Time to Celebrate

Governor Theordore Orji of Abia state

Abians cheer as they celebrate their state at 20 and their Governor’s 100 days in office
By Chidiebere Onyemaizu, Umuahia
Abia, God’s own state was in a celebratory mood recently. The state was agog with a twin celebration. Abians of course had every reason to roll out the drums: Their state clocked 20 years old and their governor hundreds days in office. A broad spectrum of people in all parts of the state are of the view that governor Theodore Ahamefula Orji has touched their lives with his developmental strides.
This feeling is palpable in Umuahia, the alluring capital of the state, Aba, the commercial nerve-centre, Ohafia, Arochukwu and other parts of the state. Governor Orji who was sworn-in on May 29, 2011 for his second and final term in office, according to close aides is not given to trumpeting his achievements. Bonnie Iwuoha, Special Assistant on Media to the governor said that Orji's humble and mature approach to governance has endeared him to the generality of Abians. A silent achiever, Governor Orji’s achievements speak for him. And they did speak for him during the recent twin celebrations in the state when a plethora of his people’s oriented projects were unveiled to the public.
Governance is a social contract between the rulers and ruled. Governor Orji as an embodiment of government in the state, Abians, testify, has largely kept faith with his own part of the contract in the mould of developmental projects scattered across the state. The people on their part have equally fulfilled their own part of the bargain via the unwavering support they have accorded his administration since April 2007 when it came on board. Such support was last April replicated via the governor’s overwhelmingly second term victory at the polls.
Some of governor Orji’s life-changing projects which excite Abians include state-of-the-art Housing Estates in the state capital, Umuahia. These include the Iseke, Amauba phase one and Amokwe Housing Estates. On the spot assessment by The Source showed that the Housing projects when fully completed will add to the aesthetics of Umuahia, the state capital. The state Commissioner for Housing, Iheanacho Okezie told the magazine that more Housing Estates, especially ones targeted at middle income earners are in the offing.
There are also a legion of road projects either fully constructed or on-going. Such road projects include the Lodu-Umuana-Ndume-Orpet road, the dualised old Aba-Ubakala road, Nunya-Isuikwuato-Ntigha-Mbawsi road and a bridge along Nkata, Amaeke road. Commissioner for Works, Kingsley Mgeahuru revealed that the road projects spread across all parts of the state.
Governor Orji is concerned about quality healthcare for Abians hence his administration’s establishment of 165 Health centres across the state. The Orji administration is poised to steer the state away from solely depending on the monthly federal allocation. To this end, other revenue generation avenues are being explored. Tourism is one of such avenues. The state government is currently working to make Abia a tourist destination. To realise this vision, the Orji administration is partnering an Italian firm, CEM 2000 SRC to model the Azumini blue River into a tourist resort centre.
According to Commissioner for Information, Don Ubani, other tourist sites in the state are also being transformed into world class tourist destinations. Ubani believes that revenue expected to be generated from visitors to the tourist sites, when fully operational, will tremendously boost the state’s Internally Generated Revenue (IGR).
And talking about IGR, Governor Orji informs that from about N150 million monthly IGR when he came to power, he has been able to raise the state’s monthly IGR to between N400 million – N500 million. And how has the government being financing the numerous projects it has embarked upon? Orji says his government is neither indebted to any bank nor involved in the Bond craze which has become a fad among some state governments. The secret, he reveals is judicious use of available financial resources. “We are managing with federal allocation and our IGR,” he told The Source.
Besides federal allocation and the IGR, the governor told the magazine that his government is a peculiar one in that all the tiers of government in the state cooperate to move Abia forward. His words: “This government cooperates with all the tiers of government, it is a government of purpose, government of sincerity… we operate joint account with the local governments and from there we embark on projects.”
Speaker of the state House of Assembly, Ude Oko Chukwu also has some elegant words for the governor. Governor Orji, he said, “is in a hurry to take the state to the next level of development.”