By Charles Ajunwa<\/p>\n
When a writer sets out to denigrate somebody but ends up presenting
\nhimself as the man in the mirror he deserves no pity but scorn. That was
\nthe web that one Ebere Wabara spun for himself in an article entitled
\n\u201cKolawole\u2019s Lies About T.A. Orji\u201d published in the Daily Sun of Wednesday
\nMarch 19, 2014. The writer who attached to his name an unenviable title of
\nmedia advisor to Kalu (Orji Uzor Kalu, former Abia State governor) was
\nobviously piqued over the truth that Simon Kolawole had written about the
\ndevelopment-focused Governor of Abia State, Chief T.A. Orji (Ochendo
\nGlobal) in his column on the back page of THISDAY, the Sunday Newspaper of
\nMarch 16, 2014. Wabara\u2019s grouse was that Kolawole, a well known forthright
\ncolumnist and development expert, used the performance of T.A. Orji to
\ndrive home his point while discussing \u2018Conflict and Underdevelopment\u2019 in
\nhis column.
\nIn response to Kolawole\u2019s views Wabara went haywire and laboured albeit
\nin vain to present an unbiased article as a product of \u201cpersonal drives
\n(which) comes first before any other extraneous consideration.\u201d The
\nso-called Kalu\u2019s media advisor went further to state that because of
\npersonal drives \u201cmercantilism has been enthroned in media practice.
\nEveryone in the communicative business now, unlike before, seems to have
\na price.\u201d This is where Wabara looked into the mirror and what stared him
\nin the face was his own pitiful image. Yes, he cuts the same image he
\npainted of those who, according to him, \u201cseems to sadly have a price\u201d.
\nWabara got himself into this mess in his spin control mission in his
\neffort to do the bidding of his pay master at the expense of the same
\njournalism ethics and national interest which he lamented were no longer
\nobserved by media people. Wabara has unwittingly portrayed himself as a
\nbread and butter journalist, who is ever ready and willing to destroy
\npeople\u2019s integrity, character if only to satisfy the whims and caprices
\nof his pay master. He has no iota of respect for elders and persons in
\npositions of authority and antagonistic to opposing views. Or why else
\ndid Wabara have to express his frustration with Kolawole\u2019s views by
\ndescribing his column as \u201ceuphemistically entitled \u2018Conflict and
\nunderdevelopment\u2019 and illustrated with T.A. Orji\u2019s repulsive face\u201d.
\nTrue to his warped mindset Wabara could not hide his derision for the
\nchief executive of God\u2019s own state, who has been delivering democracy
\ndividends that Wabara\u2019s principal (Kalu) had told the world was
\nimpossible during his eight locust years in power. It is pertinent to
\nlet the people know the real reason why the likes of Wabara have been
\nhired to paint Governor T.A. Orji and his administration with tar brush.
\nWeek after week Wabara is provided with a space in the Daily Sun to wage
\nmedia war against the government and people of Abia State. All his
\nwritings reek of mischief, malice, falsehoods, odium and utter
\ndisrespect to the person and office of Abia State governor. Is that what
\njournalism is all about? Why should those who call themselves
\njournalists allow themselves to be used by selfish politicians to
\nterrorize people? Wabara is nothing but a hate writer. His raison d\u2019etre
\nis to launch ferocious attacks on anybody whose views differ from Kalu\u2019s
\nown. And if one dares to point out the failures of the Kalu
\nadministration and the Augean stable he left behind which the present
\nadministration has been cleaning, then Wabara would go on suicide bomb
\nmission.
\nThat is why Simon Kolawole, a former editor of THISDAY and a
\ndispassionate columnist came on the firing line for pointing out the
\ncorrelation between conflict and development and how Kalu\u2019s belligerency
\nstunted Abia\u2019s growth for eight years! Wabara was ready to turn logic on
\nits head and pass off Kalu\u2019s conflict with former President Olusegun
\nObasanjo as enough reason for Abia State to record zero growth in all
\nsectors under Kalu\u2019s watch. What the unsuspecting members of the public
\nmay not recognize was that Kalu\u2019s quarrels were the smokescreen he
\ndevised to divert attention from his failings in governance. Given that
\n\u201cObasanjo hates the Igbo with an uncanny passion\u201d and that \u201cKalu was at
\nloggerheads with Obasanjo over developmental issues that bordered on the
\nmaltreatment of the Igbo\u201d as Wabara wrote, was that enough reason for
\nAbia to suffer under Kalu. He even carried his confrontations to a
\nridiculous level of blaming the Ota farmer for all his failings as a
\ngovernor.
\nFor instance, when Kalu could not provide potable water for the people
\nof Abia he told them that he had enough water to deluge the whole state
\nbut could not pump the water to homes because Obasanjo refused to
\nprovide power. He also said that the absence of street lights in Umuahia
\nthe capital city was because Obasanjo refused to provide electricity to
\npower the lights. But just within the first 100 days of Governor Orji\u2019s
\nfirst tenure the dried taps in Umuahia suddenly started gushing out
\nwater to the delight of the people. And the state capital was aglow with
\nstreet lights. Naturally people started asking if the new man at
\ngovernment house came with a magic wand. How was he able to do what his
\npredecessor had made the people believe was an impossible task. This new
\ndevelopment did not offer Orji Uzor Kalu any source of comfort. It was
\nbad news for him because his successor had lifted the veil with which he
\nhad covered his colossal failure as a governor. Kalu\u2019s worries gradually
\nturned to consternation and desperation when Ochendo came up with LEGACY
\nPROJECTS. The execution of these projects has opened new vistas of
\ndevelopment in the over two decades of Abia\u2019s existence as a state.
\nLet us even remove the infamous Obasanjo presidency as a factor in the
\nunderdevelopment of Abia State during the Kalu locust years. Kalu was
\nelected as the chief executive of Abia State and his mandate required
\nhim to drive the development of the state with available resources
\ninternally and externally generated. The federal government only plays a
\ncomplementary role in the development strides of Nigeria\u2019s component
\nstates. Aside from Lagos and Abuja, there is no other state or city in
\nNigeria where the federal government has played a major role in its
\ndevelopment. And this is understandable because Lagos was a former
\nnational capital and still remains the commercial capital of Nigeria
\nwhile Abuja has taken over as the federal capital territory. So did
\nObasanjo prevent Orji Uzor Kalu from giving Abia State all the necessary
\ninfrastructure and social amenities that his contemporaries were putting
\nin place in their respective states? Did Obasanjo stop Kalu from
\ncreating conducive environment to attract local and foreign investors to
\nAbia?
\nWe all know that Obasanjo did not provide stable electricity to Nigeria.
\nHe refused to build second Niger Bridge and also denied the Southeast
\ngeopolitical zone an international airport. But were all these enough
\nreason for Kalu to spend whole eight years lamenting and howling at the
\nimperious dictator to the neglect of Abia development. For all we know,
\nthe Ota farmer, despite his Igbo phobia, never at any time denied Abia
\nState government or its 17 local governments (Lagos treatment)) their
\nshare of federal allocation when Kalu was governor. Unlike his
\ncontemporaries Kalu has no legacy project and Wabara has no reason to
\nblame Obasanjo for that. Kalu did not limit his conflict to Obasanjo.
\nInstead of increasing Abia\u2019s internally generated revenue (IGR) to
\nimprove the lots of Abia people Kalu instead indulged in increasing
\ninternally generated conflicts (IGC). He was not at peace with the
\nNational Assembly members from Abia, except his own brother, Nnanna, who
\nspent eight years in the House of Representatives dozing in his hotel
\nroom at Abuja. The federal lawmakers from Abia were branded Abuja
\npoliticians. In response they kept away from the state and were
\nunwilling to attract federal projects to their constituencies.
\nKalu scorned the fathers and elders of the state and antagonized
\neverybody so much that none was making any contribution for the
\ndevelopment of Abia. Today, the difference is clear as Governor Orji has
\nreconciled all the political elites and everybody is making
\ncontributions for the overall development of Abia. The federal lawmakers
\nare falling over themselves in a healthy rivalry to attract federal
\nprojects and also engage in personal empowerment programmes for their
\nrespective constituents. Is that not a proof that development CAN NOT
\nthrive in an environment of conflict. Wabara should search his mind and
\ncome up with an honest answer if he still retains any modicum of
\nconscience. Abians know that Ochendoism stands for development while
\ngamjism (deceit) as propounded and practiced by Kalu is synonymous with
\nunderdevelopment.
\nAnalysis of Wabara\u2019s serial satanic verses in the Daily Sun has
\nrevealed that he is a victim of post-mamacracy delusion syndrome (PDS).
\nThis disorder is defined as a psychological affliction that prevents a
\nsuccessful adaptation to life under good governance after experiencing
\neight years of gamjism. Thankfully only an infinitesimal number of
\nAbians have been diagnosed with this disorder. The victims of this
\nmalady are people like Wabara and his fellow lackeys of Orji Uzor Kalu.
\nTheir sense of perception is conditioned not to identify developments
\nwhen they see it. That is why Wabara can unashamedly croak that
\n\u201cnothing is happening in Abia\u201d and that \u201call the good roads in Aba have
\nturned to craters since Kalu left\u201d. If only Wabara was sincere to
\nhimself he would not have made such a callous statement. Aba residents
\nwould not forgive him and would in fact stone him for reminding them of
\nthe \u201cgamji\u201d or deception years of Kalu. The few roads that Kalu managed
\nto build in Aba in eight years of governance did not last more than
\nthree months. They were washed away by the rains under the very eyes of
\nKalu.
\nHowever because of the successes of Enyimba international Football Club
\nin the CAF champions league Aba residents only grumbled. They had been
\nfed with the opium of their darling club winning the CAF champions
\nleague trophy back to back. As the effect of the opium wore off Aba
\nresidents today curse anybody who reminds them of the so called roads
\nthat Kalu built. In their ingenuity Aba residents have come up with a
\nfitting name for the so called Kalu roads. They dubbed them \u201c419 roads\u201d.
\nAnd rightly so because the roads were meant to deceive and not to serve
\nas durable infrastructure that would enhance the welfare of the people.
\nIt is now that Enyimba people are seeing quality roads in their city.
\nNot only that, the perennial flooding of Aba that Kalu never paid any
\nattention to has been successfully tackled by Ochendo. Aba is today a
\nclean city. The only heaps of refuse are the ones existing in the mind
\nof Wabara and his likes who suffer from post-mamacracy delusion
\nsyndrome. It is the dirty Aba of Kalu era which had registered in his
\nmind and could not be erased because of his psychological malady.
\nWabara may not have realized that he actually acknowledged that there
\nare tangible structures today in Abia that one can point at as legacy
\nprojects. He even named a few of them, including the dualised roads in
\nUmuahia, multi-storey secretariat, judiciary complex, international
\nconference centre, specialist hospitals and diagnostic centres, new
\nmarkets etc. But instead of eating the humble pie and acknowledge that
\nthings are indeed changing for good in Abia and then give credit to
\nOchendo for making Abia to rise again, Wabara cowardly labored in vain
\nto appropriate the projects to his pay master as \u201crenovated projects of
\nKalu\u201d. What a pity! The corollary of such claims is that it has now
\ndawned on Kalu that he had left no legacy after eight years as Abia
\nState governor. So in his desperation he has instructed his lackeys to
\nfind a way of appropriating Ochendo\u2019s legacy projects. But the
\nsubterfuge would not work. Abians know better. The simple challenge to
\nWabara is to point to those projects that Kalu built that survived his
\ntenure for which he should be remembered. No matter how hard Wabara
\ncontinues to churn out his satanic verses the good people of Abia State
\nwould not stop celebrating the new dawn of transformation powered by
\nOchendo.
\n.Ajunwa is the Chief Press Secretary to the Executive Governor of Abia State<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
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