(Opinion) Ijeoma Nwaogwugwu’s poor sense of History and Geography

By Eddie Onuzuruike

Ijeoma Nwaogwugwu’s piece on THISDAY, Monday, 11th January, 2016, titled ‘What Abia truly needs,’ was no surprise as we know her to have conspiratorially winked to some previous negative penning, curiously about her home state. In all her efforts to blackmail and mislay facts, she ended up revealing that she lacks a good sense of the history and geography of Abia state.
The complex equity calculus haunting the state for many years and depressing a particular senatorial zone got a surprising relief for the first time from Senator T. A. Orji’s push for a political balance which caused the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, to zone the governorship to Abia South. This was deeply inspired by the Abia Charter of Equity which was a continuous struggle by Abia founding fathers to exorcise domination and marginalization that had obsessed them from previous states where they were.
To manifest the urgent need of then, [apologies to Dr Martin Luther King Jr], they resolved to rotate power among the zones. They didn’t just stop at mouthing these novel and noble ideas, the resolutions and operational procedures adopted were drafted, signed and sealed, which Prof. S N Nwabara, bless his soul, detailed in the book, Abia Charter of Equity- the making of Abia State. Most of the founding fathers have naturally gone the way of all mortals but some like Dr. Anagha Ezeikpe are still alive and happy that in their lifetime, somebody has executed their aspirations to the letter. In neighboring and relative states, zoning has been adopted with good results. Good examples abound in Enugu, Anambra, Cross River and other states but Ijeoma deeply infantile in her thinking, doesn’t see any wisdom in this. Laughably she wrongly avowed that Alex Otti is head to shoulder better than Okezie Ikpeazu because he can read a balance sheet and has lofty experience of private sector management. Who authorized this sloppy grading?
That Otti presided over a bank for a few years doesn’t give him a certificate of expertise in administration.
Managing a state’s economy far differs with that of banks as we well know that the banking industry adheres strictly to already established conditions and rules by the Central Bank, boards of the banks and other fiscal organizations which the bank managers can hardly go against. Let Ijeoma be told that in political administration you manage human beings who are highly politically aware and it took the high acumen of a technocrat, a well-read one like Ikpeazu to strike a balance. His previous stints in the Obingwa LGA, the College of Health Sciences Aba, Abia passengers Insurance scheme known as ASPIMS and the universities where he lectured had boosted his bank of experience. As we know, a sound and basic education equips one to apply experiences to all departments.
Dr. Ogbonnaya Onu, an academic like Ikpeazu and the first democratically elected governor of the state has proven a point in Nigeria today. Come to think of it, Otti showed so much recklessness in spending during the electioneering campaigns. Where did all the money come from? Does Otti own Diamond bank? Even if he owns it, does that warrant him to spend without due process?
Ijeoma showed much symptoms that she hardly understands the tax laws of the Federal Republic of Nigeria as she argued that Abia is contiguous to Port Harcourt and that many living in Aba pay their taxes in Rivers State. Tax laws allow citizens the flexibility to pay taxes in either the place of their residence or operation.
She falsely alleged that Abia state’s economy is comatose. Where did Miss Nwaogwugwu get her information from? Abia under T. A. Orji was well managed to which an authoritative arm of government, the Senate, applauded five states for fiscal probity, Abia being one of these five. Senator Orji, unlike many, did not patronize the bond market as many did. They refused to believe that T. A. Orji executed many projects in the daunting paucity of funds unaware that he ingeniously employed counterpart funding strategy involving donors and federal government agencies to the hilt.
Ijeoma’s straw grabbing was shown in her drowning arguments when she cited Alaoji and Geometric power station that are not helping Aba. Alaoji is a Federal Government project and Geometric is a private initiative that is today floundering under a complicated policy. To help matters, then Governor Orji built a road to Geometric and supplied security when they were challenged. He helped to negotiate compensation controversies with land owners all to make the project work. Does Ijeoma know all these?
On the likes of UACN, John Holt, and the Nigerian breweries as Abia government induced failures, she ended up lumping together incongruous matters. The exit of UACN and John Holt are not only peculiar to Abia. As against her lies on Nigerian Breweries, the beer behemoth is well afoot as they have expanded the plant in Aba with multiple products. The administration of T.A. Orji greatly cushioned their challenges and alleviated them with an access road- Onyeador Close still in use now. Additional security was provided which enabled them to survive the kidnap scare and they stayed and expanded.
She erroneously claimed that unemployment resulted in kidnapping in Abia. One would ask, did T. A. Orji employ all the youths before kidnapping stopped? It is on record that T.A Orji did not downsize the Abia work force in form of retrenchment or other strategies, rather he created agencies that engaged the youths like Abia Liberation Farm and the multiple skills acquisition centers in all the LGAs. What can she say about the kidnappings now raging in other states which have been coming to the Senator for consultations? Ijeoma would swear not to have heard Mohamed Abubarka, the former police boss whose words on marble are that Abia is a case study in security turn around.
Ijeoma one day will answer for her sins in knowing the truth and willfully peddling lies. Her men are on ground have written profusely about the monumental changes in Abia. Notably, Charles Ajunwa, Emmanuel Ugwu, Ojo Maduekwe and Isiguzo are all THISDAY staff who are on ground. Ijeoma is in the media and had access to the revelations and writings of the Good Governance tour of 2013 which toured round the state and got tired of visiting project sites. Dr Yemi Bamgbose, the RATTAWU chieftain, former NUJ president, Mohammed Garba, then Minister of Information and Strategy, Mr. Labaran Maku, all applauded after their discoveries but Ijeoma ignored all these and embarked on blackmail, extolling Otti probably because he hugely invested in her organization and smuggled himself into the editorial board. If Otti is allowed within the precincts of Abia Government House, we will pay in hard currencies for his evident financial recklessness.
As opined above, Nwaogwugwu neither knows History nor Geography and her claims are faulty and devoid of the slightest research or proper investigation.
Her last argument that zoning has led to complaints and ethnic rifts is just stating the opposite. She has equally forgotten that we have Federal Character as a national policy which stipulates total inclusiveness of all ethnic nationalities.
From all angles and with these hard evidences, she has joined the league of indigenes in history who collaborated with the enemy for personal gains. History and posterity would not forgive her for deserting the hard struggling Ngwa people who are negatively profiled as inferior and almost second hand citizens.