By Umeh Kalu, SAN
On Dec 2, 202
Dear Doc,
Kaa, nde, ka nka oo.
Hope this message gets to you in good stead.
I have been under intense pressure to share my thoughts with
you on the real and general public perception of the poor state of affairs in
our state, and, possibly proffer solutions towards ameliorating the situation.
I am aware that most of the sordid and unfavourable things
trending in public discourse about our State do not get to your knowledge, as
those whose duty it is to draw your attention to them, will for fear or
inability to handle the backlash, keep that information away from you. This I
must say, is not peculiar to our State, but is a national malaise. Abia will no
doubt be amongst the topmost in this regard, due to the high level of idiotic
sycophancy that is prevalent in our domain.
Since I left office as Attorney – General of our State in
May 2019, I have variously been confronted in both private and public, with the
poor and pitiable state of affairs in our State. Attempts to put up some
defence often fail as I come out of the exercise looking stupid due to wanting
of justification for the parlous/pitiable state of affairs in our State.
As one who had been in government prior to your emergence as
Governor in May 2015, I can attest to the fact that you inherited a State that
was in distress and in dire need of emergency attention. Those who are
objective and truthful know too well that you did not originate the prevalent
rot but accepted it gleefully, and, instead of halting the drift, you have
sustained it. This in a nutshell is the true state of affairs in our State at
the moment.
The rain started to beat us torrentially somewhere within
the eight (8) years of your immediate predecessor’s tenure. Each time I ponder
over your reluctance and/or refusal to make the expected positive impact on the
governance of our State, I recall the admonition given to you in my presence by
one of the best legal minds in our country today. This advice was given to you
at a meeting held at your instance, between the three of us, at the new
Presidential Lodge, Umuahia, in June 2015.
On seeing you, the legal icon congratulated you over your
victory and emergence as Governor but noted particularly that you were lucky to
assume such a position of immense authority and responsibility at a youthful
age. He said the country and indeed the southeast needed educated young men
like you to display vibrancy and charisma in governance; which virtues he
opined were in short supply in our body polity. He further admonished you to
use your present position as a stepping stone for greater political exploits
through superlative performance. I echoed his views and good wishes for you and
we both left your presence, after eliciting your assurance that you will not
disappoint God and the people of Abia State. When I look back, almost six (6)
years after that encounter, it does appear to me that those wise words of
admonition remain unheeded.
I profess that we were both strangers to each other prior to
my reappointment as Attorney – General/Commissioner for Justice under your
tenure. My appointment was the earliest, if not the first cabinet appointment
that you made on your assumption of office. In our brief consultation preceding
my acceptance and swearing-in, you informed me that I was highly recommended by
your predecessor and equally aware of my desire to leave Abia State for Abuja,
which desires you pledged to facilitate after your election petition
proceedings. Like with most political promises, the issue of my desire to leave
Abia for Abuja was never considered or revisited till the termination of my
tenure as Attorney – General/Commissioner for Justice by effluxion of time in
May 2019.
On your assumption of office in May 2015, you made concerted
and spirited efforts to hit the ground running and made a sharp departure from
the wastefulness of the past, to the applause of many Abians, including myself.
You rejected and frowned at the ascription of “His Excellency” to your name or
being addressed as such. You equally directed that your dear wife – Nkechi – be
addressed as “Wife of the Governor” and not as “Her Excellency”. You reduced
the retinue of protocol staff accompanying the Governor on trips outside the
state to the barest minimum, in order to save cost. You rejected the use of
private jets by the Governor of Abia State as was the case in the past and
resorted to flying Business Class on commercial Airlines. You commenced
reconstruction and refurbishment of the Governor’s official residences in
Umuahia, G.R.A Aba and Aminu Kano Crescent, Abuja, the old Presidential Lodge,
Umuahia, the Executive Council Chambers, etc.
The Standard of work in some of the completed projects as
cited above were superlative and got a commendation from everyone. The former
governor was impressed with the facelift made to the Executive Council Chambers
and made comments about its impressive status when he visited a few months
after his exit. The roads in Aba and even the FMC, Umuahia to Ubakala road that
could not be addressed for the eight (8) years that your predecessor held sway,
started receiving your attention. The people of Aba (Enyimba City) who had
since 2010 been a torn in the flesh of Abia government and her principal
officers, due to the government’s nil attention to the city’s infrastructure,
especially roads, embraced you with both hands. You became the toast of ndi
Aba.
Aba people trooped out en masse to hail you and your convoy
each time you ventured out into the streets. All these were heartening,
especially for those of us who had suffered multiple embarrassments, ridicule
and humiliation in the past through the pelting of government cars and convoys
with stones and sachet water by Aba residents. Equally heartwarming and worthy
of mention was your initial discomfiture with vainglory, as enunciated in the
various award-giving groups, organizations and bodies that feasted on Abia
government funds under the guise of giving out awards to the Governor.
I witnessed your rejection of an award by a group from the
UNIBEN Alumni, led by my learned friend Richard Oma Ahonaruogho, SAN. You
bluntly told the group that you were barely two (2) months old in office and do
not consider yourself fit or deserving of any award at that moment. This
obviously would not have happened in the past. Billboard and flex politicians
were kept at bay on your instructions, thereby giving the airspace in Umuahia
and its environs some respite. All these I must say were short-lived, as you
suddenly could not maintain the momentum and things started tilting gradually
towards the old ways. The sudden cessation of the upward and progressive
acceleration of your government towards the positive change we all desire in
our State is bewildering.
I must state here, that I have no doubt whatsoever of your
passion for service. I have listened to you severally and I am convinced that
you have all the ideas on the way forward, as you profess these lofty ideas at
each given occasion. What I find wanting is the will and ability to implement
these ideas. There have been conjectures and speculations at arriving at the
reasons. Some think you are acting on instructions, as your predecessors do not
want you to outshine them. Some believe you are not in total control of the
affairs of the State. A lot of people think that the terms and conditions under
which you were drafted into the governorship of the State have made it
difficult for you to operate maximally. All these I must say are in the realm of
conjecture.
I have however on two occasions listened to your immediate
predecessor narrate how he single-handedly made you governor of Abia State.
First, was at the grand reception organized in his honour by an Ukwa – Ngwa
socio-cultural group, that was held at Ngwa High School, Aba, while the other
was at another event organized by a Bende Union at the old Umuahia market
arena. At both events, your predecessor stated that you almost fell off from
your chair when he told you in the presence of his wife and your wife for the
first time that you were going to be the next governor of Abia State. On each
of these occasions, there was loud applause for him by the undiscerning crowd
of people at both events. As an individual, I was shocked by that analogy, as I
considered those statements a great disservice to God and the Abia State
electorate. That exposition as undesirable as it was had its purpose; which was
to drive home the point that you were not expecting to mount such high an
office, but that he made it possible.
Some past governors in other States have ventured
unsuccessfully to impose successors in their States. I liken your emergence as
governor of Abia State in 2015 to the emergence of the Biblical Esther in the
Palace of King Ahasuerus. Esther was divinely situated in the Palace of King
Ahasuerus to deliver the Israelites from persecution. So were you positioned in
Abia State to change our story and place the State on the path of sustainable
growth.
Abians, including their elders, had long come to an
agreement that the governorship seat of the State should shift to the Ukwa –
Ngwa axis after your predecessor’s tenure. Chief Onyema Ugochukwu was chosen by
the Abia council of elders to screen and recommend an Ukwa – Ngwa man or woman,
who must be a graduate for the governorship seat. Chief Onyema Ugochukwu’s
committee had commenced the selection process before it was truncated. The
making of a governor is not an event but a process. Your immediate predecessor
and few persons around him may have initiated the process for reasons best
known to them, but God saw you through the process and unto its realization.
The Scriptures have it that Paul planted, Apollos watered, but God caused the
increase.
Recall even, that you were twice removed as the governor by the
Courts. Firstly, at the Court of Appeal at Owerri and secondly by Justice Okon
Abang at the Federal High Court, Abuja. At these crucial moments, your
predecessor was already out of the equation and had absolutely nothing to do
with the reversal of the Court judgments. God used other persons to see you
through those dire moments. I relay all these things because it does seem
obvious that you are so fixated on one or two persons who claim to have made
you governor and as such will not disobey or harm their interests. While nobody
will endorse ingratitude, the idea of unalloyed blind loyalty to an individual
in order to show gratitude has the innate capacity of eroding one’s sense of
judgment, performance and capacity to deliver on the arduous task of governance.
I do not and will never believe that your predecessor and/or
members of his family made you governor. God did. Your predecessor and members
of his family were only tools in the mighty hand of God. They were at most
vessels through which God perfected His will for you. It was God’s design even
before you were born, that you will attain the status of the governor of Abia
State in your lifetime. If you do not agree with me, or desire to push the
argument further, you can as well believe that Orji Uzor Kalu made you governor
because if Orji Uzor Kalu did not choose T.A. Orji as his successor, he would
not have been in a position to make you governor. I have devoted some time to
the issue of your predecessor’s claim of making you governor, as it does seem
to me that therein lies your reluctance to depart from the past and effect the
needed positive change in our State. The moment you accept that God and only
God made you governor of Abia and that you are answerable to God alone and to
no mortal being in whatever name called, then will you commence your journey of
the redemption of Abia.
You may be surprised by the contents of this letter and the
channel of its delivery. For the medium of communication, I am told you no
longer read sealed letters and that all letters must pass through your aides,
whose decision it is to decide the letters that get to your notice. I have
decided not to subject the fate of this letter to the decision of your aides
who may not know the import. For the content, unpalatable as it might be, I
believe I have a greater duty to God, my conscience and the citizenry of our
State, including generations yet unborn. I am by this letter, not in the least
denying culpability in all the inadequacies and/or shortcomings of the two
governments I served in, including yours. I join in accepting failure, though
with a caveat and equally think that I should join hands with you and other
well–meaning Abians in salvaging the fortunes of our dear and only State. I
will provide details of the caveat at the appropriate time, if necessary.
With twenty months left for you in the saddle of the affairs
of our State, it may be important to proffer some suggestions as earlier
stated, towards salvaging the situation we presently find ourselves.
Road Infrastructure:
Umuahia remains our State capital and deserves a better deal
from past, present and future governments. Umuahia has indeed suffered neglect
in the hands of successive governments, including yours. I implore you, within
the available time to ensure completion, dualization and lighting of the FMC to
Ubakala/Enugu – Aba Expressway junction. The Mission Hill access road into
Umuahia from the Enugu – Aba Expressway remains an embarrassment to our State
and the capital city. The attempt at demarcating that road is an added problem
to motorists. We visit other States and cannot pretend not to know that no
State hosts that nature of colonial road announcing entry into its capital
city. The Mission Hill road needs to be expanded and compensation paid to
owners of roadside structures and buildings that may be affected in the
expansion process. Ditto for the roads leading to Isieke and Ikot Ekpene. It is
not an impossibility to revamp the Umuahia water scheme.
For the commercial city of Aba, you may concentrate on the
three areas of ingress and egress into and out of Aba. That is the Aba/Owerri
road, the Aba/Port – Harcourt road and the Ogbor Hill to Ehere and Ukpakri
roads. Tagging these roads federal roads is no excuse, as the dilapidated
nature of these roads is adversely affecting the economic fortunes of Aba and
its citizens. The internal roads within Aba metropolis, which till date remain
the most efficiently planned in the entire southeast region of Nigeria should
be given attention. Special attention should be given to the roads leading to
the major markets and areas of economic activities. It is disheartening to know
that all the efforts and Billions of Naira allegedly expended on the
construction of roads leading to the Ariaria market, including the Ukwu mango
since 2010 have yielded little or no dividend.
Equally of importance for Aba is the Osisioma flyover
project. The delay in the completion of this project has become a big
embarrassment to most Abians, as it is now a subject of comic jokes on social
media. A few weeks ago, I witnessed governor David Umahi on Channels Television
making a veiled reference to the projected prohibitive cost of flyovers by some
States in the country, as opposed to a meager 1.2 Billion that it cost him to
complete one in his Ebonyi State. I recall that either 4.2 or 4.4 Billion Naira
was the project cost of this flyover when I co-signed the contract papers some
five years ago. I presently do not know the project cost, as I have information
that there have been variations to the cost of the project. It may not be
necessary to bring into context the propriety or otherwise of a flyover at the
Osisioma interjection, but it is of utmost importance that you do everything
possible to deliver this notorious project within the lifetime of your
administration. The duration of the project no longer matters, but its
completion, for it is well with all that ends well.
I consider it misplaced priority, inadvertence and deceitful
to be touting with the idea of a golf course in Ohafia when the roads leading
to Ohafia are in deplorable condition. While you may encounter time and
economic constraints in addressing the major road leading to Ohafia, it is
advisable that you conclude the Ohafia ring road that I endorsed the contract
papers some four years ago. The Ohafia ring road has long been abandoned after
attaining less than 10% of the project. The same goes for the Abiriba ring road
that has equally been abandoned. Nkporo is another community within Ohafia
L.G.A that should attract your sympathetic consideration. The Abiriba to Nkporo
road which has a history of receiving epileptic attention since your immediate
predecessor’s tenure should be completed and delivered before the eclipse of
your administration. The completion of this road will at least compensate the
citizens of Abiriba and Nkporo communities for the several years in which many
of their young and vibrant politicians have had their political ambition held
down, to pave the way for a subservient, opportunistic and self–serving
politician, at the behest of those who have brought our State to its present
situation.
It may interest you to know that most Arochukwu citizens now
access their communities through Akwa – Ibom State, especially the rich ones
who now prefer the Uyo airport to Owerri or Enugu airports. Their preference
for the Uyo airport is a result of the difficulty in accessing Arochukwu
through Abia State. Patronage for Enugu airport is equally on the increase as
opposed to Owerri airport for Abia North citizens due to easy access to their
homes through Ebonyi State. Motorists coming into Ohafia and Arochukwu from
Lagos and Abuja access their communities through Abakiliki, Afikpo and Edda.
The only attempt to link Arochukwu through Abam has long been abandoned. I urge
you to consider ameliorating the plight of people within Arochukwu, Ututu,
Ihechiowa and all the adjoining communities in your closing months.
I equally recall vividly a road contract Agreement that I
co-signed some years ago consisting of about thirty–three (33) kilometers. This
ambitious road contract is being handled by Tunnel End Limited and runs across
the five (5) Local Government Areas of Aba North, Obingwa, Isialangwa North,
Isiala Ngwa South and part of Osisioma. I am told that this project has
attained 70% completion. I implore you to complete this project before the
terminal date of your administration, as these inter-communal roads will
greatly facilitate growth, development and ease of movement of goods and
persons within those communities.
I strongly advise you not to compound the myriad of issues
associated with the so called legacy projects. i.e. New Abia Government House,
New Abia Governors Lodge, New Abia Governors administrative offices, JAAC
Building e.t.c. These projects cannot be visited without a proper assessment
and audit of the enormous State’s resources invested in them in relation to the
quantum of work done. An audit or assessment as advised above is an area I know
you may not want to embark on in order not to step on toes. You may therefore
want to leave these issues for the next administration. An attempt at injecting
more funds into these projects would compound the problems these projects
portend for our State.
PARIS CLUB DEBT REFUND:
Another issue of importance worth commenting on is the Paris
Club debt refund matter. You will recall that I have always maintained that we
do not require the so-called “consultants” in order to reconcile and obtain the
State’s Paris Club debt refund from the federal government. The entire thing is
a façade with the intention of defrauding the State of its scarce resources. It
is regrettable that we have consistently allowed the resources of the State to
be fleeced under the guise of settling these multiple “consultants”.
Paris Club debt refund has given birth to some Abia
billionaires, who are basically bereft of any known qualification in finance or
related matters. The only qualification these few persons possess is their
affiliation to the seat of power in our State. While these few persons drive
around in their fleet of exotic cars, thousands of deprived Abians for whom
these funds are meant to ameliorate their problems are either dead or living
destitute. These so-called “consultants” and their accomplices, including their
lawyers, the majority of whom are Abians may regrettably evade the judgment of
man due to their connections and deep purse, but will definitely not evade
God’s supreme judgment.
I find it disturbing that the State is even cherry-picking
and instituting joint court actions with some of these “consultants”, as such
joint Court actions have the inherent capacity of jeopardizing the commonwealth
of the citizens of Abia State, whenever these contrived court Suits yield their
intended results. It is still mind-boggling to know how a letter emanating from
a governor, without any legal documentation from the appropriate government
ministry, department or agency will entitle a so-called “consultant” to 25% or
30% of the resources of our State. Abia State you will agree with me, is in
dire need of every available fund in order to meet its obligations,
particularly in the area of infrastructural improvements, payment of salaries,
wages, pensions and so on.
Clannishness and nepotism in our body polity:
We have witnessed within the past few months some frenzied
activities by competing Clans and sections of our State claiming rights to your
succession. These claims ordinarily may appear proper in normal political
settings, but I see those claims as a clear indication of how divided we are
along ethnic lines. While the Igbos claim to be marginalized in the wider
context of the Nigerian nation, there is a big divide amongst various Clans
within Abia State. There are claims that Orji Uzor Kalu’s tenure favored the
Igbere and Bende people, while your immediate predecessor’s tenure was for his
Ibeku Clan and adjoining communities. This belief or notion has enamored the
people of Ngwa Clan to lay claim to your administration as theirs.
Regrettably, not much has been done to disapprove of this
notion. We cannot deny the fact that we have affiliations to our ancestral
roots before becoming Abians. Those who are in positions of authority at every
stratum in our State should be conscious of our diversity in all their actions.
We cannot as Igbos complain of being marginalized and denied of our dues as
Nigerians, while we enthrone clannish sentiments in our body polity within our
State. I implore you to take a closer look at all the critical appointments
made by your administration from inception to date, including portfolios
assigned to Commissioners, Advisers and sundry aides. The fact that past
administrations were considered to be clannish in their disposition, does not
provide us a vista to proceed along that divisive and retrogressive path.
Somebody must break
A situation where persons who have reached mandatory
retirement ages are retained on the contract is unacceptable and devoid of a
true sense of justice and equity. A situation where there is an embargo on
employment, while a select few are constantly been set out for an interview on
a weekly basis under the guise of executive waiver is equally devoid of
fairness and enthrones mediocrity. It will be in the larger interest of our
State and its citizens for critical and in fact all appointments to be made on
merit and shared evenly among all sections of our State. I urge you to exhibit
true statesmanship, fairness, justice and equity in the appointments you make,
and, in the citing and distribution of amenities.
ABA G.R.A GOVERNMENT GUEST HOUSE
The partial movement of government activities to the
governor’s lodge, G.R.A., Aba, is in my mind not well thought out. When you
took up temporary residence and office at the Aba G.R.A guest house, those of
us in government were told that it was for purposes of availing you easy access
to the then multiple ongoing rehabilitation of Aba roads. Weeks turned to
months and months turned to years, as you gradually shifted a substantial part
of your official duty time from the seat of government in Umuahia to Aba. You
have presently taken up permanent residence in Aba as opposed to the seat of
government in Umuahia.
As Attorney – General, I recall having difficulties
transmuting from Umuahia to Aba to see you for important government matters and
suffered enormous strain and loss of valuable time each time I had to do so. The
movement of government activities from Umuahia to Aba is a great departure
from the norm, as no past governor of the State, both civilian and military
have ever moved government activities out of the government house in Umuahia.
I make my last statement advisedly and mindful of the fact
that the governor has freedom of movement and has the entire Abia as his area
of operation. The movement of government activities from Umuahia to Aba, apart
from being an anomaly occasions a high toll on the activities of governance in
the State. The cost and strain on allied government functionaries and officers,
and, your having to commute between Aba and Umuahia to attend to official
duties is a huge drain on the resources of the State and available time for
government activities.
THE JUDICIARY:
The judiciary you will agree with me is an important arm of
government and has specific roles assigned to it by the Constitution which you
swore to uphold, on an assumption of office. You must do everything within your
will to address some of the problems that have hindered and continue to hinder
the optimal performance of that important arm of government.
Funding is key in this respect. I advise you to give assent
to the Bill granting autonomy to the judiciary that has been on your desk
unattended for the past months. It is worrisome that the judiciary in Abia
State cannot even afford to attend the annual judges conference in Abuja on
government sponsorship. Several judges in Abia State are yet to be assigned
official cars years after their appointment.
There is a dearth of court halls in Abia State, as most
judges and magistrates do not have court halls. There are instances where
judges sit out of their jurisdiction due to non – availability of court halls
within their areas of jurisdiction. It may interest you to know that the court
in your local government area – Obingwa – has been sitting at Aba since the
time of your predecessor and has remained so six years after you assumed office
as the governor of the State.
My personal experience from the reconstruction of the burnt
Ohafia High Court puts the conservative figure of twenty–five million Naira
(N25, 000, 000) as the cost of constructing and furnishing a befitting High
Court hall, with adjourning offices for the judge and support staff. With a
modest sum of two hundred and fifty million Naira (N250, 000, 000), you would
have built ten court halls across the State. Let me equally draw your attention
to the deplorable condition of the main High Court complex at the Abia State
Judiciary Headquarters, Umuahia, built by your predecessor a few years ago.
This building is more of a monument presently, requiring entire re-roofing of
the building and refurbishing of all the court halls, amongst other areas of
immediate attention.
It is worrisome to find retired judges in Abia State,
including past Chief Judges, being forced to file a Suit at the National
Industrial Court, Owerri, for purposes of being paid their gratuity and accrued
pension. It may interest you to know that judges are precluded from practicing their
profession on retirement. This means that their only source of livelihood after
retirement is the stipend they get as their gratuity and pension. It will
amount to a death warrant for these accomplished senior citizens of our State,
who devoted their lives to the service of the State and at such a high level,
to be made destitute on retirement. This situation will even demoralize serving
judges and may likely encourage the weak amongst them to resort to bribery
while in active service, in order to amass wealth to take care of themselves in
retirement. Recall that I made several letters to you on the need for the
payment of the pension and emoluments of these retired judges while in office,
and, held meetings with the then Commissioner for Finance and the Accountant –
General, which meetings yielded little or no dividend.
I am unable to find a reason or justification for the large
number of persons being engaged by our State as magistrates and law officers in
the Ministry of Justice. An enquiry from the other southeastern States will
clearly reveal that we have in most cases doubled the numbers coming from some
of these States. Emphasis should be on the quality of these officers, their
conditions of service and their ability to deliver rather than their numbers. I
dare say that the number of these magistrates and law officers are surplus to
need, and, a big drain on the scarce resources of our dear State. Every lawyer
in Abia State must not be either a law officer or a magistrate.
GOVERNMENT AS BUSINESS:
While the act of governance cannot be applied strictu sensu
to the principles of everyday business, it must be emphasized that certain
business principles must and should be employed in the act of governance, more
so, as it relates to the management of scarce resources. From my experience in
government, resources that accrue to government include but are not limited to
the following: Monthly Federal Allocation (FAAC), Monthly Local Government
Allocation (JAAC), Internally Generated Revenue (Formal and Informal), 13% oil
derivation, Ecological Fund, Multiple Federal Government Intervention Funds,
Loans from banks and other financial institutions; all these and many more from
my estimation are the inflows into the resources of the government.
The difference between one state and the other is the level
of prudence engaged in and the effectiveness to which available funds are
applied. Priority must be given to areas that touch the daily lives of the
citizens, which in my consideration should be payment of salaries and
emoluments, pension, gratuity, infrastructure and investments in critical areas
like education, health and agriculture. I am aware that the average inflow to
the government of Abia State on FAAC is in the neighbourhood of 4 billion Naira
per month. This is without recourse to other sources as enumerated
hereinbefore, which are all within the premise of the government to spend. It
is said that despite the huge potential which Aba portends in internal revenue
generation, we have been unable to take advantage of the enormous economic
activities in that city towards increasing our IGR. Past efforts have failed
due to the self–interest of those managing our IGR.
Placing a whooping sum of between 500 – 700 million Naira as
security vote for the governor alone, 25 – 30 million Naira to the deputy
governor and another 20 – 30 million Naira for the speaker of the House of
Assembly, all in the name of security vote per month, amounts to ascribing
about 25% of our entire monthly FAAC collection to these three principal
government officials to the detriment of other areas of dire need in the State.
Official government records put the security votes for the governor at 7.4
billion Naira (2019) and 6.1 billion Naira (2020); deputy governor at 291
million Naira (2019) and 442 million Naira (2020), and the speaker of the House
of Assembly at 325 million Naira (2019) and 260 million Naira (2020).
It remains a mystery to me and other well discerning
individuals, the use to which over 500 million Naira will be employed in the
security of the State within 30 days. All the security forces in Abia State
apart from the State Vigilante Service are paid by the federal government.
State intervention on federal security agencies and other miscellaneous
security expenses cannot justify this monthly drain on the scarce resources of
the State.
Lately, the sustained monthly collection of the sum of not
less than 500 million Naira from the coffers of the State as security vote by
your predecessor for the 96 months he was in the saddle as governor of the
State has been made an issue in public discourse and commentary. I recall that
on your assumption of office as governor, you directed a reduction in the exco
allowance due to the members of the State executive council from 1 million Naira
to 500, 000 Naira. This is my view remains commendable considering the
prevailing depressed economy. It is however surprising that you have over these
years sustained the collection of over 500 million Naira per month and 20 – 30
million Naira for the deputy governor and speaker of the House of Assembly
respectively, as security vote.
Allocating 30 million Naira each per month to the deputy
governor and the speaker, which transmits to 1 million naira per day, cannot in
any circumstance be justified. A 50% cut on all these security votes which have
been running for the past 14 years can vividly change the infrastructural
landscape of our State and provide needed funds for the payment of salaries and
emoluments of public officers, including payment of their pension and gratuity.
I urge you to show good faith and sensitivity to the plight of so many deprived
Abians, especially public servants by directing a 50% reduction on these
security votes. These government officials to whom these whooping security votes
are paid to live in secured government quarters at an added cost to the State
and therefore do not need this colossal amount of money in the form of security
votes.
I am alarmed at the appointment of 28 Commissioners, most of
whom with portfolios hitherto unknown in the history of the State. What will a
motley crowd of 28 persons, exclusive of other aides, be doing in a cramped
executive chamber like the one we have? Abia State in my thinking does not
require more than 16 Commissioners, while the rest could be made advisers in
order to reduce the cost of governance and enhance effectiveness. Our
continuous penchant for weekly employment of persons into the service of Abia
State under the guise of governor’s waiver, even with an embargo in place,
amounts to gross abuse of extant civil service procedure, guidelines and
practice.
The notion of the governor’s waiver for employment does not
give room for merit and spread, as only those who have access to the governor
can get these waivers, even without subjecting these persons to the crucible of
qualification and suitability for the job.
CONCLUSION:
In conclusion, this letter is not intended to pass a
judgment on you or query how you have handled the affairs of the State and the
destinies of the over five million Abians, graciously entrusted to you by God.
I am not competent to do so. What I have done so far is to express my candid
view as an Abia citizen, an interested party in the affairs of the State and
one who offered service to the State for an uninterrupted period of ten (10)
years.
All those who have been in governance, including myself, owe
the people of Abia State an explanation as to how we got our State to this sordid
state. Governance is all about responsibility and accountability. Our State has
indeed been turned into a laughing stock in the comity of States. I make bold
to say, however, that while we all take responsibility, those of you who hold
the mandate of the people and in actual fact manage our commonwealth, have
greater responsibility.
Factors that have actually contributed to the situation we
find ourselves are corruption, greed, self–interest above public interest,
mediocrity, lack of vision and capacity, nepotism, zero tolerance to dissent
and alternate view, and, enthronement of falsehood and sycophancy in the
activities of governance. Those in authority, I observe, find relief and succor
in the company of hirelings whose duty it is to malign, abuse, intimidate and
even threaten the lives of those who proffer alternate views as a means of
keeping their jobs. While I remain mindful of the likely consequences of this
my well-intended piece, devoid of any malice whatsoever, I am prepared to
engage all those that may consider it their duty to silence every opposing view
in our dear State. I will definitely give in conjunction with other patriots a
run for their time and money.
Ordinarily, it may seem difficult to change the narrative
within the time available to you, but I sincerely believe that so much can
still be done between now and the 29th of May, 2023. Some of the issues I have
raised above, maybe tasking but not impossible to achieve within the available
time. I am aware that the majority of Abians are unhappy with the unpleasant
state of affairs in our State and are praying fervently for God’s intervention
to enable you to address some of the issues I have raised above. Not addressing
this letter to you and raising the issues that I have raised will make me
oblivious of the saying of Martin Luther King Jr. who opines that “our lives
begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter”. All that I
have said above do matter.
I know that I have stirred the hornet’s nest by the contents
of this letter. I am conversant with the modus operandi of the mighty ones in
Abia State, whose operating principle is hinged on the doctrine of “see no
evil, hear no evil and say no evil”. The seeming resolve of most Abians to
abide by this principle has contributed to the situation we find ourselves
presently. Your power and the powers of the persons I may have unsettled in
this letter, though awesome, remain subject to the supreme powers of God the
creator of man and the Universe. It is to this supreme being that I subject
myself to His will and judgement.
I have christened this letter part 1 because I know that
there may be a need for succeeding letters, in response to the avalanche of
abusive write-ups by paid agents, hirelings and attack dogs whose job it is to
proceed against any form of dissent or opposing views. I promise these
hirelings and attack dogs busy days ahead, as some of us are fortunate to have
seen it all from the inception and were goalkeepers in the field of play, from
which vantage position we witnessed the game. The choice of silence over these
years has been hinged on the expectation for repentance on the part of our
traducers, which presently appears obviously misplaced, even as those who have
held us down this long are gearing up and preparing for yet another onslaught
in the coming season.
I will end this letter by referring all those that have held
Abia down for so long to the Scriptural readings as contained in James Chapter
5 Vs. 1 – 6.: “Now listen, you rich people, weep and wail because of the misery
that is coming on you.
2 Your wealth has rotted, and moths have eaten your clothes.
3 Your gold and silver are corroded. Their corrosion will
testify against you and eat your flesh like fire. You have hoarded wealth in
the last few days.
4 Look! The wages you failed to pay the workers who mowed
your fields are crying out against you. The cries of the harvesters have
reached the ears of the Lord Almighty.
5 You have lived on earth in luxury and self-indulgence. You
have fattened yourselves in the day of slaughter. 6 You have condemned and
murdered the innocent one, who was not opposing you.”
Let us devote a little time to read and comprehend every
word in these verses for they speak to our situation.
May God give you the grace to heed good counsel.
Dated this 1st Day of December 2021
UMEH KALU, SAN, LIFE BENCHE
