Abia State Governor, Dr. Okezie Ikpeazu has announced the first set of appointments into his government.
The appointments, announced Tuesday, include those of the Secretary to the Government of the State, Chief of Staff and Deputy Chief of Staff in the Office of the Deputy Governor as well as Chief Press Secretary.
Also announced was the appointment of two Special Advisers, for Special Duties and for Projects Monitoring and Implementation.
Dr. Eme Okoro was appointed Secretary to Government; Chief Chijioke Nwakodo is Chief of Staff, while Chief John Nwangborogwu is Deputy Chief of Staff, Office of the Deputy Governor.
Mr. Godwin Adindu was announced Chief Press Secretary, while Chief Ukpai Agwu Ukpai is Special Adviser, Special Duties and Engineer Emma Nwabuko is to serve as Special Adviser, Projects Monitoring and Implementation.
Mr. Valentine Okpechi was announced as Director of Protocol, Mr. Ugochukwu Emezue was appointed Special Assistant on Media, while former Deputy Speaker of the state’s House of Assembly, Chinedum Elechi is the Adviser on Legislative Matters.
Former Commissioner for Environment, Chief Solomon Ogunji, was appointed the Special Adviser on Aba Urban Renewal while Capt. Awa U. Agwu was appointed Special Adviser on Security, among other appointees announced so far.
Mr. Adindu is bringing to his new job over 25 years experience as a print journalist, Public Relations Consultant, Social Critic and government spokesperson.
Before the appointment, he was a Special Adviser to the immediate past governor, Chief T.A Orji on Media and Communication.
A 1991 graduate of Andrews University, Michigan, USA, Adindu also holds an Msc in Media and Communication from the Pan African University/Lagos Business School and a Post Graduate Diploma in Public Policy Analysis from the University of Calabar.
He also trained with the British Broadcasting Corporation, BBC, in Specialised Political Reporting.
Adindu started his career as an Assistant Lecturer in the Language and Communication Department of the Adventist Seminary of West Africa (Now Babcock University) and later joined the defunct Post Express Newspapers, where he rose to the position of Features/Metro Editor.
He later joined the pioneer team of the INSIDER MAGAZINE and left in 2002 to serve as the Head of Covers and Investigation of Daily Independent Newspapers.
In 2004, Adindu made a foray into Media/Public Relations Consultancy and served with the C and F Porter Novelli as a Senior Manager, Media Services. The job exposed him to the agency side of media operations. Later, he joined TaijoWonukabe Ltd, another PR agency with specialization in Custom Media, as the Head of Custom Media.
In 2007, he founded his own marketing communication agency, Goodwill Communication Company Ltd and served as the Managing Partner until 2011 when he joined the media team of the immediate past governor as a Senior Special Assistant on Media and Communication. He was promoted to Special Adviser in 2013, a position he held till his current appointment. He is married with three children.
More appointments are expected from Gov. Ikpeazu who has started off his administration of Abia state on the fast lane by the flag off of major road projects in the key commercial city of Aba, inspection of projects in the capital, Umuahia and in other parts of the state.
