Abia State Government has swamped much in the news. Either Governor
Theodore Orji was swanking about many of his optical-illusion developments
or critics were pointing out what they perceived were anomalies and
amoralities that have played in the government culminating to
underprivileged human existence in the state.
This dissertation tends to look at a number of the drawn out problems as
they remained unabated. Like a Henry David Thoreau would say, great men,
unknown to their generation, have their fame among the great who have
preceded them, and all true worldly fame subsides from their high estimate
beyond the stars. On the other hand, Thoreau’s testimonial is not the case
Governor Orji has been concerned with. And he does not believe in a Thomas
Fuller that an invincible determination can accomplish almost anything and
in this lies the great distinction between great men and little men.
Sheer practical and inhumane life experiences are playing in Orji’s Abia
State. Mournfully, they are not effecting true democracy across the
state. Foolhardiness is not limited in the state. There is no creation of
jobs the same way there has been creation of news, but in the wrong
direction by Orji. He is not committed to building the deteriorated
environments in that state and, preserve subsisting legacies.
It was intended that the Orji-led government would solidify the necessary
environment for business development and conception of new jobs for the
citizens. The government is rather committed to doing nothing about that,
thereby frustrating untapped potentials of the state. Upon these that are
downplaying in Abia State, the citizens are not left out of performing
optimally in assisting the government in many ways. And they wished that
the government could be concerned with their welfares, which have only
become a subject of to no avail.
In any organised environment, it behooves the government to be concerned
with the good affairs of its citizens, but Orji-led government sees this as
the last principle of a sustainable development. The government has
continued to build hope without anything to show for it for many years
since it came to saddle. The government continues to use tactics of
miscarriage of good governance as a legacy it will leave for the Abia
people. This strategy defines the government’s ineptitude in serving the
people as long as it lasts.
The Orji-led government has always swaggered of addressing the chief
infrastructural needs of the people. But freshly, it said that it would
reconstruct sixteen roads in Aba and, one wonders why such hoodwink. Entire
place like Aba to see just sixteen roads? Still, this is against the many
parroted so-called projects the governor had said that it expended billions
of naira for in Aba. The comment that it would look into the plight of
sixteen major roads in Aba has further proved that the critics of the
government were right when they said that the government in Abia State is
underperforming.
Re-evaluating Abia State is not a sugarcoated story. The state government
is always consulting its cronies inguise that it consults Abia people on
how to carry out seemingly physical, economic and environmental problems of
the state. Even spiritually! One thing with the Orji-led government is that
it has no basis and, it is crystal clear that it lacks the dexterity to
build the institutional foundation needed by all that will serve the people
right.
Abia has been one state in the annals of Nigeria, where Orji has always
seek the citizens’ sympathy, endurance and teamwork for many years, without
him leading the people right, who have accepted their ill-fate to remain
resolute in the face of governance tyranny. No government has always said
that it shares in the plight of its people and yet, still left them in a
perpetual dungeon, with falsity that it will rebuild and build roads as
soon as the rainy season collapses, when many rainy seasons had come and
gone, without any of the promises kept.
Not even security has come to stay in Abia State. It is a sham when a
contrary view is heard. Even the security men the federal might deplored to
a town of Aba are turning outlandish to the inhabitants. This is what the
people have got in place of Orji’s swear to the people to expect his
government’s antagonistic approach to repairing Aba.
It is laughable when the Orji-led government mouthed that it has put up an
outline to undyingly deal with the issue of flooding in Aba. How can this
be when there is hardly any functional drainage and pliable roads in Aba?
Not even the sanitation situation has been tackled with head-long. What the
people have got are the government’s boasts upon boast. The government has
said that it would link water in Aba to the channels down to the Aba River
and, at the same time, said that it intends to dredge and clean up the Aba
River. Always double-speaking!
Maybe, Orji-led government does not know that people look at it
disdainfully; it was not long that this government spent much money in
telling the world in the media that it would bring down houses it claimed
were built on water channels. The government is always resolving without
revolution to show. In earnest, there could hardly be any building that is
obstructing water ways in Aba; the government is the problem obstructing
the easy passage of flood water in Aba, for tackling the problem by only
mouthing.
It is pertinent that the Orji-led government understands that the citizens
are not enjoying the taxes they have been paying to seeing that projects
that meet the eyes reach them. With the lack of change the people can see,
it is not out of place to say that the government is only interested in the
taxes of the citizens and, not in the citizens. It is a perplexity that the
government is good at witch-hunting its critics and, has not craved in to
bid their yearnings. Not even the Orji-led government Internal Revenue
realization policies have yielded to the aspiration of its citizens, but a
New Abia State Internal Revenue and Collection Platform is being
implemented?
It’s a welcome development to notice that in the said new platform, those
who are concerned with the-on-ground revenue collection of the state were
notified to hands-off their activities by the end of December, 2012. This
will be good because the people, especially those in Aba, have paid taxes
through their nostrils.
No more blatant lies. They irritate the citizens. This Orji-led government
should lead with the people’s expected plans and, not the make-belief’s
government policies. There is no gainsaying the fact that the Orji-led
government is not leading according to the people’s expectations. It is
therefore an intimidation to the people that putting up of buildings must
follow somewhat approved plans, when the government on its part is very far
from showing an exemplary cross-reference to democratic norms and ties.
The Orji-led government should stop the ruse that the government is
dedicated to building enormous cities, bequest government tombstones,
roads, protection of its staff and mounting its economy, when there is
nothing to show for the many given words.
The irritation of the Orji-led government will passively leave the people
when in earnest the government matches action with words and, by extension
begin to do people-oriented jobs. Orji should respect the rule of law,
which is the rule of the people. He should stop being a political actor,
but a good governance actor. He should stop the mindless abuse of power.
Let the government repent and embrace good governance
, for the citizens and
critics to abate the view of him as a small man.
