₦airaland Forum

The Philosophical Significance of Ochendo in Abia Political Equation By Chief (Sir) Don Ubani


History of leadership in Africa is replete with dramatis personae whose roles and dynamics accorded them nomenclatures other than those they had originally been named by their parents. A few example would suffice. Before the examples, it may be necessary to state that these names or titles evolved as a result of the circmstances prevalent at a given time, which nececcitated the emergence of such a leader. In Ghana, formerly known as Gold Coast, colonialism and imperialism had combined to subject her citizens to a various degree of exploitation. They had expected that their traditional rulers and Dr. Joseph B. Danquah; being the most prominent indigeneous political activist at that time, would have come to their rescue. But this was not to be. When, however, Dr. Kwame Nkrumah appeared on the scene, with a clear vision of what he wanted for his people, which, ofcourse, was total liberation and engaging in activities that would lead to his imprisonment before becoming leader of Government Business and later President of Ghana, the Ghanians named him ‘The Osagyefo; meaning ‘The Redeemer’. In Tanzania, due to circumstances not too strange to those of Ghana, Dr. Julius Nyerere was known as ‘The Nwalimu, meaning ‘The Teacher’ and ofcourse, he taught his people the methodology of emancipation from bondage. Jomo Kenyatta of Kenya fought, unabatedly, for the independence of his people and became known as Mzee. The most iconic African figure of moral authority; our own highly reverred Dr. Nelson Mandella is known all over South-Africa and, indeed, the world over as ‘Madiba’. It could, therefore, follow that for any nomenclatural suffic attached to a leader, such a title must have its philosophical undertone and circumstantial originality.

In God’s own State of Abia, the incumbent Governor, Chief (Sir) Theodore Ahamefule Orji, has an appellation that is known as ’Ochendo’. I do not think I may be wrong to assume that this title has gone beyond Abia. This is because a title that is associated with a sitting Governor and has appeared in more than one thousand publications; in the print and electronic media and globally via the internet, cannot be said to be restricted to a geographical environment. Ochendo has, therefore, assumed a very wide usage both within and outside Nigeria.
As may not completely be ruled out, many persons who call Ochendo may not have borthered to ask what the meaning of Ochendo is. Basically, Ochendo is an Igbo word which translates to protection and defence of life. It could be protection against the vagaries of weather, harsh socio-economic conditions or inhumanity arising from man against man. In a literary simplified sense, the umbrella, rain-coat, rain-booth, various forms of generosity, philanthrophy, liberation and defence symbolize Ochendo or as I have always preferred to put it; ‘Ochendoism’.

That Ochendoism has been meaningfully popular and acceptable in Abia State must suggest that it has its philosophical significance in the socio-econo-political existentiallism of the people of the state.

From a pragmatic point of view, it has to be stated that for the collectivity of the above components of Ochendoism to be manifest in the practicality of the philosophy, the principles of collectivism, reconcilliation, justice which incorporates equity, security and peace, economic integration that does not exclude agricultural development, intellectual foundation, commercial enterprise that is not isolated from skill acquisition, effective public service mechanism and equally importantly, synergy between government and the private sector and also co-operation with religious leaders. Ochendoism, from a critical appreciation, has manifested positively in all the social, economic and political firmaments of the Abia dynamics.

Before Governor T. A. Orji’s emergence, the state was devastatingly torn into factions; the major gladiators being the home-based politicians and the Abuja domicilled Abia politicians. There was no love lost between the two. The result of this avoidable rancour was that the State became the victim. But Governor T. A. Orji, being a seasoned tecnocrat and bureaucrat, did not need to consult any oracle to realize that such a cat and dog relationship, if not radically resolved, would continue to constitute a clog on the wheel of the progress of the State. Ochendo quickly reconcilled all the warring factions in the state and, without hesitation, gave every Abia his or her right. The only personality that was inevitably left out in the reconcilliation agenda was the former Governor, whom every well-meaning Abian knows as a man whose interest and ambition are the exact antithesis of collectivism and progress.

Today, Abians speak with one voice, with coherence that means peace arising from equity. Nobody or section, within the frame-work of Ochendoism, complains of marginalization or inequity. To make sure that people conduct their legitimate trades or business uninhibited, the Government of Chief T. A. Orji, spurred by the philosophy of Ochendoism, has practically made seucrity of lives and property a top priority. There is no iota of exaggeration to say that, contemporarilly-speaking, Abia State has emerged from a volatile security state to one of the most secured states of the Nigerian Federation.

As a state, Abia has one of the lowest Federal allocations, despite being an oil-producing state. Before the election of Chief T. A. Orji as Governor, transparency had nothing to do with the financial management of the state. While the former Governor could, as a sitting Governor, buy an Ocean-going vessel and name it after his daughter and even had the temerity of inviting a sitting President to launch the ship at Port-Harcourt, an invitation the President unmistakably turned down, Ochendo is not given to quest for materialism and has, so far, managed the financial fortunes of the state so prudently and transparently that Abia State has been, undeniably, proclaimed by no mean an institution than the National Assembly as one of the few financially healthy states of the Federation. The philosophy of Ochendoism dictates that the State Government and her indigenes cut their coat according to their cloth and not according to their size. Hence the government of Abia State, under Ochendo, has not borrowed money either internally or externally. Ochendoism implies that the successor of Governor T. A. Orji will not be encumbered by an avalange of inherited debts.

In the same vein, Ochendoism demands that the morale of the public servants in the state should be high. This is why, no sooner had Chief T. A. Orji emerged as Governor, than every public servant was automatically promoted to the next salary grade level. The history of public service in Nigeria places Ochendo as the First Governor to display this uncommon generosity. It is equally in this direction that the government pays twenty thousand and one hundred naira as minimum wage to her workers even when the Federal Government has legislated eighteen thousand naira as minimum wage. The morale-boosting agenda of the governor for Abia workers does not end at their wages. The government has gone further to enhance their environmental cum psychological affectation by building a modern secretariat complex for them, reconstructing and refurbishing existing dilapidated offices.

Ochendoism places much emphasis on the educational development of the state. Primary and Secondary education are tuition-free in state-owned institutions. Many of the Schools in the state were built before the Nigerian-Biafran war and have, therefore, become dilapidated. The government of Chief T. A. Orji has been unrelenting in her determination to renovate such school buildings and also build new structures. The Abia State government, inspite of her financial inadequacies, occupies the top-most echelon in the ranks of state governments that own and effectively run tertiary institutions. Under Ochendo, the state government has efficiently coped with the numerous challenges associated with the various compuses of the Abia State University, the rapidly growing Abia State Polytechnic at Aba, the Abia State College of Education (Technical) at Arochukwu and the Abia State College of Health at Aba. These Institutions of higher learning engulp enormous resources of the state yet the philosophy of Ochendoism fires the state Government on.

The philosophy underneath Ochendoism places emphasis on self actualization. To this effect, the government has been motivating agricultural practices. Not too long ago, the state government doled out a one billion naira interest-free loan to genuine farmers in the state. The government has been encouraging profitable development of her palm-plantations, cocoa plantations, rubber plantations, cassava farms and animal husbandry, including fishery. Liberation farms are springing up.

Traders are being encouraged by providing them with large modern markets at Ndume-Ibeku and Ubani-Ibeku. Old markets in the state such as Ariaria International Market, Ekeoha Shopping Centre, Ngwa Road Market, Ohabiam Electronics Market and Ehere Market, all in Aba, are systematically being renovated and modernized. Aba has had a face-lift under Ochendo after many years of infrastructural abandonment and decay. Umuahia now wears the real look of a state capital, unlike what it was before. Ochendoism is synonymous with youth empowerment and gender sensitivity. Before the emergence of Chief T. A. Orji as the Abia helmsman, Abia Youths who were considered very lucky and well connected could only get wheel-barrows. The youths then were made to accept povery and defeatism as an acceptable way of life. But under Ochendoism, Abia Youths have comfortably been made to experience the other side of life. The government of ochendo has exposed them to various forms of skill acquisitoin, ranging from craftmanship to computer technicalities. Apart from skill acquisition, the administration, which outlawed the use of commercial motor-cycles in the urban cities of Umuahia and Aba in order to address crime, has consistently empowered the Abia Youths with donation of hundreds of tricycletes, cars and buses. About five thousand Abia Youths are being paid fifteen thousand naira each per month. These and many other incentives are pragmatic disposition of Ochendoism in addressing youth unemployment and its attedant restiveness.

In the philosophical outlay of Ochendoism is the very strong belief that the health of the citizenry of any given polity determines its success in the pursuit of her set goals. Contingent upon this, the Ochendo administration has, unabatedly, placed premium on the health of Abia people. His government initiated and built the Abia Specialist and Diagnostic Hospital at Umuahia. This hospital is an innovation on its own as there is no ailment that can not be successfully diagnosed in it. It is a very result-oriented partnership between the state government and MECURE OF India. The Abia State University Teaching Hospital at Aba has been enjoying commensurate funding by the state government and recently constructed an elevator to ease the pains of her patients who may be unable to climb the steps. The story there is a comprehensive success.

The hospital at Amachara, which before the emergence of Governor T. A. Orji, was incapable of competing with any well equipped, staffed and managed Health centre, has today been transformed into a Specialist hospital, having the right calibre of medical personnel, equipment and funding. Abandoned General hospitals at Okeikpe, Okpuala-Ngwa, Arochukwu andmany other places have been vigorously renovated and refurbished to make them capable of addressing the health needs of the people. Ochendo’s grass-roots health policy is that every community in the state should have a functional health cenre. Towards the realization of this objective, the government has built about two hundred and fifty health centres, equitably distributed in the three senatorial zones of the state.

In the area of administration, the philosophy of Ochendoism has injected stability and confidence in the system. Prior to the election of Chief T. A. Orji, the State Executive Council could not exceed six months in a stretch and no commissioner was appointed without being taken to a juju shrine to swear to an oath of unconstitutional allegiance to the family of the then governor. It did not stop at that. The intending commissioner was equally required to cough out some reasonable amount of money before being so apppointed. By June 2013, the Commissioners serving in the administration of Governor T. A. Orji would have served two years, having come on board in July 2011. None paid a dime. None was taken to any shrine. There is no gainsaying the fact that the founding fathers of Abia State laid its foundation in their uncompromised faith in God, hence Abia is known as God’s Own State.

Before the advent of Ochendo as Governor, Abia had been forced into a goon’s own state. During that time, the Ogwugwu shrine in Okija in Anambra State had become the official holy temple of the state government. But Ochendoism implies that the people of God’s Own State should worship the God that created Heaven and Earth. The relationship between the government of Ochendo and religious leaders in the state has been unprecedentedly cordial. Ochendo believes so much in the efficacy of Christianity and the Church that he is the only Governor, since the end of the Nigerian-Biafran war, fourty-three years ago, that has successfully handed schools back to their former missionary owners, in the state. He has also handed over hospitals to their former missionary owners. It is also beyond any doubt that he has sponsored the highest number of Christian pilgrims to Israel between 1997 and 2013. Being a quintessential advocate of the Nigerian State and unity, Ochendo has been very generous in the sponsorship of Muslims in the state to Mecca. Many non-indigenes hold political appointments in the state, including execution of big contracts.

Ochendoism appreciates the importance of tourism. Hence the administration of the state does not only encourage investors in this sector but has taken a very bold step by initiating and constructing an international conference centre that will make Abia State a destination point for intellectuals, professionals, administrators, diplomats and business executives.

Summarily put, Ochendoism is the tenacious application of vision, transparency, justice, equity, altruism, intellect, humanity, partnership with the federal government and above all, the fear of God in managing the affairs of a people by its leadership.

5,000 repentant Abia criminals demand amnesty



Abia State Governor Theodore Orji


House of Representatives on Monday said 5,000 repentant criminals in Abia State had petitioned the National Assembly, complaining of non-extension of amnesty to them.

The House said the youth, formerly involved in criminal acts, like kidnapping, voluntarily surrendered their arms in 2010 when the state government offered them amnesty.

Chairman House of Representatives Committee on Public Petitions, Chief Uzor Azubuike, stated this in Umuahia, Abia State on Monday, when members of the committee visited Governor Theodore Orji.

Azubuike said, “We are here because of petitions by over 5,000 Abia youths previously involved in criminal acts. They are complaining that they are not included in the amnesty programme of the Federal Government.

“If they are not listened to, it has the capacity to plunge the nation into crisis. There is danger of a backslide if youths abandoned their criminal acts and nothing is done to resettle them.

“It will be uncanny of the Federal Government to ignore them. The petition is a fallout of your action when you offered the youth amnesty to make them drop crime.”

He commended the governor’s ability to manage crime in the state, saying no other state government had done as much in security matters.

He also commended President Goodluck Jonathan for his youth empowerment programme, which culminated in the amnesty programme of the repentant militants.

Azubuike added, “So we are here today to listen to those petitions from youths from this state. Amnesty office has confirmed that they have the petitions. We are here to see how these youths can be captured in the programme.”

Orji noted that though the state was now peaceful, there was a time when kidnapping was rampant.

The governor said, “That time, Abia became the den of kidnappers; Aba became a ghost city. Every body ran away. I visited Abanta’s place [a member of the committee], there were nobody; they had all fled. I saw only his posters. That was the situation and we fought it. We fought them doggedly.

Meanwhile, while the meeting between the lawmakers and the governor went on, many youths marched to the streets, protesting that their request for amnesty had yet to be addressed by the Federal Government.

T.A ride on,we ar happy with the manner of work you are doing so far....we also believe you are going to achieve greater things than this....

Ochendo Liberation Farms ready in three senatorial zones of Abia State


ABIA State Government says its proposed Ochendo Liberation Farm to be set up in the three senatorial zone of the state is ready and will take off soon.

750 youth have already been selected from across the state to be the pioneer beneficiaries of the scheme.

The farm settlements are located in Abriba, Ukwa and Ikwuano for Abia North, South and Central zones, respectively.

According to the Commissioner for Information, Eze Chikamnayo, who briefed journalists, weekend, in Umuahia, each of the farm settlement has over 30 hectares of land.

According to him, the farms will concentrate mainly on cassava, oil palm, cocoa, cashew which are areas the state already has comparative advantage while they will also go into other sector of agriculture.

Ezechikamnayo also announced that the 750 youth would be trained for nine months, after which they would be given incentives to establish their own farms as a way of empowering them.

Meanwhile, the government has said that it is building 12 modern secondary schools in ten Local Government Areas, with the target of giving the rural poor masses access to good education.source : http://dailypost.com.ng/2013/04/14/ochendo-liberation-farms-ready-in-three-senatorial-zones-of-abia-state/

UMUAHIA- GOVERNOR Theodore Orji of Abia state has urged the new Assistant Inspector General of Police in charge of zone 9, Umuahia to tackle the problem of child trafficking which of recent has started rearing its ugly head in some parts of the state.

Orji told the new AIG, Mr. Tambari Yabo Muhammad who paid him a courtesy visit that after successfully tackling kidnapping in the state, the criminal elements have switched over to child trafficking and pipeline vandalization, saying that it was the responsibility of the security agencies to effectively tackle the criminals.

The Governor said his duty was to provide the necessary logistics and support to the security agencies, which he said his administration has been doing. He said that the government, after fighting kidnappers to standstill, would not tolerate any security relax in any part of the state.

The Governor who condemned the rising incidents of child trafficking and other crimes like pipeline vandalization, urged the police boss to tackle the problems promptly before they gain grounds.

Recently, Governor Orji donated additional patrol vans to the 14 Brigade, Ohafia to enable them tackle the problem of child trafficking and pipe line vandalization as well as other crimes in the state.

Delivering the vehicles, the Governor urged the soldiers to go all out to tackle the crimes and ensure that security in the state was maintained.

Some residents of Ngwa community where child trafficking business is on the rise commended the Governor for his effort in tackling it and other crimes in the state but blamed security agencies in the state, saying that they have relaxed in their zeal towards combating crime.



Security agencies, especially soldiers in the state, particularly at Ukwa/Ngwa area have relaxed in their duties after the initial aggressiveness with which they fought crimes in the state.

“The blame should go to the various security agencies in the state. They have all relaxed after the initial zeal with which they tackled the situation. These criminal have been monitoring and perhaps they have notices some loopholes and want to come back.Though Abia presently is still very safe compared to other states, but the security agencies should wake up and put more effort.

“The governor, from all indications is very passionate about equipping security agencies and providing the necessary logistics for them. This is open as he has always donated vehicles and replaces them when they age a little. This is what a serious minded governor should do. He cannot go and pursue the criminals.

“The security agencies are trying but we don’t want them to relax so that the security and peace we have in Abia which has encouraged investors to come here will be sustained. We urged them to once again move aggressively into the Abia South, particularly, Obingwa, Isialangwa areas and mop up all criminal elements. The government is doing its bit well, this we know”, said Chief Iheukwu Dike, a business man in Aba.source :http://dailypost.com.ng/2013/04/13/governor-orji-tasks-new-aig-on-security-in-abia/

I have been involved in the electronic media. I have worked with Galaxy TV, DBN TV, SilverBird TV, and TV Continental, all in Lagos. I was also the Bureau Chief of DBN Abuja and, of course, served in NTA way back in 1982/1983 and this gave some advantages. I have also worked the now defunct Third Eye Newspaper, Diet Newspapers, which is today the Daily Independent.

How do you feel being the CPS to the governor of Abia state?

First, it is a big honour to me to serve the governor of Abia state, who is well considered a father and also it has helped to showcase me back home. It is a leadership platform for the governor to give people like us who are the youth such a sensitive position. That means, he is also packaging us for leadership, not just in the state, but beyond the state. So, it has been a plus for me and it has also helped me to come home to my own village. This is because, you can stay away and your people know you in Lagos, Abuja, Ibadan, but when you come to your home, nobody know you and you cannot make any positive impact. But the fulfilment is that I am in my little village and I am also contributing to its development in my little way. Thanks to the state governor. Then as the Chief Press Secretary to the governor, it is not quite different as what I have been doing as a journalist, which is also to report the activities of Chief T. A. Orji and that of the state to the public. This is because when a man does so much and people don’t get to know about it, then it doesn’t help the growth of such a state. So, what I am doing is that first and foremost, I am a reporter, I am reporting his activities and also to correct impressions. So it is also a way of reporting events as they are in the state because a lot of people have mindsets, say a lot of things that are not true, a lot of people say things that are not quite true of what is happening in the state.

You came at a time your principal is faced with mounting criticisms from the opposition, how have you been able to cope with these criticisms?

Opposition is part of governance. As journalists, we have covered politics for close to 20 years and somehow we know the terrain a bit. Oppositions are there to do their job, to oppose, even when it is right. So it not just myself alone, but I want to also give credit to my colleagues who are also media aides to the governor. We all rose to the occasion, did our best. The simple magic is that the governor himself is a brand and when you have a brand, you don’t have difficulty selling such a brand. So that has been what really helped us. Now you can see that I don’t know whether we still have opposition in this state. They have even come to acknowledge the fact that yes, the start may be slow, but now it is fast, especially on the developmental level.

How do you react when opposition wrongly criticises the governor?

There is nothing wrong when people say they are critical about a government. Yes, they have to be critical, but at the same time, they must criticize constructively, not just want to be talking so that people will know that you are existing. That is the aspect that people don’t really appreciate. They cannot just wake up and say, ‘Governor Orji has not done anything in the state.’ When people say such a thing, we just laugh at them. They can say that the governor has done 70%, but there are still rooms for more to be done. Yes. We know that work will continue to go on and that was what the governor has promised that he will never relent even as a second term governor. So when the opposition come out with their criticisms which are not factual, ours is to tell them in more dignifying way that saying, “look, you are our brothers. If you have not seen the conference centre in Umuahia, just take a time and go there and see. Probably, you have not been going to the new Umuahia. Please, go there and see. So, that is the difference. We recognize that they are our brothers. We recognize that we are in the same state and nobody is greater than Abia State. So, we talk to them in the language that they would understand. This is a government that is so civil, a government that takes time to carry everybody along, irrespective of who you are. That is why you see the governor, even those who offended him in the past, he forgave them and now works with them. So that is the kind of a personality we have.

Is your principal serving the people the way it should be?

Yes definitely. This is a governor that has made himself uncomfortable for people to be comfortable. Look at the new Government House he is staying in. people know, like he always say, he is trying to remodel, re-do things by making himself uncomfortable for Abians to be comfortable. Look at the resources that come into the state, very meagre, yet he is managing it prudently. Look at the projects he is carrying. And you ask yourself, how much comes into the state; N3.8 billion, pay salaries of N2.5 billion and paying the minimum wage which is very high, N20, 100.00. So he is doing the will of the people, not just that, he is doing the will of God. When you do the will of God and do what the people want, people will be happy with you. So the governor has worked extra mile and will continue to go extra mile to ensure that people are happy at his own discomfort.

You and I know that when you look at this state from the inception, you will say with all boldness that this is one governor who has come and is making a monumental progress, achievement with projects that generations yet unborn will ever be grateful to him. The legacy projects are uncountable. Counting the projects, you will forget most of them. From the High Court to ASEPA building, International Conference Centre, New Government House, upgrading of Amachara General Hospital, Mecure, Abia State Diagnostic Centre and Specialist Hospitals in Aba and Umuahia, High Court in Aba and Umuahia, and the ABSUTH Theater in Aba.

The roads he is doing in Aba, Umuahia, Ikwuano, Isuikwuato and across the 17 LGAs, Ubani Ibeku International Market, industrial Market, the Onhiya Power station, and Onhiya Mechanic station. When you look at some of these things, look at the new Deputy Speaker’s lodge, the new Deputy Governor’s lodge, the State Planning Commission House, the Shoprite that is being built, the abia Hotels that is going on, ASUBEB complex, and E-Library centre. Look at the Ministry of Local government and Chieftaincy Affair that is going on. Look at the upgrading of Arochkwu, Okikpe and other hospitals, the Government College where he is building hostels, and reconstructing classrooms. These will stand the taste of time. Look at the secretariat. These are legacy projects that nobody can take away.

Apart from the financial challenges facing the governor, are there any other challenges?

Well, the challenges are mainly fund. If you have fund, it is just like closing your eyes and opening it, and things are done. This is the major challenge that is facing us, and then that is why the governor, who was in Hopkins University (USA) to deliver a lecture on “The Role of Governance in Nigeria”, made a case for more resources to be given to the states. So, these are some of the issues that are quite challenging, which gladly by God’s grace, the federal government is also looking into it.

What is the magic behind your performance as CPS?

The governor has good publicity, but it is just few people who has their own media, has their own newspaper. They believe that they want to use their paper to overshadow what the governor is doing and for some of us, we are his media men, and his media team. We have a formidable media team which has risen to the occasion. It is not everything that you will place in the public domain. Our secret is our secret.

Do you have challenges in performing your job?

Yes.

Like what?

People tend to feed so much on rumours in the state. I take time to disguise and enter the Keke NAPEP (commercial tricycle) from my village to the office. I do that sometimes. You will hear people say a lot of things that are so out of this world, and you will begin to laugh. So, those are the things we try to correct, we try to make sure that people don’t go to get information from the street. We make information available to them. Most times, I go on air, my colleagues also go on air and people call us, asking all sorts of questions and we put records straight. But it looks as if when you say it, people will say, ‘Oh! It is the Chief Press Secretary that is saying it. It is not really a fact’. Those are the things we are gradually changing and I believe that with time, people will get to know that when people make information available for you, you don’t need to start listening to or going to the beer parlour to pick information you know that is not factual. So those are the challenges that were surmounted by the grace of God.

In the course of your job, have had cause to disagree with the governor?

There is one thing about His Excellency, Gov. T. A. Orji. He is a man that is so humble. The way we relate is like father and a son. Each time he tells me what to do, I do it well. Each time I have also have cause to tell him this is from the professional point of view, he will tell me, ‘You are the journalist, you go and do it. The result is what I want’. So, I have never had cause to feel bad doing my job. You can also see the way we also relate with our colleagues who are working with us. Journalists in Abia state, in terms of getting information, had never had it so good during this period. On every time we out on assignment, every journalist would always talk to the governor and information would be made available to them. It is a fact that the information flow in the state is wonderful. The governor also takes time to address them. Even when the journalists ask questions, the governor also takes time to explain.

People are accusing your principal of recycling old politicians instead of injecting new blood into the system. What is your take on this matter?

This is not true. I am a typical example of Gov. T. A. Orji’s blend of youths and experience. When you say, old politicians, these are the people who have the experience. Some of us are coming up to blend the agility of the youth and experience of the old.

Are expecting the dissolution of the exco in the near future?

A journalist had asked the governor that question, so it is not in my position to re-echo what the governor had said.

What advice do you have for Abians over Governor Orji

They should continue to support the man who is sincere. If you check out the people who have ruled this state, there is one thing about the present governor, he is a Godly man. He is a man who has enthroned Godliness in Abia State. The days of idolatry have gone, days of oath taking have gone and days of worshiping idol are gone. He is sincere about God. When you say this state is God’s own state, he has gone whole circle to make sure that we, not just profess it, but also practice it. So that is one thing Abians should know. If there is nothing else the governor of Abia state has done, the fact that he has taken away Abia from darkness to light with the grace of God is something we all should be proud of. When you are free, you are no longer in bondage, and then you have to thank God. Every other thing that is coming is additional and which he has also shown. There is peace in Abia state. Peace of the mind, political gladiators working together, security is at the highest level.

This is a state that used to be the den of kidnappers, but today we are the safest state, investors are coming, partners are coming, and you see what is happening in other states. We are not happy that it is even happening in other states, but what we are saying is that when it was happening here, it looked as if the state is gone, but today with the help of God, President Goodluck Jonathan, Chief of Army Staff and the governor, things are working well here. So, let us work together to sustain this security and love. Before in Abia you see corpses here and there, but now, they don’t happen again. One man has come to say; “Enough is enough”

H.E T.A. Orji to commission the under-listed completed Road projects on Monday the 15th April 2013 in Aba and Osisioma
Umuahia Imo Border

His Excellency, the Executive Governor of Abia State will in line with his promise to deliver quality dividends of democracy to Abians, commission the under listed completed Road projects tomorrow the 12th April 2013 in Aba and Osisioma

1. Geometric Access Road 2. Brass Street Brass 3. Milverton Ave 4. Azikiwe Road 5. Georges Street 6. Constitution Crescent
Abia, Azikiwe Road Aba, Brass, Milverton road, Osisioma, T.A. Orji

Harnessing Our Regional Abundances/By T.A. Orji The sustained agitation for the manifestation of our regional selling points has never been this feverish. The preponderance of opinions is that it will herald a new vista for Nigeria, if faithfully embraced. Again, it appears to be a prescription, which will strengthen the professed indivisibility, which our country is desirous of protecting. Just recently, the former Vice President of Nigeria, Dr Alex Ekwueme steered a new body in town: Southern Nigeria Peoples Assembly (S.N.P.A) to advocate for a return to the 6 zonal arrangements which the generality of Nigerians sympathizes with. Constant resonation of this reality had always featured in the charismatic devotion of some present-day gubernatorial stewards to inject life into some latent and comatose legacies of their regional heroes past. This is symptomatic of a renewed zeal in Abia State to strengthen Dr. Michael Okpara’s mile-stone in agriculture exemplified by the once vibrant Abia Palm at Ohambele in Ukwa East local government area. This effort is being complemented by a rare initiative of locating farms in each of the 17 local government areas of the state under project “liberation farms”. In my estimation, we stand to substantially reward Nigeria, if there is a deliberate regional effort programmed to maximize the mineral and agricultural competencies of a region devoid of federal encumbrances. A federal structure, which empowers component units to express themselves exploratively and pay economic homage to the centre will in my minds eye, engender healthy competition in the polity and herald a departure from our present monolithic and precarious arrangement which is hopelessly tied to uncertainties of the global oil market. A recent and widely reported decline in America’s demand for Nigeria’s crude drives home the point I am trying to infer. This submission is without prejudice to the demand for even distribution of state creation as against what presently obtains. If anything, it will fast track development in the six geo-political regions, given a foreseeable scenario of regional stakeholders going the extra-mile to maximize the potentials located in their domain. Lord Luggards unification of 1914 meant only the loose affiliation of three distinct administrations of Northern, Western and Eastern regions. Consequently, each region was still administered by a lieutenant governor, who bestrided independent government services. This latitude enabled each governor to coordinate virtually autonomous entities that had overlapping economic interests, but little in common politically or socially. However, our reception of democratic tenets as ingredients of political and economic development will make it imperative for its replication in all geo-political entities of the country. Consequently, while we seek to deregulate the economic atmosphere of each region, our shared democratic values will be administered nationally for constant promotion and maintenance of our national identity. As earlier on somewhere highlighted the inevitability of synergy, in the face of dwindling economic resources, has become imperative. In a lecture, I, delivered, during the public policy forum of Business Hallmark, July 4th, 2012, I did observe that the need to seek integration of contiguous states, especially those already bonded together by cultural and historical affiliations has become unavoidably expedient for states to be in a position to harness and accelerate their economic development. Having constituted a look at the past and how it compares with the present, it is obviously evident that at the point of independence, the colonial British and Nigerian nationalist routed for a broad based federal system of government. Each of the regions, through their inaugural heroes, sought to exploit their potentials to develop and this ushered Nigeria into the healthy era of celebrating regional competencies. The north covered up for agricultural deficiencies, prevalent in other regions, and we could hear of the groundnut pyramid, which featured prominently in Nigeria’s foreign exchange earnings. Same spirit of enterprise played out in the Eastern Part of Nigeria as it was widely reported that by 1960, Chief Michael Okpara, Premier of defunct eastern region, had laid a solid foundation, upon which the economy of the region stood without mineral resources. The strength of then eastern region motivated many political and economic permutations to posit that the region will ultimately actualize Nigeria’s long held desire to be among the most industrialized countries of the world. We could also hear of the cocoa merchants in the west ably piloted through the foresight arising from the well-established Odu’a Investment Company, in 1965. Odu’a Blue chip subsidiaries spanned publishing, manufacturing, and properties such as the western house in broad street Lagos, cocoa house in Ibadan Oyo State and other industrial concerns like Durosyn paint and Polyplast, Airport Hotel Ikeja and so on. A praise worthy resilience and tenacity of purpose have kept some of Odu’a Investments going, while many have also gone the way of others. Given the enormity of merits located in revisiting a reformed regional structure, it has become unavoidably necessary to stimulate a healthy debate in that direction. A broad based national conviction will usher in a sincere adoption, as investments will be directed to regions with comparative advantage for a significant rise in the nations’ productive capacity. Let us remember that at independence when regions prospered, it was simply because each of them found a reason to prosper through collaborations with the contiguous localities, and the federal government was undoubtedly the beneficiary in its transformed economy. Consequently, leaders of the regions saw no attraction in operating from the centre. We can, if we put our minds to it. T.A. Orji the Governor of Abia wrote in from Umuahia..


Harnessing Our Regional Abundances/By T.A. Orji
The sustained agitation for the manifestation of our regional selling points has never been this feverish. The preponderance of opinions is that it will herald a new vista for Nigeria, if faithfully embraced. Again, it appears to be a prescription, which will strengthen the professed indivisibility, which our country is desirous of protecting.

Just recently, the former Vice President of Nigeria, Dr Alex Ekwueme steered a new body in town: Southern Nigeria Peoples Assembly (S.N.P.A) to advocate for a return to the 6 zonal arrangements which the generality of Nigerians sympathizes with.

Constant resonation of this reality had always featured in the charismatic devotion of some present-day gubernatorial stewards to inject life into some latent and comatose legacies of their regional heroes past. This is symptomatic of a renewed zeal in Abia State to strengthen Dr. Michael Okpara’s mile-stone in agriculture exemplified by the once vibrant Abia Palm at Ohambele in Ukwa East local government area. This effort is being complemented by a rare initiative of locating farms in each of the 17 local government areas of the state under project “liberation farms”.

In my estimation, we stand to substantially reward Nigeria, if there is a deliberate regional effort programmed to maximize the mineral and agricultural competencies of a region devoid of federal encumbrances. A federal structure, which empowers component units to express themselves exploratively and pay economic homage to the centre will in my minds eye, engender healthy competition in the polity and herald a departure from our present monolithic and precarious arrangement which is hopelessly tied to uncertainties of the global oil market. A recent and widely reported decline in America’s demand for Nigeria’s crude drives home the point I am trying to infer.

This submission is without prejudice to the demand for even distribution of state creation as against what presently obtains. If anything, it will fast track development in the six geo-political regions, given a foreseeable scenario of regional stakeholders going the extra-mile to maximize the potentials located in their domain.

Lord Luggards unification of 1914 meant only the loose affiliation of three distinct administrations of Northern, Western and Eastern regions. Consequently, each region was still administered by a lieutenant governor, who bestrided independent government services. This latitude enabled each governor to coordinate virtually autonomous entities that had overlapping economic interests, but little in common politically or socially.

However, our reception of democratic tenets as ingredients of political and economic development will make it imperative for its replication in all geo-political entities of the country. Consequently, while we seek to deregulate the economic atmosphere of each region, our shared democratic values will be administered nationally for constant promotion and maintenance of our national identity.

As earlier on somewhere highlighted the inevitability of synergy, in the face of dwindling economic resources, has become imperative. In a lecture, I, delivered, during the public policy forum of Business Hallmark, July 4th, 2012, I did observe that the need to seek integration of contiguous states, especially those already bonded together by cultural and historical affiliations has become unavoidably expedient for states to be in a position to harness and accelerate their economic development. Having constituted a look at the past and how it compares with the present, it is obviously evident that at the point of independence, the colonial British and Nigerian nationalist routed for a broad based federal system of government.

Each of the regions, through their inaugural heroes, sought to exploit their potentials to develop and this ushered Nigeria into the healthy era of celebrating regional competencies. The north covered up for agricultural deficiencies, prevalent in other regions, and we could hear of the groundnut pyramid, which featured prominently in Nigeria’s foreign exchange earnings.

Same spirit of enterprise played out in the Eastern Part of Nigeria as it was widely reported that by 1960, Chief Michael Okpara, Premier of defunct eastern region, had laid a solid foundation, upon which the economy of the region stood without mineral resources. The strength of then eastern region motivated many political and economic permutations to posit that the region will ultimately actualize Nigeria’s long held desire to be among the most industrialized countries of the world.

We could also hear of the cocoa merchants in the west ably piloted through the foresight arising from the well-established Odu’a Investment Company, in 1965. Odu’a Blue chip subsidiaries spanned publishing, manufacturing, and properties such as the western house in broad street Lagos, cocoa house in Ibadan Oyo State and other industrial concerns like Durosyn paint and Polyplast, Airport Hotel Ikeja and so on.

A praise worthy resilience and tenacity of purpose have kept some of Odu’a Investments going, while many have also gone the way of others.

Given the enormity of merits located in revisiting a reformed regional structure, it has become unavoidably necessary to stimulate a healthy debate in that direction. A broad based national conviction will usher in a sincere adoption, as investments will be directed to regions with comparative advantage for a significant rise in the nations’ productive capacity.

Let us remember that at independence when regions prospered, it was simply because each of them found a reason to prosper through collaborations with the contiguous localities, and the federal government was undoubtedly the beneficiary in its transformed economy. Consequently, leaders of the regions saw no attraction in operating from the centre. We can, if we put our minds to it.

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 work in Abia state to compare with the past governor who came here with a shimmer of initial gar-gra that that they past immediate governor used in siphoning our money...i just pray to God for T.A to not relent....let him strife for more excellent and precision ...................kudos T.A
WE HAVE INSTALLED DIALYSIS MACHINES AT ABSUTH- ORJI On Tuesday, Abia State governor, Theodore Orji noted that the basic problem plaguing the nation’s health sector was disharmony among the various categories of workers in the health institutions. Orji made the assertion in a keynote address at the 2013 health week organised by the state branch of the Medical and Health Workers’ Union of Nigeria in Umuahia. The governor, represented by the state’s Commissioner for Health, Dr Okechukwu Ogah, urged the workers to recoup the huge investment made in the sector by the government. He said the state government had invested much in equipping the hospitals. ``Everybody must not depend on the federal allocation as the only source of revenue to pay the workers. ``We have installed dialysis machines at the Abia State University Teaching Hospital, Aba. “We also have dialysis machines at Abia State Specialist Hospital, Umuahia and these can help to generate revenue,’’ he said. The governor added that his administration had constructed and equipped 250 primary health centres in addition to the existing ones in the 17 council areas. Orji said the state ministry of health would soon commence free screening for diabetes, hypertension and high blood pressure. He said the programmes were in line with the administration’s goals of promoting healthy living among the people. - Source: Leadership
WE HAVE INSTALLED DIALYSIS MACHINES AT ABSUTH- ORJI

On Tuesday, Abia State governor, Theodore Orji noted that the basic problem plaguing the nation’s health sector was disharmony among the various categories of workers in the health institutions.

Orji made the assertion in a keynote address at the 2013 health week organised by the state branch of the Medical and Health Workers’ Union of Nigeria in Umuahia.

The governor, represented by the state’s Commissioner for Health, Dr Okechukwu Ogah, urged the workers to recoup the huge investment made in the sector by the government.

He said the state government had invested much in equipping the hospitals.

``Everybody must not depend on the federal allocation as the only source of revenue to pay the workers.

``We have installed dialysis machines at the Abia State University Teaching Hospital, Aba.

“We also have dialysis machines at Abia State Specialist Hospital, Umuahia and these can help to generate revenue,’’ he said.

The governor added that his administration had constructed and equipped 250 primary health centres in addition to the existing ones in the 17 council areas.

Orji said the state ministry of health would soon commence free screening for diabetes, hypertension and high blood pressure.

He said the programmes were in line with the administration’s goals of promoting healthy living among the people. - Source: Leadership

Those who have ears have heard and taken into account what the governor T.A ORJI has said ,its a golden advice and only the wise will heed the the counsel of the wise.He has well spoken

people should not allow sentiment lead them all the time,we should take into account that T.A has had things to look back on and be proud,but in this view i think he has made a good remark on the issue of boko haram and i think the Igbos that live in North should listen to his word of advice and come back home

there is nothing bad about what T.A has just said....i support him.....he has well said

WHY MUST PEOPLE BE SO HATEFUL FOR NOTHING,WHAT IS WRONG IN T.A ADVISING IGBOS TO LEAVE NORTH..I THINK HE HAS MADE A VERY COMMENDABLE STATEMENT.....THANKS TO HIM

people are busy fighting their hatred and they think they are struggling over Abia state government....if you have been of the fact that T.A is not working ,try to make a good assessment of what the past governor did and use it to analyze right...we know T.A had not been the fantastic governor people had envisage but he has been committed to transforming Abia state...and we all are seeing that he is working assiduously .

Governor Theodore Orji welcomes Foreign investors...

Foreign investors are poised to invest in Abia state as an outcome of their discussions with Governor Theodore Orji during his visit to the United States.
Governor Theodore Orji gave this indication in an interview with newsmen shortly on his return from the United States of America where he spent his vacation with his wife, Mercy.
He said that he had fruitful discussions with some of the investors who are due in the state in due course to do their fusibility studies.

The governor who made his feelings known about the crisis in the PDP said that it is not true that PDP governors absconded from the reconciliation meeting recently organized and maintained that the governors are still PDP members.

He stated that the party is still in charge and argued that what is happening in the PDP is not peculiar to the party as it is also obtains in the other parties.

According to him, the PDP is dynamic and has no problem as it will weather the storm and come out strongly.

On the arrest of perpetrators of the alleged gang rape of an ABSU female student by the police, the governor extolled the police for ascertaining that the incident did not take place in Abia state.

By that act, he said, Abia has been vindicated, adding that those who accused Abia falsely would now hide their face in shame.

He urged journalists to be factual in their reports.

Orji accuses works minister of neglecting Abia roads


Abia state governor, Chief Theodore Orji, has accused the Minister of Works, Mr. Mike Onolememen, of deliberately refusing to visit the state since he was appointed minister to avoid facing the people over the dilapidated condition of federal roads in the state.

Orji told the minister to continue to avoid visiting the state if he so decides, but warned that he would “enter in the bad book of the state and its people if the 65 kilometre Ohafia- Arochukwu road flagged off at the weekend is not completed as budgeted.”

Governor Orji who spoke at the flag-off of Nkporo-Abriba-Ohafia and Ohafia-Arochukwu federal roads wondered why the minister has not visited Abia State since over two years that he assumed office even when the state has many federal roads yearning, as it were, for attention.

The governor who also expressed disappointment that the minister could not use the opportunity of flagoff of the two roads to visit Abia and see things for himself, also said he wanted to send a representative when he got information that the minister was not coming but changed his mind because “my people are involved and the roads are for them”.

His word:”The minister (of works) has not visited Abia state for once, at least to see things for himself because seeing is believing. If he comes, we will take him to the sites, he will see things himself. Why he is not visiting Abia state? I don’t know,” he lamented. source http://nationalmirroronline.net/new/orji-accuses-works-minister-of-neglecting-abia-roads/

this is s good development;after many years ,after many year of rulership by past governors,its on T.A regime that many of these are happening.....

ABIA state is not owing teachers any salaries,i think this should be coming from mouth watering liars who only revel in maligning the state government becos of their personal interest and hatred for the state..ABIA state government owes no salaries of teachers..

MOMENT OF TRUTH
In this moment of truth and in the spirit of Easter, OUK should tell us who his real father is. We know that his brother Mascot is fathered by Mascot Ikwechegh .

HRM Eze Ukomadu, the traditional ruler of Akpa Mbator, Obingwa LGA says he fathered OUK. If Odiuko is too ill to say the truth, can OUK tell us the truth or beta still subject himself to paternity test. Or is he still maintaining that his true father is d late Nnnana Kalu of Abiriba?

The Medical and Dental Council of Nigeria has approved Abia State Specialist Hospital & Diagnostic Centre for medical internship training
The Abia State Specialist and Diagnostic Centre Umuahia
Abia Specialist Hospital Equipment
The Medical and Dental council of Nigeria has approved Abia state specialist Hospital and Diagnostic centre for medical internship training.
In a statement by the chief press secretary to the governor, Ugochukwu Emezue the state chief executive, Chief TA Orji commended the council for the approval.
The governor stated that this development is a big boost to his administration’s quest to bring health to the door step of every Abian.
Chief Orji said that the internship accreditation team from the Medical and Dental Council of Nigeria, that visited Abia specialist Hospital and Diagnostic centre in February 2013, were impressed with what they saw, hence the council’s approval for the hospital to be accredited for medical internship training of sixteen house officers.
The Abia state number one citizen hinted that his administration is not resting its oars, as it is determined to take the Abia Specialist Hospital and Diagnostic Centre to an enviable height.
He urged Abians to continue to support his administration’s health projects as exemplified in the current upgrading of Amachara, Arochukwu and Okeikpe General Hospitals, and the establishment of over 250 health canters.
END28/3/13

No Internal Problem In PDP – Gov Orji


Abia State governor, Chief Theodore Orji, declared yesterday, that ruling Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, had no internal problem.

He also denied that PDP governors boycotted the one year anniversary celebration organised by the Bamanga Tukur led executive of the party.

Orji, who spoke to reporters in Umuahia shortly after he returned from his trip to the United States of America, explained that PDP governors did not boycott the anniversary of the party’s leadership but blamed the poor attendance by PDP governors on inadequate notice.

“It is not correct to say that PDP governors boycotted the ceremony. The notice did not go round. It is also not correct to say that the governors are running away from PDP.

“The governors are still strong members of PDP and PDP is still very strong. PDP has no problem within its house,” Orji explained.

He said what was happening currently in the party was what usually happened in a big family that would make it stronger at last.

The governor also disclosed that he used his trip to the USA to discuss with potential investors in different sectors of the state and expressed the hope that some of them would soon be visiting the state for feasibility studies.


On local government elections, Governor Orji assured that the state would conduct one but did not say when.

The governor spoke on the unraveling of the celebrated gang-rape incident wrongly linked to the state university, ABSU, saying the shame now was on those who maligned the state without proper investigation of the incident.
He commended the police for doing a good job in unraveling the ugly incident.

Opposition parties COMMEND Gov Orji for his GOOD work in Abia.


Opposition parties in Abia State have come together under a yet-to-be-identified umbrella, to APPRECIATE Abia State Governor, Chief Theodore Orji. The parties are All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP), Congress for Progressive Change (CPC), All Progressive Grand Alliance (APGA), Democratic Peoples Party (DPP) and Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN).

Leadership of the parties met yesterday in Umuahia, the state capital and agreed to form a formidable body that would ensure that PDP remains the BEST whether the merger agreement at the national worked or not. They came out with a seven-point communique which lamented that there was good governance in Abia and Nigeria, that they would always appreciate good governance, that all Abia opposition parties were now one, that process of merging would be peaceful and that meeting of the group would be going on at all levels, etc.

The leadership of each of the parties spoke strongly in support of the project as they all agreed that the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) had NOT failed the state. Others who spoke during the meeting were floor members, representatives of the women group and representatives of the youths.

They agreed that the only state in the South East that change for good was Abia State and implored the people to be steadfast in what they were doing. ANPP was represented by its state Chairman, Chief Cassidy Agbai, CPC by Mr. Kalu Kalu, DPP by Chief Ikonne Okechukwu, APGA by Chief Ozo Obata while ACN was represented by Chief Egwuatu Egbulefu. Speaking earlier, Egbulefu said that Igbos had come together in a meeting to agree that wherever there was GOOD governance in the South East, they would ensure the establishment of good governance by SUPPORTING the leadership in that state.

“The decision is that whether parties merge or not, Igbos have merged to bring about good governance for our people, by SUPPORTING Gov T.A. Orji, We are here because we want our first meeting to be on neutral ground,” Egulefu said. They implored everyone to go to their wards and talk to people, stating that they should welcome everybody, including those coming to spy on them because when they come, they would realize that the coming together of the Igbos was for the good of all.

Speaking on the process of merger going on at the national level, Egbulefu said every party involved in the arrangement would hold a convention, return their certificate of registration and fuse into one another to become one entity. According to him, if this worked out, the new party would accommodate all principal people in the various parties that had come together.
Speaking that, whether merging or no merging, we will always support PDP and also the State leader Chief T.A. Orji( Ochendo) for the wondrous work going on in Abia!

It is pertinent for us to look back at what Abia state was before and now and then lets make our assessment to know if truly Abia state has made a tremendous effort to moving the state forward or not...things might have not being fast tracked as we have expected but the consistency of progress and steadiness is a hallmark that shows commitment and eagerness to continually bring the ever needed development the state wants....am quite impressed by what i see...

what i have here shows that the Abia state government is doing a good job to give Abia state a facelift.

SEE WHAT OUK DID WITH ABIAS MONEY
In the USA,
1.Bought a Ranch at Potmac Maryland
2.Ranch at Sugarland for ODIUKO
3.Sea Side Building at Charlotte, for Mascot
4.?A house at North Carolina for Nnanna
IGBERE
.150 bed room at Camp Neya
ABUJA/LAGOS
1.20 Blocks of Duplexes of six bedroom flats at Asokoro Ext.
2.5 nos of Shopping Plaza @ Wuse I and II
3.2 duplexes @ Asokoro. One called Zena Court is a stone throw from Abia Lodge
4.15 block duplex Lekki Phase I, Lagos
Little wonder OUK left debt of
11 months salary arrears at Aba North
Five months arrears all other LGs
N6B Pension arrears
Abians, OUK was busy buying properties while CIVIL SERVANTS suffered.

TAO will resign if you prove he bought one single property anywhere in the world. months salary arrears at Aba North
Five months arrears all other LGs
N6B Pension arrears
Abians, OUK was busy buying properties while CIVIL SERVANTS suffered.

TAO will resign if you prove he bought one single property anywhere in the world.

The pictures am seeing below are great,they show and prove that T.A is working....am so happy about it.....the false false pictures above ,the eye sour ones and their claims have been dismissed by the beautiful photos of good roads that are shown above,these shows that T.A working.......people should not mind idiots who cast aspersion and try to derogate the good work of the state government.They can not deceive us

Abia State Government donates security vans to Nigerian Army

Abia State Government under the leadership of Governor Theodore Orji has donated security vans equipped with sophisticated communication gadgets to the Nigerian Army to sustain security and maintain peace in the state especially in the rural areas.

While handing over the keys of the vehicles to the commander, 14 brigade of the Nigerian Army- Ohafia, at the Government house, Umuahia, the Governor said the vehicles would assist them to fight crime in Abariba axis and it’s environs.

Gov. Orji commended the commandant for his effort in maintaining peace and security, urging him to aggressively attack child trafficking in the state.

He assured the army commandant of government continuous support towards ensuring a crime free Abia state.

Receiving the vehicles on behalf of the Nigerian Army, the commander, 14 Brigade of the Nigerian Army, Ohafia, Brig Gen. Jubrin Tanko Abubakar thanked the Governor for his support and proactive steps towards enhancing effective security in the state and assured him that there would be zero tolerance regarding all acts of criminality in the state.

He however appealed to the Governor to assist the Nigerian Army in the establishment of FOB for soldiers for effective command and control of Abariba and neighbouring villages.

WHAT A GOOD WORK AM SEEING HERE,KUDOS TO T.A ORJI....THIS IS ACTION THAT SPEAKS LOUDER THAN VOICE...IT IS INDEED WHAT OUK COULD NOT DO,T.A HAD DONE IT

OUK wont stop amusing us. He claims to be the father of Abia and IGBOS.
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OUK wont stop amusing us. He claims to be the father of Abia and IGBOS.

Johnson Nsiegbe, his father died in abject penury. On 20th Jan 2011 he was buried like a fowl, no fanfare, no trumpeters,no mourners . OUK and his mother for the reason of one nonsense cult refused to see his corpse.

Now, he is forcing MASCOT on us. Father indeed. Father our foot.
OUK, Igbere Ebiri despise you for being a disgrace!

Abia Introduces Autoreg to Improve Internal Revenue


Abia State has introduced Auto-Registration (AutoReg) of all vehicle categories with the hope that the innovation would contribute significantly to help realise its internally generated revenue (IGR) target of N1 billion per month.

The Chairman of Abia State Board of Internal Revenue (BIR), Udochukwu Ogbonna, said that AutoReg would reduce the perennial revenue leakages which the state has been contending with over the years due to activities of revenue touts and their collaborators in the civil service.

He said revenue touts have been sacked from all the premises of the motor licensing authority across the state, adding that the era of issuing fake licences was over.

Ogbonna warned members of the public not to patronise the touts who are always milling around tax offices soliciting for vulnerable motorists who they will exploit and in most cases issue them with fake vehicles papers.

"As I'm talking to you we have many fake motor licence plates we have retrieved from people who have come to renew their vehicle particulars," he said, warning that the board would descend heavily on touts found still milling around licensing offices.

According to him, a task force has already been constituted to deal with the problem of touting and they have received the mandate to clear the touts from all premises of the licensing authority.

The BIR boss noted that AutoReg was already in vogue in at least 26 states of the federation and the system has proven to be very effective; hence Abia has deemed it necessary to key into the new system in order to reap from the many benefits, including identifying stolen vehicles.

"If a car that is registered in Abia state is stolen and taken to any of the states that operates AutoReg, (for registration), as the engine and chassis numbers are logged into the system it will show that the car has been registered before," he explained.

The BIR chairman also said that AutoReg system is fool proof in revenue leakages as it has no room for the staff of the board to collect cash from customers, who now have to pay the requisite registration fees in the banks, collect receipts and use the document to process their vehicle registration.

He said that the revenue courts and the security agencies are working in tandem to assist the state in the implementation of the IGR policy of government, adding that defaulters would be prosecuted in any of the five revenue courts and those found guilty would be punished accordingly.

OUK IS AN ARDENT LIAR

ORJI UZOR KALU told us his biz acumen was to make Abia fastest growing economy .He lied :
1. He stole equipment meant for Abia Newspapers and used it to establish SUN NEWSPAPER
2. SUN lied that ABSU students raped a girl.SUN lied that army harassed ABSU students.The ORJI UZOR KALU told us that his dynasty would rule Abia 36 years .That's another lie.When will ORJI UZOR KALU stop lying ?
ABIA WEEPS