Opinion: Why T.A Orji should represent his people in the Senate

by Chuks Nwagbara

Theodore-Orji_abia_channelstv

In a few weeks hence, on May 29, 2015; the curtain will be drawn on the administration of His Excellency, Chief T. A. Orji, Ochendo, as the governor of Abia State when his successor will be simultaneously sworn-in. It is, therefore, time to stop short, take stock and undertake a critical look at the eight-year rule of the Third Executive Governor of Abia State.

The foray of this thorough-bred public servant, Theodore Ahamefule Orji, into politics in 2006 when he exchanged the starchy formal attire of the civil servant for the flowing garb of the politicos to contest for governorship of the state was perhaps in response to the exhortation of France’s foremost military and political leader of the last century, Charles de Gaulle, that Politics is too serious a matter to be left to politicians. And against the odds and even whilst in incarceration, he emerged as the state governor in 2007. And in the three years that followed, Theodore Orji, went through the crucible of interminable litigation and the unconscionable vice-like grip of a grasping god-father whose appetite for rent seeking needed to be curbed for the state to make any meaningful headway.

Posterity will caste His Excellency in the mould of a giant of mammoth achievements in terms of his politics and social and economic policies and programmes. Shaking off the shackles that hitherto held him and his state in virtual bondage, Governor T. A. Orji moved swiftly to re-draw the political map of Abia State and weave such an all-embracing coalition that accommodated all shades of political opinion and had more or less banished political opposition in the state.

Having liberated his state and re-engineered its polity, T. A. Orji next turned his attention to the vexed question of insecurity, rightly realizing that economic development will hardly take place without adequate security for lives and properties. That was at a time the state had gained national notoriety as a bastion of kidnapping, armed robbery and other violent crimes. But, in a deft move that has continued to elicit interest and studies from crime control experts around the globe, His Excellency was able to wipe out these crimes as if with a magic wand.

There is no doubt that just as fire tests and purifies gold has Ochendo’s heart of gold as governor been forged in the furnace presented by his fiery trial and tribulation in those turbulent early years of his mounting of the saddle. That experience, more than anything else, went a long way to refine his persona,broaden his horizon and shape his leadership precepts. It is also responsible for his bridge-building politics and compassionate governance that have injected new meanings to the science and art of politics in the state; which no doubt will remain a subject of study by students of politics for years to come.

Whilst unlike what was obtainable in the past, it is perhaps, no longer fashionable for politicians of this era to coin slogans with an -ISM suffix as the mantra to define and explain their social, political and economic credo or doctrine; it would nevertheless be perfectly in order, and indeed, needful to correctly define and situate OCHENDOISM in its proper context. Indeed, Ochendoism may be described as the brand of politics which is defined not by the standard creed of “live and let live” but by the higher canon of “live and help live”. For, Ochendo’s politics is a study in the politics of the   engendering of a political amity that has created socio-economic room for his peers, contemporaries and even rivals as well as the uplift of the middle class and the empowerment of the less privileged.

Ochendoism was at work in the inclusionary politics which ensured that almost every politician of note in the state is accommodated under the same umbrella, Ochedoism is alive and well in the delivery of standard government structures and facilities for the enhanced service delivery such as the new secretariat and other public buildings for civil servants, the courts, ASEPA, new Governor’s Lodge etc. Ochedoism is no mere sloganeering when we see first class health facilities including cutting-edge equipment for dialysis, eye services and reference diagnostic laboratories in the specialist hospitals in Umuahia and Aba or the fully equipped and functional general hospitals in the urban centres or the innumerable primary health care centres that dot the length and breadth of the state. The several kilometres of completed and ongoing network of urban and rural roads bears no less a testimony, amid a host of other interventions, projects and programmes such as the airport and seaport projects that are geared to explode commerce and industry and generate thousands of jobs in the state. It is now the historic responsibility of his successor and his in-coming team to continue from where Ochendo will drop the baton come May 29th.

Indeed, the close examination of the politics and policies of Ochendo will show a deliberate political goal that has dovetailed with an articulate economic development programme, and which in turn has laid a solid groundwork for the sustainable development of the State and deliver a massive socio-economic impetus. Surely and steadily, the social and physical infrastructure put in place by the Ochendo administration has vastly unshackled the state’s economy and opened it up for the private sector to more robustly play its critical role of employment generation and wealth creation.

Thankfully, many Abians at home and in the Diaspora as well as other Nigerians are now giving Ochendo the credit he deserves for his carefully designed and diligently pursued social agenda and economic policies, which fruits are evident in every sector and strata of Abia State. In fact, many discerning observers including those who do not necessarily share the same political tent with the governor admit that his administration, despite grave challenges, has largely succeeded in the process of laying a solid foundation for the emergence of a strong and vibrant Abia State.

It is perhaps in recognition of the aphorism which states that “the reward for good service is higher service” or as succinctly put by Jonas Edward Saik, the great American Medical Researcher and Scientist who gave the world the Polio Vaccine,when he remarked that The reward for work well done is the opportunity to do more that his people prevailed upon T. A. Orji, Ochendo, to offer himself to continue to serve them in the next dispensation on a higher national pedestal as a Distinguished Senator of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. It will therefore be a thing of great joy that the electorate of Abia Central Senatorial Zone, would turn out en masse and vote massively for this favourite son of the zone in the forthcoming general election of April 28, 2015.

————————-

 

Op-ed pieces and contributions are the opinions of the writers only and do not represent the opinions of Y!/YNaija.

Comments (4)

  1. Mr. Chuks, I have just one question for you. Where do you live?

    1. Am telling yu Ask dat fool Chuks to tell us where he lives, coz definitely he doesnt stay in Aba.

  2. @tymz I wonder who usually write dis shits. I stay/live in Aba nd am yet to C any of D works yu say T.A Orji has done. Please lets stop spreading false rumours coz its not gud dat people wld hear somtin nd C anoda tin datz totally different. T.A is hated by almost everybody in Aba, its not wat am tellin yu hear, com nd ask @least 10 people in Aba wat dey feel abt him, nd please just wait for der response. Lets just stop all dis false praise we give all dis failed humans. Peace we preach.

  3. Ochendu is a deceiver I don’t know what your talking about

Leave a reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

cool good eh love2 cute confused notgood numb disgusting fail