The Sun News On-line/politics

The Special Assistant to Governor Theodore Orji of Abia State on project monitoring, and also a member of committee of Federal Government projects in Abia State, Dr Jude Nwaokoro says that opposition in any government is about superior argument and not quarrel and accrimony.

Nwokoro, engaged on a number of issues, told those opposing the government of Gov Orji that the seat of a governor is not a do or die affair.
He praised the administration of Governor Orji, describing it as a wonderful one with focus and vision.
He called on the opposition not to distract the governor from delivering the dividends of democracy to Abia indigenes.

Governor Orji’s performance
The governor has been wonderful. He has done things you can see, concrete things. In road construction, his impact has been felt in all places.
He is even working on Federal road, the troublesome Port-Harcourt road, in Aba. He has worked on the Aba-Owerri road, which has given Aba a face lift. One should rate him 100 per cent in performance. The street lights are there. We have water running for the people, which shows that he is really touching the lives of the people. Now you can walk the streets of Umuahia at night without fears. You can go to anywhere you want. The people have accepted him because he is working.

Orji has shown that he can generate his own power to put the street light in Abia in use. What he has done in Aba and Umuahia, he intend to duplicate in all the local governments in the state. He is less than one year in office and he has done so much. By the time he is one year in the office, Abia will be transformed. This fact has been confirmed by even his opponents.

Allegation of being teleguided
That is arrant nonsense. They have said many things about the young man. I call him a young man because he has a young heart. He has the heart of a youth and he is behaving as a youth. He is not tired if he is after anything. He has an independent mind. Throughout his stay as the Chief of Staff to the immediate past governor, the people knew him as someone who has an independent mind.

How can he come now to be teleguided when he is the man calling the shots? He’s the man at top of the ladder, the man taking decisions. He wasn’t teleguided when he was the Chief of Staff. He worked consciously. Everybody who had dealings with him then knew that nobody was teleguiding him. Who is teleguiding him? Was the person the one who told him to do the roads? It is on record that the elections in Abia was free and fair. The only election close to it is the one that took place in 1993, the M.K.O Abiola election, which was declared free and fair. Is there any other state where the election was declared free and fair except in Abia.

Expections
Abians should expect much dividends of democracy from the government, not falsehood rumour or propaganda. The government is delivering on its promise. Even with the little resources he gets from the allocations and internally generated revenue, he has given the civil servant the new phase of life, a change of package and they are enjoying it. He has started rehabilitating the roads in townships as well as those of the local governments. In Arochukwu Local Government, for instance, he has started constructing the Ihiechiowa road. In Ukwa East and West, work is going on in their roads. He has started working outside Aba. So, dividends of democracy will come more than we are expecting. He has tackled the issue of accreditation of Abia State University. It is on record that ABSU is the only state owned university that has even more accredited department than the federal university.

Aba flooding
The problem of Aba is not new, but I can tell you that as we are speaking now, the contract for the opening of underground drainage that will control the flood in Aba has been awarded and the contractor is on sight. He has commenced work on the opening of the underground drainage system. Before the rains intensify, I am sure he would have opened the underground drain that will receive the surface rain and flooding in Aba will not be experienced any longer.

Opposition
I believe in constructive opposition. Rumour, gossip and hear say do not do any government any good. Why can’t people give the governor time to work? If they want him to concentrate, he can concentrate. So far, so good. We are used to the antics of the opposition. They come up with all sorts of stories.

There is a publication by one of the dailies that Governor T.A. Orji confesses to the family that he was a member of a secret cult. I wonder why somebody can descend so low to talk about confession he didn’t witness. He is not a member of the governor’s family, either extended or immediate.

How come he is talking about confession when he is not a member of the family? I am sure the family will visit him soon with a suit, to put him in his proper position, so that next time he will not make unguided statement about people.
Remember they took Gov Orji to EFCC, they arraigned him in court. He was in detention and for the first time in the history of the country, won election. You can only liken him to Nelson Mandela of South Africa. They have not given up. That is not opposition. That is quarrel. It is not opposition. Opposition is about superior argument, and not quarrelling as the seat of a governor is not a do or die affair. It is God that put people in office through human beings. We are the people. God has said, vote this man, work for this man for the betterment of all of us. Democracy is all about government of people, by the people and for the people. People have spoken. I would say, let people’s mandate be obeyed. Let God’s divine mandate be obeyed.

Relationship with Yar’Adua
Yar’Adua has an open door policy, which our governor, Dr. T.A. Orji, is benefiting from. He has a good rapport with the president, unlike his predecessor who never opened doors for Abians. If you go to Abuja, all the ministries are happy to receive us. I am a member of a committee that liaises with the Federal Government and the states on projects. The situation in Abuja has changed. A lot of things are coming to Abia. Soon, you will see projects in Abia funded by the Federal Government.

Some of them are at commissioning stage, which we didn’t know before. Now the governor is encouraging them to finish so that Mr President will commission them. We are partnering with the Federal Government. The Minister of Agriculture has been here a couple of times to speak on a way forward on agriculture. By the next harvest season, we will see the changes in the market. Prices will come down.
It is only when the prices come down that the common man will know that the government is doing something. At the next harvesting season, prices of foodstuff will drop. All efforts being put will now turn into reality.