Governor T. A. Orji: Victim of Circumstance?

A victim of circumstance is a person whom something bad happens to because of factors outside his control.

I’m not from Abia state, neither am I a fan of the Abia state governor or a supporter of People’s Democratic Party (PDP). I’m just a concerned and non-partisan freelance writer that loves to uphold the sanctity of truth. I decided to critically analyze Abia state and give my own verdict from my own point of view.

Is Gov. Theodore Ahamefule Orji a victim of circumstance?

Gov. T. A. Orji was not a known figure until he emerged as the gubernatorial candidate of Progressive People’s Alliance (PPA) to contest the 2007 governorship election in Abia state. He convincingly won the governorship election and made history by being the first governor in the history of Nigeria to win an election while in detention.

Gov. T A. Orji’s problem started barely a year he resumed office as the governor of Abia state. His crime was because he refused to be a political stooge in the hands of his god father Orji Uzor Kalu and stood against imposition, am not exonerating Gov. T. A. Orji from myriads of developmental challenges facing Abia state, the bulk of the blame should go to his predecessor who piloted the affairs of Abia state as if it was his personal property throughout his reign as Abia state governor from 1999 – 2007. He was very paranoid and diabolical that all political nominees must go through his mother, Mrs Eunice Kalu who in turn will screen the list and make sure only candidates that will be loyal to the former governor will be selected and asked to swear an oath of allegiance to him.

Can Orji Uzor Kalu’s appointed media stooges and hirelings list the giant strides of their paymaster throughout his stint as governor of Abia state from 1999- 2007? Where were all these venal critics of Gov. T. A. Orji when Orji Uzor Kalu was the governor of Abia state? If Orji Uzor Kalu is as good as his media friends are painting him to be how come he is no longer recognized at home?

Its so painful when you are trying your best for your state and some appointed anarchist whom many does not even know the road to Abia state sit down in a place and criticize any project the governor embarks upon. You can imagine how severe, bitter and consistently inconsistent their diatribe has become.

A governor that invited all his critics on social media all over Nigeria on a 4 days tour, from 10th – 14th November 2014 to come see for themselves what his administration has done for the past 7 years before they criticize him is worth commending, its never been done before, nobody invites his enemy to a dinner, that was exactly what Abia state governor did, when they came, they saw and confessed what their eyes saw, places social media reported were in comatose in Abia state were shown to them and structures that are on ground for them to see, the ignorant critics among them have seen too, they have gone home to criticize no more or criticize constructively. According to one of the reporters that went to Abia state, “even the blind could see the wonders of Ochendo”.

I congratulate the governor for all he has done, he is the only governor that is duly under reported in Nigeria. He may not have done perfectly well but that’s what makes him human, he deserves commendations, governance is not a one day affair, it’s a continuum, it is hoped that his successor will continue where he stops. If his predecessor had done one-third of what he has done, he may have concentrated on other projects. In People’s Democratic Party (PDP) yardstick for performance, his success far outweighs his failures.

I plead with the governor to look into Aba road issue, Aba has not really gotten it right in terms of roads and proper drainage, though many of my friends that are based in Aba are of the opinion that road construction in Aba has not been achievable considering the fact that Aba is an ancestral home to many, constructing proper roads there will mean demolishing and driving people away from their ancestral homes which their ancestors had lived through out their life time. He should find a way out of the situation.

My advice to governor Theodore Ahamefule Orji is that he should ignore his critics and silence them with his performance, don’t just commission projects and go to sleep, learn to publicize your projects through the media for the world to see and don’t reply every diatribe thrown at you, by so doing you are reducing the Office of the Governor of Abia state to that of a market place.

By inviting his critics on social media to come see his giant strides in Abia state, the governor has justified the fact he is in control and not “A Victim Of Circumstance”.

Latest Posts

President Tinubu’s Recent Lines of War

President Bola Tinubu recently set Nigeria’s political spaces on...

Prof Bart Nnaji As A Sports Superstar

Prof Bart Nnaji is globally renowned for his revolutionary...

Osun election: If you ask me…

By Maxwell Ajibola ​Walk down the bustling streets of Osogbo,...

Dìbò k’ó se’bẹ̀ and the raw reality of politics (2)

As Adlai Stevenson Jr. famously observed, “A hungry man...

Don't miss

Nigerian Men and their Foreign Wives

Culturally, Nigerian men are overbearing, controlling, and paternalistic.  They relate to their fathers and mothers differently. They believe it is “a man’s world” and so they have the tendency to relegate women to subservient roles. I am stunned by the transformation Nigerian men, married to non-Nigerian women, have gone through in the United States...

Is Genevieve Nnaji Nigeria’s First Movie Superstar?

What is this Nnaji mystique that has her audience colliding heads so joyfully, crawling, craving some time in her sun? Star quality is what it is. The amount of talent dripping from her little finger is more than many of our other female leading ladies have combined...

Why Do African Men Go Home to Marry?

The African male is perplexing. He can be enigmatic. He can be everything and sometimes, nothing. He can be sweet and loving and caring and benevolent and at the same time oppressive. His life is full of contradictions. In so many ways, he is a wounded animal as a result of his historical past...

Mobil’s Oily Battle Over Intellectual Property Rights

The eight-year long battle between Commandclem Nigeria Limited and Mobil Producing Nigeria Limited, over ownership of patent and intellectual rights to a chemical invention for offshore drilling seems in sight…

Lost in a Sea of Hair Weaves

One can understand some black women wearing wigs for the same reasons that some white women do; because they are losing or have lost their hair. One can even make allowances for wigs being worn for the occasional change of look. But how to explain young women with full heads of hair who will never be seen dead with their natural hair?
Joe Onwukeme
Joe Onwukeme
Joe Onwukeme is a Nigerian graduate of History & International Relations, Imo State University Owerri. An idealist with the consciousness of history, he is a social and political affairs analyst and writes on national issues for NigeriansinAmerica.com and Nigerian Newspapers and blogs. Twitter: @unjoeratedjoe | unjoeratedjoe@gmail.com

LEAVE A REPLY

Please enter your comment!
Please enter your name here