₦airaland Forum

It is so sad that people judge the Governor's performances from a distance without even visiting Abia State to see for themselves what actually is the truth on ground. From where am standing and judging from the past Governments that has come and gone in Abia State, His Excellency Chief Dr. T. A. Orji (Ochendu Ibeku) has done marvelously well and better that any previous government with reasons. It is only left for any other incoming Government to improve on what he has already done. Today, Abia is the most secured State in Nigeria, there are new structures all over Abia. there is no way okorocha can be compare with T.A Orji.

this is Ihiagwa road that link to NEKEDE POLY and FUTO .

this is Ihiagwa road that link to NEKEDE POLY and FUTO . can some one please tell me what Rochas is doing in IMO STATE

GOVERNOR Theodore Orji of Abia State has directed communities and organisations where National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) members are posted to for their primary assignments not to reject them.
He enjoined corps members to accept their postings in good faith and strive with the courage and determination to succeed in their national assignments.
The governor made the call at the end of the 2013 ‘Batch B’ Corps Members’ Orientation at Ummunnato in Bende Local Council Area. He also stressed that the period of their orientation has equipped them to make their contributions to the development of the nation.
He assured them of their safety in the state, reiterating that his government would subsist its statutory responsibility to the NYSC scheme.
He cited the provision of basic facilities to the corps members, such as accommodation and welfare, as the specific areas their hosts should assist them to enable them perform optimally.

http://theyoungnews..com/2013/07/orji-warns-against-rejection-of-corps.html

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



The ongoing new State Secretariat in Umuahia. Work started in January 2013. Work is 85% completed.



The ongoing new State Secretariat in Umuahia. Work started in January 2013. Work is 85% completed.
The New Dialysis Center in Umuahia - 90% completed. It has 7 Dialysis Machines.




The New Dialysis Center in Umuahia – 90% completed. It has 7 Dialysis Machines.
The New Modern High Court in Umuahia - Six new air-conditioned Court Room - started January 2013 - completed 90%


The New Modern High Court in Umuahia – Six new air-conditioned Court Room – started January 2013 – completed 90%
The completed section of the new State Secretariat in Umuahia. Started in January 2013.




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

http://theyoungnews..com/2013/07/why-critics-of-gov-ta-orji-are-getting.html

THE ACHIEVEMENT OF OUR BELOVED GOVERNOR HIS EXCELLENCY Chief T.A Orji OF ABIA STATE WILL ALWAYS SPEAK FOR HIM , KUDOS OCHENDO

Dr. NATHAN UMEJIAKU, a retired varsity lecturer, wrote from Owerri, Imo State.
GREAT historian, Michael Crichton once said: “If you don’t know history, then you don’t know anything. You are a leaf that doesn’t know it is part of a tree“. How many of us know history?

Even those who know had always tried to hypocritically re-write it for pecuniary reasons. But that cannot obliterate or erase it, no matter how long it takes. One of such persons who have been trying to re-write Abia history on the pages of newspapers and internet blogs is Odimegwu Onwumere, the acclaimed author/poet of Abia history who was part and parcel of Chief Orji Uzor Kalu’s government in the state for eight years, between 1999-2007.

It is also on record that the eight years administration of the government in the state was nothing to write home about, as the state was always in the news for the wrong reasons, despite Kalu’s penchant for publicity and propaganda. If the state government was not abusing or fighting the Chief Olusegun Obasanjo led-Federal Government, the government was busy fighting Abia politicians which Kalu tagged Abuja politicians.

Nobody dared advise or challenge him on what to do or say publicly, because he believed he knew all and the buck stopped on his table as the executive governor of the state.

While all these were happening, the wheel of governance was grounded in the state for eight years. Family political dynasty and personal business interests were promoted at the detriment of Abia people. Onwumere never saw anything wrong in government’s action then because he needed to protect his source of livelihood.

But since the power equation changed in the state and at the centre, providing a lee way for Gov Orji to liberate the state from the stranglehold of his predecessor and family, which he did before the 2011 general elections for the good of the people of the state, Onwumere and his benefactors have returned to the trenches with a mandate to bring Orji’s government, his family and achievements down at all cost.

An agenda which has failed from inception, but they are desperately looking for what to hang on to remain relevant in the eye of Nigerians who know them more than they know themselves.

That is why Onwumere in his wild goose article titled, “Indeed Orji is Performing” published in ThisDay of Tuesday June 11, 2013, after engaging in undue circumlocution, fabricated lies that students of Umuocham Girls Secondary School, World Bank Aba were allegedly asked to pay N3,700 for no just cause. Onwumere later alleged that the imposed levy was for the teachers in the school to take care of themselves, because the state government had abandoned them for long.

Who will believe this cock and bull story? Teachers are presently on strike in some states across the country over the non-payment of 27.5% “teachers peculiar allowance” by their state governments; Abia is not involved because the government has paid. Abia was the first state to pay the minimum wage of N21,000 to workers in the country. So why should teachers in Abia, if it was true, task students to pay money for their upkeep, whereas they are being paid salary regularly?

It might not be ruled out that some bad elements in the teaching profession might levy students illegally without government’s knowledge or approval, but why should government be held responsible, when they did not approve such levy? This was enough to expose the hypocrisy and cynicism in Onwumere and his paymasters.

On the allegation that pupils were allegedly asked to pay N8000 for Common Entrance Examination in the state, whereas there is free education in the state, did the free education programme of the state government exclude the payment of examination fees? Well, I am not sure, because I know that it has to do with tuition fees term after term and not examination fees.

Onwumere also claimed that
beneficiaries of the government ‘s youth empowerment programme were graduates and allies of government, and queried why government would wish a graduate to drive Keke Napep. What is wrong with that in a Nigerian society where unemployment rate is very alarming today?

We have graduates in the country today who are languishing in jail for engaging in armed robbery and other crimes. We have doctorate degree holders in Nigeria who are scrambling for driving jobs in Dangote. So which is one is better? Being a proud owner and driver of a bus, car, or tricycle or engaging in crimes against humanity?

What did the government, in which Onwumere served for eight years between 1999 and 2007, put on ground as legacy projects? How many industries did the government established or revived in the state? How many youths did they empowered then? Why did the government bequeath a huge debt for the incoming government in 2007? What was the state of infrastructure and security in the state then and now? Will Onwumere and his paymaster deny that there is no new magnificent Workers Secretariat in Umuahia today and a renovated one also? Or will they deny that there is no modern Government House and International Conference Centre nearing completion in the state now?

Also, will they deny that the state capital Umuahia which was more of a glorified village square before now has not assumed the status of a modern state capital with steady power, courtesy of Ohiya Power Station revival which the state government partnered the Federal government to actualize.

It is a fact that the present government has constructed and is still constructing many roads in Aba and other parts of the state. Almost every sector of the economy is experiencing government intervention ranging from agriculture to health and the state is better for it.

The state has also experienced less political crisis. What Nigerians had expected Onwumere and his paymasters to do or be doing is to factually and sincerely tell the world what they did well, while in charge of government in the state for eight years that the present government has not done better, if there is any, apart from grandstanding and political gimmicks

Studies have without doubt proven that it is seasonally expedient to pause at some point whether in the pursuit of personal public interest for a back-ward voyage, designed for mental stock-taking or if you like captured in the memory lane of where it all began.
The case of Abia is very eventful and awe-inspiring when juxtaposed with the magnitude of the sorry State she was hitherto identified with.
Rewind to one of our annual facilitations conveyed through this veritable platform where I acknowledged in one of the editions, the huge expectations of our people on the capacity of our mandate to deliver.
Even when history and precedence may have given our people occasion not to, their over-whelming endorsement of our mandate, boxed us into a speechless corner as we could not reciprocate with the fitting syntax to exhaustively express our heart felt gratitude to our people. It was therefore not surprising when torrents of criticisms where hurled when it was assumed we were derailing. But Abians were oblivious of our steel-hearted dedication to lift the state from the ashes of despondency. Consequently, a filtering instrument was designed to sift-through issue based and unbiased positions and adopt it in our blueprint for development.
I have for the umpteenth time, variously acknowledged a cancerous pain inflicted on our stewardship, during the tortuous first half of our eight years gubernatorial assignment. But for the intervention of divinity, the Abia of precarious yester-years would have remained intractable. Present exhilarating state of affairs in Abia is a function of divine mercy visited on the state and leading to a sweeping liberation from insensible god-fatherism, which assumed a delusionary invincibility.
At the expiration of our political constraints, authored by god-playing gladiators, the frightening enormity of infrastructural laybacks prevalent in the state menacingly starred us in the face. But we soldiered on and before long, seeming impossibilities began to metamorphose into possibilities. We were buoyed by the belief that small beginnings gives birth to conglomerates as we shall briefly appreciate, given the magnanimity of space. But just as the state was savouring the tranquility of peace and unfettered access to movement of goods and persons, there was an incredible jolting visited on her by the alien name; “kidnapping for ransom”.
Abians did not give a thought to the possibility of her own wards subscribing to the extreme wickedness and atrocious life style of kidnapping and raping their victims before placing a ransom on their head. But crossing the Rubicon to tamper with the lives of our 15 greater tomorrows and Nigerian Journalists who were navigating their way back from a conference in Uyo, was more than the state could stomach. As expected, our venomous anger was unleashed on these evil mongers whom we comprehensively over-whelmed to become a model in security, nationally and internationally.
Fast-forward to a resurgence of enabling environment achieved through security clean up, the state was at the precipice of insolvency, largely due to the absence of a blue print to make her economically viable. What obtained was a hopeless dependence on revenues accruing from the centre and perennially inadequate to shoulder the retinue of domestic responsibilities in the state. Naturally, the loopholes created from the neglect of looking inwards constantly enriched custodians of strategic government revenue windows, who exploited the lack-luster approach of succeeding regimes to re-engineer the machinery for internally generated revenue.
My heart will always skip a beat, each time I dare to compare the enormity of infrastructural necessities, gasping for injection of life, vis-à-vis the financial far cry at our disposal. The reality of our innumerable electoral promises kept dawning on me. Our flammable angst for the disorder we inherited was quickly visited on the vitality of instituting a virile and result-oriented pathway for shoring up our revenue base. This was an inevitable approach, having seen the heart rending monthly balance of an infinitesimal #1 billion from #3.4 billion after salaries left for us to thoroughly manifest, the infrastructural deficiencies scattered here and there. Our evolving revenue strategy then began to yield fruit, and has graduated from a monthly #150 million that I met on ground, with a realistic potential to net #1 billion.
Chronic critics, whose positions lack substance, have at different times and fora undermined these essential variables while battling to drive home their point. A blanket appraisal of our stewardship exposed to pathetic monthly revenue of #3.4 billion in comparison with others who coast home with #19-22 billion is practically pedestrian and laughable.
But we have not been sulking in despair. We rose from the drawing board of dexterity and prudent management, to significantly change the infrastructural identity of Abia State. Millennium Development Goals, our inaugural partners in progress, synergised with us, towards the realisation of a humble beginning, which produced functional health centers and cottage hospitals in excess of 250. Abians will not be in a hurry to forget the excitement associated with the health care icing of Abia Specialist Hospital and diagnostic center delivered to them by this mandate.
This mandate, backed by its towering divine endorsement has ridden triumphantly on the wings of obvious constraints to attain several infrastructural mile-stones viz- the eye wondering and ear tingling state secretariat due to be commissioned in few months time, ultra-modern and gigantic high court complex in Umuahia and Aba, relocated and occupied timber market, soon to be occupied new Umuahia modern market Ubani, on-going and global best standards in government house, state of the art 5000 seating capacity international conference center due for public presentation in a matter of months, on-going classical edifice for state joint account allocation office complex, new office complex for the state Universal Basic Education Board, New office complex for members of the state House of Assembly, completed and commissioned state environmental protection Agency building, completed and occupied new office complex for the state Ministry of Justice and innumerable others that space and time will not permit me the luxury to accommodate. But suffice it to say that this brief disclosure, though in public domain, is an obedient fall out of demands arising from people’s well-intended request desiring us to share in testimonies won from our resilience and doggedness.
Our determination to reverse a retrogressive history cascading over the state, constantly stimulated us to latch on every inhibition as stepping-stone to success. Our vision was further enhanced by the dismantling of every vestige associated with apostasy and oath of allegiance before any alter, other than the heaven aboding God named after our dear state.
www.abiastate.gov.ng

Governor T. A. Orji is presently building a new Abia State for the good of all. Though he was confronted at the inception by a monstrous breakdown in the machinery of governance,breakdown of all traditional values of hard work, integrity, honesty, communal and self help spirit,discipline, transparency and accountability in conducting community and government business etc. He has been able to arrest these ugly situations.
Today weak infrastructure, decline in quality of education and a legacy of impunity are things of the past and no more in the character or identified with the people and government of Abia, God’s own State. Starting with the first ever Economic Summit, which was organized between the 6th and 7th of December 2011, a new Abia as envisioned by her great scholars of international reputation and a cream of other technocrats fashioned out,
“A modern, prosperous and secure state built on the energy, drive and enterprise of its people”.
This new vision was all that was required to under pin an agenda for creating shared prosperity through the development of desirable infrastructure, industry, agriculture and mutually beneficial linkages.
Tremendous achievements have been recordedunder Gov. T.A. Orji as enunciated and enumerated below.

AGRICULTURE:
More than anytime in the history of Abia State, agriculture has received a boost with the reactivation and revitalization of a 5-ton/hour industrial oil palm at Mbawsi, a 2,600 hectare (1,500/ha of improved seedling) of oil palm estate is already in place at Ohambele and 200 hectares of oil palm plantation at Ulonna North and South and Ozuitem – Amamba.
Altogether, 1 million improved seedlings have been
planted at the fallow areas of these plantations.
These excluded the pilot songhai integrated farm on 55 hectares at Okwoi Ibeku for plantain banana and pineapples while another 200 hectares have been cultivated for rice and fish farming at Ndibe-Abam in Bende LGA.
Recently, 55 tractors were acquired under PPP initiative for farmers hiring services. The state has continued to honour its counterpart obligations and is part of the new cassava and oil transformation initiative (COTI). As a pacesetter, Governor T.A. Orji recently signed the irrevocable payment order (IPO) to empower Abia commercial farmers to access the N1 billion Agriculture loan domiciled with the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN). The mega farms otherwise called Liberation farms are being established in the 17 LGAs of Abia State in collaboration with ASOPADEC. The project is estimated to create 40000 jobs while a modern abattoir is been set up in Aba under another PPP agreement with an Ottawa-Canada based food company.

ELECTRICITY
Umuahia is the only state capital in the entire South East that has electrified the entire streets and roads with street lightings. It is also very peculiar to state here, that it is only in Aba,Umuahia and its environs, that regular and uninterrupted electricity supply has been successfully achieved. This came as a result of the commissioning of the new 2 x 40 MVA, 132/33kv Transmission substation and the 132KVDC transmission line located at Ohiya in Umuahia by the Governor. That is not all, the Abia State government under Chief T.A. Orji had facilitated the ferrying of the gas turbines across Imo River to ensure early completion of the NIPP project at Alaoji. In line with Governor T. A. Orji’s determination to ensure regular availability of electricity for Abia’s numerous small and medium scale industries, the State is leading other South East States to procure the Enugu distribution of PHCN of Nigeria while at the same time installing transformers in the ruralcommunities.
New Asepa Permanent Site Umuahia

ROADS
Governor T.A Orji has embarked on more than 50 different road projects in various parts of the state in the recent times. While a good number of these roads have been completed others are at various stages of completion. Some of the roads are Faulks Road Aba, Nkata – Alaike roads,Umuahia, Ndiokereke-Ndioji, Abam–Arochukwu road, and the Aba -Owerri road, Aba which has opened up another vista of business opportunities for Aba residents. Also commissioned is the popular Ukwu-mango road in Aba which hitherto had remained not just unmotorable, unpassable but in a very deplorable condition. Ukwu-mango is a very indispensable link into the Ariaria International Market.

HEALTH
In line with Governor T.A. Orji’s promise to sustain primary health care delivery system, he has already upgraded all facilities at the state owned specialist hospital at Amachara and Abayi to the extent that it is the most functional and adequately staffed state owned hospital around here. The Amachara hospital is also an annex ofthe ultra modern diagnostic centres in both Umuahia the State Capital and Aba, the commercial city of Abia with the the new chest clinic at Amachara-Umuahia.
In addition, a storey building has been
constructed for house officers alongside the 2 story building complex meant for resident Doctors. Besides renovating the theatre, work is completed at the accident and emergency units of the hospital. These were executed to enable it cope with increased activities and prevailing challenges. More importantly, Governor T.A has constructed and equipped more than 250 health centres in the different parts of Abia State under its primary health care services and development programme. Each of these health facilities has, in compliance with the MDG been provided with a bore-hole and a tricycle to convey patients to and from the health centres. It is therefore heart worming that Chief T.A Orji kept his assurances that every political ward in Abia State most have a health facility to attend to the health and social needs of the constituents.
As part of his efforts to provide quality health care and services to Abians, Governor T.A Orji is also constructing an auditorium at the specialist hospital Abayi, Aba for student doctors while at the same time meeting the counterpart obligation to the health partners and affiliate agencies such as WHO, UNICEF as demonstrated by the polio-free status of Abia State.
As a tertiary referral centre, Abia’s diagnostic centres are readily accessed by a cross section of Nigerians. Patients who would have been flown abroad for emergency medical treatment are now patronizing the Abia diagnostic centres which boast of world class and State- of- the- art-equipment.

COMMERCE AND INDUSTRY:
The Abia State Government being piloted by Chief T. A. Orji is bent on providing the enabling environment for business to thrive in the state.
That is why many investors are now interested more than ever before in partnering with the state government. The government has signed MOUs with various companies within and outside the country willing to do business with the state. Not long ago, Alkamali Oil of United Arab Emirate entered into partnership with Abia State towards exploring opportunities in the oil sector. There is a similar plan by a private investor to set up a cement manufacturing plant in Arochukwu following the abundance of limestone -a major raw material for cement production. There are many of such partnership between investors and the Abia State Government going on in the state.
The Abia State Government has also taken a giant leap forward in its effort to-relocate the Umuahia Main Market from its present location to a more spacious and ideal place. It has therefore vigorously pursued the plan to realize the Ubani Ibeku Ultra Modern Market project in the shortest possible time after the former contractor handling the project failed to deliver.
At the moment, work is progressing steadily at the site of the new market at Ubani Ibeku where about 5,000 shops have so far been built. All things being equal, by December this year traders will start moving over to the new market while the space where the old market was situated will be converted to another use by government.
In the same vein, the state government has concluded plans to relocate traders at the old Industrial Market to a more conducive location at Azueke Ibeku in the Umuahia North Local Government Area of the state. Government plans to build more than 5,000 shops in the new market while already, about 3,000 shops have been realized. The rest will soon be completed.
Government’s desire is that by the end of the year, movement of traders to the new market would have commenced. Apart from constructing new markets, some old markets have been receiving the attention of the state government. Not long ago, the executives of market associations in the state were provided with brand new official buses for their executives. Infrastructural development of the markets is a continuous process. For instance, rehabilitation of internal roads in Ariaria International Market is nearing completion.
Transformers have donated to the markets.

SPORTS:
SINCE the inception of the present administration in Abia State, it has recorded giant strides in the field of sports. The most recent are:
1. The reconstruction and re-sing of the Umuahia Township stadium/ Upgrading of the stadium.
2. Acquisition of World Class wrestling Ring.
3. On-going collaboration between Abia State Government and Vejie Bold Club of Denmark for the establishment of a sports academy his the state.
4. Signing of the Abia State Sports Endowment Fund by the governor.
5. The state qualified to play in the 2012 WAFU
competition (Continental Football Competition).
6. The state now presents two club sides in the pro-league in the 2012 football season. It is on record that Abia State has over the years produced notable and international sports men and women who have excelled in various fields of sports. Names like Kanu Nwankwo, world champion in power lifting, Obioma Aligekwe are Abia sons.
Recently also, the Enyimba Football Club’s chairman, Felix Anyansi Agwu was elected into the board of the Nigeria Football Federation. The director of Sports, Abia State Sports Council, Mr.Ejikeme Ikwunze was also appointed into the nine-man ministerial committee to reform football in the country.

Housing:
The housing sector of the state has not been left out in the state’s supper transformation. In the last six months, a lot has been done in this sector.
The fencing of the site for the new Abia Government House at Ogurube Layout is nearing completion. The new civil servants secretariat, a four storey building has already been roofed and the other(l no.) four storey building is at the roofing stage even as the old one is undergoing renovation, while work at the 5,000 capacity International conference centre, Umuahia has reached 90% completion. The government has also deemed it necessary to alleviate the accommodation problem facing other government establishments in the state. Hence it has embarked on the construction of a 48-room office complex at the Broadcasting Corporation of Abia State, fully remodeled and expanded the Customary of Appeal building Umuahia and embarked on the construction of two massive storey building at the ministry of Justice. The old structures at the ministry have been given a face lift. The modern Abia State Planning Commission office complex has been completed.
Also, the Ochendo led Abia State government has embarked on the construction of 12 additional court halls at the High Court Complexes in Aba and Umuahia. No doubt, when completed, they will impact positively in the quick dispensation of justice. The projects are expected to be completed before the end of the year. The 3(no) new NYSC hostel blocks and 1 (no) staff building projects embarked upon by the state government at the permanent orientation camp at Umunna has almost been completed just as construction work at the Isieke Housing Estate, Umuahia is progressing steadily and nearing-Completion. An initial 30 units of 3-bedroom bungalows.
Renovation, construction and installation works at the Abia house, Abuja is also in progress.
Works on basement, interlocking tiles,, drainage and lift have been completed.
The High Brow Amokwe Housing Estate has been completed while Amuba Housing Estate is also ready for occupation. Finishing is ongoing; works on relaying of interlocking stones is also nearing completion. Still on housing, the state government is extending the commissioner’s quarters to accommodate all the commissioners with additional (6 no) duplexes. The project will soon be completed as work is in progress.



PUBLIC UTILITIES
Abia state government since the inception of the 2nd tenure of Chief T. A. Orji has made tremendous achievements in the area of water and electricity through the ministry of public utilities.
In the area of water,” a comprehensive consultancy services has been carried out on how to rehabilitate the old Umuahia Urban water scheme and other water schemes in the state through the ministry of public utilities and water Resources. The ministry is also liaising with the federal ministry of Niger Delta for the Regional water schemes in the state to be captured in the federal government’s subsidy RemovalReinvestment programme (SUREP).
This will involve the reconstruction, rehabilitation and expansion of the water schemes. Also, the rehabilitation of Umuokpara water scheme has been executed. In the area of electricity the timely intervention by the state government facilitated the inspection and pre -commissioning tests of the Completed 132kv network from Alaoji- Umuahia and the 132/33 KV injection substation equally energized. Consequently, the state government in 2011 awarded contract for the construction of 5no 33kv High Tension feeder lines from the Ohiya 2x30 MVA, 132/33kv injection substation.
The 5 No 33KV feeder lines radiates from Ohiya injection sub-station to the following locations - Afara, Ubakala, Nkwoegwu, Ntigha Umungwa. Construction work along Afara, Ubakala, Nkwoegwu and Umungwa has been completed while work on the Ntigha axis is in progress. This has greatly increased the electricity supply situationin Umuahia metropolis and its environs.
In addition, government initiated and completed the installation of solar energy streetlights in the following areas of Umuahia metropolis-house of Assembly junction to Bende Road, Ndume Otuka Road, Road 3 Low Cost Housing Estate, Health centre Road, World Bank, Adelabu street and Bende road which has reached about 80% completion.

LOCAL GOVERNMENT AND CHIEFTAINCY
AFFAIRS:
One of the greatest legacies of the Chief T. A. Orji’s administration in the state is the
sustenance of peace in the communities. This has impacted positively on development. Through its relevant agencies like the ministry, of local government and chieftaincy Affairs, it has resolved Ezeship and , inter- community disputes in rural, grassroots communities through prompt, settlement of 76 ezeship and inter-community disputes. The government has provided conducive environment for local government administration by taking proactive decisions ‘fed actions on security reports received from the local governments. The Abia state government has continued to pay allowances of Ndieze regularly in addition to facilitating payment of over NI00m old debts as well as arrears of salaries owed by the 17 LGAs and ensured regular prompt payment of salaries owed by local governments in the state. The state government during the period under review completed the construction of the JAAC / Ndieze secretariat crescent with asphalt by direct labour; procured and distributed 3711 300KVA transformers to the 17 local governments and institutions in the state. Government also procured and distributed 72 vehicles to the 17 transition committee chairmen and all Revenue units of the 17 LGAs as well as the principal officers of Abia state traditional Rulers council. Government has also made funds available for the renovation of the local government headquarters and also produced uniform sign posts for them. The ministry in keeping with the governor’s directive empowered 6000 Abia youths across the local government areas.

EDUCATION:
Education remains a key priority of the state
government. Accordingly the state government has invested huge resources to that sector. There is a functional free transport services for students in Aba and Umuahia and this has alleviated the financial burden on parents. Scholarships have been instituted by the government for bright indigenes of the state to pursue academic programmes locally and overseas. Renovation of public primary and secondary schools is a continuous process and many dilapidated schools have benefitted from this gesture.

WOMEN AFFAIRS:
The Abia state government gives premium to the development of women, children, the indigent, elderly and persons living with disabilities. Over 200 women have been trained in various skills. A total of 1500 women had benefitted from the free pre and post natal treatment for pregnant women for the first six weeks. The Abia state government through the ministry has continued to take care of destitute and the less privileged by collaborating with the Itumbuzo mentally destitute home in the evacuation of some mentally ill persons in the state. Various sensitization programmes on child trafficking and abuse, HIV/AIDS, teenage pregnancy, harmful traditional practices, child right law, child immunization, maternal mortality have been carried out by the government.


SECURITY:
The Ochendo government seems to have made the greatest achievement in this sector.
Till date the state government has given out more than 150 patrol vehicles to security personnel in the state to help fight crime as well as communication equipment. The exercise is still on going. Besides, the state government was instrumental to the rehabilitation the Army barracks at Ohafia which has boosted the security of the state. The joint military -police patrol has copiously tackled crime. Today Abia is not only the most peaceful state but the safest
state in Nigeria to the glory of God.
http://theyoungnews..com/2013/06/rebranded-and-transforming-under.html

virtually i see some people here as ones who revel and delight on discrediting the

state government without any fundamental basis of argument on which their lies,fake

stories and malignity could be traced on.....in respect to that i notably want to use

this moment to refute all lashes of derogation leveled against the state government and

the governor of Abia state.....we - the good people of Abia with goodwill and

progressive mindedness will continue to give our indomitable might,support

,encouragement and formidable counsel in view to helping the state government in every

way we can to assisting on developmental strategies,as such is what a good citizen and

good patriotic should be known for......nevertheless ,we shall continue to pray for the

state government,governor and his aides ,for God to provide them with might,wit,wisdom

and strength that will hinge on providing Abia state the needed development......in

effect,i want to say that whoever derive joy in making caricature of Abia state shall be

an object of caricature in his entire life...Abia state is ours....God will not let her

down....Our prayer is for our amiable governor to continue in his quest and bring Abia

more and more developments.....as for this thread which am reacting on,i made bold to

say that nothing about it is real,all is a fake of reality by those who want a

crestfallen of Abia state....but abia state is built on a solid rock

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there is no way the world would get satisfy,so am not awed by what some people put up in the name of criticism ,but then i make bold to say that the governor is doing great to compare with the past governor in Abia state

As blessed as the Nigerian state has been, not a few have continued to wonder why there should be a very high preponderance of abject penury amongst her citizens. In a situation where there is abundance of natural and material resources yet the people suffer the worst form of material poverty, it becomes inevitably conclusive that the leadership of such a polity either lacks required competence or is polluted by steam of corruption.

There is no gain saying the obvious that Nigeria is one of the most blessed countries of the world. Almost all the mineral resources that could turn a country rich are deposited in very large quantities in our dear country. Our soil is one of the most fertile on this planet Earth. The country has one of the most clement weather, very capable of driving and sustaining agricultural advancement that could guarantee the citizens’ self-sustenance. Nigerian intellectuals have consistently proved their mettle beyond the boundaries of their father-land. Yet at home, Nigerians continue to bemoan their misery. This development, that is hunger in the midst of plenty, has invariably made Nigerians cynics and pessimists. They have, for many years, if not decades, lost confidence in their leaders. So, anytime they hear that a leader has been given an award, they spontaneously infer that the award is an aftermath of a cash and carry negotiation. Of course, in very many cases, they are right. But as would be expected, nature cannot be so unfair to humanity to the extent that in a country of more than one hundred and forty million people, no one would be singled out as being altruistic and genuine. When such a person is identified and honoured, it becomes imperative that time-held pessimism should give way to optimism.

The recent award of ‘Man of the Year 2012’ on Governor Theodore Ahamefula Orji of Abia State by Independent Newspapers, is a development that surely guarantees optimism. It is an award that commands justification in all its ramifications. To begin with, the choice by the Newspaper Organization of the trio of Governor Theodore Ahamefula Orji, Alhaji Aliko Dangote; G.C.O.N, and Mrs. Ifueko Omoigui Okauru; M.F.R, cannot but be commended as choice diligently and impeccably arrived at. Their credentials tower above doubt. In Abia State where Chief T. A. Orji presides as the democratic head, it has to be recalled that before his emergence in 2007, the State was at sixes and sevens. The former governor had imposed a family hegemony on the state, with the result that majority of the stakeholders had fallen apart with him and his mother. Since the former governor was hell-bent on converting the wealth of the state to his personal cum family enterprise, it became inevitable that the stakeholders would fight in resistance to the ex-governor’s avarice. Hence, the state was torn apart in turmoil. The state, therefore, was at war with itself.

As would be expected, the people of the State became the casualties. This was the situation when Governor Orji arrived the scene. Being a quintessential administrator and technocrat, he quickly told himself that a kingdom divided against itself never prospers. The first thing the Governor did was to embark on a very honest programme of reconciliation and harmonization. Today, stakeholders in the state speak with one voice. Hence there is harmony and peace in Abia State.

The impunity with which the people of the state were mal-administered, exploited and overtly segregated and discriminated against had given rise to disappointment, discontent and disillusionment amongst the youths of the state, especially those of them from the old Aba Division who were the main target of the previous administration’s exploitative and discriminatory policies.

Before Chief T. A. Orji could mount the saddle, the foundation for lawlessness and criminality of a brutal order had been laid. Armed robbery and kidnapping menacingly confronted him for a long period of his first tenure. The fact that the former governor, whose record of inexplicable antagonism and confrontation against the federal government was an open secret, insisted on tele-guiding the affairs of the state during Governor T. A. Orji’s first tenure, did not, in any way, help matters. However, Chief Orji adopted diplomacy and sagacity to pull the state out of the wood. As a first step, he had to reintegrate the state into Nigeria’s main stream politics by rejoining the nationally ruling People’s Democratic Party. By this singular act, Abia was no more a pariah state. Being in the main stream of Nigeria’s politics, Ochendo, as he is fondly called, became well emboldened to fight the menace of kidnapping and other vices in the state. Today, kidnapping and armed robbery have been confined to the dust bin of Abia history. The state now ranks as one of the most secured in the Nigerian federation.

Before the ascension of Chief Orji as Governor of God’s own state, state-induced criminality had taken a toll on the pipeline of Pipeline Products’ Marketing Company that channels petroleum products from Alesa-Eleme in Rivers State to the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation’s depot at Aba. The consequence of that act of criminality was the unfortunate dysfunctionality of that depot. Thousands of people who earned their living from the depot were hopelessly thrown into the world of unemployment. The collapse of the depot aggravated the security situation of the state. Again, to the Glory of God, Ochendo rose up to the challenge and worked tirelessly in effectively co-ordinated synergy with the Presidency to resuscitate the depot. He has also been unrelenting in his fight against pipeline vandalization and illegal oil bunkering. As at present, that depot has given succour to more than ten thousand persons who, directly or indirectly, earn their living from it.

No government that is a true product of democracy would ever joke with the health and welfare of her citizens. In this regard, it is interesting to know that the administration of Chief Orji has excelled in the area of health. Every person in Abia State has uninhibited access to medicare, that is equally affordable.

True to his electioneering promise, Ochendo has been running a tuition-free primary and secondary education policy in the state. His government has, so far, sustained four tertiary institutions in the state; Abia State University, Uturu, Abia State Polytechnic, Aba, Abia State College of Education Technical, Arochukwu and College of Health, Aba.

The state capital, Umuahia, was like a glorified local government headquarters before the emergence of Governor Orji. But as I write, Umuahia has been transformed into a befitting status of a state capital. A four-storey civil service secretariat has been built by the administration of Chief Orji. An international conference centre has almost been completed. For the twenty-two years existence of Abia State, the Government House has been in the negotiated private residence of the Late Air Commodore Emeka Omeruah. But Ochendo, being a progressive, has thought it otherwise. Solid architectural structures are severally springing up in the Ogurube layout to house the government of Abia State.

Agriculture that did not receive any quantifiable attention from previous administrations in the state, has now become an irresistible point of attraction in the state. The state government has successfully motivated Abians to go back to the land.

It is known the world over that governments are not the highest employers of labour. What a government does is to create enabling environment for people to make their living legitimately. In Abia State, Governor T. A. Orji has created the much-needed environment through roads and public utility. Besides what his administration has done in the above areas, he has outstandingly empowered Abia youths with vehicles, skill acquisition and various forms of pecuniary support.

Previously, Abia State Executive Councils were characterized by suspicion and instability. Commissioners were appointed and fired within a period not exceeding nine months and, ofcourse, with impunity. It was not only that commissioners were thrown out intermittently, but any time the Executive Council was dissolved, members who served in the council would be given a blanket condemnation, either as being fraudulent or incompetent. Hardly did any person who had served as a commissioner in the previous administration leave with his or her dignity and honour intact. During the same period, the relationship between the Governor and his deputy was always like that between a cat and a dog. There was never love lost. But in the case of Ochendo, the relationship between his deputy and he has remained unprecedentedly cordial and mutual. The commissioners he appointed worked in an atmosphere of peace, equanimity and freedom of conscience. When he considered it necessary to dissolve his cabinet on 15th May, 2013, he invited members of the council and, like a compassionate father that he is, took time to explain to them why he had to dissolve the executive council. Ochendo spoke as if he was under obligation to explain his decision to persons who ordinarily should be regarded as mere appointees or even labourers. At that valedictory cabinet session, every member of the cabinet had a sense of belonging arising from the humility and sincerity of their boss.

Ochendo has a burning passion to turn the fortunes of Abia State around. He has constantly depicted discipline, vision, equity, justice and transparency in all his enterprise. Not minding the financial predicaments of the State, Ochendo has consistently resisted the temptation of going to the Bond market to borrow. Ochendo does not concern himself only to what happens to Abia State that he now governs, but extensively believes in the welfare of the state, even when he would have constitutionally ceased to be her governor.

Mention should also be made that Ochendo is an outstanding adherent of constitutional democracy. This accounts for the total absence of conflict between the three constitutional arms of government in Abia State. As a gentle man born and bred in a family which head was a first-class warrant chief of the colonial epoch; a man that built the first storey building in the present Umuahia urban, Governor T. A. Orji has natural respect for the culture and custodians of his people’s culture and tradition. This is why traditional rulers in the state are treated with unqualified respect both by government and people of the State. Ochendo’s administration has dignified many traditional rulers with befitting cars, just to enhance their status as traditional rulers.

Acting differently from the insensitivity of the previous administration in the State, Governor T. A. Orji established Abia State Oil-Producing Development Commission, devoting thirty percent of the thirteen percent of oil derivation fund from the federation account to carter for development needs of oil-producing areas of the state. His administration has also bought Jeeps to all traditional rulers in Ukwa-West, which is the oil-producing local government area of the state. In addition, Ochendo has brought Shell Petroleum Development Company, S.P.D.C; closer to oil-producing communities of the State. To this effect, S.P.D.C. has signed a Global Memorandum of Understanding, G.M.o.U, with oil-producing clusters in the state. The company recently held a business round table with stakeholders in the state and arrangements are in top gear for her to partner with the office of Her Excellency, the wife of the Governor, to run a training and empowerment programme for the physically challenged in the State.

The passion and dreams of His Excellency, the Governor, are, no doubt, shared by his debonair and decorous wife, Lady Mercy Odochi Orji, admirably called Osinulomaranma. ‘Osinulo’ has been exceptionally wonderful in her show of magnanimity in the training and empowerment of Abia young men and women. She has continuously used her Non-Governmental Organization, Hannah-May Foundation, to build houses for widows and the less privileged in the three senatorial zones of the State. Ochendo has a peaceful and stable family. Hence every person in his family, including his first son; Engr. Chinedu Orji; Ikuku, is evidently committed to the project; Abia.

Abia State is God’s-Own State. When it was almost turned into goon’s-own State, the people wept, lamented and called on God to bring to them a liberator. God mercifully heard their prayers and sent them Chief T. A. Orji. Under his administration, Abia State has reclaimed its appellation and status of God’s-Own State. Ochendo has rededicated the State to God. Instead of going to juju shrines in Okija, as was the case previously, the government and people of Abia State now frequent and patronize the temples of God in the various churches in the State.

In realization of the immense contributions made by the people of Abia State for the State Government to achieve what it has, so far, achieved, Governor T. A. Orji humbly dedicated the award by the Independent Newspapers to the people of Abia State. This is an award well deserved and the people are happy for it. They are appreciative of the selective mechanism of the Independent Newspapers. To God be the glory!
http://theyoungnews..com/2013/05/incontrovertible-facts-that-gave-rise.html

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

WHAT is truly lacking in many parts of the country today and has continued to inhibit development is lack of access roads and adequate transportation system.

Successive governments at all levels, especially during the long years of military regime, did not help matters at all. Several efforts and inputs by private individuals and organisations in the transportation sector has not been enough because majority of Nigerians rely on land transportation to move around. Besides, the cost of such transport scheme is always unaffordable by some Nigerians, especially in the rural areas.

But in Abia State today, unlike in the past, the situation has changed and is still changing for good with the present administration’s policy on massive road construction and rehabilitation across the senatorial zones in the state.

The policy has brought about the opening up of access roads in several parts of the state, especially in the agrarian communities in the hinterlands where farmers reside. Before now, some of the people in the rural communities in the state have not seen caterpillars not to talk of using tarred roads. The state government under the leadership of Governor Theodore Orji has remained consistent in pursuing the policy which is one of the cardinal programmes of his government from inception.

Apart from the ongoing construction and rehabilitation of roads across the state, the government has completed the following roads since the assumption of office. They include Abia Tower (Ossah) dualised road, Okpara Square dualized road; the Uwalaka Ahia-Orie Ugba road; Ibeku Road extension, Ozuitem Street, Abam-Orie Ugba Street, Umuovom Nkatta Road (Ochendo Bye-Pass), Ahieke-Okwuta-Isieke Road with spur to the Cenotaph, Uyo Street, Okwulaga-Afaraukwu Road, Umuafai-Lodu-Ahieke Road, Link Road between Aba Road and Timber Market, Nkata Ameke Road, Nkata-Alike Ring Road, New Secretariat By-pass, Ubakala-Old Umuahia dualised Highway, internal Roads in Abia State House of Assembly, Abia Transport Road, Enyiukwu Road, Okigwe Park Bye-pass and the asphalt overlay of over 25 streets within Umuahia the state capital and these roads were also beautified with streetlights and pedestrian walkways on both sides. The development has restored nightlife in the state capital amidst secured atmosphere devoid of crime of any sort.

In the commercial city of Aba alone, the state government has completed the Okwu Street, Ezeogo Road (Opposite Ngwa High School), Nwala Street, Mount Zion Street, Ikonne Street, A-line and F-line, Ariaria Market. Other roads include Umule Road, Umuocham Azikiwe, Okigwe, Faulks Road, Orieohazu Street, Unity Garden/Osisioma Ring Road, Timber and Allied Products Market internal roads, Uratta Road, dualization of Aba-Owerri Road with the spur at the Osisioma Ngwa end of the Enugu-Port-Harcourt expressway, dualization of Aba-Port Harcourt Road, Udu Street, Umugo-Ugwunagbo Road, Uratta, Ngozi Avenue, Omenazu, Okigwe Road, East Street and the recently commissioned Brass street, Milverton Avenue, Azikiwe Road, George Street and Constitution Crescent.

Knowing that lack of adequate drainage channels has always been the bane of road durability in Aba, the present government had demolished all illegal structures in the city which made it possible for the construction of giant drainage channels at Ama-Ogbonna and Ngwa Road by East to control flooding in the city. Apart from the completed roads in the city, the perennial flooding at Binez junction of Aba-Owerri Road where motorists spent hours before crossing over has been tackled. Beside, work is ongoing in other roads in the city and will soon be completed before the rainy season gathers momentum.

Also not left out in the roads revolution by the state government is the rural communities where majority of the people of the state are residing. Some of the rural roads that have been constructed include Ozu-Abam Ndi-Okereke Road, Amaekpu-Okagwe-Ohafia Road, Amankalu-Alayi-Akoli-Imenyi Road, Ariam- Usaka-Ikwuano Road, Nunya-Eluama-isuikwuato Road, Ovim-Isuikwuato Road, Aba-Obikabia Road, Umugo-Alaoji-Umunka-Umuodo-Ugwunagbo Road, the Ntigha-Mbawsi Road, Iyienyi-Okwoi-Ozuitem Road, Umueze-Agbo-Ubani Ibeku Road, Nkata Mbom Road, some internal roads in Ossah and the Achara-Ihechiowa Road.

Being mindful of the popular saying that vehicles have become… an article of dress without which we feel uncertain, unclad, and incomplete, Governor Orji had in 2009 rolled out the Abia City Transport Scheme which, aside creating employment for the people, had equally resolved the perennial problem of lack of adequate and befitting intra-city transportation in the state.

Since then, more than 1000 vehicles have been given out by the state government under the Transport Loan Scheme and the beneficiaries are always ready to testify to this. That is why it has always been possible for the state government to able to provide free transportation for indigenes of the state living in different parts of the country during yuletide celebration.

With the ongoing revolution in the roads construction and transportation by the present administration, which are two key factors in industrial growth, the state is now on the verge of reclaiming its past glory as the industrial giant of the country. This is more so that the commercial city of Aba is getting adequate attention from the state government in the area of massive infrastructure development.
http://www.vanguardngr.com/2013/05/appreciating-road-and-transport-revolution-in-abia/

ochendo legacy project

some of the roads constructed by the governor

pictures of some the governor legacy project in abia state

A leader is hardly celebrated while still in power.But for liberating Abia state away from idolatry, sodomy and tyranny Gov. T.A. Orji proved his determination for positive change. Total rehabilitation and improvement on infrastructures, and all other sectors

When u look around the state there is a lot more to commend the Governor for, so opinnion leader i will applaud that you take a ride to the state (Abia) and see the legacy project , that the Governor have done in the state.

Abia state government is to set up a panel of enquiry into the immediate and remote cause of the collapse of a three storey building at Agbama, Umuahia which killed some occupants with a view to forestalling future occurrence.
The state governor, chief Theodore Orji disclosed this while inspecting the site of the collapsed building.
Chief TA Orji who had to cut short his official trip to Abuja to see things for himself,directed the owner of the building to produce the architect who drew the building as well as the contractor handling the project to answer to some questions.
The governor stated that there must be some structural defects that led to the collapse of the building and used the opportunity to sympathize with the families of those who died in the incident.
He described the incident as unfortunate and thanked all those who assisted in the rescue effort including the medicals, security personnel, and companies that provided equipment for the evacuation exercise.
The governor who later visited survivors who are receiving treatment at the federal medical centre, Umuahia condoled with them over the sad incident and donated the sum of N500,000 to them to cater for their hospital bills.
Earlier at the site, a representative of the company carrying out the evacuation of the collapsed building, Melborne construction company, Ikenna Balogu said 4 persons died in the incident while 3 are receiving treatment at the hospital, adding that they want to remove every debris at the site to ensure that no one is left.

http://theyoungnews..com/2013/05/orji-cuts-short-visit-to-attend-to.html

for the governor to have dissolve his Cabinet , there would be a good reason for that , i think is for the betterment of the state, because from the speech of the commissional of information of abia state he stated that the affected executive worked for there selfless interest

The chairman, PDP Board of Trustee, Chief Tony Annenih has commended Governor Theodore Orji of Abia State for bringing unity to the PDP family in the state.
Annenih also lauded the Governor for the development he has brought to the state, saying that he was doing very well.
Annenih who spoke on Tuesday evening at the Government House, Umuahia shortly after concluding a closed door meeting with Governor Theodore Orji of Abia State also said that the internal party crisis being experienced were no threat to the strength of the party.
The BoT chairman opined that rather that on the contrary, the crises would make the party stronger. According to him, it is usual to have such crisis in a big family.
Though, Annenih said he was in the state on a private visit and to see what Orji is doing in the state, political observers in the state believe that Annenih’s visit was in connection with the face-off between President Goodluck Jonathan and some Governors, hence part of his effort to rally the Governors round the President.
However, Governor Orji is a known ardent supporter of the President, therefore, it is believed that Annenih’s visit would help to strengthen that support.
Asked why he was in the state, Annenih simply said: “I am in the state to appreciate the good things the Governor has done in the state and in the party, as he has brought peace, unity and direction of purpose to the party. We, as a party are happy for what he has been doing”.
Commenting on the crisis in the PDP, the BoT chairman said: “PDP is a large family and as such, it is possible to always experience mini problems, but the good thing about it, is the ability to get such problems resolved without any rancour”.
Annenih noted that the beauty of democracy was the usual problems that arise in political parties with a large followership, and the ability of the leadership of such parties to be able to handle the problems.
The BoT chairman expressed confidence that the party would emerge stronger as machinery has been set in motion to settle all problems in the party, aimed at moving ahead. He also called on the party members to be ready to work for the progress of the party.
On the performance of Governor Orji, Annenih said that the Governor has done well and commended his developmental projects. He explained that he was in Umuahia to see the Governor and also see the good works he has done and still doing for the state and its people.
“What I have seen since my arrival has been very impressive and I must commend the Governor for the good works he has done so far. He has touched virtually all parts of the state with his legacy projects and while doing that, has also brought the party together. Such a man must be commended in order to continue with the good work”, ”,Annenih said.

http://theyoungnews..com/2013/05/annenih-visits-abia-commends-governor.html

Why we won’t re-admit Orji Kalu to PDP – Okpara
Mr James Okpara is Special Adviser to Abia State Governor on Public Relations. Okpara, who is a member of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Bende Local Government Area of the state explains why the local chapter resolved not to re-admit the former governor, Dr Orji Uzor Kalu. Excerpts:
There is controversy between the Abia State Government and former Governor Orji Uzor Kalu on his membership of the PDP. While the former governor says he is a legal card carrying member of your party, the government insists he is not. What is the true position of things?
There is no iota of controversy in this matter. The State PDP chairman and chairman of PDP in Bende Local Government Area and other party leaders and stakeholders have severally addressed this issue. But to answer your question, Orji Kalu is not a bona fide member of the PDP. The party card he is brandishing is fake. It is not genuine.


Okpara
Okpara

The reasons are very simple and I will enumerate them as follows. First, every ward has her own serial number and the number of Orji Kalu’s purported card is different from that allocated to his ward by the party. Second, there is a Register of PDP members and Orji Kalu’s name is not in this Register. Can you validly be a member of an association without your membership being registered in the Register of members? Third, The Ward chairman and executives who purportedly gave him the card were no longer members of the PDP on the date they gave him the card. Can you give what you don’t have?
Fourthly, in a resolution made on November 14, 2012 by members of the Bende PDP, it was unanimously decided that Orji Kalu shall not be readmitted into the party because “Chief Orji Uzor Kalu has a minus electoral value and we do not want to be infected by his political virus which will irreparably damage our great party”.
Please note that the Igbere Ward chairman who purportedly gave him the membership card attended the meeting and signed the resolution. This resolution was published in many newspapers including The Nation newspaper of November16, 2012 and Thisday of November 21, 2012 . What actually happened is that somebody in his usual way of believing that he is smarter than every human being alive went and printed his own membership card and started shouting that he is a member of PDP. If I want, I can get any printer to print the membership card of any party for me. It is the simplest thing in the world to do.
Fifth, can you be a member of two different political parties at the same time? On the day Orji Kalu purportedly received PDP card, executives of Progressive Peoples Alliance (PPA) visited him. Kalu is the founder and owner of PPA. Therefore, can he be a member of PPA and that of PDP at the same time? The answer is no.
But by rejecting Kalu’s readmission into PDP, isn’t the state government infringing on his freedom of association?
It is wrong to imply that the rejection of his purported readmission back to PDP is being driven by the state government.
Please remember that it is his own people, those who belong to the same constituency with him that vehemently said no when the rumours were strong that he was planning to come back to PDP. Stakeholders of the party and members from Bende have, at least two separate occasions, unanimously stated that they do not want Orji Kalu in their party.
On your question of infringing on his freedom of association, don’t you think that the freedom of association of 99.9% of PDP Bende members will be breached by the readmission of Orji Kalu into their party? The Bende PDP members in their Resolution of November 14, 2012 stated that “the constitution and the extant laws of Nigeria recognizes freedom of association.

Orji Kalu
Orji Kalu


That friendship or association is by choice and not by compulsion, fiat or coercion”. In order words, you cannot force me to be your friend or associate with you. You have the right to say that you want to associate with me but in the spirit of freedom of association, I have the right to say sorry, I do not want to be your friend or associate with you. Is friendship or association by force?
What exactly is the reason for this massive opposition?

The antecedent of Orji Kalu is negative. During his administration, there was no development in Abia State . Government affairs became a family business. Let Orji Kalu take you around Abia State and point out one thing that he did in his eight years in power. There is nothing positive that will come out from him and our people are tired of quarrels and distractions.
But many people will say the present administration has not fared better in terms of developing the state. The refrain is that nothing is happening in Abia…?

Honestly, I am not saying this because I work for Chief T A Orji. He is doing an excellent work in Abia State. This is one of the distractions we are talking about. Some people have been specifically instructed to run down the government. Let those who are alleging non-performance by the present administration come to Abia and see things for themselves.http://theyoungnews..com/2013/02/why-we-wont-re-admit-orji-kalu-to-pdp.html

-Vanguardnews

some of the completed reconstruction of roads

A 16-year-old Chinese national, Master Precious Chem, of the Living Word Academy Secondary School, Aba, has emerged winner of the NAFDAC Annual Secondary Schools Essay Competition in Abia. Chem was declared the winner of the senior secondary school category while 13-year-old Miss Ugochinyere Eze of Dorothy International Secondary School, Aba, came first in the junior category.
The Chinese said after receiving the award that he was encouraged, though he did not make it at the zonal and national levels of the competition. He called for more students’ participation in all the categories of the competition and adequate information for the examinations to make it a worthwhile exercise.
In her reaction, Eze said the competition had further helped to expose her to develop herself for future endeavours. She said NAFDAC’s effort had challenged the students to put in more efforts in their studies.
Earlier, Mr Gabriel Ezeaguba, the Chief Regulatory Officer of NAFDAC, Aba Special Zone, said he was impressed with the performance of the winners. He said that 14 schools participated in the 10th Annual Secondary Schools Essay competition held on Oct. 13.
``I want to specially thank the schools that have been regular in spite of the sudden notification that characterised the programme on the examination date,’’ he said.
Ezeaguba said the state did not qualify to compete at the national level because of the students result submitted for the purpose. He, however, said the representatives last year came second at the national level, which showed that the state had brilliant students.
He said that award at the state level, the first of its kind, was
aimed at inspiring the schools and students to prepare and perform better next year.
Ezeaguba said the agency was making plans to establish more NAFDAC Consumer Safety Clubs in Abia secondary schools from 2013, expressing the hope that they would utilise the opportunity to improve in future examinations.
http://theyoungnews..com/2013/02/chinese-boy-wins-nafdac-school-essay.html?spref=fb

http://theyoungnews..com/2013/02/chinese-boy-wins-nafdac-school-essay.html?spref=fb

The commercial town of Aba in Abia state would soon enjoy steady power supply .This was disclosed by the Chief Press Secretary to the state governor, Mr. Ugochukwu Emezue while speaking with newsmen in Umuahia.
Emezue stated the state government and the Geometric Power company are working together to ensure that Aba Electricity company becomes functional in due course.
He added that the when the project is completed, Aba and its environs would enjoy uninterrupted power supply and described the project as priority for the year.
The Chief Press Secretary maintained that tackling the problem of power supply in Aba is in line with Gov. Theodore Orji’s plans to restore the glory of the commercial town.
“When the power project is completed, most of the small scale enterprises and bigger industries which made Aba the envy of other cities in Nigeria would come up again,” he said.
Emezue also assured that the governor would sustain his policy on security due to the gains already recorded in the investment sector.
“Abia is the most peaceful state in Nigeria today because of the comprehensive approach adopted by Gov. Orji in handling security matters,” Emezue boasted.
http://theyoungnews..com/2013/02/aba-in-abia-state-would-soon-enjoy.html

As biologists would put it, there is no living thing that has no characteristic feature. This, therefore, implies that a well composed and stable character can always easily be known by his gait, composure, gesticulation, ideas and utterances. On the other hand, a man that is at war with himself and the society he finds himself in is easily identified by his instability of character, negativity in comprehension and other attitudinal tendencies that summarily portray him as a maniac-depressive.
One major havoc the Generals Babangida and Sani Abacha's military administrations' insincerity in their very tortuous, long and deceitful transition programmes that was unfortunately evident in the outcome of the 1999 general elections was the emergence of persons who, known by their antecedents, should have had no business directing the affairs of any given polity. Due to the loss of confidence in Babangida and Abacha's transition programmes, many responsible Nigerians were forced to detach themselves from their transition programmes as it had become obvious the two maximum rulers only wanted to succeed themselves. Hence their so called transition programme was rightly adjudged a hoax.
Abia State was not an exception. Hence the emergence of Orji Uzor Kaiu; a charlatan who had never been associated with anything positive in life, as governor in 1999. Nigerians may not have forgotten, in a jiffy, the young man who, in the late eighties, claimed to have donated one million naira to Borno State Education Endowment Fund, only for the authorities of the State to discover, to their utmost chagrin, that the carton containing his so-called one million naira merely contained pieces of paper. That man was Orji Uzo Kalu who would later become a governor in God's own State. It may not be out of place to recollect here that Orji Uzor Kalu was the same man whom the Vice-Chancellor of University of Maiduguri; Prof Jubril
Aminu, had no option other than to expel from the University just to save
The corporate image of the University. Ironically and derisively, Orji Uzor
Kalu, after many years of rustication and intellectual disconnect,
Bamboozled himself, of course as the Executive Governor of Abia State,
into Abia State University and today he brandishes a degree certificate, a
certificate everybody knows he cannot defend.
Since Abia State government and her people were doggedly liberated from the excruciating and inhumanly exploitative grip of Orji Uzor Kalu his mother and siblings by Governor T.A. Orji in 2010, there has been no manner of irresponsibility, desperation and psychological dilapidation that Orji Uzor Kalu has not displayed.
His target of attack has been one person; Governor T.A. Orji, Ochendo. He has devoted his paper; The Sun as his platform for attack against the people's Governor. Yet he pretends to have forgotten that the people of Abia State know that the source of the establishment of the sun newspaper was entirely theirs.
In his determination to fight the Governor; a fight that is laced with crudeness and lack of intelligence Kalu ends up attacking highly placed Nigerian leaders. Take for instance; on page 7 of The Sun of January 21, 2013 .he unguardedly said he had to return to People's Democratic Party because the leadership of the party is currently in the hands of animals'.
What a very raw style of insulting President Goodluck Jonathan. By saying that the leadership of our great Party is in the hands of 'animals7, Ka1u only exhibited his hatred and disrespect for the President and P.D.P Governors.
On pages 56/ 57 and 58 of Sunday Guardian of January 3/2013/ Ka1u, who called on President Jonathan to send the State Security Service after corrupt Governors, was just in his usual world of ignorance and inconsistence. Orji Kalu the pathological liar gave two different accounts of how he first met Governor T.A. Orji. Just within a range of seventy-four words, Ka1u had given two contradictory versions of his first contact with the Governor; (1) 'There is a man called Mba Abali, from Ohafia; he was the one who introduced him to me", (2) I met this man (Orji) in former Abia Head of Service, Mark Agu Ogo's house…. This narrative is a characteristic feature of Orji Ka1u. He will tell you everything but the truth. One can see the absence of reasonableness in Kalu's claim that the first day he met Governor T.A. Orji was the same day he promised he would appoint him his Chief of Staff and that after that first encounter he never saw him again until after the Governorship election of 1998. In as much as Ka1u has refused to grow in terms of intelligence, it is an unacceptable insult to the Nigeria intelligentsia to want them to believe that someone he met only once before his election and the man did not, in any way/ contribute to the success of his election was the man he ended up having as his Chief of Staff. Since Ka1u has not grown uptill now, no miracle would make him grow again.

For the avoidance of doubt, let me remind the reading public that Governor T.A. Orji, as at 1996 when Ka1u claimed he met him, was the Administrative Secretary of National Electoral Commission in charge of Abia State. The Mba Abali whom Ka1u simply described as coming from Ohafia and whom he rightly acknowledged as the bridge between Governor T.A. Orji and him, was an Electoral Officer in the Electoral Commission in Abia State and was, therefore a subordinate of Chief T.A. Orji. It is now left for Nigerians to know between Chief T.A. Orji who was very strategically positioned in National Electoral Commission and Kalu who was desperate to become a governor, with an avalanche of petitions against him, to make up their minds on who was actually in need of the other. Before I round off this paragraph, Kalu should tell the public whom his mother, Eunice, asked me to accompany her in January 1997 to meet in a small Quest House in Umuahia called Midland Hotel. As someone who was very deeply involved in Kalu's quest for governorship from 1996 to 1998 when the election took place, Kalu would be adding to his lies if he says that I do not know many of those that played very strategic roles for him to become a governor.
The porosity of Kalu was severally manifested in the Guardian interview. One is at pains to imagme the foolishness of Kalu who thought he had the audacity of telling a sitting Governor who had courteously come to visit him in Abuja that he should Took for somebody of his choice to replace him for the remaining term, was Kalu not arrogating of himself the constitutional function of the Abia electorate to determine who governs them? If Kalu had an intelligence quotient that was, even, up to twenty-five percent, he would have been ashamed to vomit this magnitude of stupidity before the public.

I may sympathize with Kalu who is, obviously, suffering from selective amnesia. He claimed that 'their problem is that if I go for a popularity contest with them, I’ll dwarf them because I am with the people'. Kalu's grouse, which is a result of inferiority complex, is with Governor T.A. Orji. So, who are the 'them' he talked of? Not wanting to waste time on the rantings and pantings of a totally confused, discredited and rejected former governor, it may be pertinent to remind Kalu that in a democracy, the easiest and best way to assess a man's popularity is through election. I hope Orji Uzor Kalu is currently in the Senate of the Nigerian Federation! I think he is because he contested election into the Nigerian Senate in 2011. This is how to measure popularity and, thereby, 'dwarf them'. If, however, I am wrong in my thinking that Kalu is a sitting Senator, it then means that Kalu should tell us where he has lost his popularity.
I worked closely with Orji Kalu and his mother; Eunice, in defunct United Nigeria Congress Party; U.N.C.P, Reality Organization, Still-born New Era, People's Democratic Party; P.D.P., as a Commissioner in Abia State Local Government Service Commission, and a two-time Special Adviser on Grass-roots' Mobilization. I know him as a man who is always economical with the truth. He may even claim not to know me before giving me appointments. After all, he has claimed that he only ran into Chief T.A. Orji. To prove my assertion that Kalu is an unrepentant liar, in the Guardian interview he said former President Olusegun Obasanjo called his mother to 'change his (Orji's governorship) candidacy to one of my brothers'. The question one may need to ask is; could Chief Obasanjo have called, Eunice to change the candidacy of Chief T.A Orji on the platform of People's Progressive Alliance when Baba was very busy with his P.D.P? Does Kalu want to accuse Baba of anti-Party activities or, as usual, he just wants to insult him?
Kalu claimed he is not corrupt and that he is known the world over. I am not an anti-graft agent so I will not say much on that except to remind him that he is currently being prosecuted on charges of corruption and since the matter is in the court of competent jurisdiction and, therefore, subjudice, he should be disciplined enough to allow the court run its course and, thereafter, Nigerians will know whether he is corrupt or otherwise. Declaring himself as not being corrupt before the court passes its verdict amounts, in my opinion as a lay man, to contempt of the judicial process.
Kalu claimed he has a house in London, which he bought in February 1992 and one in Victoria Island, Lagos, which he bought 1986. These are false claims by Kalu. He never owned any property in either Lagos or London before he became a governor. If he is not telling lies, let us go to Lagos and London and verify his claims. Kalu was not a man of substantial wealth before becoming a governor. The only thing he does very well is to lay claims to what he does not have. Kalu has also been telling people who do not know him well that he built his camp Nenya country-home in Igbere before’ becoming a governor. This is naked lie. He started the project only in 2000, some months after his election.
Kalu's insinuation that he 'needed our governor to give qualitative leadership" is the imagination of a man that is both mentally and spiritually demented. There is no basis for comparison between Chief T.A. Orji and Orji Kalu. The governor is known to have been born and bred in a family that was not only associated with wealth, as his father; late Chief Tom Ikoro Orji, was a very influential colonial warrant chief who built the first storey building in Umuahia as early as the 1930s but was highly acclaimed for her insistence on discipline. The marital relationship that existed between the late father of the governor and his late mother was the envy of their neighborhood. Can Kalu tell us whom his father was and the relationship that existed between his father and mother? Chief T.A. Orji went through the rungs of fine academic upbringing; the primary school, the secondary school, Higher School Certificate; H.S.C and the University of Ibadan. After his National Youth Service, he sought for and obtained a gainful employment, where he distinguished himself as a career civil servant and got to the climax of his career and retired as a Permanent Secretary. Who is Orji Kalu, who has no pedigree, to say that Governor T.A. Orji 'was nothing and he made him Chief of Staff?' Kalu is just suffering from mental dilapidation.
The Minister of Information; Mr. Labaran Maku, who was on a tour of good governance to Abia State went round the state and saw, not heard, what Ochendo has prudently done with the very meagre resources of the State. We all know Maku as one Nigerian who does not hide his feelings. In the case of Abia State, the Minister, during a Town-Hall meeting with Abians at Michael Okpara Auditorium, Umuahia expressed satisfaction with the numerous achievements of Governor T.A. Orji. The National President of Nigerian Union of Journalists; Mallam Mohammed Garba, openly confessed that Abia State, under Governor T.A. Orji, had been grossly under reported. So, what nonsense is Kalu talking about qualitative leadership? Can be spell qualitative?
Kalu also said he is putting together an organization known as 'Njiko Igbo’. According to him, he wants to use the forum to advance the interest of Ndi Igbo. My reaction to this is that the worst insult that can be metted to the Igbo nation in this nuclear age is for anybody to think that they could listen to a man whose stock-in-trade is only deceit and opportunism. Orji Kalu has nothing to offer the modern man. Has he been able to put his family, in order? For the eight years he supposedly governed Abia State, did anybody see his wife Ifeoma? His mother, who introduced 'mamacracy' in the state, which we have successfully killed, shamelessly acted as his "first lady'.
Kalu's purported re-entry into P.D.P is to forment trouble against President Jonathan who has one hundred percent support of Governor T.A. Orji and Abia P.D.P. This is why he is attacking the Nigerian army so that they could-be withdrawn from the streets of Abia so that he could re-introduce kidnapping which Governor T.A. Orji has successfully stopped. He should, however, realize that as long as P.D.P in Abia State is concerned, he will remain a leprous vagabond.

Abia is great. Always in the news, sign of good things to come. Everybody has interest. A great state indeed!

The enterpreneurship thing flows in the blood of most southeastherner. It's like a gift. With more encouragement and empowerment from govt at all levels, the region can transform to something big in terms of commerce and industry