POLITICAL INTRIGUES AND DEVELOPMENT IN NIGERIA: THE OCHENDO EXPERIMENT.

BY MARVIN OMO-OSAGIE
The Nigeria political sphere is dynamic as many observers will be willing to admit. It is known to have many interesting features that beat the comprehension of an average global political watcher. The uniqueness of the Nigeria political environment stems from the fact that the gladiators are men and women whose achievements are either blown to high proportions or are deliberately reported in negative light. Some governors for example get raves in the media for accomplishments that are only visible on paper while others get blanketed and shunned by the media. But a tour of states with both positive and negative media publications has shown that the Nigeria political field is more or less a media contraption.


Another very important consideration in rating performance which many commentators either ignore or gloss over is the issue of income. Some states have income that is four times that of other states and yet these states are compared with one another in terms of infrastructure development. Taking it away from states, to the senatorial districts and the constituencies, there is a greater anomaly here as most of the senators and representatives are only concerned with populists’ agenda which has no bearing on the lives of the governed but makes for good public relations.

There are however exceptions in the Senate and House of Representatives as some of the political leaders has maintained a standard that is not only admirable but worthy of mention. I was opportune to visit Abia state in South East Nigeria for a wedding and my observations led to this write up. While traveling to Umuahia from Abuja, the general topic inside the chartered bus was the state of affairs of Abia state. Most of my colleagues in the bus were mainly from the South-South and South-West but there were a couple of Abia people who gave us a picture of Abia that was so depressing that some of us felt we were going to hell.

A particular object of attack was the immediate past governor of the state, Senator Theodore Orji who one of my colleagues labeled “did nothing in Abia”. When we got to Umuahia we lodged at a hotel very close to the Abia State Specialist Hospital and Diagnostic Center. I couldn’t believe my eyes when I saw the hospital, it was a departure from all I have heard before about Abia state and especially what we heard throughout our 7 hours plus journey from Abuja. I decided to pay a visit to the hospital. To my surprise the hospital was fully equipped with 6 dialysis equipment and a host of other special intervention clinics and equipments. My amazement was further electrified when I learnt the hospital was conceived, built and equipped by the man commonly called ‘Ochendo’ Theodore Orji, former governor and now Senator representing Abia Central Senatorial District which incidentally included Umuahia and Ikwuano where we were headed the next day for the wedding. I went back to the hotel and convinced my friends to allow us use the next couple of hours of daylight to feed our eyes with Abia so as not to be misled by people’s idiosyncrasies.

We visited the digital library, the Umuahia market, the skills acquisition center in Umuahia, which we were told catered for several thousands of Abians who were given a monthly stipend of 10,000 naira as students and a further financial grant on completion. By this time our perception of the man Ochendo has somewhat reversed to the extent that even our 2 friends from Abia actually confessed they were not aware of these projects. We also saw the Timber market, one of the Model Secondary Schools (we were told Governor Theodore Orji built about 70 such model schools in Abia, we however saw one and didn’t have time to inspect the inside but what we saw from the exterior was of good class), the state secretariat which we were told was the first place in Abia to have a lift.

Night came upon us and of course we had to retreat to our hotel with great expectation as we were off first light to Isiala Oboro in Ikwuano Local Government Area in Abia Central Senatorial District. We got to Isiala Oboro safe and sound and we immediately went to the wedding grounds where we were received with the highest level of South Eastern Nigeria hospitality. We were overwhelmed with the rich cultural heritage of Abia and toasted to the finest cuisine and delicacies available. I decided to engage a variety of people of different persuasion as I could get to get a glimpse of the man Ochendo especially his last 7 months as a Senator of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

Everybody was abuzz with the Senators Christmas package to the local government. We learned that the senator gave all the traditional rulers in the 6 local government areas that made up the senatorial district foodstuff and cow. He also presented 120 bags of rice each to the people in each of the 6 local government areas under the senatorial district.
One of the people we discussed with came to the wedding from Isiala Ngwa South Local Government and was full of praise for the Senator. In the view of this particular person, the senator had fulfilled his people desire by renovating the Women’s town hall in Umuominta, which is now a meeting point for all the women and cooperatives in Umuominta.

Back in Abuja my curiosity led me to make some investigations and I found out that Senator Theodore Orji has actually sponsored 7 bills which has all passed through first reading. I equally stumbled on a project which is still in the pipeline but will stand as a legacy of value when fully implemented. The project is the award of scholarship to deserving students from each of the local government that makes up Abia Central Senatorial District, numbering 6 local governments and bringing the total number of scholarship to be awarded to 60 students of tertiary institutions. The names I found out has been compiled and the award of scholarship will be done in a ceremony in the next few days.

To say the least I was impressed, first because the Senator has never to the best of my knowledge, engaged his detractors nor joined issues with them on his developmental strides. He has gone about doing his work silently and leaving his prints in the sands of time. The general conclusion of everyone that undertook the trip to Abia state on our way back, including the 2 Abia sons was that history will definitely be kind to Dr. Theodore Orji.