States At Dagger Drawn Over Abia's Sack of Non-Indigenous Workers
Chike Mike
Umuahia — MORE than 1,800 workers of Anambra State origin, who were disengaged from the Abia State public, took their plight to Governor Peter Obi at Government House, Awka, Thursday, October 27, to see if their current state of despair could be salvaged.
They wanted Obi to either absorb or prevail on his Abia State government counterpart to drop the sack policy.
However, they did not get any immediate answer but an assurance by the Secretary to the State Government, Chief Paul Odenigbo, who received them on behalf of the state chief executive, that Governor Obi who is the chairman of South East Governors Forum, would continue to plead with his colleague, Chief Theodore Orji of Abia, to rescind the decision to sack non-indigenes.
If Chief Odenigbo handled his visitors with tact and diplomacy, the State House of Assembly was blunt in its livid reaction.
After beholding the helpless and hapless workers who stormed the House of Assembly complex in buses with the inscription 'back-loaded,' the House unanimously resolved to send a strongly worded letter to the Abia State governor to rescind what they regarded as an unpopular policy which they described as a breach of the constitutional rights of the affected workers.
The House, which adopted a motion on the issue sponsored by Hon. Chigbo Enwezor and two others further, said it would encourage the back-loaded workers to challenge Abia State government in court.
The Princess Chinwe Nwaebili-led House alerted Obi of the danger in allowing Abia State government to succeed with the policy, as it would threaten national integration.
While debating the motion, Gabriel Onyenwife (Anyamelum constituency) said: 'Abia State government has started a policy that is indefensible, unconstitutional and condemnable.'
The decision to transfer the services of non-Abia workers in the public service of the state was formalised during the State Executive Council (EXCO) meeting held on Monday, September 5, 2011.
Abia State Commissioner for Information and Strategy, Chief Don Ubani, told newsmen the following day that the issue was comprehensibly discussed at EXCO and the cabinet gave its nod for the implementation of the policy.
The back loading of the non-indigenes to their home governments commenced October 1.
The Moment on Sunday gathered that a circular to that effect had been issued about a week before the EXCO decision to proceed with the policy.
The policy affects non-indigenes of all cadres, including those on command employment and Abia daughters married to non-Abians.
Giving reasons why Abia government adopted the drastic policy, Ubani said it was to make room for the absorption of Abians displaced from parts of the Boko Haram-troubled North and for the state to be able to shoulder the financial implications of the N18,000 new minimum wage.
The policy, he added, would help to create employment opportunities for the teeming youths of Abia.
'Abia State government has to take a decision that non-Abians in its public service should be transferred to their states. Ochendo (Governor Theodore Orji) wrote to their state governors asking them to appreciate the precarious situation of Abia State,' Ubani said.
Since those affected were served their letters, the Abia State government has known no peace.
The policy has attracted varied reactions; some mild criticisms, some wild and outright vituperations and others offering wise counsel.
Expectedly, many Abians and government agents have applauded the action, describing it as a step in the right direction. Conversely, those affected and their home governments see the policy as obnoxious, a breach of their fundamental human rights and a threat to Igbo unity.
The first public reaction against the policy came from the Catholic Bishop of Umuahia Diocese, Rt. Rev. Lucius Ugorji.
He described it as injustice, adding that it was bound to create social disequilibrium and economic hardship given that Abia has become a second home to the workers who were being asked to go. He appealed to the government to rescind the policy.
Imo, Enugu and Anambra states have also reacted angrily to the policy. Imo State Commissioner for Information and Strategy, Dr. Obinna Duruji, speaking on behalf of his state government, described the policy as 'anachronistic, patently obsolete and completely reprehensible.' He threatened reprisals from Imo.
For Ebonyi State government, it is wait and see. Chief Press Secretary to Ebonyi Governor, Dr. Onyekachi Eni, said the state government initially regarded the disengagement of non-indigenes from Abia public service as rumour because there was no official communication between the two governments.
He, however, said that when it became evident that it was no longer a rumour the state executive council discussed the matter. He did not disclose the position of the state government on the issue.
However, Eni's response put a question mark on the claim by Abia government that Governor Orji engaged his colleagues on the issue prior to the disengagement of the affected workers. Curiously, the South East Governors Forum, which met in Enugu on September 9, did not discuss the issue.
One of the founding fathers of Abia State and an elder statesman, Prince Benjamin Apugo, is one of those against the policy.
He roundly condemned it as 'unpopular and ill-advised,' saying it would breed bad blood between Abia and other South East states, and called on Governor Orji to immediately halt the exercise.
'As a Nigerian I don't support what Abia State government is trying to do by disengaging non-indigenes. Many of them were born here and they were employed in the civil service by the state. It will look very bad for any government to throw them out because they have contributed to whatever development, if any as at now,' Apugo said.
He suggested that Abia government should negotiate with its workers on the new minimum wage instead of disengaging them. He expressed fears that the policy might backfire.
Still in Abia, the Nigerian Bar Association, Aba Branch, also condemned the action.
In a communiqué issued at the end of its monthly meeting held on October 14, the group offered free legal service to those who may wish to seek judicial interpretation of the policy.
'The NBA encourages all persons affected by the discriminatory policy and decision of the Abia State government to challenge such actions in the courts up to the highest level, and in this regard, members of the NBA, Aba Branch, have volunteered and shall render free legal services to the affected workers and their families,' the communiqué endorsed by its chairman, Mr. C. U. C. Eduzor, and secretary, Mr. Kelechi Ukaumunna, read in part.
On its part, the Abia State government has risen in stout defence of its action. Ubani said there was no going back.
'The decision of Abia State government on this is legitimate, irrevocable and remains the best the state could take in the light of her compelling circumstances,' Ubani insisted.
The Abia information boss lampooned Imo State government, describing its condemnation of the policy as a clear manifestation of hypocrisy.
'To begin with, should nine years be too long for Imo State government to have forgotten that she successfully implemented a policy decision that led to the summarily, un-notified, unceremonious and the most cruel dismissal of all Abia indigenes who were in her public service in 2002?' he said.
Continuing, Ubani said: 'On what premise should either the Imo State government or the religious leaders stand tall to claim to have forgotten that even recently (2010), the Imo State government primitively and with extreme heartlessness bundled the files of her pensioners of Abia extraction, who had served her with all youthfulness, paying their taxes to Imo State government and contributing to the overall development of the state, back to Abia State for the latter to shoulder the pecuniary burden of pensioners who worked for Imo State?
'Yet Imo State government has the shamelessness of talking of Igbo unity. Imo State government should tell Ndi Igbo where she placed Igbo unity when she ferociously and un-administratively dismissed all Abians working in her public service nine years ago.
'If Imo State government was oblivious of what she now calls "Igbo unity" nine years ago, what was her take on Igbo unity just a year ago when she, in the most sadistic display of inhumanity, bundled the files of her pensioners of Abia State extraction back to Abia?'
The commissioner ended his reaction with a poser: 'More so, to newspaper and organisations that feel that Abia State policy on transfer of service of non-indigenes is a negation of the principles of federalism, it is obviously doubtful that their feelings are a true comprehension of what federalism stands for. What are their answers to questions on, one: should a federal legislature make laws on salaries for states and local government workers?
'And, two: should the Federal Government control the revenue generating resources of a state?'
Prominent Abians have also risen in defence of the state government and they are united it should not be crucified for threading the path other states had taken in the past.
One of them, Mrs. Victoria Aguiyi-Ironsi, wife of Nigeria's first military Head of State, advised those affected by the transfer to take it in good faith as government will not go back on the policy.
She said that it was a pity that people from different parts of the country, especially the South East, were misunderstanding the action of the Abia government, which she said was for the benefit of Abians.
Prof. Joshua Ogbonnaya, one of the few surviving founding fathers of Abia State, said: 'It is he who wears the shoe that knows where it pinches, so the back-loading of non-indigenes to their states of origin by Governor Orji was handled in a matured way unlike what other governors did in the past.'
The foremost surgeon called for the convocation of a meeting all the governors of the South East where the problem should be discussed. 'I know that such a meeting of the South East governors exist; they should meet there and sort out the problem, if there is any,' he said.
Source: The Moment, 29th October 2011.
Abia sack of non-indigenes: Monarchs to reconcile S/E govs
STEVE OKO, Umuahia
The row being generated across the South East geo-political zone by the recent policy of Abia State government to transfer non-indigenes in its civil service to their states of origin may soon be history as Royal fathers from the zone have moved in to save the situation.
This is following the resolve of the monarchs to set up a committee to meet with governors in the zone with a view to reconciling them on the ripples the policy has generated.
This was the outcome of the 18th Executive Council meeting of the South East Traditional Rulers Council held Thursday in Umuahia, the Abia State capital.
Fielding questions from newsmen after the meeting, Chairman of the Council, Eze Cletus Ilomuanya, said the council had resolved that henceforth, any problem in the zone would be ‘’discussed and resolved in-house to allow peace reign’’.
The royal fathers who are not comfortable with the bad blood the policy is generating across the zone said they would set up a committee to visit the governors for amicable settlement of the impasse instead of the unnecessary media war going on in the zone.
Eze Ilomuanya said the Peace and Reconciliation Committee is to be headed by the Chairman, Abia State Traditional Rulers Council, Eze Onuoha John Akaliro to ensure peaceful co-existence and unity in the zone.
He added that the committee is to visit all the governors of the zone as part of efforts to calm frayed nerves and promote peace among them.
Eze Ilomuanya further stated that it was the thinking of the council that every traditional ruler should contribute to the security of the zone and commended the effort of the Abia State government in boosting security in the state.
He pledged the council’s support to efforts by the Abia State government to sustain security in the state and lauded the government for taking the welfare of traditional rulers in the state seriously.
Earlier in his opening remarks, chairman Abia State traditional rulers council, Eze Akaliro, advised against politicizing the policy on transfer of non-indigenes as such attitude would only cause division in the zone.
Declaring the meeting open, Abia State governor, Chief Theodore Orji commended the monarchs for the meeting, saying it provides a platform for Igbos to protect their common heritage.
He described traditional rulers as the pride of the society and as such no stone should be left unturned to give them a pride of place.
Orji who was represented by his Deputy, Chief Emeka Ananaba charged the royal fathers to be alive to their responsibility of maintaining peace in the zone as well as strengthening the value system of Ndigbo.
He appealed to the royal fathers to embark on social reorientation of the people in their various domains to restore the dignity of the people.
Orji also used the forum to explain the reasons behind the administration’s policy of transferring the services of non-indigenes in the state back to their home states, saying it is to enable it pay the new minimum wage as well as to tackle the problems of Abia citizens.
Source: Daily Champion, 29th October 2011.
Abia Moves to Halt Disorder in Urban Devt
By Emmanuel Ugwu
After years of decay in urban infrastructure and unregulated physical development, Abia State Government recently took a bold step to develop a roadmap that would lead to well designed urban centres and regulated physical infrastructure development.
A blueprint to achieve this goal was outlined at the first Abia State physical planning and development stakeholders’ summit where town planners, architects, builders, surveyors, lawyers, engineers, landlords, organised private sector, media international agencies, among others came together to chart a new course for Abia’s decaying urban centres.
Abia state governor, Chief Theodore Orji, who was represented by his deputy, Col. Emeka Ananaba (rtd), said in his address that the summit was a first step forward in fulfilment of his government’s resolve to lay a solid foundation for the socio-economic development of the state.
“The new system that will emerge from this summit will avoid the mistakes of the past so that existing problems are sorted out at the beginning of any project, rather than at the end when those projects have reached completion stage, such that correction can only be achieved through demolition,” he said.
Already the state is contending with the problem of illegal structures that had defaced and distorted the original plans of Aba, the commercial city and Umuahia, the capital city; a situation the governor explained prompted him to set up the task force, which is currently engaged on the demolition of illegal structures.
“As we all know, to lay a solid foundation for any malfunctioning project, it may become necessary to break down the bad structure. Also in a spiritual sense, the bad in us must die if the good in us will live,” Orji said in justifying the demolition of illegal structures.
Commissioner for Urban Renewal, Mr. Chukwuemeka Nwaogu, noted that government’s efforts to resolve the “enormous physical planning and development challenges” had so far not yielded the desired result; hence the summit would provide an effective solution to the nagging problem.
During a panel discussion, the deputy governor outlined government’s mission in the quest for urban renewal, saying that it has mustered the “political will to provide comfortable and adequate accommodation for our people”.
The summit with the theme ‘Evolving sustainable physical planning and development roadmap for Abia state’ attracted the country representative of the UN Habitat, Prof. Johnson Falade, who presented a paper through a representative outlining how cities should be planned to achieve sustainable urban development.
He said the laissez faire economic growth has made it very difficult to enforce town planning regulations in Nigeria, adding that government should always be ready to muster the political will to sanitise the city when things go wrong.
Source: This Day, 27th October 2011.
Abia govt picks holes in gang rape report
From CHUKS ONUOHA, Umuahia
Abia State Commissioner for Information and Strategy, Chief Don Ubani has picked holes in the report of of the Human Rights Commission and the Committee on Human Rights at the House of Representatives, that the rape of a female student by five men took place at the Abia State University Campus.
Ubani said such crime issues took time to solve and that the government of the state, led by Theodore Orji felt concerned when the news of the alleged rape event broke out and that it led the government into a preliminary investigation, which proved that it never happened in the university.
He said despite the verdict of the human right groups, the state government was maintaining that the incident did not happen at the university.
Ubani, who addressed newsmen in Umuahia said the state government frowned at such events like crime and rape or anything that debased human beings and had done everything within its power to ensure that the culprits were brought to book and would continue to do that.
According to him, preliminary investigation had comfirmed that the alleged rape did not take place in the state university “and it made us to make our stand over the issue clear that such despicable action and debase to womanhood never took place in our university.”
“Abia State Government does not take it lightly on anything that borders on criminality or immorality. We will always condemn it. This was what made us to start our own investigation into the matter without delay,” the information commissioner said.
“We did not stop at preliminary investigation but also allowed other government agencies like the university authority, police and the Student Union Government to conduct their own and all came out with the same report that it never happened in the university.”
He said even the state commissioner for police, Bala Hassan did his own investigation on the alleged rape and did not find anything and that the state government went further to ask anyone with useful information that would help to unravel the rape issue should come forward, but nobody did.
He quarrelled with both Human Rights Commission and the Committee on Human Rights at the House of Representatives that came up with the confirmation that the rape took place at the Abia State University.
The state government, he said welcomed any investigative device put in place to unravel the crime.“We will want anything that will help to unravel the issue, but it must not only be conclusive but must be confirmed to a logical conclusion for justice to be said to have been done.”
He explained that the mother of the said rape victim whose name was not mentioned according to the commission denied that such incident happened to her daughter, stressing that such claim leaves a lot of room for anyone to conclude that the rape issue ever happened.
“If the mother of the alleged rape victim had said that her daughter was never violated, we wonder where the Human Rights Group got its confirmation in the rape incident. We believed that it leaves room for many questions to be answered”.
The Commissioner said that Abia state government will not want people or group of people to come together to try to bring down the image of the people and government of the state, urging that people should stop passing judgement based on unsubstantiated issues.
Source: Sun, 26th October 2011.
Abia community celebrates New Yam Festival
From CHUKS ONUOHA, Umuahia.
The People of Ohiya Autonomous Community, in Umuahia South Local Government Area of Abia State recently celebrated their Iri Ji festival. The occasion was dedicated to the eating of the new yam, as it is customary of communities in most parts of Igbo land.
The event, which took place on September 27, 2011, held at the field of Methodist Church close to the palace of the traditional ruler, HRH, Eze Abel Egbochie Uhuegbu, and the Ohanyere I of Ohiya Autonomous Community.
At the centre of the arena were two giant heaps of newly harvested yams - the king of crops that was the reason for the occasion. Each heap numbered over 100. There were cultural dancers who took their stands to add lustre to the occasion.
There were also Catholic priests whose presence gave credence to the fact that the festival is God- centred. The ceremony also attracted other dignitaries including the representative of Abia State Commissioner for Agriculture, Ike Onyenweaku, who was represented by Chief Onyekaozuru Ubani, a director in the ministry.
Speaking to Daily Sun, the traditional ruler Eze Uhuegbu said this year’s ceremony was peculiar because the occasion would be used to mark the installation of new village heads within the community. The village heads will represent the Eze in their respective villages; they operate as the eyes of the Eze in their own domains.
The Eze who is the custodian of the people’s tradition and culture recalled how the ceremony was moved from its former fetish background. He said the ceremony was now anchored in God who in the real sense is the owner of everything including the new yams.
Daily Sun learnt that before now, the festival was used to appease the gods of the land. But with the present traditional ruler’s ascension to the throne of his ancestors, the practice was changed.
“The reason is that we are more aware now than in the past, knowing fully well that God Almighty is the owner of everything, including those deities whose assistance were being sought by our ancestors. We are not condemning our ancestors for their practice, rather we are saying that, that was their own level of understanding at that point in time.”
Speaking of the recent spate of bombings of public places in the northern parts of the country in which many people died, Eze Uhuegbu described the terrorist activities as a “condemnable act from all indications.”
“From any point one looks at it, it amounts to sin against humanity, because those who died had no hands in what ever that is grieving members of the sect. It is unfortunate that some people are pressing for their right using violence and waste of lives of the innocent as a tool.”
He expressed sadness over developments in the north, noting that northern traditional rulers could call their children to order in at a time like this. He called particularly on the Sultan of Sokoto, whom he acknowledged as the spiritual head of the north to show greater concern regarding recent developments in the region.
Eze Uhuegbu also used the opportunity to call on government to carry out thorough investigation into the wanton waste of human lives in the north so as to apprehend the culprits and give them adequate punishments.
In his speech at the occasion, the traditional prime minister of Ohiya Autonomous Community, Sir Chief Willy Emenike, gave a brief history of new yam festival in the community.
“The history of new yam festival in Ohiya dates back to the past when our ancestors thanked their gods for bountiful harvest and for keeping them alive to reap the fruits of their labour.
“So in the months of August and September of every year, we always assemble to thank God for all his mercies, after which we have some merriment: eat the yam, pepper soup and be happy. In the past, sacrifices were performed on occasion like this, but today, it is different, because we believe that Jesus has done all the sacrifices at the cross of Calvary; so the sacrifice is no longer necessary.
“Today’s new yam festival has some other significance. Ohiya has eight villages, each of which is headed by a village head that represents the Eze in their respective domains. Some of these village heads are old; some can no longer perform their duties energetically while some are dead. We are therefore using this festival to remove those who can no loner perform and replace them with new people. So this year, five people so far selected for this purpose will be capped in this ceremony. From today, they will become village heads that will represent the Eze in their various villages.
He enumerated the criteria for their selection as “ possession of visible means of livelihood, patience, honest and hard working. We do not select hoodlums and people of questionable characters to represent our Eze in the villages because our Eze is a complete gentle man.”
One of those capped as village heads, Chief Madubuike Nwigwe, Udara 111 of Ohiya described the day as “special in Ohiya Autonomous Community.
“This is a day when the community installed some of her illustrious sons for leadership role. I am very happy for this honour done to me.”
Speaking on behalf of the Commissioner for Agriculture, Ike Onyenweaku, Chief Ubani said: “Ohiya Autonomous Community was the first in the state to invite the Ministry of Agriculture to witness the ceremony of new yam festival.
Because the Ministry of Agriculture is in charge of farming, we decided to honour this invitation. We understand that your farming in Ohiya signifies unity and love and for that reason, I ‘m encouraging you to keep up the good work. We in the ministry of Agriculture are in partnership with communities. Those who pay some token we give tractors to help them till the soil for farming.”
He urged the traditional ruler to visit the ministry “so that your Community can also benefit from our kind gesture.”
The high point of the occasion was when Eze Uhuegbu ordered that the yams be brought to the arena and be shared to widows in the eight villages that make up Ohiya Autonomous Community. From that point, the rest of the ceremony shifted to the palace of Eze Uhuegbu.
Source: Sun, 26th October 2011.
Okorocha - Leave Abia State Alone!!!
opinion
Your Excellency, my dear Governor Rochas Okorocha, It is with a great sense of responsibility that I respectfully request you to leave Abia State alone and concentrate on the very many realities starring you in the face in order to avert our releasing documents, records and authentic reports capable of shaking your structures to it's very foundation. Iam constrained to write you this open letter in view of your obvious acquiescence to the motive and gregarious method your officials and known agents have adopted in the prosecution of an unprovoked, unjust, campaign of calumny against the people and leaders of Abia State.
You know very well that on Tuesday 4th October 2011 on page 14 of the Vanguard Newspaper, your infantile Information Commissioner, one Obinna Duruji, took the liberty to insult and malign the government of Abia State with invective meant to scorn your colleague, His Excellency, Chief T.A. Orji. Before then, one of your agents, a certain inconsequential Mbaise boy called Obi Nwakanma had on page 23 of Sunday vanguard of 18/9/11 used unprintable words to cast aspersion on our government. Then your Pini Jason, that faceless Jelly fish that saw to it that Chief Ikedi Ohakim was thoroughly misled and who connived with an agency in Surulere Lagos to swindle Imo State of tens of millions in a PR campaign had the temerity to latch unto the platform you provided to re-launch his rusty column as an opportunistic way to scurry back to the corridors of power. You saw all those garbage and indeed paid for them. You did not ask the Jaded Jason where he was when Ohakim bundled the files of Pensioners that faithfully started and ended their meritorious Civil Service Career in Imo State back to Umuahia for payment simply because they were Abia indigenes.
To further buttress the unusual interest shown by your government and paid agents to this expedient policy, Bishop Lucius Ugorji, a Naze Imo State born cleric together with another gang of Owerribased carry-go white garment preachers intensified their devious hype against an innocent sister State. This was the same Bishop Ugorji who together with the now late Mbaise born Archbishop Rojas Uwadi dined and wined with the defunct oppressive mamacratic regime that held Abia down for years. While Abia patriots fought for liberation, these Imo-born bishops struck deals and carted away choice Abia Investments. They enthusiastically gave impetus and moral cover to the despots. Today they have ironically turned into clannish activists while keeping silent over your brutish disengagement of the thousands Imo youths creatively employed by Ohakim.
Your Excellency, you can't continue deceiving Ndigbo and the Nigerian Public. With the creation of Abia in 1991, the Imo State Government immediately laid off all Abia Indigenes in its civil service while Abia retained Imo Indigenes in Aba and elsewhere. Since then till now, there has been a progressive suffocation of the Abia workforce by indigenes of states that sent our own citizens packing. Enugu State fished out and laid off Abians (non-indegenes) that were left in their civil service starting from 1997 through 2002. Same goes for Anambra and Ebonyi where even Abia students are made to pay discriminatory school fees. This is the issue at stake and for which you have marshaled out your people for a war of attrition against Abia State. You now talk of threats to Igbo unity simply because our patriotic governor took a reciprocal decision that should have been taken long ago based on the clamour of well meaning Abia Citizens.
By this diatribe, Your Excellency and your mercenaries have only succeeded in drawing global attention to the grave injustice and levity which Imo and other sister Igbo States have meted out to Abia Civil Servants and which our leaders and people have borne silently with equanimity. That Chief T.A Orji decided to address this anomaly and balance the lopsided equation is not a crime anywhere in the world. What is rather despicable is the hypocrisy, wanton wickedness and shameless audacity of those who now believe that what is good for the goose should not be good for the gander. The time tested credibility of Governor T.A Orji which you seek to destroy has rather skyrocketed among Abians who are the main reason for his sojourn in government house.
For your information, Sir, there is a total consensus among Abia Stake holders that Ochendo should take all necessary albeit painful decisions to restore the years that the cankerworm has eaten while laying a solid foundation for Abia transformation. As he executes this overwhelming mandate, we are poised to give him all the needed encouragement and defend him from the misplaced darts of desperados, professional petition writers and renowned 419 kingpins who seek to make political capital out of every laudable policy.We, therefore, advise your government to re-direct its limited capacities to the actualization of your self-imposed rescue mission for whatever it is worth. As you may have noticed, the art of state governance is a lot more different from slogans, showmanship and Jerry meandering. You need core competence the sort that comes through good education, moral rectitude and professional exposure. These are not things that can be obtained otherwise!
By the grace of God, Abia cannot be distracted. Having extricated ourselves from the callous cabal who were friends of the current Imo regime, we have made significant positive changes in the area of security, infrastructure and other key sectors. These series of propaganda and smear campaign coming from Owerri were foreseen by us when we dealt mortal blows to our oppressors and their acolytes.
Ndigbo cannot be deceived. They know those with cloudy antecedents. Those who straddled into power as a result of some political accident also know themselves. They should look inwards and solve their problems rather than seeking for non-existing opportunities to make noise and hoodwink the unsuspecting public.
Your Excellency, Chief Rochas Okorocha, like Ndigbo would say, Ome ihe jide kwa ogu. In the words of Bishop Matthew Hassan Kukah ..."Don't complain about my room. You are only visiting but I live here".
Ochu nwa okuko nwe ada...!!!
Hon. (Dr) Eze Chikamnayo
Special Adviser, Information, Strategy and Orientation
Abia State
Source: Business Day, 26th October 2011.
The ill-Informed ripples over the transfer of non-Indigenes in Abia State Public Service
By Nduka Ugbade
Abia State Chapter of Niger Delta Youth Movement, have heard and seen the vitality of lending our stake holding voice and position on the vexed issue of transferring non-Abians, working in the State Public Service, back to their states of origin. This concern warranted the conveying of an emergency general meeting after our delegated spokes persons were detailed to liaise with designated government emissaries to properly educate us on the nitty-gritty of this programme and what it portends for Abians.
The nerve calming fall out of that fact finding session has made this public position inevitable.
But before accommodating other issues of critical importance, it will be appropriate to vehemently disagree with Mr. Femi Adesina, Deputy Managing Director and Deputy Editor-in-Chief of the Sun Newspapers. We take exception to his brand of those defending the Governor’s Policy as hirelings. They are duty bound to rally round the governor given the obvious truth that this government position is intended to protect the interest of Abians. Mr. Femi Adesina is right to have observed that majority of non-Abians in Abia State Civil Service hail from neighbouring states like Imo, Anambra, Enugu and Ebonyi, but we can emphatically posit that he is oblivious of the wickedness Abia State Civil servants suffered in the hands of these States under review some years ago.
Records do not lie, therefore the past and present government of our sister states can perfectly recall the holocaust of dismissals they un-leashed on Civil Servants of Abia extraction over 10 years ago and recently, 2002, 2006 and 2010. It was Late Chief C.C. Onoh of blessed memory, who championed this course probably for economic reasons, and the protection of his (Enugu) peoples’ interest.
Consequently, throngs of Abians in Enugu Civil Service, numbering over 1,438 were transferred back to Abia. Imo later took a cue but unfortunately, executed theirs in a most dehumanizing manner. Aside the merciless sacking of Abians in Imo Civil Service, shortly after the creation of Abia state, there was a repeat occurrence just yesterday, under the watchful eyes of Achike Udenwa. Some 1198 teachers and Civil Servants were hounded back to Abia State from Imo and before Abians could blink an eye lid, the former government of Ikedi Ohakim bundled back the files of Abia indigenes who worked and retired in Imo state, for Abia to inherit the payment of their pensions and gratuities. Haba!
Why is it that we are feigning ignorance of all these unwholesome acts meted out to Abians only to embark on these flotilla of attacks and incredible name calling on the person of Governor T.A. Orji, whose reason for trying to rationalize is equally hinged on economic indices and a little protection of the interest of Abians who as it were, have been completely out numbered in the State Public Service? We are of the opinion that some of us probably did not know or are still mastering the art of writing or better still have not become high flying media executives like we are today, and lubricating our popularity by pretending to be apostles of one Nigeria when infact, we are heroes of tribalism in that little position we are occupying.
We had expected those who picked holes in this latest policy of Abia State, to replicate same on the originating states like Enugu, Imo, Benue, which sacked (380) Abians, Ebonyi (394), Cross River (310) and Akwa-Ibom (98), but all to no avail. We are however, aware that most columnists who wrote about it, and pretended not to know these incontrovertible truths are largely because they were advancing the course of their people who have been affected by this exercise.
Now, let us look at the tenability and veracity of these reasons as postulated by the Executive Committee of Abia State Government, which made the adoption of back-loading on transfer unavoidable:
(A) That so many Abians who reside and work in some Northern parts of the Country, have been displaced and no thanks to the violent upsurge, spearheaded by Muslim fundamentalists most of whom go by the acronym: Boko-Haram. Some even opted to come home so as not to die innocently and carelessly. These returnee Abians, are now pestering Abia government for re-absorption. This is aside from the fact that the government of Abia State conducted a recruitment exercise into the State Civil Service some time during the Governor’s first tenure. Almost one year into the Governor’s second tenure, no single Abian has benefited from that exercise. Reason being that the system is simply bloated and cannot tolerate more hands, except there is a rational re-engineering.
(B) That the pupil-teacher ratio in the state has gotten to an un-bearable stage due to the alarming scenario of having 3-4 teachers in a class of 30-35 pupils. Regrettably too, these teachers, majority of whom are non-indigenes delight in abdicating their official responsibilities to lavish official time to their shops and businesses.
(C) That the reality of the N18,000 minimum wage, can only fly, if the system is rationalized with a view to accommodating other realities and essentialities. Abia is desirous of infrastructural breather with a view to attracting more domestic and foreign investments. The critical financial situation of the state, demands being conscientious, so as not to sheepishly mal-administer the state. As stakeholders in the state, and if the likes of Mr. Femi Adesina will care to believe this truth, the oil producing status of Abia State, is not commensurate with federation allocation accruing to her. As incredible as it may sound, the truth still remains that the financial implications of the recovered 43 oil wells erroneously farmed to neighbouring Rivers State is yet to be computed.
If workers wage bill, presently stands at N1.9 billion monthly, exclusive of the non-negotiable N18,000 minimum wage, an estimated addition of another N1.9 billion in the event of complying with the new wage regime would flatten other critical sectors of the state socio-economic endeavour except something is urgently done. Mr. Femi Adesina will be up in arms against Governor T.A. Orji for making himself a salary paying governor who cared little or nothing about basic amenities. But he is refusing to see reasons why Abia should re-engineer to do better, but will not deny that over time, his organization have had to rationalize for optimum performance. The public sector is fast changing from becoming an all covers affairs. This reality is forcing government in every state to embrace far reaching reforms and introduce checks and balances, to smoke out ghost workers and swoop on corrupt officials, who delights in falsification of retirement records, so as to keep elongating their stay.
Kaduna and Yobe States are presently reforming their public service structure for better performance. Every State Governor is expected to make impact in their respective States, without prejudice to Nigerian Unity. After all, no body will ask chief T.A. Orji what he achieved in Nigeria but in Abia, when he was Governor of the State. The difficult but inevitable option of rationalizing the work force of Abia State, began with Abians themselves. Before the expiration of 2011, over 120 Directors and 26 Permanent Secretaries would have bided good bye to the service. Reason: the introduction of a terminal 8 years for Directors and 4 years for Permanent Secretaries, will affect so many Abians in that cadre. Government is desirous of balancing the lopsided nature of those sensitive positions with a view to accommodating the interest of other zones in the State.
Identifying with the option of transferring non-Abians back to their States was indeed a bitter pill which Governor T.A. Orji fought hard to swallow. In the light of its necessity, the governor quietly wrote his brother Governors in the South-East, in a two page letter prostrating and explaining to his brothers, why the state executive council of Abia State had to do what they did and urging them to accept their indigenes likely to be affected by the transfer including Abia women married by our brothers in other South-East States. If the action of Abia State Government was in retaliation for the humiliation Abians suffered in the hands of other South-East States in the past, the government of Chief T.A. Orji would have executed same, during his first tenure.
One wonders why this civil position is pedestrian and watery for Mr. Femi Adesina to accept when juxtaposed with the no excuse situation that heralded the horrendous ejection of Abians from the employ of other South-East States. Let us recall that during the days under review, the rate of unemployment wasn’t this worrisome and neither was a certain wage bill, forced down the throat of any state government, yet our sister States treated us like out casts. Would our dear Mr. Femi Adesina have preferred that our kit and kin in the volatile regions of the north continue to suffer pogrom like they suffered before the Nigerian-Biafra Civil War, simply because they have sympathy for one Nigeria?
Hell no. Igbos, nay Abians have sacrificed the most in this business of one Nigeria. They have consistently fallen victim of every provocation no matter how little. Some of our people in the north dusted their feet as biblically admonished to return home for shelter and no responsible government will her own.
The sleight hand of oneness if any has been largely exploited by our south-east relations at the disadvantage of Abians who rather harangue and shove them aside, when there is an opportunity to gain from any programme that will promote these brotherly bonds. State of origin becomes the yard stick for partaking in the ultimate reward. Just recently, the government of Imo state reviewed the school fees of Imo state University Owerri. That review came up with a lower school fees for indigenes of Imo State, while students of other states pays higher.
But all hell will let loose, if same is the case in Abia State University. Federal character, as provided for in the Nigerian constitution is a pre-requisite for the enjoyment of certain opportunities. Meaning that you need to be an indigene of a state or local government area before your qualification for a particular position is considered. If we keep indulging in the recognition of statehood, in other situations and hurriedly collapse it when it has to do with an Abian, we will make him look like a bat which is neither here nor there.
Our brother Femi Adesina, should not be more catholic than the pope. Niger Delta Youth Movement is not contesting your right to free speech but it would have made more sense, if there was a historical perspective to it. That is not to say that you are about to loose your teeming readers in Abia State, who read your column with ravishing relish. But we kindly advice, that when next you look at sensitive issues like this, do it from both sides of the coin.
We sincerely empathize with our people from South-East and other affected states and urge them to take it by their stride and see this as a necessary sacrifice that will help stabilize the already precarious but once vibrant Abia State Public Service.
Niger Delta Youth Movement, Abia State Chapter still believes in one united and indivisible Ndi-Igbo irrespective of their states of origin.
Signed:
Kingsley OkereHon. Felix A. Ogbonna
Ag. State Chairman National Welfare Officer
Source: Ngex, 26th October 2011.
Expulsion irks Ohaneze, Enugu House
By Tony Edike, Enugu
The decision of the Abia State Government to lay off non-indigenes in her civil service has been flayed by Ohaneze Ndigbo and the Enugu State House of Assembly who say that it can jeopardize unity among the people of the Southeast.
The Igbo socio-cultural organization strongly condemned the disengagement of the non-indigene workers from Abia State civil service saying that the development was not in the interest of unity and progress of the Igbo nation.
The Enugu State House of Assembly on its part is urging the Forum of the South East Governors headed by Governor Peter Obi of Anambra State to wade into the matter with a view to getting the Chief Theodore Orji-led administration to rescind its decision.
National Publicity Secretary of Ohanaeze, Engr. Ralph Ndigwe who made the position of the organization on the issue known, said it was unbecoming of governors to ask non-indigenes to return to their states, now that the apex organization was doing everything possible to sustain the unity among Ndigbo.
Noting the efforts by Ohanaeze to resolve the dispute between organized labour and governments of the South Eastern states over the minimum wage, he said that the expulsion of non-indigene civil servants would jeopardize the efforts of the organization.
The Ohanaeze spokesman said: “I am assuring you that we will look critically at this development, which is unjustifiable. Ohanaeze has been begging workers to go back to work. We have also been asking government to look into the issue of minimum wage. But I think this dimension of asking workers to go back to their state is not right.
We are going to investigate it. “Do you know that if you are sacking a non-indigene, you are sacking him and his family and all those dependent on him? Ohanaeze is going to meet to investigate this negative tendency because it is capable of impacting negatively on the unity among Ndigbo to which Ohanaeze is very much committed.”
On their part, lawmakers at the Enugu State House of Assembly unanimously condemned the forceful transfer of non-indigenes in Abia State civil service back to their home states. They maintained that the burden of the N18,000 minimum wage, which had become a national issue, was not a justifiable reason for laying off the workers.
The legislators urged the Abia State Government to retain the services of Enugu indigenes in its workforce in order to encourage mutual and sustainable corporate co-existence and peace in the South East zone.
Contributing to the motion brought by the Leader of the House, Sunday Ude-Okoye on the issue, the lawmakers called on both Abia and Enugu state governments to set up a committee to discuss the modalities of absorbing their respective workforce in terms of civil servants who are not indigenes of each state.
While urging the Abia State government to reinstate the displaced workers “since virtually all the states in the South-East and beyond are represented in Enugu State civil service”, the lawmakers, however, alerted the South East Governors’ Forum on the likely dangers and inconveniences that might result from the retaliatory actions of other states in the zone.
Moving the motion which he brought under a matter of urgent public importance, the House leader noted that Enugu state indigenes affected by the action of the Abia state government “do not in any way merit the way and manner Abia State government had thrown them out of their workforce hiding under the canopy of four unacceptable, irrational, reiterating and unconstitutional reasons.”
He pointed out that Enugu state indigenes resident in Abia state before her creation had lived there very peacefully, contributed immensely in various areas towards her development and assisted in moving the state forward in terms of commerce, social and political growth, adding that their children had education and became gainfully employed by the state government.
Ude-Okoye further stated that since the affected workers had spent their prime service period working for Abia State Government and most of them were about to retire while the rest have few years to retire, “these great patriots deserve to be paid retirement benefits, when they retire from Abia State Government service and disengaging these group of workforce is forcing Enugu State Government to inherit payment of service rendered to another state.”
While calling on Abia State government to rescind its decision on the non-indigenes, the lawmaker described the action as a violation of section 42 (sub-section 1, 2 and 3) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999, which stipulates that “a citizen of Nigeria shall not be discriminated against.”
Speaking on the development, the Speaker of the House, Eugene Odoh, however, called for caution assuring that the matter would be taken before the South East Governors’ Forum in order to seek amicable way of resolving it.
However, while pressure is being mounted on the Abia State Government to withdraw the sack letters already issued to the affected workers, the South East Governors had been seriously criticized for failing to take a firm position on the issue.
Source: Vanguard, 26th October 2011.
Abia reluctant to recall sacked non-indigenes
FROM GORDI UDEAJAH ,UMUAHIA
DESPITE the criticisms trailing the recent sack of non-indigenes in its workforce, the Abia State Government at the weekend said it would not rescind the decision.
This was disclosed at the weekend by the Information/Strategy Commissioner, Okwubunka Don Ubani while speaking to journalists in Umuahia.
He said, “the decision is irreversible despite the criticisms in many quarters. The policy is not negotiable, no amount of criticism will make government change its mind, it was well thought out and taken by the government in the interest of Abians. Other South East states had earlier disengaged Abians in their service years ago without any fuss.”
He recalled that Enugu State Government was the first to sack Abia workers in its public service and wondered why the Enugu State House of Assembly was now condemning the same action taken by Abia State years after, even as Abia State lawmakers approved the policy.
Reacting to the recent advertorial sponsored by Association of Anambra State Development Unions in Aba on the same issue, the Special Adviser to the Governor on Conflict Management, Dr. Anthony C.B Agbazuere, pointed out that there was law in the state backing the policy.
According to him: “An employee cannot be forced on an employer, while a contract of employment is not a fundamental right as many have been ignorantly conjecturing. With the return of Abia indigenes in some northern states as a result of the insurgence of Boko Haram, coupled with the implication of the N18,000 minimum wage, Abia State Government is constrained to face its primary responsibility, which is Abia citizens.”
Also reacting to the report credited to the Aba branch of the Nigeria Bar Association (NBA), which held that the policy was done in bad faith, the Special Adviser to the governor on Electronic Media, Chief Ugo Emezue in a statement accused the NBA of acting ignorantly, asserting that, “the issue of transfer of service of non-indigenes did not start with the Abia State Government, as it had been effected long earlier in several other places in the country.”
Source: The Guardian, 17th October 2011.
Sack: Non-indigenes lament as Abia compiles lists
It’s retrogressive—Ebonyi, It’s irrational—Imo
By Anayo Okoli, Umuahia/Peter Okutu, Abakiliki.
ON AUGUST 25, 2011, Abia State Government issued a circular which directed non-indigenes on its employment to disengage and return to their various states by October 1, 2011. The only exceptions were those engaged in the tertiary institutions.
To give effect to the policy, the circular, HAS/S.0071/II/13 issued by the Head of Service, Mr. G.C. Adiele, directed heads of ministries, departments, agencies and Local Government Service Commission “to submit the names of all non-indigenes in their employ on or before 1st of September, 2011, failure of which or any connivance thereto shall attract strict sanctions by Government”.
Entitled, ‘“Back loading on transfer of non-indigenes in Abia state public service to their states of origin”, the Head of Service said, “I write to convey the approval of the Government of Abia state that all non-indigenes working in the public service of Abia state [including local Governments] be transferred to their states of origin with effect from 1st October, 2011. This policy does not apply to tertiary institutions in Abia state”.
Ever since this policy was announced, there has been confusion in the state’s civil service. The confusion arose mainly because women of Abia extraction who by marriage changed indigeneship are protesting their inclusion. They are arguing that constitutionally, they remained Abians and therefore should not be affected by the exercise. Some of the cited cases where married women take ministerial positions in their states of birth even when they are married in a different state.
Investigation showed that Imo state indigenes would be most affected. This is very understandable because Abia was created from Imo state and it was believed that Abia as a new state lacked enough personnel to propel the new administration, hence they absorbed the workers of Imo origin.
Some of them have put in as much as15 years in Abia’s 20 years of existence. So, the directive devastated them more so when they are not sure of being absorbed by their respective states.
Though Abia state governor said that he consulted with his fellow governors of the South East before the policy was enunciated, the decision no doubt has attracted some criticisms. The criticisms have come from the church, business men, the civil servants themselves and some state governments.
The first attack on the policy came from the Catholic Church. The Catholic Bishop of Umuahia Dioceses, Dr. Lucius Ugorji, in his reaction, condemned the decision, describing it as an “injustice and divisive”.
In a statement he personally signed, Bishop Ugorji said that the-sack-non-indigene policy contravenes Section 42 of the nation’s Constitution in respect of place of origin.
“This policy negates true federalism and constitutes a serious obstacle to our march to nationhood. The spirit of a true nation where citizens have equal rights and opportunity must not be compromised by such divisive policy.
“Most of these individuals have families with children in schools and other dependants. It is obvious that their forced transfer or retrenchment will impact negatively on all these people. Moreover, up-rooting fellow Nigerians from their long-established social networks and economic ties leads to the unsavoury effect of making them feel they are being made aliens in their own country.
“Having served Abia state diligently for decades, it amounts to injustice to compel them to return to their various states of origin that may not have any plans to engage them or provide them with their entitlements.
“Implementation of this policy amounts to discrimination on grounds of place of origin which is a serious contravention of Section 42 [1, 2, and 3] of 1999 Constitution of Nigeria. That in the past some states have breached the Constitution in this regard is not a valid reason for Abia State Government to yield to the temptation of committing an illegality. Two wrongs do not make a right.” He called on the Government “to rethink this policy in the interest of justice, fair play and social harmony.”
But the Government maintained that the decision was not to punish anybody, saying that Governor Theodore Orji discussed with fellow South East governors before taking the decision. However, it is not known if there was a promise of any sort by his colleagues to absorb those to be sent back to their state.
According to the Commissioner for Information and Strategy, Chief Don Ubani, the government has no evil intention in the action. Rather, the government was creating vacancies for its citizens displaced in the North during the election crisis and Boko Haram attacks. But the question is were there Abians working in the Northern state civil service? If there were, how many were they?
Strong as Abia Government wants to defend this policy, at least two states have condemned the action, a situation which casts doubt on the consultation said to have been made by Governor Orji before the policy was released.
Ebonyi and Imo state governments have attacked the action, describing it as capable of disintegrating the unity and oneness of Ndigbo. They both spoke through their commissioners of Information and said that many Abians work in their states. Governor Martin Elechi of Ebonyi even said that his Government was yet to be communicated on the issue, saying that for now they see it as a rumour, and such action was backward thinking.
The Governor who spoke through the Commissioner for Information and State Orientation, Mr. Chike Onwe stated that the issue was still based on rumours, explaining that if implemented, it would not only threaten the corporate existence of Ndigbo but also the well being of Nigerians.
“So disengaging people from service on account of place of origin is backward thinking. But as I said, it is still on the plains of rumour and we don’t react to rumours but to substance.For now it is not true, until it is true the issue will be addressed.
“I think Ndigbo are a united people and we shall not allow anything to disintegrate this unity but I think it will be unfortunate if such a thing happens; it has not happened, it is still on the plains of rumours and until it is made real, we will not take any official stand or action”, the Commissioner said.
Onwe said that the state government would not be part and parcel of any process that would cause disaffection among citizens because of issues bordering on indigenization. He added that non-indigenes in the state were gainfully occupying sensitive positions in the state, even among the state executive council members.
“Since we are talking about true federalism and we cannot achieve such by being sectional or calling some indigenes and some others non indigenes. So for us to achieve true federalism, we must get people to feel at home wherever they are. We are looking at a situation where an individual from Kaduna comes to Ebonyi state and stands for any election and the man from Ebonyi goes to Lagos, stands election and gets elected to serve his term, people. That is where we are aspiring to.
“The position of Abia state government is yet to be made available to the Ebonyi state government but as I said, it is still on the plains of rumour but if that turns out to be true the matter will be looked at collectively by the state executive council and a position will be taken on the matter.
“On the interim, it is still a rumour and we shall treat it as such but I want to inform ourselves that there are Abians and people who are in other states that work in Ebonyi unhindered and un-marginalized, not witch-hunted and we see ourselves as brothers and sisters.”
On its part, Imo State Government reacted angrily to the action, and described the policy as “anachronistic, obsolete and reprehensible”.
Imo state Commissioner for Information, Dr. Obinna Duruji condemned the policy as being “irrational”. According to him, Imo government might be compelled to retaliate by sacking Abia indigenes in the employment of the government.
However, there are two categories of people are yet to know what their fate would be in the exercise. They are Abia women married to non-indigenes and non indigenes who secured appointment through automatic appointment of the NYSC. Some of them have even married indigenes of the state. The women are insisting that constitutionally they remain indigenes of Abia and that any attempt to disengage them would be resisted.
Though the government said the policy took effect from October 1, 2011, those affected are waiting for the letters to move them, as their names have since been compiled. So the letters will tell who and who will leave.
Lamentations
No doubt the affect people have been lamenting what the future holds for them.
A lady who simply gave her name as Cynthia from Imo state described the action of Abia state Government as pure wickedness. “How can a person who calls himself father of all do this type of thing? I have been working here for over 17 years, even in remote village of Isiukwuato. We have been contributing to the development of the state; all of a sudden our reward is to be sent back to our states of origin unprepared.
How do I relocate my five children who are in schools here? This is inhuman and we wonder where the unity of our Igbo people lies. This type of thing does not happen in the North and West. It is only in the East, among Ndigbo. Well we wish Governor T.A Orji well.”
Another woman, a mother of six also from Imo state said that she was still surprised over the whole thing. “I have been working in Abia since it was created 20 years ago. I have contributed to its development. My children are all in school in some parts of the state. Now, tell me, how do I begin to move? To move alone, and shuttle between here and say, my council area, in Ohaji/Egbema? I am still confused. I can’t really understand these people called politicians.
Just few months ago, during the elections, this same governor, while addressing us, assured us that he would not sack any non_indigene. Less than four months after voting for him, our reward was the circular to go. We will go but he should remember God. Our problem is that it was so sudden and nobody was prepared for this sudden dislocation. If he had said by end of next year, all of us would be prepared, afterall, there is nothing special here. It just because of our children.”
Source: Vanguard, 8th October 2011.
Absu Gang Rape - Victim Agreed to Be Raped - Police
Uduma Kalu, With Agency Report
The Abia State Police command has explained why it suspended investigations into the gang rape that happened in its Abia State University. The state police command said the girl-victim consented to the rape.
An online website monitoring the case yesterday reported that commenting on a DVD tape sent to his CP to expedite investigations into the activities of the criminal gang, J.G. Micloth, the Assistant Commissioner of Police in charge of Abia State Police command Criminal Investigation Department said the lady had consented to the gang crime.
He was quoted as saying that after watching the DVD, he said he did not see the young lady resist the rape.
On Thursday, 300 women from Abia, Anambra, Ebonyi, Enugu and Imo, were stopped by the Abia State police command from protesting in Umuahia, the state capital, against the controversial gang-rape alleged to have taken place at the state university, Uturu.
In Umuahia, the women, who said they came under the umbrella of civil society groups in the South-East and Igbo Women Organizations, urged the government and police to conduct deeper investigation into the ugly incident.
The police stoppage of the Abia walk happened on a day Abia State police command announced N500, 000 reward to anyone with information that could lead to the arrest of the perpetrators or identification of the rape victim.
A statement by the command's spokesman, ASP Geoffrey Ogbonna, said: "The command in its usual manner of protecting informants' identity, assures utmost secrecy in this regard while a handsome reward of N500,000 awaits any one with useful information."
The women, who came into Umuahia with two big buses, were stopped close to Government House by the Divisional Police Officer of Umuahia and diverted to the Central Police Station. However, last week the Assistant Commissioner of Police head said the Police cannot go on with the investigation because "they cannot tell who the suspects are 'from the legs' in the video, amongst 70 million males in Nigeria".
Mr Micloth yesterday said gang rape is often videoed as a tool by under-graduate boys to rubbish the self esteem of snobbish girls. He said even if the lady had not consented, he figured that she was a girlfriend to one of the cultists and must have probably cheated on him and when queried 'insulted' the boy hence he probably assembled a gang to teach her the lesson of her life, the website said.
It would be recalled that some students who are now known in the media circle as Uchenna, Wisdom, Zaki, Chisom and Ifeanyi -- all believed to be students of Abia State University gang raped a young lady sometime in August this year, recorded it on video and circulated the dastardly act on youtube three weeks ago.
Mr Micloth who claimed to be heading the Police investigating team said 'Several visits have been made to ABSU. Police have consulted the VC and checked the University records. Searches have been conducted and still on going in students Lodges.
Maranatha Lodge and Duperville Lodges have been checked room to room. Unfortunately no such names cited in the internet and press live there.
None also in the University records' the website, elombah.com had "revealed the gang rape assailants as Ifeanyi Justin Ogu, Jonah Uche, Zaki and Winston Okoye Chinonso."
In the rape video, which lasted well over an hour, the girl could be seen trying to fight off the men. When her efforts proved abortive amidst beatings, she resorted to pleading with them to spare her; but her pleas fell on deaf ears. And when she could not take the excruciating pain any longer, she begged them to kill her, instead of letting her live with the stigma our society would pile on top of her already horrendous trauma. As she pleaded with them, the boys laughed and mocked her, asking her to 'co-operate' or face two more days of torture by rape.
The incident, which is believed to have occured in Abia State sparked outrage nationwide.
Source: Vanguard, 8th October 2011.
Rape: Female Legislators Condemn Stigmatisation Of Victims
Female lawmakers yesterday called on the National Orientation Agency (NOA) to begin sensitisation of Nigerians on the need to not stigmatize rape victims.The lawmakers were reacting to the alleged recent gang-rape of a female undergraduate in Abia.
In separate interviews in Lagos, they said that stigmatisation prevented victims of rape from exposing the perpetrators.The deputy majority leader of the Lagos State House of Assembly, Mrs. Lola Akande, said that victims of rape usually hide because of the social stigma, and until the stigmatisation of rape victims was eliminated, rapists would continue to perpetrate the act.
``Most men would not want to be associated with a lady who has been raped; it should not be like that because whoever is raped does not do it out of her own volition. If these rapists know that women would come out to talk about the act and expose those who raped them, then, we have gone halfway. The NOA can have radio and television programmes and talk-shows to make victims come out of their shells to discuss it and know that it is no issue. AIDS victims now come out; so, why shouldn’t rape victims, since it is not their fault?’’ she asked.
Another Lagos State lawmaker, Mrs Adebimpe Akinsola, called for proper enforcement of existing laws against rape as well as enactment of a law to prosecute those who stigmatise victims.``If there is a law that spells out punishment for people who stigmatise victims, then, victims would have the confidence to come out,`` she said. NAN
Source: Leadership, 8th October 2011.
Abia and non- indigenship issue
There seems to be no limit to which some state governors can go in rationalizing their inability to pay the National Minimum Wage. All manner of reasons, ranging from the sensible, to the downright nonsensical, have been cited to convince their civil servants. In Abia state, one curious and critical issue is generating considerable interest.
It is the sack of non-indigenes from the state public service. Recently, the state governor, Chief Theodore Orji, apparently searching for funding to implement the minimum wage, gave directive to the state Head of Service to expel all non-indigenes working in the state public service. Those mostly affected by the sack order are civil servants from the neighbouring states of Imo and Ebonyi.
The governor gave two main reasons for his action: first reason was that the state government needs to urgently mobilize funds to implement the National Minimum Wage of N18,000. The second reason, he said in a radio and television broadcast, was to make room for the state indigenes “displaced” from other states as a result of the security challenge posed by the extremist sect, Boko Haram, to be absorbed into the state civil service.
Expectedly, this development has raised some dust in the country. Some people, especially civil servants from the state, have hailed the decision and “praised” Governor Orji for a decision “well taken”.
The state government while taking the decision also claimed that 50 percent of the state workforce are non-indigenes. The Governor likened the situation to “Abia indigenes being treated as visitors in their own state”. The government, he said, would not allow that to continue. According to the state government, for too long, it has played the role of ‘big brother’, and can no longer do so.
We have carefully weighed the argument by the state government, and consider it lacking in sound reasoning that would justify throwing out hundreds of non-indigenes into the unemployment market. This is a premeditated action that has exposed the faultlines in our nation. Unfortunately, the T.A. Orji government has permitted itself to be an intolerant instrument of such retrogressive and inhuman policy. By all account, the decision is wicked and condemnable.
It is against the concept of national unity which leaders like Governor Orji ought to be one of its patrons. It is also against the spirit of the Constitution that makes every Nigerian free to live and work in any part of the country. National integration which we need direly in these crucial times has been dealt a heavy blow by this action. Governor Orji has not by this action shown any exemplary leadership. If it is not reversed, it could have a domino effect, as some states, particularly, those whose indigenes were affected by the sack order, might return an “eye for an eye”.
We believe that the Abia government did not think through this decision. It is very unpopular, or at best, only resonates well with those expecting to benefit from the action. That will be very sadistic. Our country is fast trying to grow out of this kind of primordial cleavages and supine consideration. Sadly, the Abia state government is trying to draw back the hands of the clock. It is a decision capable of polarizing the country. The decision is ill- conceived.
It is, indeed, a source of great sadness that the governor should allow such a touchy issue to rear its ugly head at this time that our polity is so tensed and its enemies looking for an emotive concept such as indigenship factor to ignite frayed nerves. We therefore advise the state government to channel its energies to more serious matters begging for its urgent attention. The affected workers should be recalled and the policy reversed forthwith. If the state government had put its thinking cap right, it would have discovered that there are less disagreeable and more veritable avenues to generate revenue to pay the minimum wage. The action by the Abia government can create a battleground upon which other dangerous elements can feast on. This is simply a road taken by the shortsighted. Leaving Abia for Abians alone is not the way forward.
Source: Sun, 4th October 2011.
Ohafia-Arochukwu road of neglect
By Chris Oji, Enugu
Regular users call it the worst road in Africa. While they may not be totally correct about their assessment, it would be safe to brand it one of the worst. The Ohafia-Arochukwu has suffered neglect since the end of the civil war 41 years ago. The road stretches about 40 kilometres across five communities.
In normal circumstances, the journey from Ohafia to Arochukwu should take not more than 30 minutes. Now, it takes a minimum of two hours to make the journey. No thanks to the hundreds of craters that have taken over the road.
As a result of the terrible condition of the road, transporters charge as much as N600 from Ohafia to Arochukwu, which would have normally cost N100. Commercial farmers in the area no longer produce enough to sell in the cities as commercial vehicles hardly ply the area. They have now resorted to subsistence farming to sustain their families.
The plight of the communities and commuters was almost abated by the Petroleum Trust Fund (PTF), which awarded the contract for the rehabilitation of the road from Umuahia to Arochukwu and Ikot-Ekpene in Akwa Ibom State. But before the repairs could go far, the military left power and the PTF was scrapped.
By then, work had progressed from Umuahia to Ohafia, a stretch of about 70 kilometres when former President Olusegun Obasanjo assumed office. But, with the functions of the PTF transferred to the Federal Ministry of Works, further action on the road came to a halt. 12 years after, the remaining section of the road from Goodluck Ebele Jonathan Army Barracks, Ohafia to Arochukwu and Ikot-Ekpene has remained untouched. The road caves in to the crushing weight of floodgates every rainy season.
Although the Obasanjo administration re-awarded the contract for the rehabilitation of the remaining portion of the road to Julius Berger Construction and the construction giant started moving its equipment to site, it never began work apparently because of a breakdown of agreement with the government. The company later moved out the equipment.
What went wrong remains a matter of speculations. The road was consistently included in the budgets of 2002-2007. And it was learnt that mobilisation fee of N1.4 billion was released for commencement of work, but the money never got to the construction company.
A community leader in the area, who preferred anonymity, said: “Our representatives in the National Assembly should explain to us what is happening to that road since 1999. They gave us hope that they would tackle the issue of the road headlong, but up till now, nothing has been done about it.”
Source: The Nation, 28th September 2011.
Commission submits gang-rape report to minister
By Friday Olokor and Gbenga Adeniji
The National Human Rights Commission on Tuesday in Abuja said it had concluded investigation into the gang-rape of a female student.
It said the report had beensubmitted to the Minister of Youth Development, Mr. Bolaji Abdullahi.
The commission added that it met recently with the Minister of Police Affairs, Navy Capt. Caleb Olubolade (retd), and urged him to direct the police to investigate the matter.
A statement by the NHRC’s Director of Public Affairs and Communication, Mr. Muhammad Ladan, quoted the Acting Executive Secretary, Mrs. Oti Ovrawah, as welcoming the progress recorded in the investigation of the gang rape.
The commission also urged the police to “conclude their own investigations quickly and arraign the suspects before a court of competent jurisdiction.”
It called for adequate police protection and a comprehensive medical examination of the victim, whom, it claimed, would have been exposed to sexually transmittable diseases and unwanted pregnancy.
The NHRC said, “Police protection and medical care for the victim as well as diligent prosecution of the suspects are critical issues to be addressed at this point. The gang rape is cruel, dehumanising and unacceptable. It is a primitive act of violence against womanhood and those involved in this dastardly and beastly act should be made to give a full account of their action.”
The NHRC also flayed the initial dismissive approach by the relevant authorities in the matter without a thorough investigation, describing it as “embarrassing.”
Meanwhile, a human rights lawyer, Mr. Jiti Ogunye, on Monday urged the Abia State Government to ensure that the men who raped the student were brought to book.
Ogunye, in a telephone interview with one of our correspondents, noted that the government held it as a duty to Nigerians to ensure that justice was done in the matter.
He said, ‘‘Abia State has been a bastion of all sorts of criminality where kidnapping and demand for ransom take place. But the government in the state has to assure Nigerians and the international community that the state is not where anything can happen. It will be a hard sell to say the people (rapists) could not be arrested.”
He added that the police had enough clues to apprehend the suspects based on their names or aliases as obtained from the video and the photographs posted on the Internet.
According to him, the police should commence a full scale investigation into the matter.
Ogunye said the victim, when identified, should be greatly consoled for, according to him, she had been psychologically bruised.
‘‘She can be moved from the university to another place or sponsored abroad to continue her education. Otherwise, she cannot live normally in that state. There must be justice for her and the society at large,’’ he said.
Source: Punch, 28th September 2011.
Abia gang-rape: NHRC wants suspects charged to court
Malachy Uzendu, Abuja Bureau Chief
National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) yesterday reviewed developments in the Abia gang-rape and charged the Police to quickly conclude their investigations and charge the suspects to court.
The commission while reacting to the dastardly act, though commended the Police for making some arrests, it wants the law enforcement organ to expedite action in the prosecution of the suspects.
Speaking on the matter, Acting Executive Secretary of the commission, Mrs. Oti Ovrawah, who expressed shock and disbelief on the incident, noted that the arrest of the two suspects linked to the act, would lead to final apprehension of the remaining members of the rapists.
She calls for adequate police protection and comprehensive medical examination of the unidentified victim, who was raped by the gang in a students hostel in Uturu, Abia state.
According to her, "the victim would have been exposed to sexually transmittable infections and unwarranted pregnancy. Police care and medical care for the victim as well as diligent prosecution of the suspects are critical issues to be addressed at this point.
"It is a primitive act of violence against womanhood and those involved in this dastardly and beastly act should be made to give full account of their action".
The Executive Secretary further stated that the initial dismissive approach by the relevant authorities in the matter without thorough investigation was embarrassing.
She insisted that relevant government agencies must show capacity to sanction such barbaric act in order to prevent recurrence and restore public confidence in the system.
Officials of the commission in the company of Mrs. Maryam Uwais, wife of a former Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), who is also a member of the African Committee on the Rights and Welfare of the Children lat week met with the Minister of Police Affairs, Navy Captain Caleb Olubolade (rtd) and urged him to direct the Police investigation into the matter.
The commission, working with Dr. Chidi Odinkalu of the Open Society Justice Initiative (OSJI) has forwarded a report of the commission’s findings and recommendations to the Minister for youth Development, Bolaji abdullahi who has been co-ordinating efforts at unearthing the circumstances surrounding the dastardly act.
It should be recalled that the Police in Abia state, for whatever reason, had dismissed the gang-rape as ‘rumour’ even though it did not carry out any investigation on the matter.
Source: Daily Champion, 28th September 2011.
A Word for the Abia Petitioners
opinion
The old Chinese proverb is ever relevant: "You cannot stop a moving train". The Igbo say it differently: "It is only a mad man that would stand before a moving train with the intent to block it. If the man is sane, then he is certainly made up for suicide. It is on the basis of this ancient wisdom that I engage the coterie of election petitioners whose activities currently constitute a form of ugly distraction to the meaningful crusades of Governor Theodore Orji of Abia State.
For one, I can boost of having interacted with all the petitioners, from the former Deputy Governor, Chris Akomas who flew the flag of the Progressive Peoples Alliance (PPA) , Reagan Ufomba, ex-seminarian, friend of IBB, and Amuwo Odofin-based cement dealer who ran for All Peoples Grand Alliance (APGA), Stanley Ohajuruka, former House of Assembly Speaker who ran under the Labour Party (LP) and one Ikechi Owanta, who belonged to one of the many insignificant parties . I can vouch that these men are people of sound minds and stable characters whose sense of judgment has never been in doubt. Then, why would they, suddenly, decide on such the dangerous and irrational path of going to confront a moving train? Why is the option of self-wastage more attractive to them than the Governor's benevolence of an olive branch? Why would they ever think they can stop a divine mandate? The puzzles are better resolved by an ethics professor.
However, it is very easy to decode the Abia petitioners. Three things stand clear as their underlying motivations - money, ego and ambition. For one or two of them, we may add the two cardinal destroyers - wine and women. These human drives have blended to create an obsessive desire, the ambition to live in the valley-side Government House in Umuahia and to ride in chariots with a convoy of sirens clearing the way. Who wouldn't love to be addressed as 'The Governor"? Indeed, ambition, like Shakespeare observes, could be "a raging fire". But, in another book, Shakespeare also observes that it is "made of a sterner stuff."
If ambition could be tamed to appear in the simplicity of a sterner stuff, then there is need to give a word to the Abia petitioners. It is on this premise that I invite them to come into the age of reason and common sense (apologies to Thomas Paine). I invite them to the table of native mediation, where the elders, drawing from primordial wisdom usually draw the line and say to all the warring parties, "Let it end here." I invite them to the table of brotherhood where we sit in one kindred spirit, aware of each other's manhood, and in total belief that blood is thicker than water. I woo them to dialogue.
Indeed, I have resorted to mediation because I realize that in all circumstances, it is Abia, our native state that is losing. The petitioners are losing scarce resources and money to prosecute their litigations. I see their followers in their numbers trooping to the court premises on the days the tribunals sit. They waste money and time in a vain pursuit. They are deceived to believe they are in a struggle to regain a stolen mandate. In another vein, these minor issues could constitute distractions to a Governor who is totally concentrated on restoring the glory of Abia State through infrastructural renewal and the reformation of the human person.
The petitioners would have been excused for exercising their right under democracy if they had a case to pursue. But, in this circumstance, they are fighting against a victory that was clearly a landslide with none of them coming close to a margin with the Governor. Given the mood in Abia today with the revolution being led by Governor Orji, the petitioners come across, very annoyingly, as mere irritants. Their activities are unnecessary distractions in a dispensation of action. At a time when the Abia polity has stabilized with all stakeholders subsuming their interest in support of Governor Orji who is driving a process of meaningful development, the petitioners represent a negative whirlwind. They do not intend to make any statement, but to cause a distraction. It is like a strategy of mischief and this was inadvertently betrayed in the petition of Akomas which the presiding judge struck out last week and declared as 'dead on arrival."
Why continue to dissipate useful energy? What is the rationale in wasting scarce resources and time in a fruitless mission? Why being a distraction to the movement of the state? These are the posers for the Abia petitioners. And in line with the mediatory posture of the Governor, I do hereby appeal to the jolly petitioners to lay down their pens and enlist in the moving parade. It is consistently counterproductive and a display of reckless courage to confront a moving train. This is the view of all Abians and they are right. They are right because today they can point to the 165 health centres and diagnostics centres spread all over the communities constructed by the Ochendo of Abia.
The people of Abia are angry with the petitioners because, for once, there is a task force on Environment and Allied matters that is currently at work in Aba to bring back decorum to the degenerated city of entrepreneurs. Today, the task force is destroying makeshift stalls built on top of drainages, clearing the gutters and bringing back sanity to Aba. The entire civil service is angry with the Abia petitioners because, for once, their welfare was considered with the promotion of all civil servants to the next grade level and the effort to reinvigorate the service. By these efforts, it has become mandatory for the directors in the civil service to stay in office for only eight years with a term of four years for the permanent secretaries which is renewable in another four years based on satisfactory performance.
Indeed, with the many giant strides of the Governor in his first 100 days in office and with the new political climate of progressive action, there cannot be any justification for the distractions of these pen-jobbers. Thus, a word should be enough for the wise, and to Akoma, Ufomba, Ohajuruka and Owanta, the Chinese proverb comes alive: You cannot stop a moving train.
Source: The Nation, 26th September 2011.
Gang rape video, a ruse – Abia govt
By Simon Utebor and Ozioma Ubabukoh with agency report
Abia State Commissioner for Information, Chief Don Ubani, has said the state is not bothered about the speculation that a female student of the Abia State University, Uturu, was gang-raped by five suspected cult members also believed to be students of the institution.
The yet-to-be identified female was allegedly raped on August 16 and the dastardly act was posted on the Internet on August 17.
But describing the video as a “ruse,” the commissioner insisted that the story had no basis and had yet to be reported to the police in the state.
A News Agency of Nigeria correspondent who watched the video clip posted on the Internet, reports that it shows five young men having intercourse in a barbaric manner with a lady.
Voices from the video claimed that the incident took place at ABSU and that the victim and the perpetrators were students of the university.
However, Ubani told NAN in Umuahia that “the issue of gang rape in Abia State University is a mere ruse, such a thing did not happen.’’
Meanwhile, the university also on Wednesday disowned the supposed five-man gang who roundly subjected the girl to rape, saying that both the victim and suspects were not their students.
The university authorities made this known at a press conference in Umuahia, the state capital.
The Dean, Student Affairs, Dr. Udo Nwokocha, said the university had conducted thorough investigations and discovered that the purported incident neither took place in ABSU nor were the rapists or victim students of the school.
He stated that the university authorities had been receiving telephone calls on the issue, hence decided to clarify its position.
Nwokocha said the Minister of Youth Development, Mr. Bolaji Abdullahi, had called to inquire of the incident, saying, “the management of the institution and the minister are in constant touch in the effort to get to the root of the incident.”
The don said security agencies had been investigating the matter, adding that “from what we learnt the boys would soon be apprehended, as they are closing in on them.”
The dean, who was flanked by the President of ABSU Student Union, Mr. Christian Afulike, said, “The same video clip has been circulating in other universities in the country in the past few months and we wonder why it is being linked to our university.
“We want to vouch for the enviable reputation of our students and therefore want to disassociate them from this immoral, animalistic and dehumanising act. The Abia State University community is grossly embarrassed by the publication and its concomitant negative effect on the image of the university.
In carrying out investigations, he said the university had engaged the students to watch the video clip and see if they could identify any of the persons in the video.
Meanwhile, the President, Women Arise, Dr. Joe Okei-Odumakin, has said her organisation is currently researching into the issue through its structures in Abia State. She stressed that the group had already opened up discussion with the police on the issue.
Okei-Odumakin said, “We hope to mount pressure on the Nigeria Police especially, the Abia State Police Command to fish out these five shameless rapists. We are sending a very strong petition to the Inspector-General of Police, Mr. Hafiz Ringim, to demand that the five male cult members be fished out.
“We are demanding that since they have the guts to video record the incident, and were talking as they were carrying out the dastardly act the police must use the video and the information thereof to hunt them out.
She added that her organisation would send signals to all progressive groups in Abia such as the Campaign for Democracy; Civil Liberties Organisation; Committee for the Defence of Human Rights; Women Groups and all civil society organisations in the state to quickly organise and form a coalition around the issue to fight it to the end.
Source: Punch, 22nd September 2011.
Much ado on Abia civil service reforms
IT is baffling, indeed worrisome how people often and unconstructively criticize government policies without providing alternatives or superior arguments, rather relying on emotions and sentiments to project their views.
That is what is rearing its ugly head in Abia State now as some few disgruntled elements are trying to make something out of the state government’s recent decision to transfer non-indigene civil servants in the state to their state of origin to ensure that the new minimum wage is implemented in the state optimally, considering the scarce resources at its disposal.
The most annoying of these unfounded criticisms was that of the Catholic Bishop of Umuahia Diocese, Lucius Ugorji, who described the action as “discriminatory and a serious contravention of section 42 (1), (2), and (3) of the 1999 Constitution of the country”.
According to him: “The implementation of this policy amounts to discrimination on grounds of place of origin. This policy negates true federalism and constitutes a serious obstacle to our march to nationhood”.
With due respect to Ugorji, his recent statement on the matter was not only hasty but inciting and uncalled for, considering that we all know that there is no true federalism in Nigeria today. If there is true federalism, why should the Federal Government that controls 55 per cent of national resources force a national minimum wage benchmark of N18000 on states, even when it is clear that states do not have such money to pay workers and embark on other developmental projects.
On the sections of the constitution that was quoted or referred to by Bishop Ugorji, the state government has not contravened any part of the constitution or done anything illegal by its action. Rather, government simply explored an amicable way of resolving the minimum wage crisis confronting state governments across the country.
Or if Bishop Ugorji according to his own understanding of the constitution believes that the action is illegal, he should advise or assist those that will be affected to go to court and challenge the government, instead of adjudicating and passing judgment on the pages of newspaper over an issue that is purely within the power of the state government.
He should blame the Federal Government for forcing minimum wage on state governments in spite of the inequitable distribution of national resources. I think he and other critics are pouring venom on state governments without justification.
I strongly believe that good governance is not all about paying minimum wage or salaries to workers. It goes beyond that and could be challenging if a state cuts its coat more than its cloth.
Before venturing into politics, Governor T.A Orji paid his dues as a seasoned civil servant and so knows and understands the civil service rules and procedures more than his critics. Since he assumed office as Governor in 2007, he has had a cordial working relationship and good understanding with the workers in the state to the extent that the state had not witnessed any strike under him.
During his campaign for second term in office, he promised the workers speedy promotions if he won. Immediately he won and was sworn-into office, he promoted all the workers to the next grade level, not next step. He also embarked on the restructuring of the state civil service for effective performance. Though some criticized his reform agenda, especially in the civil service, but many have lauded it too.
It is obvious that every government policy or action will be perceived as positive by some and negative by others. But of utmost importance is whether such policy or action will impact positively on majority of the people as is the case with the decision to transfer non-indigenous civil servants in the state.
The action of the Abia State government is not new or unprecedented. It is a common practice in the country. So there is nothing wrong with it, except that some crooks who have been feeding fat on government resources through the manipulation of workers’ salaries and ghost workers want the status quo to remain. It is public knowledge that Governor Orji has personally and humbly written to his colleagues in other states to absorb the returnee civil servants in their states under “transfer of service”. He has made it clear severally that his government is ready to absorb indigenes of the state that will be affected in other states. So why are some people, including a high profile cleric, crying more than the bereaved, as if they love them more than the state government?
If the action will enable the state government to meet up with the demands of the workers, especially on the minimum wage and save them from the embarassement of workers’ strike as witnessed in Enugu State recently, so be it for it is better, unless majority of the civil servants in the state are non-indigenes which is impossible.
Clerics of different religious denominations are enjoined to be uniting and not dividing tools, especially as we are all Christians under the banner of one God.
Mrs. AGNES UDORJI, a retired headmistress, wrote from Owerri Road, Aba.
Source: Vanguard, 14th September 2011.
First 100 DAYS: ABIA: Orji’s new song
By Anayo Okoli, Umuahia
THE first 100 days of Governor Theodore Orji’s second term invariably confirm the saying that there is nothing like freedom. Freed from the hold of his one time godfathers and mother, the Governor has launched a series of initiatives to the surprise of observers.
Chief Theodore Orji’s actions in his first 100 days in office in his second term so far indicate that he is deviating from the culture of his first term which showed no clear direction of development. The few actions he has taken seem to show that the Governor is poised to transform the state by giving it a direction. In terms of infrastructure development the Governor has commenced the rehabilitation of the state’s rundown roads.
Politically, the Governor who used caretaker committees to govern the state’s local governments throughout his first four years has this time commenced moves to conduct local government elections before the end of the year.
The administration recently created the Abia State Physical Planning and Infrastructural Development Fund. The fund will evaluate and tax property owners as appropriate and inject the money raised in providing infrastructure in the areas where the tax is collected. The government followed it up with a summit with stakeholders aimed at creating enough awareness among the people about the new law and its operations.
Also in line with laying a sustainable foundation for development, the governor has also constituted a committee to relocate the Umuahia main market which is badly located at the heart if the state capital. The relocation is aimed at curtailing the nuisance arising from incessant traffic jam, environmental pollution and other ills.
There is also the committee that is currently demolishing illegal structures to give the major cities in the state a new look. The committee is also trying to ensure that markets are relocated from the streets and that motor parks are located at the outskirt of the cities.
The governor seems to be prepared to extend democracy to the grass roots by organizing local government elections. Political observers in the state feel that with the nomination of members of the state electoral commission to the State House of Assembly with a renowned retired Judge, Justice Igbozurike Akomas as chairman, that the local governments could also benefit from the famed freedom that Governor Orji himself got when he disengaged from his predecessor.
In his first four years, Governor Orji used caretaker committee members to run the council administration. So with the new electoral body coming on board, perhaps there is hope for the rural masses to get democracy closer to them.
Within the period, the administration has awarded few contracts for the provision of some infrastructure. The contracts are in the areas of road and electricity provision worth about N3.8 billion. The electricity contract involves the evacuation of electricity generated at Ohiya 132 KVA power station which was awarded at a cost of N287 million.
The road contracts include the reconstruction of the 4.7 km Ohanku road in Aba which was awarded to Coduc at the cost of N733 million, the Isuochi-Owerri-Ezunaka, linking Abia with Anambra, awarded at a cost of N390 million and the 8.4 KM Obohia road which links Aba to Ugwunagbo Local Government Area of the state at a cost of N1.7 billion. It was also awarded to Coduc Ltd. The construction of a new secretariat in the state was also awarded to J and J Company based in Port-Harcourt at the cost of N1.7 billion.
It could thus be said that for the people of Abia, Orji’s second term may indeed have been a better beginning.
Source: Vanguard, 5th September 2011.
Senator Weeps Over Federal Roads in Abia
Senator Nkechi Nwaogu representing Abia Central Senatorial zone, literally shed tears over the deplorable state of federal roads in Abia state, particularly the impassable Enugu /Port Harcourt Express way, which has almost paralyzed economic activities in the state as most vehicles especially trucks plying the highway either get trapped on various failed portions of the road or fall by the road side.
Addressing news men in Umuahia weekend, after on the spot assessment of the federal roads in her constituency, Senator Nwaogu called on the federal government to commence immediate rehabilitation of the roads, describing them as ‘’ valleys of death’’.
‘’These roads have totally collapsed. They are death traps. They no longer require repairs. It is complete reconstruction not repairs.’’
Daily Champion reports that the Abia portion of Enugu/Port Harcourt expressway stretching from Okigwe in Imo state to Obuaku , a border town with Rivers state, is in terrible condition.
Nwogu also called for devolution of powers from federal to state governments such that states would assume the responsibility of repairs and maintenance of federal roads in their localities, while funds for such projects would be remitted to them from the federation account.
This, she argued would put paid to the cases of abandonment of federal roads in the country as each state would be held responsible for the maintenance of federal roads in its soil while the federal government should only supervise the roads.
‘’ I am an advocate for devolution of power. I do not believe that we can sit in Abuja and talk about federal roads by federal people. I believe that the money earmarked for execution of road construction, rehabilitation, and maintenance of federal roads should be given to state governments. Every thing should not remain at federal roads. The federal Ministry of works can restrict itself to policy formulation and regulation, monitoring and evaluation, and not in actual execution of projects’’.
The senator expressed disappointment over the inability of the ‘’federal Ministry of works to have a zonal offices in the 36 states’’ for constant monitoring of the condition of the roads.
Nwaogu further lamented that the contractor who had been awarded the right lane of the Enugu/ Port Harcourt express way has long abandoned the project for yet to be established reasons, and called on the federal government to force him back to site.
‘’Another thing of concern is that one side of the expressway from Enugu to Port Harcourt which was awarded to CCC has long been abandoned by the contractor who, to our greatest surprise has been given a letter that he has concluded 95% of the road.
‘’ But we have seen the condition of that road, but, that road has not even attended five percent completion,’’ she fumed.
Continuing, she said, ‘’ I know that the rainy season is there but it is not a total excuse for abandoning such important road’’, while advocating the award of road projects in the state to competent construction firms.
‘’ It is not good if we keep repairing our roads every six months because as we were driving , we saw that some of the roads were done about six months ago , but today they have been totally washed off. Therefore we require the type of contractors handling road contracts in Abuja and Akwaibom to also take road projects in Abia.
‘’The federal government should not give us quasi contractors again’’, she warned, expressing fear that the N6 billion voted in 2011 budget for the repair of the highway might not be implemented.
Senator Nwaogu also called for immediate reopening of the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation(NNPC) depot Aba, contending that pipeline vandalism is not enough reason to permanently close down the depot which she said had crippled economic activities in the state for the past five years.
‘’There are so many gadgets that can be installed to monitor all oil pipeline layout nation wide. Telling us that because pipelines are vandalized on daily basis is the reason Osisioma oil depot is permanently closed down is not acceptable’’.
Source: Daily Champion, 7th September 2011.
As Gov. Orji hits the ground running
By Donatus Onyejiakor
WHO says political and economic freedom is not desirable? It is, especially in a democratic setting. If not, why did someone like the iconic Nelson Mandela spend 25 years in prison to make his country what it is today? Why did our own great Zik, Awolowo and other nationalists, put their lives on the line to ensure that our country, Nigeria, is free from colonial imperialism.
But with the return of democracy in the country in 1999, homegrown imperialism clothed in political godfatherism was introduced in our political system. It became even more dangerous than colonial imperialism.
Between 1999-2007, despite the availability of enormous state resources, poverty, hunger and despair pervaded the land; our collective resources were shared among cabals; political crisis took over governance as the godfathers prowled like hungry lions in the land. Their words were laws and they had a field day because their godsons were made to abide by their wish against that of the people.
In the face of all these, some innocent ones in the corridor of power then were made sacrificial lambs and scapegoats. That was how Theodore Orji, the then Chief of Staff to the Governor of Abia State, became a victim of circumstance, as he was unjustly incarcerated by the powers-that-be, on account of his boss’ alleged offences.
Obviously a man destined to be great for a purpose, the development prepared him for the challenge ahead, which is the total liberation of the state from political vampires called godfather and godmother. His first term was dogged by protracted legal battle and undue interference by a godfather, which consequently slowed the pace of development.
But after recording a resounding victory in the April polls, Governor Orji took full charge of the affairs of state and hit the ground running. Within the past few months of his second term in office, his words and actions which many enemies might consider daring but progressive and meaningful, have given clear indication of what the future holds for the State under him.
For instance, in order to clean the Augean stable in the civil service which has remained a conduit pipe for looting in every state, Governor Orji, through the Head of Service, Chief Godson Adiele recently released a circular which reads in part: “As a part of the continuing reforms in the country and in consonance with Federal Circular No. HCSF/061/S. 1/111/68 of August 26, 2009, the Abia State government has found it necessary to develop a policy that will review and reinvigorate the service, restore morale of officers and unlock the creative potentials of hard working officers.
‘’Accordingly, government has approved that Permanent Secretaries and heads of non-ministerial departments shall hold office for a term of four years, renewable for a further term of four years, subject to satisfactory performance and no more. Directors shall compulsorily retire upon serving eight years on the post”.
It will be recalled that Governor Orji had recently vowed to rationalise the appointment of Permanent Secretaries in the State, which, he noted, had been so lopsided that while some council areas do not have a slot, some communities have about five.
He has also accused engineers in the Ministry of Works of being responsible for the poor jobs executed for government by contractors in the state and had threatened to sack them should they fail to turn a new leaf. Orji described the engineers’ performance as “a total disaster”, alleging that rather than do the job for which they are paid, the engineers seldom supervise road contracts in the state.
Because of the numerous illegal structures in the State, especially in the commercial city of Aba which have remained a nightmare to people in the state, Gov. Orji has set up a task force headed by his Security Adviser, Captain Udonsi Awa (rtd). The task force has started by demolishing some illegal structures in the state to pave way for reconstruction/rehabilitation of access roads.
Work is also ongoing at a fast pace at the new secretariat in Umuahia. To demonstrate his concern for transparency, the Governor has taken it upon himself to personally supervise this and other on-going projects across the state.
Source: Vanguard, 23rd August 2011.
‘The Foundation for Abia’s Development has been Laid’
By Augustine AVWODE
Barrister James Kwubiri Okpara is the Special Adviser to Abia State Governor, Chief T. A Orji, on Public Relations. He was the Special Adviser (Legal) to the governor before he was re-elected in the April general elections. In an interview with Augustine AVWODE, Okpara said the foundation for the development of Abia State had been laid. He also condemned what he called ‘playing politics’ with the condition of Dim Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu. Excerpts:
Abia State should be 20 years in a few days time. What can you say of the state? Has it come of age at 20?
Well, I think that in spite of the challenges of statehood, Abia State and Abians have a lot to thank God for. It is not easy for one to be 20 years old. Thanks to the efforts of the governor, Chief T A Orji. Without doubt, there have been dividends of democracy and above all, the rule of law. Now Abians are ruled the way they want. The money of Abia State does not go to only one family again and the question of political slavery and economic subjugation are over in the state.
So, if for nothing else, we can hold up our head and say yes, our 20th anniversary which coincides with when Abians have a government of their choice is worth celebrating. At the least, Abia is peaceful and united. And really if you look at the state at the level of the PDP, it is the most peaceful of all PDP states in terms of party politics.
We have a lot to be thankful for. If you look at the Abia diagonistic centres in Umuahia and Aba for instance, they compare favourably with any other from any part of the world, which is a fact. It is the governor that did it for Abia within this period and I think Abians know there is something they can build on in their quest to be a developed state. The foundation has been laid and that is a good thing.
Would you say the governor has settled down to work? Many people are of the view that the state is in dire need of development.
Obviously, yes, but before I answer your question ,let me say that we want to first of all thank the good people of Abia State for giving Governor Orji the mandate to rule the state for another four years.
And I know that Abians at the end of the day will know that they have made a good choice by voting for Chief Orji.
Now on the question, the governor has since begun building on the foundations he laid in the first term.
And because the governor knows that Abia needs development, the basic focus of the government in the state has been the provision of infrastructure, education, industries, health care delivery, security and employment generation for the citizens of the state.
And talking about infrastructure, Abia is one state that does not have either a state or federal secretariat. After his swearing in, Governor Orji entered into an agreement to build a modern and befitting secretariat for Abia State. And the foundation for it has been laid and work is going on as we speak. In a very short time, Abia would be able to boast of a modern secretariat. There are various challenges that you have to contend with when ministries, departments and agencies are housed in various parts of Umuahia.
It does not make for good coordination, it doesn’t make for good security and there is a kind of atmosphere where government should conduct its business that is absent. But now, the governor is determined to bequeath a modern secretariat to Abia State within the means of the state.
And still on infrastructure, the whole world knows about the congestion of Umuahia and the plan to relocate the main market called Isi-gate. And as you know the popular approach is the PPP. But it is apparent that the PPP is not working out. So the governor has taken the bull by the horns and is embarking on direct construction of the market. If the modern market is ready, Umuahia would be decongested in no small way. The state government is using its resources for that project.
After the election, the governor bought 13 trucks for refuse disposal to ensure that the streets in both towns are clean .
You have also heard about Golden Guinea. For a long time ,so much was promised by the people who claimed to have controlling shares in it to bring it back on stream, but nothing much happened. Now the governor has decided to use government funds to bring it back on stream. And after the election, the issue of kidnapping is no longer in existence in Abia. He has been assisting all the joint patrol teams to ensure that the existing peace in the state is maintained as the governor is consolidating. Let me say this and without apology, between 1999 and 2007 all efforts in Abia were wasted. But since Chief T. A Orji came in, he has done his best to turn things around.
Many people are sort of disturbed that only one state in the South East region talks about the well being of the Ikemba Nnewi who is a great leader of the Igbo. Why is this so?
I wouldn’t be surprised that you have raised an issue like this because that is the impression in the press or the media. It is clear that people are playing politics with Ojukwu’s name and health and it is rather unfortunate that such an Igbo icon should be so treated. And while not joining issues with anybody, I can tell you with all authority at my disposal that the South East governors have been looking into the welfare of the Ikemba and have been rendering assistance in whatever form they can. The issue is that whenever you have the South East governors doing anything, they often get it across through their chairman, and the chairman of the South East Governors Forum is His Excellency, Mr. Peter Obi.
Ikemba is the father of Igbo and it is not normal to sound trumpet or expect people to congratulate you for doing anything for your father. Any Igbo man who is well trained and sucked on the mother’s breasts knows that when you assist your elderly one, you don’t go to town with the story or news and start shouting I did this or that.
Firstly, it is not in Igbo custom to do so. Secondly, it is not the style of Chief T. A. Orji. People generally know that he doesn’t make a noise and Chief Ojukwu is our father, an uncle and a good friend of Abia State and what you will do for your father, brother or a good friend is what Chief T. A. Orji has been doing.
Source: The Nation, 13th August 2011.
Abia in Diaspora launches free treatment
A medical team, under the auspices of Abia Professionals in the Diaspora, has launched free medical treatment mission to selected communities in Abia.
The New York-based group visited Umu Ezike and Umuezemai communities in Ohuhu, Umuahia North Local Government Area, while members of the adjoining communities that could not be reached due to bad roads, converged at Umuezemai for the exercise.
Not less than 1,000 people were treated.
Mrs. Winifred Nnakwe, the President, Ohuhu Development Union, International, said that the association had always held their people back home in high esteem.
"We have always held our people so dear to us and wanted an opportunity to give back to society.
"So when this opportunity came our way during the meeting of Nigeria Medical Professionals in the U.S., we grabbed it," she said.
Nnakwe said the group decided to concentrate on the rural areas for now "because we feel the people are not given attention and are dying of simple diseases that can ordinarily be cured’’.
She said that the exercise was an eye opener as various life threatening ailments such as cancer and diabetes had been detected.
"In the course of the mission, we found out that the people of Umu Ezike had embarked on self-help effort by building a health centre, though not equipped.
"We then decided to equip the health centre and make it functional to complement their laudable efforts," she said.
Nnakwe said some of the equipment donated to the health centre included hospital beds, mattresses, refrigerator, power generating set, water tank, trolleys and medical bed-side lockers.
She said the objective of the mission was just be to treat ailments, but also to equip members of the communities with necessary information to live a healthy life.
"We have found out that the lack of care is the most threatening ailment and we want them to get adequate information concerning immunisation and pre-natal care.
Nnakwe said the medical mission would be sustained.
"By the end of the exercise, we would have known the predominant diseases in these areas so as to plan well for our next visit."
The president said that the group would partner with the state government to upgrade the Abia Specialist Hospital and Diagnostic Centre, through the installation of state-of-the-art facilities, to enhance its operations.
Source: Daily Independent, 7th August 2011.
Abia and the slain police officer
THE event of July 19 in Abia State where a police officer, Corporal Umoru Mohammed attached to Government House Umuahia allegedly shot his colleague, Corporal Clement Amachi to death, calls for serious concern, thorough investigation and total overhauling of the country’s security apparati, especially the Police.
Some may say that the ugly incident is not unusual, as we have witnessed similar incidents in the past where a police officer killed his colleague. But that is beside the point.
Since the alleged incident occurred, I have been following media reports both on the internet and in the newspapers and I have strongly observed the bias and contradictory reportage by a newspaper owned by a chieftain of an opposition party in the state, even as the matter is still under investigation by the appropriate authorities.
In the July 20 publication of the newspaper was a story which headline alleged that the late police man was killed in a shoot-out over a largesse from Governor Theodore Orji.
The report, with a by-line, claimed that according to hospital sources, Mohammed allegedly killed Amachi because of differences over the sharing of N2.5 million given to them by Governor Orji.
Among all the national dailies in the country, it was only the said paper that raised the allegation against Governor Orji on the incident, even without caring or bothering to get the Governor or his government’s side of the story.
On page 6 of the same newspaper of July 21, another story titled: “Shoot-Out In Abia Govt. House: Suspect Incoherent, Denies Killing Anybody, Sedated” was published on the incident, but without byline, indicating it was a syndicated story. In the concluding part of the story, it was claimed that the cause of the incident has not been unravelled.
Again in the July 22 issue of the newspaper, another story was published on page 10 titled: “Abia Govt. House Shooting Not Boko Haram–CP; Accused Policeman Leaves Intensive Unit”. The story was also without any byline and the concluding part of it claimed that the shooting was linked to the sharing formula of N2.5 million gift from Governor Orji.
Even without being a journalist, we all know that the basic principles of news writing and reporting are objectivity, fairness, balance and clarity. All these ingredients were lacking in the paper’s reportage of the incident since it occurred.
The reports were full of bias and contradictions, thereby clearly indicating a vested interest in the matter, possibly with the intention of embarrassing the state government over political differences with their paymaster.
For how would the newspaper within three days publish different and contradicting stories on a particular incident, without caring to get the other side of the story? Since the incident occurred, neither Gov. Orji nor any of his aides has made a public statement on the matter except his ex-media aide, Mr. Ugochukwu Emezue, who condemned the incident and assured that it would be thoroughly investigated and dealt with accordingly.
Governor Orji’s silence on the matter even as the chief security officer of the state is quite commendable, because it will allow the appropriate authorities to investigate the incident without interference or bias.
The media all over the world should serve as a vehicle for societal development, an agent of change and protection of the society, not a campaign tool for calumny and political blackmailing as this newspaper has exhibited in recent times against the Abia State government. The alleged shooting incident is certainly a cause for worry to anybody who wishesthe state well, and so should not be trivailised or politicised for no just cause.
It has shown how petty and mischievous politicians can be in using the media for destruction and incitement. It is very obvious that policemen in the country some times act under Dutch courage, especially when they are on duty, which explains their occasional misbehaviour.
That is why it has become imperative that officers of the Nigeria Police Force should be made to undergo routine pyshcratic test from time to time to ascertain the correctnessof their minds. If such ugly incident could occur between two policemen attached to Government House, what is the safety of the man they are supposed to be protecting in the person of Governor Orji?
The alleged incident has shown that the Governor may not be safe at all, and such development calls for adequate concern and urgent attention from all quarters. No stone should be left unturned in investigating and ascertaining the remote cause of the alleged incident because the likes of Mohammed might be an agent of forces against Abia people who will stop at nothing in pulling the state down.
The biased and contradictory reports of the newspaper in question should not discourage the appropriate authorities from investigating the matter thoroughly.
LOVETH CHIEBO a medical doctor, wrote from Jos, Plateau State.
Source: Vanguard, 29th July 2011.