Days after distributing entrepreneurial packages to all the local government areas in Abia North senatorial zone, Chief Whip of the Senate, Dr. Orji Uzor Kalu, is showing no sign of relenting in his empowerment drive in his constituency.
Last Thursday, he gave out cash, food items, cloth materials and more empowerment packages to the state chapter of the OUK Movement and Reality Organisation support groups.
The OUK movement, which stands for Orji Uzor Kalu Movement, is the official national support group of the former Abia State governor, while Reality Organisation is one of the foremost political support groups in Abia State, which served as the governorship campaign platform for Orji Uzor Kalu in 1999.
Senator Kalu has spent the last two weeks distributing empowerment items to members of his senatorial zone. The items include over 2,000 motorcycles and over 3,000 sewing machines.
Thursday’s exercise witnessed the attendance of members and executives of both groups, drawn from the entire 295 ABSIEC (Abia State Electoral Commission) recognised wards in the state.
During the interaction with members of the OUK Movement and the Reality Organization, they charged everyone to have unity at the family, community, local government, state and national level as the main agenda, stressing that, without unity, nothing will be achieved.
The political occasion witnessed the attendance of several other dignitaries from the political and business sphere. They included the MD/CEO of the Nigerian Film Corporation, Dr. Chidia Maduekwe; spokesperson of the House of Representatives, representing Bende Federal Constituency, Hon. Okezie Benjamin Kalu; Minority Whip of the Abia State House of Assembly, Hon. Chukwu Chijioke; federal commissioner of the Public Complaints Commission; eminent businessman, Dr. Sam Nwachukwu; Chief Daniel Eke; prominent businessman and political stalwart, Chief Daniel Okeke; president and founder of Reality Organisation, Elder (Mrs.) Eunice Uzor Kalu; former chief of staff to Abia State and director-general of OUK Movement, among others.
The event was heralded with speeches from various eminent personalities who extolled the leadership virtues of Senator Orji Uzor Kalu, charging the groups to remain committed to their objectives.
They urged the members to steam up mobilisation of more members into both groups, while reiterating that the groups will play a major role in the endorsement and presentation of candidates for various positions in the 2023 election.
Items distributed by Senator Kalu to the elated members at his Igbere Camp Neya home included over 3,000 bags of rice to members of both groups, over 5,000 wrappers and over N10 million cash to be shared among the members.
Addressing the crowd, a former member of the House of Representatives, Prince Arua Arunsi, said the items given to the people was as a result of their unalloyed loyalty and commitment to their groups.
He said: “Today is a great day to reap the rewards of loyalty, because the greatest asset is loyalty. I commend you all for your support to the ideals of the OUK Movement and Reality Organisation.
“Orji Kalu remains a leader you can bank on; he has always distinguished himself at leadership positions he has held. As governor, he instituted free education; civil servants were never owed and were paid timely; local government chairmen and councillors were well paid and motivated to execute local project contracts; traditional rulers were placed on salary and their welfare was adequately catered for.
“As our senator, he has performed excellently well in all aspects, from bills to infrastructure and empowerment. Let’s all continue to give him our support.”
Harping on commitment, reward and dedication, Sen. Orji Kalu stated that the occasion was dedicated to reward the efforts of the members towards the success of both groups. Outlining his achievements as governor of the state, Sen. Kalu pointed out that the group will ensure that the next crop of elected officials will emerge from its fold.
He said: “As my people, I cannot be at peace if you people are not at peace. This event is for the inner political family, where we synergise and strategize. I decided to call you all to receive your items yourselves because, if I had sent it over to you people, it might not get to you.”
Speaking on the state’s political matters, Sen. Kalu said that the APC was in the best position and advantage to produce the next governor of the state since the current governor will be completing his eight-year tenure next year, 2023.
“I can assure you that this group will produce the next governor and I am leaving no stone unturned. My job is simple and that is to support our governorship candidate financially and otherwise to ensure that we take over this state.
“What’s more important to us now is unity – both in our country, state, communities and families. Our minds must be built up with unity. This is the direction I’ll want all of us to go and it’s my own direction,” he said.
Sen. Kalu said, inasmuch as he was ready to financially support the candidate of the APC to emerge victorious come the 2023 governorship election, everyone should ensure that the party elects a responsible and capable candidate who will also put in his or her own funds during the campaigns and when necessary. The former governor charged the people to ensure that Abia gets it right in 2023 as any mistake made will last long, stressing that the state needs to get better.
According to him, “this time around, nobody is coming for the second tenure as governor. It’ll all be fresh candidates. We need someone who’ll be governor that’ll not be far from the people.
“I assure you that I’ll play a big role, especially financially, to support our party’s candidate. I’ll be there to back the party and candidate. However, we don’t want an artificial candidate. We don’t need a candidate who’ll not be responsible. We need a candidate that’ll bring out his or her own funds as well.”
Kalu, who said he would also convene a similar meeting with all the members of the All Progressives Congress in the state, urged the members of the OUK Movement and the Reality Organization to go into Abia and be “fishers of electorates” by showcasing the achievements for people to see. He showered all those present at the meeting with different gifts, thanked them and urged all of them to keep working hard, as no hardworking person would go unrewarded.
Some of the beneficiaries expressed gratitude to the Senate Chief Whip for the meeting and urged him to continue with the numerous constituency projects that are seen all over Abia North senatorial zone.