In war of propaganda any side with a megaphone will certainly have the loudest voice. The other party without a megaphone cannot shout louder. When some people on the staff of the Daily Sun Newspapers either by themselves or through opinion articles, eulogize their proprietor Orji Uzor Kalu and disparage his estranged erstwhile ally, T.A. Orji (the Governor of Abia State) popularly called Ochendo Global, my response to such opinionated articles is whether they expect the discerning public to make value judgment between the tenure of Kalu and T.A. Orji based on such jaundiced articles.
In a recent article by former Governor of Abia State, Orji Uzor Kalu, he did a comparative analysis of his eight years tenure as the Governor of Abia State and that of the incumbent Governor, T.A. Orji. In the said article Kalu attempted to extol his achievements as the Governor of Abia State for eight years by naming some roads he built in Umuahia and Aba and one or two housing estate(s) he built in the two cities. If Kalu’s performance as the Governor of Abia State for eight years is based on building roads and construction of housing estates then with all respect, I would want Kalu to know that there is nothing innovative or creative about building roads and housing estates in a State composed with energetic, dynamic and hardworking people who are ready to move mountains if the right policies are initiated and implemented together with a conducive environment created by the political leadership.
The question that I have always asked myself each time I read articles ostensibly written either at the behest of Kalu or by his admires is what does Kalu expect from T.A. Orji. In the said article Kalu scored his tenure as the Governor of Abia State high and that of T.A. Orji he described as a monumental wastage of billions of naira that have accrued to Abia State during the last seven years. My reaction after reading that article is whether Kalu has forgotten that it is the same T.A. Orji that he (Kalu); mother and siblings hold hostage during T.A. Orji’s first tenure.
This is a fact that is in the public domain. T.A. Orji alluded to that during his swearing in ceremony for the second tenure. T.A. Orji said on that occasion that no person will become a Governor of Abia State by first swearing before any shrine again. Whether or not T.A. Orji swore before a shrine to do Kalu’s bidding before the latter agreed to allow him become the flag bearer of the PPA in the Gubernatorial Election that produced T.A. Orji as the Governor of Abia State was in issue in the Election Petition Tribunal of Abia State. T.A. Orji used that occasion to thank God for rescuing him from a rapacious family.
T.A. Orji may not have performed up to expectations. Kalu is partly responsible for this. If for a whole four years a Governor of a State was encumbered by those who assisted him to become a Governor and in the process vital resources meant for public good were diverted for personal use, it becomes an act of wickedness for same persons to turn round and accuse such a Governor of non-performance. However, in terms of execution of real projects I think that T.A. Orji has performed well than Kalu. T.A. Orji has built an ultra modern market which replaced the old Umuahia central market in a new location. He has also relocated the Government House to a permanent site built by his administration. He has built an International Conference Centre. He has built a Specialist Hospital. He has built a new Secretariat for civil servants. He also built roads and housing estates.
