazu is their candidate for the 2015 governorship election.

The leadership of P.D.P. in the state is, therefore, urged not to be distracted by the antics of enemies of progress who have vowed to constitute a clog on the wheel of equity and progress.

Now that their choice has rightly and admirably fallen on an urbane biochemist, toxicologist and pharmacologist; a man that naturally symbolizes discipline, humility, erudition and human understanding and accommodation, it behoves every other governorship aspirant from Ukwaand Ngwa to come forward and give support to Dr Okezie Ikpeazu.

Any aspirant that fells to tow this line of reasoning would only be portraying himself or herself as a person whose aspiration is inimical to the contemporary political objective of Ukwa and Ngwa.



Chief (Sir) Don Ubani, ksc, JP
(Okwubunka of Asa)

Sent from my iPad

The human mind, at times, suffers from either induced or false amnesia. This ispronounced when man tries to write or narrate his past and deliberately obliterates critical ingredients or elements of his past. Any time this happens, man ends up presenting a truncated history.

Since processes that will end up in establishment of next round of democratic leadership in Abia State started about a year ago, many advocates of power shift to Abia South have, in their various arguments, reminded their audiences that since the creation of Abia as a state in 1991, none of the nine local government areas of Ukwa and Ngwa geo-political zone of the state has been able to produce a governor for the state.

This inability has been real despite the fact that a good number of indigenes of the zone, which is administratively known as Old Aba Division, had severally attempted being governor at one time or another.

In the first democratic election that took place in the state in 1992, the duo of Dr. Gerson Amuta and Chief Lambert Nmecha of blessed memory strongly aspired to become governor of the state on the platform of the defunct National Republican convention, N.R.C. At the Party’s primary election, both Dr. Amuta and Chief Nmecha lost to Dr. Ogbonnaya Onu, who would end up becoming the first democratically elected governor of the state.

In 1998, which marked the commencement of Nigeria’s third Republic, political personalities of the Old Aba Division were also in the race for the governorship of the state.

The likes of Architect Dan Nwankwo, Dr. Max Nduaguibe and Chief Chukwu Wachukwu came out with Vigour gunning for the governorship of Abia. Again, they lost to Chief Orji Kalu who emerged as the state’s number one man.

2003 did not present any dull moment for the highly populated people of Old Aba Division. In that year, Chief Enyinnaya Abaribe, immediate past Deputy Governor of the state, relying chiefly on his gregarious ‘Otu Onu’ political outfit, strongly contested the governorship of the state on the platform of defunct All Nigeria People’s Party; A.N.P.P. Again, the result was not different from those of 1992 and 1998. Chief Enyinnaya Abaribe lost to the incumbent Governor; Kalu.

Still determined to break the jinx of not producing the State Governor despite being the more populated zone of the state, the trio of Chief Okezie Orji, Hon Tony Enwereuzor and Radical Hon. Chinonyerem Macebuh were at the scenario of governship contest in 2007. As if the geo-political zone had some issues to resolve with destiny, the three lost as Chief Theodore Ahamefule Orjieventually emerged victorious.

Then came 2011. Chief Theodore Orji was constitutionally qualified to re-contest as an incumbent governor and he did. For the umpteenth time, another politician from Old Aba Zone, by the name of Chief Regan Ufomba, showed interest and contested on the platform of All Progressive Grand Alliance; APGA. Expectedly, Chief Regan Ufomba kissed the dust.

The combined experiences of the people of Old Aba Division in their previous quests to clinch the governorship of the state from 1992 to 2011 are a clear indication that a people who do not put their art together would only be like wanderers in a labyrinth. It is also a pointer to the indisputable fact that power,apart from being divinely determined, is negotiated.

In analyzing the challenges of the people of Old Aba Division to emerge as the Executive Head of their second tier of government, the histrionics of the development should not be limited only to the twenty three years of the existence of Abia State. Before the first Republic, the people of Onitsha had produced the Premier of Eastern Region in the person of Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe,from 1954 to 1959. When Dr. Azikiwe’s National Council of Nigerian citizens, N.C.N.C., went into alliance with Sir Ahmadu Bello’s Northern People’s Congress; N.P.C., Zik, as Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe, was fondly called, became the Governor–General of Nigeria while Sir Abubakar Tafawa Balewa of N.P.C. became Prime-Minister. As nature abhors vacumm, Dr. Michael Iheonukara Okpara, a prominent son of Old Bende became Premier of Eastern Region. Between 1960 and 1966, Dr. Francis Akanu Ibiam; a world class statesman of Afikpo extraction, was Governor of Eastern Region.

Both during colonial and first Nigerian Republic, no indigene of Old Aba Division attained the height of either a Premier or even a Governor.

As it is chronologically clear, military interregnum separately lasted for twenty-nine years in this country. During that very dark era of Nigeria’s nationhood, many military officers of Igbo origin were appointed military Governors of different states.

To begin with, Colonel Chukwuemeka Odimegwu Ojukwu was appointed the military Governor of Eastern Region by the Head of State and Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces of Nigeria; Major–General Johnson Thomas Umunnakwe Aguiyi-Ironsi. Ojukwu hailed from Nnewi. Rear Admiral Ndubuisi Kanu, Major–General Ike Omar Sandara Nwachukwu and Navy Captain Christopher Osondu, three of them from Isuikwuato, had been Military Governors during the period. Commodore Amadi Guy Ikwechegh, an indigene of Igbere in Bende was also a Military Administrator during the period under review. Air Commodore Samson Emeka Omeruah, who hailed from Ikwuano, was a military governor.

Should any body forget the very charistimatic Military Administrator of Lagos State and later Niger State; Commodore Ebitu Oko Ukiwe of the ancient Abiriba entrepreneurial origin?

The list of military officers of Igbo extraction that served as Military Governors or Administrators may not easily be exhausted here. By the time one remembers the likes of Commodore Alison Madueke, Colonel Chinyere Ike Nwosu and Lt. Colonel Anthony Obi, who all were military governors at one time or another, the question that glares one at the face becomes, where were the people of Ukwa and Ngwa all through that long period? It was obvious that no Ukwa or Ngwa man had enough contact to influence being a military Governor. The highest position an officer from the whole of Old Aba division could attainduring that era was merely an Acting Military Governor of Anambra State which was achieved by Group captain Monday Ikpeazu when the Governor was on leave.

A frank deduction here is that the people of Old Aba Division have not, so far, only failed to harness their natural numerical strength in order to galvanize their political fortune and growth in a democratic setting but equally proved incapable of establishing any network of meaningful contact that could have enabled, at least, one of their own to have emerged a military governor during the days of military dictatorship when what mattered was merely who one knew.

The above scenario, which slightly tilted towards hopelessness and frustration, should not currently be forgotten by the people of Old Aba Division as the leadership of People’s Democratic Party; P.D.P, in the state, under the philosophical guidance of Governor Theodore Ahamefule Orji, has, purely out of democratic philanthropy and magnanimity; expressly resolved to have the next Governor of the state come from Abia–South senatorial zone of the Old Aba Division.

This posture by the People’s Democratic Party is an exemplary manifestation of uncommon commitment to equity, fairness and natural justice. Who ever that raises an eye brow against this justifiable popular resolution of the Party must surely be an enemy of democracy and natural justice. It is, however, very strategic and of utmost importance that the people of Old Aba Division should naturally realize that what Governor T.A. Orji and the People’s Democratic Party are irrevocably set to do for them is equivalent to handing power over to a people purely on a platter of gold. They should not mismanage it. At this stage in their political history, common sense demands that they should encourage the leadership of P.D.P. assist them achieve what they brazenly proved incapable of realizing since ages. They should eschew internal bitterness amongst themselves; a characteristic trait that had been their bane since time immemorial.

No matter their individual frame of mind and urge for power, Abia 2015 Governorship should be perceived by all and sundry in Old Aba Division as a golden opportunity that should not be trivialized and allowed to slip due to inclination to unpatriotic individualism and its attendant inordinate ambition. A stitch in time, can always save nine.



Chief (Sir) Don Ubani; ksc, JP
(Okwubunka of Asa)
Umuiku-Isi-Asa, Ukwa-West

This is Abia state

People re just blind

THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN GOVERNOR THEODORE AHAMEFULA ORJI’S C.O.N. AND CHIEF ORJI UZOR KALU’S M.O.N.

The human society, especially governments, has always been confronted with challenges of varying degrees. The challenges, if left unaddressed, could generate tremendous consequences on man and society. Responsible and responsive segments of the human society have, at various times, shown commitment to problem – solving and conflict resolution. Evidence of such commitments has been found in the family, village, church, school, community, industry, bank, government and other forms and levels of human organization.

In the family, for instance, a single member of the family, realizing that the family is poverty-stricken, could decide to sacrifice his or her own personal aspiration, growth and comfort in order to propel other members of the family grow and, by so doing, break the back-bone of poverty. At the village or community level, some individuals volunteer themselves to ginger activities that transform to enormous human development. In the church, many have been known to have single-handedly built a place of worship for God. Many security operatives have patriotically put their lives on line just to save their father- land.

In recognition of these selfless sacrifice made by individuals in order to guarantee peaceful, safe and progressive existence of the human society, it became necessary, for purposes of motivation, that individuals or even corporate bodies that distinguish themselves in any credible field of human endeavour, are not left unnoticed but recognized and honoured.

On March 25, 1863 the President of the United States of America; Mr. Abraham Lincoln, in the name of the U.S. congress awarded honours to some Military personnel that had excelled during the American Civil War which began on April 12, 1861 and ended on April 9, 1865.

In Nigeria, the Federal Government instituted the National Honours Act No. 5 of 1964, during its First Republic, just to honour her citizens and friends who have rendered service to the benefit of the Federation. The Nigerian National Honours, in descending order of importance, are;
(1)​Grand Commander of the Order of the Federal Republic (G.C.F.R)
(2)​Grand Commander of the Order of the Niger (G.C.O.N)
(3)​Commander of the Order of the Federal Republic (C.F.R)
(4)​Commander of the Order of the Niger (C.O.N)
(5)​Officer of the Order of the Federal Republic (O.F.R)
(6)​Member of the Order of the Federal Republic (M.F.R) and
(7)​Member of the Order of the Niger (M.O.N.)

The said Act No. 5 of 1964 purely confirms the fact that the Nigerian Government appreciates contributions by her citizens and friends. By this Act, there are seven categories of honour, arranged in their descending order of importance. While commander of the Order of the Niger (C.O.N) is the fourthon the rung, the Member of the Order of the Niger (M.O.N) is the seventh, the last and the least.

Before Chief Orji Uzor Kalu (should it not be Nsiegbe) emerged as Governor – Elect of Abia State in 1998, he had arrogated to himself the conferment of the National Honour of Member of the Order of the Niger (M.O.N). many Abianshad reasoned that if the Nigerian Government could consider him fit and proper to be conferred with Member of the Order of the Niger, even though the least in Order of importance; it meant that the Federal Government had found him to be worthy of responsible leadership. Unknown to the unsuspecting Abia electorate,that claim by Orji Uzor was completely false. No Nigerian government had everconsidered Orji Uzor Kalu worthy of any honour.

However, a time came in the course of his governance of the down-trodden and economically emasculated people of Abia State when people decided to find out if Orji Uzor Kalu actually was a recipient of the country’s M.O.N. All therelevant books of record were looked into but Orji Uzor Kalu (M.O.N) was conspicuously absent.

Realizing the significance of such a discovery of spuriousness, Orji Uzor, being the con-man he had always been, quickly and cunningly claimed that his version of M.O.N. meant “Madu Oha Nile”, that is the Igbo interpretation of ‘a man of the people’.

The absurdity of Orji Uzor’s claim goes very far depicting the crass of depth of deceit and extortion the innocent people of Abia State were hauled into simply for voting Orji Uzor, whose only agenda was to milk them to a state of unparalled economic deprivation and socio-political instability.

On the contrary and as the Holy Bible puts it, when the righteous is one the throne, the people rejoice. With the emergence of Chief Theodore Ahamefule Orji; an accomplished gentle-man, whose paternity and maternity are well known and impeccably documented and whose father, Chief Tom Ikoro Orji, was among his generation of very wealthy Ibeku indigenes and, so, could not have abandoned his family name to adopt another because of excruciating poverty, Abia State started wearing another look. The toga of deceit for which Abia state Government was characterized during the inglorious era of Orji UzoKalu had to give way to collective governance based on collective aspiration.

For purposes of leaving facts as they are, a very brief juxtaposition would suffice here, (1) while Orji Uzo Kalu coerced Abians into oath-taking in juju shrines before giving them any assistance, Governor T.A. Orji rewarded Abians for their contributions and on consideration for humanity (2) Orji Uzor Kalu used divide and rule and disunity as weird instrumentalities of exploitation of the people of Abia state but Governor T.A. Orji clings to the use of unity and harmony as essential apparatus for state integration, (3) Orji Uzor’sabandonment of the intendment of Abia Charter of Equity gave rise to a highprofile of insecurity that produced the likes of Osisikankwu, stone, Onyime, Dabul, Shalama, and many others who boldly, in their own way, resolved to rebel against the state but Governor T.A. Orji’s approach of carrot and stick restored security and peace in their state, (4) Orji Uzor Kalu left the state with embargoes on promotion of public servants but Governor T.A. Orji came in and gave automatic accelerated promotions to Abia Public Servants , (5) Orji UzorKalu left the state without building a single Maternity or Clinic but Governor T.A. Orji has built well over two hundred Health Centres, an Ultra Modern Dialysis Centre at Umuahia, a second to none Ophtalmological specialist Hospital at Amachara and has carried out quantifiable improvement at the Abia state University Teaching Hospital at Aba, (6) Orji Uzor Kalu, who claims to be an Aba boy and whose mother traded on local gin, kola-nut, bitter kola and snuff, though on a table-sized level, did not build any market all through his tenure as Governor of Abia State but Governor T.A. Orji, who had neither been a trader nor a business man, built the modern Ubani-Ibeku Market, the timber market at Umudike and the Ohiya motor spare parts, (7) Judges of the Abia state Judiciary operated in dilapidated court-buildings during the dark era of Orji Uzor Nsiegbe but under Governor T.A. Orji, they now sit in buildings that are symbols of modern architectural edifices, ( when Orji Uzor Kalu was Governor, no single political appointee left office with a vehicle but Ochendo has never asked any appointee to drop his or her official vehicle at the end of his or her appointment, (9) Orji Uzor felt self-esteemed giving Abia Youths Wheel-barrows and tokumbo Motor-cycles as a Governor but Governor T.A, Orji doledout cars and vehicles to Abia Youths, having earlier given more than five thousand tricycles, (10) While Orji Uzor was unconcerned that Abia Civil Servants squatted in distantly separated rented accommodation, Governor T.A. Orji, being a quintessential Civil Servant, did not only renovate and rehabilitate the old Nnamdi Azikiwe Secretariat built by military but went ahead and built a very befitting twin secretarial complexes, (11) the military built the Michael Opkara Auditorium that can hardly accommodate five hundred persons yet Orji Uzor Kalu did not comprehend the utility of a modern auditorium and its connectivity to tourism but Governor T.A. Orji, being the well educated man that he is, appreciated the significance of what Orji Uzor Kalu’s intellectual limitation could not allow him embark upon and, no wonder, he initiated and is almost completing an international conference centre that is structured to accommodate up to five thousand guests at any given time, with more than ten different events; seminars, workshops, conferences, or talk shops, going on simultaneously, (12) Orji Uzor as Governor who had right over the issuance of certificate of occupancy felt comfortable operating the affairs of Abia state in aGovernment House rented from the late Air Commodore Emeka Omerua but Governor T.A. Orji, whose first three years of Governorship were shockingly hampered by intrusion and imposition by Orji Uzor, his mother; Eunice Nmecha Nsiegbe and siblings, liberated the people of Abia state and has since the emancipation, embarked on the building of a Government House, (13) While Orji Uzor Kalu recklessly put Abia state at war with the Federal Government of President Obasanjo, Governor T.A. Orji simply reconnected the state to the main stream of Nigeria’s politics and (14) Orji Uzor had vowed and boasted that the people of Ukwa and Ngwa would remain perpetually marginalized and dominated by people of Old Bende but Governor T.A. Orji believes that no society can have peace and development in the absence of equity, hence he is in synergy with the leadership of People’s Democratic Party, PDP, to zone the governorship of the state to Abia-South in 2015.

The choice of Governor T.A. Orji as a commander of the Order of the Niger by President Jonathan is desirable, justifiable, commendable and clearly shows the difference between Governor T.A. Orji as Commander of the highly reveredOrder of the Niger and Chief Orji Uzor Kalu, whose M.O.N. has been reduced to mean “Madu Oha Nile”, instead of Member of the order of the Niger.Congratulations Ochendo.

Sir Don Ubani; ksc JP
(Okwubunka of Asa)
Umuiku-Isi-Asa
Ukwa-West LGA
P.M.B. 7048
Aba
E-mail: ubanidon@yahoo.com
Tel: 08035523360


28TH – 09 – 2014

Still confuse why south east has small polling units

2015 GENERAL ELECTIONS AND THE NEED FOR THE INDEPENDENT NATIONAL ELECTORAL COMMISSION TO ALLAY THE PALPABLE FEARS OF SOUTHERN NIGERIANS

The Nigerian State came into existence in 1914 following the amalgamation of the Northern and Southern Protectorates by the British Colonial Government on the advice of Lord Luggard. Since the Union was brought about by an external force, many Nigerians hold the view that the multi-ethnic nations that presently make up the Nigerian State were merely coerced to leave together. This feeling of coercion hasremained a major source of inter-ethnic suspicion amongst the nationalities of the Nigerian Federation.

Apart from the Christian/Islam divide of the country, the most sensitive and controversial issue that has constantly given a hard knock on the unity of the Nigerian Federation has always been population census.

Population enumeration in Nigeria predates the amalgamation of 1914 as a census had taken place in Lagos alone in 1886, while another took place in 1911 in both Northern and Southern Protectorates. In 1921, the first national census was conducted, seven years after the amalgamation of 1914.

Since then, population censuses have been conducted in 1931, 1952, 1953, 1962, 1963, 1973 and 2006.

Apart from the ones conducted before the amalgamation and probably those of 1921 and 1931, there had hardly been any population census in the country that did not become a subject of very turbulent controversy and disputation.

Sensitivity to census in Nigeria is so high that it had to lay the foundation for the political crisis in the defunct Western Region of Nigeria which eventually led to Nigeria’s first military coup d’ etat by a group of soldiers led by late Major Patrick Chukwuma Kaduna Nzeogwu. This coup d’ etat was followed by a counter coup by northern military elements who later embarked on a pogrom against the people of the defunct Eastern Nigeria living outside their region and particularly in the Muslim North of Nigeria. The end result was the declaration, by compulsion, of the Republic of Biafra by the people of the then Eastern Region of Nigeria under the leadership of Colonel Chukwuemeka Odimegwu Ojukwu.

It has to be recollected that the first post-independence census in Nigeria took place in 1962 under the leadership of the first and only Prime-Minister; Alhaji Tafa Balewa Abubakar. The census figure for Nigeria as per the 1962 enumeration was 45.26 million, out of which the North had 22.01 million while the South had 23.25 million people. As soon as these figure were announced, the first reaction of Prime-Minister Abubakar was to fire the British Representative who was in charge of the census; Mr. J.J. Warren. The next thing he did was to cancel the result of the census. According to him, there was no basis for the South to be more in population than the North.

Arising from the above, the Federal Government of SirAbubakar authorized the conduct of another national census in 1963. The result of the 1963 census was initially put at 60.5 million but was scaled down to 55.66 million. The North was ascribed 31 million while South surprisingly was said to be only 24 million. The South that was more than one million above the North in 1952 suddenly became seven million people less than the North in 1953, without any out-break of any epidemic, deluge or war.

Another instance that buttresses the extreme sensitivity of population census in Nigeria is the fall-out of the 1973 census which was conducted under the military leadership of General Yakubu Gowon. Gowon, though a Northerner, is a Christian and would not suffer from ethnic irredentism. His administration’s desire to give Nigeria a reliable census was vehemently frowned at by the Muslim North. It ignited an open altercation between Chief Obafemi Awolowo and Brigadier Murtala Mohammed in the Federal Executive Council. It was widely believed that the outcome of the 1973 census was one of the main reasons why the Muslim North, as symbolized by Murtala Mohammed, had to overthrow the government of General Yakubu Gowon in 1975.

Not too long ago, Chief Festus Odimegwu was compelled to resign as Chairman of National Population Commission on the grounds that he publicly expressed his doubt over accuracy of previous Nigerian censuses, including that of 2006. It is, therefore, certain that population census is, indeed, very sensitive and full of controversy in Nigeria.

When Prof. Attahiru Jega was appointed in June 2010 as the Chairman of Independent National Electoral Commission, many Nigerians expressed optimism that he would not allow himself to be encumbered by the deficiencies of ethnic jingoism, religious fanaticism and pursuit for materialism. To be fair to the former Vice-Chancellor of Bayero University, he has tried as much as possible to be principled and transparent in the discharge of his responsibilities as the helms-man of the Electoral body.

But the recent release of newly created thirty thousand polling units (P.Us) strongly appears to be portraying another or even real colour of the main; Jega. On what basis should the Electoral Commission allocate more than twenty-one thousand polling units, out of thirty thousand, to the North and leaving the South with just little above eight thousand? What indices were used to arrive at the North-West alone being allotted nine thousand, nine hundred and six polling units and, by so doing, making North-West to have more polling units than the whole of the South? How would it be explained that the very troubled and almost deserted North-East of Nigeria should be given five thousand, two hundred and one polling units as against the ever-population-increasing South-Westthat got a mere four thousand, one hundred and sixty polling units? Can INEC be justified for allotting only one thousand, one hundred and sixty-six polling units to the whole of South-East when the Federal Capital Territory of Abuja alone was given one thousand and two hundred polling units.

The truth of the matter is that the Muslim North has been unrelenting in expressing her bitterness over her loss of power to the Christian-dominated South. Her political and religious leaders are firing from all known cylinders to make sure that the Muslim North ‘re-captures’ power in 2015. The recent distribution of additional thirty thousand polling units by the Electoral Commission, headed by one of her own, is surely a major strategy, even though crude, controversial and disputable, aimed at restoring power to the North. If this unwieldy and unacceptable distribution pattern is not timely addressed and transparently corrected, the palpable fears of the people of the South would cast a shadow that may make a mess of every effort towards having a free and fairPresidential election in 2015.



Chief (Sir) Don Ubani; KSC, JP
(Okwubunka of Asa)