…EDDIE ONUZURUIKE…
According to Encarta Encyclopedia, Prizes and Awards are rewards offered or won for outstanding achievements, superiority, or victories. Awards generally confer honor and prestige and some include a monetary reward.’
Awards and recognitions have existed in different places, from rural, traditional to royal and corporate.
The British, French, Italian and old Soviet Union Governments to mention a few,created orders from which they pacified some people and elevated others. These came in the forms of medals, plaques and shields.Giving awards and the likes are special factors in social control strategy, where people are encouraged to conduct themselves in responsible manners as to be respected and honoured.
The traditional aspect is not too different where groups, organizations, villages, towns, town unions, and cultural aggregations reach consensus on criteria for honouring their kind who have rendered meritorious service or made huge achievements, especially in people-oriented circumstances as has been witnessed with Umunne Ato in Abia Central Senatorial constituency, Ukwa, Abia South, Bende, Ututu, Ohafia, Ikwuano/Umuahia who have all rolled out their drums on different dates to honour their hero.
The Ibeku people have a saying that a thing doesn’t own itself;the right of ownership is exercised by somebody, people or groups. The Nigeria Labour Congress Abia Council is busy scrubbing and gathering. All is cut and dried anticipatorily to claim possession and honour their kind. It is the home coming of an illustrious son, who has become the poster boy of the Abia Labour come May 1, 2014.Significantly,Abia Labour for so many reasons can claim ownership of T A Orji for he has become a special brand, striding over many professional and cultural bodies. He has risen to the topmost position in the state as Governor. In truth, a lot of these bodies have one stake or the other. The church, laity and clergy alike, the electorate and the elected, all have something to identify with the Governor. He has become a man of the people.
Chief T. A. Orji joined the Civil Service and rose to the highest pinnacle as Permanent Secretary. Chief Sir T. A. Orji was born on November 9, 1950 to the Family of Chief Tom and Ugwudiya Virginia Ifeoma Orji Ikoro, a warrant Chief, farmer and produce merchant.
An Alumnus of the prestigious University of Ibadan, Sir Ahamefule. Orji, Ochendo, is an enigma of sorts. His civil service experience is a book on diligence, unquantifiable loyalty, and unconditional spirit of service to God and man.
He joined the services of Imo State Civil Service in December, 18, 1979. This was a period when there was low morale in the job. Most workers then went into moonlighting as to meet up with the joneses.
He was not bothered and worked as if he was supervised by God. Offering and taking of bribe was gradually seeping in, but Chief T. A. Orji distanced himself while many others who wanted to live above their means employed fair and foul means to get choice postings either to pinch some extra coins or stay in strategic points where their itching palms could be generously greased, but Ochendo lived modestly according to his means at Orjhi, in the outskirts of Owerri.
What he achieved for himself is to equip himself with the nitty-gritty of the job and in the process,he attended many elevating courses where he learnt: Principles of Management, Strategy for Promotions, Personnel management and General Orders. Also included are Management Finance and Financial Instructions and Civil Service performance Evaluation to mention a few.
These courses and his avid reading of all documents he came across, especially policy and personal files made him a reference point in the service as his contemporaries confirmed confusing issues with him. By implication, he worked under so many Governors and military administrations while he moved from the Cabinet Office, Government House, Ministry of Housing and Environment, Ministry of Works and Transport, Bureau of Budget and planning and Ministry of Agriculture in Imo and Abia States.
In 1996, his career got a push as he was seconded to NECON now INEC to fill a hotly contested vacancy for an Administrative Secretary. In 1997, there was a job swap that took him to Enugu State where he delivered without getting into the usual problems of falling into the traps of police or politicians in the election that returned democracy to Nigeria in 1999.
When he came back to Abia, he resumed as the Principal Secretary and later, Permanent Secretary, Government House.
His second nature, diligence, trademark obedience, and transparent honesty was too hard to be ignored and culminated in his being appointed as the Chief of Staff, a post he handled, assuaging the pressures of politicians with their endless aggravations for eight years. Little did he know that the bell of Governance was tolling for him? As one saying goes, ‘a hand that is dirty with honest labour is fit to shake with anybody.’
It is on record that this extraordinary Servant did not receive any query or reprimand throughout his service. Instructively, he has scored so many firsts in his career. He is the first civil servant to serve as the Chief of Staff for eight years. He made history to be one of the rarest in the country to transcend from Chief of Staff to the enviable place of Governor of the state. On a general note, he has navigating through the ranks of the Civil Service, wading through, redtapism,bureaucratic bottlenecks to enthrone democracy. He knew where the shoe pinched hardest for the civil servants. He equally knew which specific areas that hatched the bad eggs of the Service. To these ends, he has deftly offered palliatives to the status of the servant and saving them from the quagmire of fraud, graft and all types of official corruption.
There is no doubt that Ochendo; our ebullient Governor is the most labour-friendly personality in Government today.This is no empty claim as there are facts on ground to buttress this assertion.
The twin Tower Civil Service Secretariat, the historic automatic promotion of all civil servants to the next level, numerous housing projects, payment of special scales to medical cadres like CONHESS, CONMESS, take home vehicles issued to Permanent Secretaries, improved conditions of service for magistrates and judges are just few pointers. Is it not a wonder that despite the poor revenue profile of Abia, Abia is paying the highest minimum wage?
Abia has subscribed to the National Health Insurance Scheme and the removal of the gender bar that has allowed women to vaunt for any position is highly applauded. Justice Chioma Otti was recently sworn in as the Chief Judge of Abia, not forgetting the spirited efforts made to institute Justice Ifeoma Jumbo Offor at the federal Jurisprudence. In the spirit of the service, 7 female permanent Secretaries were issued with 7 2014 Corolla cars on April, 28, 2014.
The bursary, scholarship, free education are all aimed at helping the Abia worker in private and public service. The various empowerment vehicles given free of charge to the youth and multiple skills acquisition centers both at the state and local government are all aimed at easing the burden of workers so that their take-home pay could take them home.
This becomes more revealing when we notice that the State since 2007 when he came on board has not witnessed any strike action against Abia State Government.
For these and more, the Abia council of Nigeria Labour Congress NLC, are out to celebrate this towering man of history come May 1st, at Ibeku High School Umuahia.Let us join him as he receives this life-time award with his best half- Lady Mercy Odochi Orji, Osinulo.
It is self-evident from all the facts available that this is no mean feat but a situation for Labour to enliven others by crowning him the Hero of Labour and rightly put, the Hero is not alone. Somebody assisted in putting him in the right state of mind. Certainly, that person is the pillar of the Hero. In line with the wise words of Henry Ford, ‘Chop your own wood , and it will warm you twice.’ Bravo Osinulo!