Abia State Governor, Ochendo Theodore Orji, has been in the eye of the storm since he took over the mantle of leadership of that beleaguered state. First, he was elected governor while serving a contrived political incarceration. Second, he survived the onslaught of his erstwhile godfather, Orji Uzor Kalu, who allegedly insisted on tying him to his apron strings. Now it is kidnappers. In spite of all these, he has continued to make giant strides. In this interview with JAMES UME, he explains how his administration is striving to complete most of the projects it embarked on.
Why did you decide to reconstruct Federal Government roads?
We should not leave everything to the Federal Government, because these roads are in Abia and are being used by Abians. So, the state government on that particular note decided to repair these roads. The ones we have the capacity to do, we do. The Bende Road that we did is about three or four kilometres.
?
Have you applied to the Federal Government for refund?
I have not applied for refund on the Bende Road, but I have applied for the ones we did. However, the Federal Government is yet to pay for any of the projects though it has promised to pay.
?
Normalcy seems to have returned to Abia State, What next?
You see, one thing is to secure the state and another thing is to sustain the security. Because if you don’t sustain the security, it will collapse and you go back to square one. The kidnappers are still around and if they don’t see you as serious, they will come back. You have to sustain the security.?
And how do you sustain it? You know, we have to keep these things secret to ourselves because when you now reveal them, these kidnappers, some of them are literate and read the papers. They read these papers and go and change their tactics.
So, we keep our plans to our chest. But the major thing is for you to be in tandem with the security agents.? You have to discuss with them, help them, and provide logistics for them. And to the Police, give them vehicles, funds, buy communication equipment and provide welfare for them; the same for the army.
You have to empower them to fight because it is a question of do or die. If you meet a kidnapper, he either kills you or you kill him. But we want the security agents to kill them so we have to equip them (security agents). So that is the first and foremost thing that we are doing and we are grateful that the Federal Government has reactivated the army barracks in Ohafia, the 43 Brigade.?
We are helping the soldiers there so that if there is any security threat anywhere, you just phone the Brigadier General there. If it is in Aba, they are there in Ngwa High School; they are also there in Ukwa, along the road and also in Obingwa.
So the soldiers are all over the state and this has contributed greatly to the maintenance of law and order in the state. We are also supporting the Police and State Security Service (SSS) with the provision of vehicles because they have to be mobile to curb crimes in the state. We make sure that the security agencies are there on ground.
We also sensitise the public on the need to provide the security agencies with information about the criminals. The kidnappers are not spirits; they are known and when they get this money, they give them to people around so that they don’t reveal their secrets.
So, we as government, we try to outdo them by giving more. We give more to these people whom they give money to hide their identity; we give them more and they will come and tell you where they are. We also sensitise the traditional rulers and others to give us what information they have on these criminals.
???
What has been the cost implication of safeguarding the state?
We don’t give such things out but if you are security conscious, you will know how much it costs you to put burglary proof in your house; you know how much it takes you to put bullet proof doors; you know how much it takes you to maintain and feed a dog everyday just to protect you. You can now think of a government protecting its citizens.
Then you’ll know how much we are putting into security. It is an expensive project and a project where you don’t look at money because if you look at money, you will not succeed. You look at your people and the agony on their faces because of insecurity and you take their money and pump into that place to salvage their situation.
So, the money we are spending on security is not for public consumption, if not I would have told you.? But I know that we are pumping in money to sustain the security project.? We pushed in money to reach the level we are right now and we are putting in more money to maintain this level. It has not been easy but I am happy that what we are doing is yielding dividends.
?
Respond to the allegation that Aba is not on the radar? of your development programme?
Who said that? Tell me. We have pumped a lot of money into infrastructure in Aba more than any other place in Abia. We have pumped a lot of money into the place. But the degree of dilapidation and neglect and negligence and the type of lifestyle of Aba people all have contributed to the state of Aba today.
We provide refuse disposal dumps for them but they prefer to put their refuse in the gutters, blocking the drainages. The people of Aba are not conversant with building plans; they build on top of drainage, hence flood water cannot flow.
That is why you see Aba being flooded every time. If you go there now this rainy season, the place is flooded. And when the road is flooded, the asphalt will just go under two to three years depending on the quality of roads you have built.
You’ve heard about this Ukwu Mango [in Aba] but I don’t know whether you were there when it was repaired. You will not believe that the place is a road. It took the construction company working there three full weeks of daily activities to clear the refuse there before excavating and getting to the red soil proper. So in a situation like that, will you perform magic overnight?? You cannot.
And remember that there are other local government areas to be taken care of in the state. These people voted for us and you must touch their lives. You give to Aba the major share because it is the commercial city; you give to Umuahia because it is the state capital and you give to Ohafia, Arochukwu, Umunneochi, Ukwa and other areas. You distribute the resources of this state equitably. But for you to do what these Aba people are saying, you have to neglect the whole of Abia and concentrate on Aba.
That’s the only way. The problems of Aba are more than the state government because of the attitude of the people. You have to build according to building plans. You have to dispose you refuse at the right places. Every place cannot be shop or store in Aba. You cannot differentiate between a residential house and a shop because everywhere is a shop in Aba.
People are erecting shops and sheds here and there. Every place is a motor park in Aba. So these things cannot be like that.
There must be sanity and that is what we have resolved. And when you have these things on ground, any structure you put there will last. As far as the erosion problem is not controlled in Aba, build 30 or 40 roads, they won’t last for more than five years and you will start all over again.
?
How have you been able to manage the many political differences in Abia??
First and foremost, it is by the grace of God. I believe that nature and personality of the person at the helm of affairs help a lot in this type of thing. Being a leader, I really appreciate other people, what they can do and what they are. I appreciate that they are Abians and can contribute to the development of Abia.
You are bound to involve them in what you are doing because this state belongs to all of you. Every Abian is important. Every Abian is intelligent. That I am a governor does not mean that I am the most intelligent and all-knowing. When you sit here and feel that others are inferior to you and that you can do it alone and nobody matters, then the people who own Abia will tell you that you are not all and all.
Recognise and appreciate your people and give them the respect they deserve and they will respect you in turn. That is the magic we did in Abia. All the stakeholders ran away from the state because they were fed up with the system. Organise an event and invite them, they won’t come.
But today the difference is clear. Just ring a bell and say there is a ceremony in Abia and you would see all of them coming down. I run an inclusive government, a government that will call the stakeholders and ask questions on how to solve problems.
?
This is your second and last term but people say you are working like a man seeking for re-election. Why so?
Yes, I have to do that because we lost a lot of time. We lost a lot of time brother. You know the situation. Before now, from 2007 to part of 2010, things were not moving the way I personally wanted them to move. And things were not moving the way Abians wanted too.
?
Did you feel pained?
Of course, why not? Yes, I was pained because how can you be governor and somebody will appoint commissioners for you? At a particular stage, during the appointment of education secretaries, the mother (Eunice) of the former governor (Orji Uzor Kalu) gave me a list of 17 names through the then Chief of Staff.?
When the young man brought the list, I said in all these things, which one is my own share? Brother, if you are in that position, will you be happy? That was the situation we found ourselves. Well, we said that one day God will liberate his people. And when eventually we got liberation, every Abian, not only I, is free. You can notice the air of freedom surrounding you.
So what else is the impediment if not to give to our people what they deserve? What they deserve are the dividends of democracy and that’s why we are working at such a speed to cover up for the years of the locust. You can see that what we are doing are legacy projects not nonsense projects. We are doing projects that will stand the test of time. The secretariat and the international conference center that we are building will be there for donkey years.
The Government House that we are building is going to be permanent better than rented apartment that we have here. The High Court that we are building is going to be permanent. Go to BCA [Broad casting Corporation of Abia], we are building 48 offices, the first structures to be added to the place since its establishment. If you go there, you will see 20 persons in one room.
The diagnostic centre that we are building is of international standard. At the center of Umuahia is a dilapidated and archaic market and we are relocating it to a permanent place, Ubani [in Umuahia South]. Even the industrial market in Umuahia will be relocated to Umuohu Azueke by December this year.
This will make the town look better. Have you ever gone to that place where we are building the secretariat and see how beautiful the town is from the hill? That place presents the new face of Abia and that is my vision for Abia. That is why I am working day and night to complete the legacy projects and leave my footprints in the sands of time.