The recent attack by a group known
as South East Progressives Assembly (SEPA) on Governor T A Orji over the purported
cancellation of Governor Rochas Okorocha’s Rescue Mission at the Abia State
Polytechnic, Aba has once more shown how far some elements in Igbo land can embark
on a soul travel to remain relevance in Igbo and indeed Nigerian political space.
The statement of this group, the
SEPA against Governor Orji is as irritating as it is, to say the least, insulting
on the personality of the Ochendo of Abia who is accommodating, amiable,
democratic and who has done a lot to uplift the status of Ndigbo in all aspects.
However, it is not surprising that the
personality that wears that garb of president SEPA is also a media aide to the
governor of a neighbouring south east state who, in his inordinate bid to become Igbo leader and force the south east states become over night the stronghold
of a newly registered political party, has thrown caution to the wind and
embark on all sorts of mundane issues including unrestrained tirades to eminent
Igbo personalities to achieve his goal.
The allegation by this group that
Governor Orji ordered the cancellation of the proposed inauguration of Nigeria Rescue
Missionaries at the Abia State Polytechnic, Aba last Saturday fails to meet the
basic rule of sound reasoning because the governor is neither the Rector of the
institution nor the security agencies who apparently because of the failure of
the Nigeria Rescue Missionaries to meet the some security guidelines decided to
stop the programme from holding in the school.
Though the Nigeria Rescue Missionaries,
as a group, has the constitutional right to congregate anywhere in Nigeria to
hold its ceremony, it beats any body’s imagination why a group that masquerades
as missionaries supposedly formed by “men of God” should adopt the campaign
logo and indeed enjoy the patronage of Governor Owelle Rochas Okorocha whose Rescue
Mission is currently being used as a political berth to capture the south east
states outside Imo, his state of governance.
May be that could be why both the security
agencies and the school, having discovered the hidden agenda of these impostors,
suspended the inauguration until they have clearly stated their main objective
of holding the inauguration in the school. At this period of strong security challenges,
it will only take the laisser-faire attitude-built security agencies to look elsewhere
while a likely security breach is in the offing.
If they had planned to hold an innocent
inauguration that has no security and political undertone, and Governor
Okorocha had not planned to sneak into Aba to be part of the programme, how come
that the Imo state government has literarily waken the dead with its deafening and
thunderous shake of the air waves over the matter since its alleged stoppage last
Saturday? That the SEPA could use gutter language on the Abia state government
smacks of ill-mannered and uncivilized leadership of the man that is behind the
organization.
On the contrary, Governor Orji has
treated all the south east governors including Owelle Rochas Okorocha with
dignity and honour and regards them as brothers and friends in the much
cherished expedition to develop the zone. To him, if any politician in the zone
sees him as an obstacle to the ascension of any political position, such person
should be left to be judged by his or her conscience.
For him, Igbo unity and emancipation
of Ndigbo from marginalization by other tribes is top priority, as he has consistently
demonstrated his love for Ndigbo with record breaking incentives to Ndigbo outside
Abia state. This is exemplified by his appointment of indigenes of other sister
Igbo states in various positions in Abia state since he became governor 2007.
Today, citizens from Imo, Anambra, Enugu
and Ebonyi states hold various political appointments in his government. They are
also in charge of market unions in Aba and Umuahia and they have shops and
stores allocated to them even to the detriment of the citizens of Abia state. Abia
to them is their first home as they have unrestricted access to various
development projects of the Ochendo administration.
Also, Ndigbo from these Igbo states,
just like their counterparts from other non-Igbo speaking states, are the major
beneficiaries of the ongoing distribution of vehicles by the Ochendo Youth Foundation
(OYF). Many of them also benefited from the government’s skill acquisition
programme whose institute recently graduated over 400 artisans.
It should be noted that in Aba and
Umuahia, majority of the traders and business men are Igbos from other sister
states. The Ochendo administration realizing this has put some infrastructure
on ground for the smooth and peaceful conduct of their businesses. That there
is adequate security in the state is due to the security consciousness of the amiable
governor who wants all traders and business men in the state to do their businesses
under a peaceful atmosphere.
The recent allocation of newly built
markets in Umuahia where traders from sister Igbo states receive major allotment
also attest to the fact that Abia is a state whose leaders are detribalized. Even
in school enrollment, non Abians of Igbo origin are given whatever incentives Abia
pupil/ students receive such as books, desks, etc; thus providing them the opportunity
of excelling in academics.
The urban dwellers of Aba and Umuahia
are made up of non-indigenes of Igbo extraction. It is on record that these men
and women who are landlords in Abia state are the policy makers in terms of how
the two cities are administered. In Aba, they form the bulk of leaders that run
the Aba South and Aba North Councils both as chairmen and as councilors.
Therefore, it will be untoward and reckless
by this pseudo association to insinuate that Governor T A Orji (Ochendo) has at
any time betrayed the Igbo nation or created disunity in Igbo land. In fact, he
has used his position as governor to unit Ndigbo by making Abia a state for all
Nigerians, particularly Ndigbo from other states whose businesses and business
interests are shielded from any form of plundering or attack.
This is why SEPA (if there is any
registered association like that as investigation revealed that it was merely
hoisted by officials of government in Imo state to attack Governor Orji the Abia
state government for their principal’s failure to achieve another hidden agenda
in Aba) should bury its head in shame since it has been unmasked as
anti-democracy rather than champions of democracy which is dubiously claims.
