Theodore Orji: The Knight in his shiniest golden armor now in a graceful retirement!

By Eddie Onuzuruike

The march to excellence is not a walk in the park, neither is statesmanship a commodity you can pick over the counter no matter how rich you are. Taking inference from world leaders and our leaders past in Nigeria, you will realize that no matter how tenaciously you hold on, you don’t stay in the limelight forever.

It reminds me of an Igbo proverb that says, ‘the market is a sweet place to be when others are there which makes the market to be abuzz. If you overstay in the market, you only have ghosts as customers.’All said and done, leadership roles are not for a lifetime, neither are they do or die affairs. Experience has shown that sometime you lead and at other times, you follow.

The basic rule is that you cannot be a good leader if you abhor followership. Even in a committee of leaders, somebody leads and announces the communique. It is the way for all mortals and non the less, a strict pattern for leaders. As Nelson Mandela avowed, ‘a leader is like a shepherd. He stays behind the flock, letting the most nimble to go out ahead, whereupon others follow not realizing that all along, they are being directed from behind.’ Robert Ingersoll agrees that ‘we rise by raising others.’

Another common denominator is that all leaders had tastes of barefoot days. It is notable too that most of these leaders, home and abroad were no sons of millionaires. In the case of Nigeria, most of the parents were, farmers, labourers, teachers and preachers. A peep into the biography of Abraham Lincoln, Awolowo, Zik of Africa, Julius Nyerere, Nelson Mandela and Robert Mugabe reflected this uniform occurrence in experience and overcoming hardship.

At the death of Awo’s father, his uncles carted away his valuables. Even when he overcame through struggling with the economic woes of his time, a bad investment lead to public auctioning of his property, some of these bought by his close associates. The Zik of Africa, was a stowaway in an America bound vessel where the first attempt resulted in bundling him back, but he never gave up and succeeded the second time, resulting in his education, acquiring multiple degrees and championing the colonial struggles. Abe Lincoln split wood to get a free meal but he led America to great heights and gave the longest lasting definition of democracy as ‘the government of the people, by the people, for the people.’

To bring this fact home, one of such men is Senator T A Orji, the Son of a Warrant Chief whose father admired the impeccable ways of the District Officers, popularly known as D Os then. As a warrant Chief, then a privileged position, he associated with the white men closely, wished and psyched his young son to become one. His son took him seriously and walked his father’s dreams to a positive realization, topping the civil service rungs as a Permanent Secretary after which he got bitten by the political bug upon which he transformed from the top civil servant to a political appointee- Governor and a Senator of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

He is now bowing out gloriously off the scene and strictly too on his own volition. He has stepped down for others, especially for the young ones and at the same time harkening to the-not-too-young-to-run policy of the past administration. His career is highly illuminating looking at his civil, public and political office career. The most glaring thing is that he recorded many firsts as I will line a few for want of space.

He is the first Ibeku man to become Chief of Staff, Governor and Senator, in a smooth sequence without any interregnum. Of all the governors, dating back to East Central State, none listened to the cries of Ngwa Nation who openly bemoaned their situation as they were derided and cast into the derogatory sobriquet of the land of deputies. This no joke if you judge from the era of Uzo Igwe, Mbakwe’s deputy, Nwafor who worked under Dr Ogbonnaya Onu, the first democratically elected Gov of Abia. Sen Abaribe paired with OUK and Akomas with T A Orji.Ochendo, harkened to these piercing cries and deleted the Ngwa name from the land of deputies, enthroning Ikpeazu, the last but one governor, oddly at the risk of tumultuous protests, shockingly from some Ngwa elements like Max Nduaguibe who scolded his brothers for lining up for power handouts from Umuahia people.

It is boldly on the records that he is the first to promote all civil servants in Abia to the next salary level, pull them out of the rented offices and the dilapidating Fed Secretariat and comfortably accommodated them in the twin-tower secretariat at Ogurube Layout Umuahia.

In like manner, he built the first Government House, outside the colonial structures inherited from immovable assets of Imo and East Central States. This edifice is strictly designed with accuracy and digital specifications, imbued with modern architecture to befit the 21st century with office blocks, palatial residence and staff accommodation.

He is the first Gov. in Abia to hand back schools to original owners and still continued paying their teachers as well as operating free education in Primary and secondary schools.*While doing these, he empowered agencies to initiate projects even backed up by counterpart funding to which ASUBEB, CSDP, and the Abia budget office which had the onerous tasks of initiating projects.

Another first he achieved is that based on his conviction that health is wealth, he replicated what he saw in Johns Hopkins Hospitals USA, said to be ‘the founding institutions of modern American medicines and the birthplace of numerous famous medical traditions including rounds, residents and house staff.’ Today, there is a one-stop health complex that has hospital wards and modern diagnostic installations called The Abia Specialist Hospital and Diagnostic Center, now at Aba Road with multiple dialysis machines that turned Abia into a medical tourist attraction of sorts, not forgetting the multiplicity of health Centers in almost all the wards in Abia with boreholes, ambulances and Solar energy.

Not only these, the LGA emporium, E-library, Helipad for security and military maneuvers are still there. He handled Kidnapping with force and finesse including an executive bill first of its kind that was emulated by many states today, a Legislation followed by deft implementation to which the I G at the time exclaimed that Abia is a case study.

Unequalled today are his gender policies where he blew the glass ceiling for Abia women, appointing the highest number of female commissioners, female perm Secs, enhancing the highest number of female legislators and appointing the first female Registrar of ABSU Mrs Iheukwumere in his time. What more my People?

Over here at the Senate from June 2015, he did not slow down but continued his wondrous works with over 17 bills and many motions, including the bill that modified The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control, NCDC for short Sb.256 that came alive during the ravaging COVID days.

In 2016, in a Daily Trust Newspaper survey, Ochendo came tops of the Rookies in the Senate for sponsoring the highest number of bills. The Authority Newspaper followed with Man of the Year in 2018. Still in the Senate, awards streamed in in multiples from local and international agencies.

Remember that from Governorship days, he vowed that only heathy people can enjoy good roads and electricity so he continued in the Senate, sponsoring an eye clinic at Ohafia street Umuahia where eye surgeries go on and extended to non-communicable diseases like Diabetes and High blood Pressure which culminated in the screening of and handing out measuring instruments to sufferers at FMC Umuahia. He did not slow down on his security consciousness as he attracted the construction of a new police barracks at Olokoro/Ikwuno LGAs.

Many schools were renovated and re equipped, more health centers were built in Ikwuano and transformers were lavishly installed in Abia Central Senatorial District. As usual, the youths were on his mind as he embarked on many skills acquisition projects like the annual pilgrimage to Ilorin NCAM Center, Root Crops Umudike and collaborating with the NDE to train widows and orphans on Skills. Not surprising, he typically lived his name and titles. Ahamefule, a potent factor in Igbo cosmology that says, let my name not be lost.

The Ahamefule name entrenches the growth and perseverance of the Igbo Nation. Ochendo, one out of his many titles simply means the umbrella but typifies protection and symbolizes the oasis in the desert, a sanctuary and place of refuge for the weary and famished. We can go on and on. Such it is for senator T A Orji like Archimedes, the famous Greek philosopher who said, ‘Give me but one firm spot on which to stand and I will move the earth.’

Eddie Onuzuruike, a media aide to Senator Theodore Orji writes from Abuja