When the news filtered into the Nigerian environment that Governor Theodore
Orji of Abia State has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with a
Canadian company, Globim Corporation, for the construction of a monorail
transportation system in the state, many saw it as a welcomed development
and expressed happiness with the novelty. Orji for one, his expression of
joy knew no bound, as he assured the company of accomplishment of its
business purpose in the state and also, advised that the monorail is
expanded to other South-East states.
The idea of building monorail in Abia State is not bad, but it is coming at
a very wrong and badly chosen time, when the people of the state need
reality than fiction; it is a fact that there is no pliable road in Aba,
the Enyimba City of South-East and in many other towns and villages of Abia
State, and Orji is here giving hope that Aba is one of the places that are
viable for the monorail project. Hokum!
While he has promised that the state would provide labour and security
required for the success of the project, it will be good to remind the
governor that in his first term in office he awarded several contracts of
which many are yet to see upto ten percent attention, let alone,
completion. Was the Achara Ihechiowa-Amagwu road awarded to Worldwide
Environmental Technologies LTD at the tone of over N380m not one of the
many roads that were awarded, but later abandoned?
Looking for relevance by every means necessary and un-necessary, Orji and
his foot soldiers rather than engage in people-oriented works, took a
dangerous image laundering campaign to Abuja and Lagos to hoodwink the Abia
citizens in the Diaspora (who are wiser) that his Abia-led government was
working, a project many Ndi-Abia who are not on his yesmen list are finding
very difficult to believe, because they knew that Orji is a governor who
has developed Abia State to a very great extent, but disappointedly, only
on the pages of the newspapers.
Orji has not started work on the many projects he has awarded but the news
on the newspapers is that he has done very well. The later statement, many
people do not believe straight away. No matter how hard Orji’s image makers
try to sell him in a good light to the people, one thing remains sacrosanct
– he still remains unsalable.
The people of Ihechiowa for example and many others are crying for the
dearth of government presence in their areas, yet Orji continues to show
Nigerians the picture of Umuahia, the state capital, which was developed in
the past administration, as if his government is on ground to develop Abia
State.
It is not business of hypocrisy as usual, as many people of Abia State are
no longer taking Orji and his many make-believe projects seriously. They
see his projects such as the monorail as a conduit wire to continue to
siphon the state more. In some quarters they see such projects as “419
Projects for Looting”. It is surprising how Orji could not fix the roads,
provide security and business environment in Abia State, and here he is set
to build monorail. Was this not the same way a former Governor of Imo State
promised the people that he would build an airline, but that promise ended
up as loot?
Monorail is capital intensive; and this is Abia State that hypothetically
says that it receives N3.5 Billion as statutory monthly allocation, as
against other states receiving more than. If a state in the South–South
which earns say six times the money Abia State claims that it earns in a
month is today gasping for the breathe to complete the monorail project it
had started, how come Orji is cutting his coat more than his size? This
project in all angles any person stands to look at it is not doable!
What was expected from Orji is to plead with Ndi-Abia and sign an MoU with
them to come and help him and openly tell them that he is
governance-confused and has failed, and not compounding his problems with
projects that are not feasible, such as building where motor or train would
be running in the air from Aba to Umuahia and to Port Harcourt in Rivers
State, whereas the existing rail line in Nigeria which only needs minor
updates was abandoned.
With speculations of what Orji is doing in Abia State, that state is better
off without a governor. Abia State is constitutionally, and should not be a
family business of the Orjis, who have made and are still making the state
miserable for the residents. Abians money is used to build personal
mansions as could be seen at Azikiwe Road with more than ten security men
armed to the teeth guarding the place. Illegal collection of environmental
sanitation fees has become the order of the day in Abia State, especially
for people living in Aba. Yet, both the N8, 000 forcefully collected from
residents by the aid of combined touts and security agents as sanitation
fee for down stairs, and N12, 000 for upstairs, are not used suitably for
meaningful development of the state.
This is a state where Orji wants to build monorail: An Abia State where
over hundred count charges of alleged stealing of Abia people’s funds are
hanging over the neck of the governor, record of unprecedented cases of
violent crimes is inundated? Several banks have been robbed and security
personnel viciously killed, ladies wearing-trouser raped, and kidnapping of
innocent people is the order of the day.
Without crumbling word, Abia under Orji has collapsed to a failed state in
Nigeria: armed robbers and kidnappers now give ‘notice’ before they smack.
The assault by hoodlums of First Bank Plc and Fidelity Bank Plc, both in
Port Harcourt Road, Aba on Wednesday, June 2, 2010, is evidence. Inter
alia, this compelled Abia people to call for the immediate resignation of
Orji for lack of ability to oversee the state, yet Orji failed to toe the
path of honour.
How can a man like Orji who is incapable to lead his family lead a wise and
formidable people of Aba? Chinedu his son, popularly called Ikuku Ochendo,
has abruptly become the nauseating factor in the state with some records of
notoriety. His crude and flamboyant excesses in the state are worrisome.
Did he not abandon his wife for a girlfriend whom he has been expending
heavily for? What is his work? Some assailants in the government would say
that he is an engineer.
Like Orji does not pay heed to the cries of the people of Abia State, so
his Chinedu does not lend a listening ear to his father. Perhaps, deaf ears
run in their family. If not, how could Chinedu allegedly engage his father
in a fight-for-all when his father engage moves to curtailing Chinedu’s
excesses, as Chinedu allegedly moves on long convoy of cars, intimidating
and scaring people off the roads and also alleged to be in the habit of
driving out customers from supermarkets and in eateries, finishing in the
occurrence with the soldiers in Umuahia, after he slapped an Army captain
on mufti for rejecting to make way for Chinedu and his hooligans. How could
Chinedu, 41, with all these questionable habits be preparing grounds to run
for the Senate in 2015, as alleged?
In a safe and sane environment, Orji was supposed to resign a long time or
the people mobilize for non-violent civil disobedience for the dislodgement
of Abia government led by him; if not for anything, for the signed into law
of the state’s 2012 Appropriation bill of N129.9 billion he christened
“the budget of transformation’’, and yet, there is no such thing as
‘transformation’ in practice.
