By Eddie Onuzuruike
An outstanding philosopher and former president of America who fought the war of unification, Abraham Lincoln once said, ‘no man is good enough to govern another man without that other’s consent.’ Experience has taught us that people are pretentiously consulted at the initial stage. When the vote seekers succeed, they become lords, issue commands rather plead, treat citizens as subordinates, introduce obsolete laws which further decimate and oppress while they, the leaders degenerate into potentates and Hitler-like super humans. Good examples abound – Hitler, Idi Amin, Milosevic, Mobutu Sese Seko.
It is not all a lost battle as we still have people who govern with the fear of God, play by the rules, and stringently adopt the accepted norms and constitutional dictates and stipulations.
In truth, one man who has demonstratively employed admirable democratic principles, especially that of constant consultation, is Chief T A Orji. The transparent adoption and unmitigated practice of democratic principles of leading by examples, certainly may have been the reason why the group known as ABIA TRANSFOMATION INITITIVE took a special look at Ochendo. This group after intensive study came out with the theory of Ochendoism. This may not be the first time of such a study as we previously in history have come across Maoism, Awoism and Zikism but Ochendo, as a positive and conscious man, has presented a modern cocktail of these lot. He has adopted the transparency of Mao Ze Dong, the pragmatism of Zik and the doggedness of Awo. The climax of all is the overriding selfless leadership style. Abia Transformation Initiative there again, adopted the slogan Of Abia Before Self, because, Ochendo as a rule sets Abia first in all his actions.
Without fear of contradiction and for emphasis, Ochendo from inception despite stringencies has always considered the people in all his activities and policies.
Ogwumabiri Umuahia is an enormous case study. Relocation of the market was among the first 10 policy decisions in 2007, but this noble idea ran into many brick walls. The first contractor defaulted and detractors joined issues, insinuating and raising pockets of opposition. It is a well known fact that change is always resisted by human beings. For this inherent resistance to change and previous negative experiences from people who reneged on their promises, the traders harbored fears that they may be dispossessed or discriminated against, based on factors concerning their state of origin.
To achieve this wish of creating sanity and settling traders in a more spacious, healthy and befitting business arena, His Excellency, employing a rare kind of wisdom and diplomacy, held series of consultations where he placed his cards on the table. He reassured the traders that none will be shortchanged or left out. If for no other reason, that his mother was a trader and in her memory, cannot maltreat traders.
It could be recalled that the same appeal was made to traders in Ngbuka and the former Timber Shed at Ohobo Afara, now transferred and known as Ofeke Industrial Market. In the case of the last two, some listened and believed while others litigated as such was their constitutional right but today, they are happy in befitting and specious places. Most of all, many who formerly rented shops, are now proud owners.
Going down memory lane, at inception in 2007, salaries were owed civil servants. Many lost interest in the civil service due to lack of inceptives and fringe benefits which resulted in low morale and the consequential massive poor delivery. Like giving oxygen to the exhausted, His Excellency injected new life by promoting to the next level, all serving officers in the civil and teaching sectors, keeping his promises borne in his manifesto that he will carry all along. He equally instituted free education in primary and secondary Schools. Added to these goodies were scholarships and bursary hitherto suspended. Buses were made available in the Ochendo free transport scheme where pupils, students and their teachers go to school free of charge. All these, outside other monstrous educational breakthroughs are additional support to make life easy for the workers.
For the first time since the Ochendo Administration, salaries took a loll in the tail end of 2014 giving room to all kinds of speculations. It is no secret that allocations from the federal coffers dwindled, Ochendo, the people oriented governor, true to his consultative style, held a heart to heart meeting with the leadership of the teachers in Abia on Friday February 20th, 2015. The two parties rubbed minds where he explained the cause of the delay and gave much assurance which started manifesting as many were alerted by their banks before they stepped off the meeting. In another example of regular consultations, even when he has concluded his campaign tour of the state, he made out time on Wednesday, Feb. 26, 2015, to go round the Industrial Market, Ubani and Ohiya new settlements, consulting and confiding in them the PDP political quest and package.
This is campaign time. Many unknowns have sprung up from many questionable directions, making many unverified and unverifiable claims. Most of these are so hollow that they sound like empty barrels, broken and rusty gongs. We are all victims to situations where unknown people smuggled themselves into positions of authority from the blues, for which we suffered cataclysmically. A bird in hand they say is worth more than two in the bush.
Let us avoid the sugarcoated promises of gamblers and carpetbaggers who have emerged from nowhere, changing their nativities overnight. Without being told, they will certainly end up in the nowhere street.
Ochendo has incontrovertible evidence of delivery, highly tangible and verifiable in all the length and breadth of Abia. If he could achieve all these before our eyes, and in a short while too, then much could come our way as he has strongly pointed to the Okezie Ikpeazu Avenue. Let us all follow this boulevard, we will not get lost!