Will History Be Kind to T.A.Orji?

Charles Ajunwa
I had maintained that no amount of blackmail would pull Senator Theodore Ahamefule Orji down, when he served as governor of Abia State. And I want to reiterate my carriage given his numerous achievements when he was governor, as against the views of cynics making the rounds in his disfavour in the recent times.

The then governor T.A. Orji or Ochendo (as he’s fondly called) whom I served as Chief Press Secretary for over two years delivered the dividends of democracy beyond bars. This threw the opposition and political rivals into shame and they assembled all manner of hack writers to pummel the achievements of Orji in their malicious attempts for him not to shame them.

This spiteful character of the cynics against him can be seen vibrating again. But the more they attempted, the more T.A.Orji gave his best to the people of Abia State and will continue to give even now he is senator representing Abia Central senatorial district at the Red Chamber of the National Assembly.

Being the third civilian Governor of Abia State, T.A.Orji faced a lot of court litigations, wicked politics and mischief-makers but he didn’t bulge to negativity. He refused to give excuses upon the iniquitous bahaviours of critics.
Orji was in the forefront of the campaign that all his aides should show love to his political rivals no matter their orchestrated measures to pull him down. He believed that Abia electorate elected his government and he had no escape route other than to give them the best of governance.

Hence, his government recorded many achievements ranging from health, agric, infrastructure, and others. So, no one can rewrite a positive and straight history such as was recorded during the stewardship of T.A.Orji as Abia governor.
It is fiendish and nefarious of any group or person to be economical with the truth in not saying that the administration of Chief Theodore Ahamefule Orji demonstrated a rare enthusiasm and willpower to develop Abia State.

The people of Abia under Ochendo’s eventful eight years in office breathed a sigh of relief as the state witnessed development in its real meaning. As a leader who thinks outside the box, T.A.Orji bequeathed to Abia and Abians a new secretariat for its ministries, international conference centre, specialist hospitals and state-of-the-art diagnostic centres, state-of-the-art eye centre over 300 health centres across the state, 100-bed hospitals located in the three senatorial districts of the state. It was this evidential transformation of the health sector that prompted the Nigerian Optometric Association (NOA) to recognise T.A.Orji and honour him with the award of Prime Ambassador of Health at the 37thAGM/Scientific Conference of NOA.

T.A.Orji presided over a knowledge-driven administration as education sector witnessed massive improvements. The primary and secondary school system witnessed massive transformation with the hitherto dilapidated classroom blocks gave way to modern facilities conducive for teaching and learning. T.A.Orji who was described as an education-friendly governor initiated the model schools across the state designed to lay a solid foundation for the education of Abia children. It was his belief then that if you put it right at the first two levels of education the problem of falling standard of education would be taken care of. Abia won many laurels on education under T.A.Orji.

Under T.A. Orji’s administration, Umuahia, the state capital dropped in a hurry the inglorious garb of being referred to as glorified village. Umuahia is now a beauty to behold, thanks to the Ochendo urban renewal programme through which the main market, industrial market and spare parts market were relocated to modern structures built in the northern, eastern and southern sections of the capital territory thereby freeing the city for expansion in every direction. So many infrastructures hitherto not seen in Umuahia sprung up under T.A.Orji’s administration. He started the construction of a befitting government house for Abia.

Under T.A.Orji Aba the commercial and industrial nerve centre of Abia had to undergo a process of renewal. The refuse heaps disappeared with Ochendo’s sanitisation policy. Most of the major roads and drainages that were in total decay were rehabilitated so much so that Enyimba City was spared the perennial flooding during rainy season. Aba and indeed every other part of Abia were secured for social and economic activities under T.A. Orji’s administration as he ensured that criminals no longer have any foothold in God’s Own State.

As part of his pace setting accomplishments T.A.Orji gave Abia State a befitting secretariat complex. The two blocks of four storey edifices are now standing majestically in their beautiful splendor at Ogurube Layout. It is noteworthy that the secretariat complex came 22 years after the creation of Abia. That was why state ministries were accommodated in makeshift structures at different locations in the state capital. But today most of the ministries have moved into the ultra modern secretariat tastefully furnished to inspire high-level productivity. The organised labour profusely then commended Ochendo during the 2014 May Day celebration for providing a conducive environment for workers. This infrastructural development robbed off on the state broadcasting media as the Broadcasting Corporation of Abia State (BCA) now occupies a modern 48-office complex.

Road infrastructure under T.A.Orji’s administration received adequate attention in the development agenda of the Ochendo administration. These roads, both urban and rural, contribute to the growth of commerce and boosting of agricultural activities in the state. The emphasis on rural roads was predicated on the need to boost the transformation of the agriculture sector, as farm produce must be evacuated from the rural areas to markets in urban areas. Under T.A.Orji’s watch Abia became a major producer of cocoa and cassava due to the numerous incentives his government provided to Abia farmers having keyed into the Agricultural Transformation Agenda (ATA) of the then federal government.

There is no way one can enumerate the achievements of Governor T.A. Orji without making a reference to the peace and security secured under his watch. Abians then took peace and security for granted after he fought very hard to overcome the security challenges that faced the state back then. Abia was the butt of critics when the state was confronted with huge security challenges of armed robbery and kidnapping that culminated in the abduction of 15 school children on their way to school.

T.A.Orji had confronted the challenge headlong and deployed every available resource to checkmate the evildoers. He not only ended the bazaar of the criminals but also took appropriate measures to tackle the root cause of the problem by implementing an unprecedented massive youth empowerment programme for Abia youths. Thousands of youths were empowered and taken off the streets and crime. Ochendo’s security architecture became a template for other states having security challenges to copy.
The acrimonious politics of Abia became a thing of the past under T.A.Orji’s watch. With his humility and good-natured love for peace he was able to make peace among the political elites, who had been fighting themselves to the detriment of the state.

However, it has become evident that those fighting the governorship stewardship of Senator T.A.Orji are like those captured by Oscar Fingal O’Flahertie Wills Wilde, an Irish playwright, poet and author of numerous short stories and one novel, saying, “A cynic is a man who knows the price of everything, and the value of nothing.”
Those still making direct and passive attacks concerning Senator T.A.Orji’s administration when he served as Governor of Abia State cannot rewrite history with falsehood. History no doubt will be kind to T.A.Orji at the end of the day.