CHIEF Orji Uzor Kalu, governor of Abia State has many nicknames but the one that appeals to me the most is “The Lion”. Indeed, he had roared many times since he assumed the mantle of power in the tiny South Eastern state in 1999.
Throughout his first term in office, he was locked in a ferocious battle with federal officials from his state and would not bat an eyelid. He did not believe in negotiations and compromise, he would rather crush any opposition on his way. Many had expressed the fear that The Lion might not be allowed to pick the PDP ticket for the 2003 race but, at the end of the day, good sense prevailed and, Kalu who had managed to give the impression that he is on the side of the people was not only allowed to fly the PDP flag but equally given the opportunity to be announced winner of the election.
Aside the federal officials who were demonised by Kalu during his first term, the other object which caught the Abia State governor’s attention was his then deputy, Enyinnaya Abaribe.
On a number of occasions, the governor sought to use his hold on majority of members of the House to remove his deputy but Abaribe survived because section 188 of the 1999 Constitution requires the House to obtain the votes of two-thirds of the members to shove aside a governor or his deputy. This muscle, the governor could not muster and he had to let Abaribe be.
This is the second term, our dear governor has shown that he intends to hold on to the winning formula. Following the reported rift between Governor Kalu and his new deputy, Dr Chima Nwafor, the governor denied that he intended to shop for a replacement.
Even when recently he was confronted with evidence that he had been doing everything to make life unbearable for his deputy, Kalu said all he was doing was renovate the deputy governor’s quarters and, as a result, Nwafor had to endure some hardship.
It is unfortunate that those who claim to be leaders have no respect for the word truth. What is at the heart of the current moves to impeach Nwafor? The indictment of both the governor and his deputy by a PDP panel that looked into Kalu’s unsubstantiated allegation that the Chairman of the party’s Board of Trustees, Chief Tony Anenih was after his life and had a hit squad being used to systematically eliminate opposition within the party. Kalu had told the public that it was his deputy who passed the message to him but, when Nwafor was grilled by the PDP panel and press men, the deputy governor who is believed to be a born again Christian denied ever passing such information to his boss. Rather he tendered the memo he wrote to his boss on the matter which did not in any way suggest that Chief Anenih said the words ascribed to him by the governor.
Knowing Kalu for who he is, it was not difficult to imagine that things would soon fall apart between the first two citizens of Abia state.
But, the governor chose to hide his displeasure, bidding his time for such a period that the deputy governor would have dropped his guards before hitting very hard.
It is indeed a shame that rather than apologise to Anenih as he was ordered by his party and beg the public for such amateurism displayed, Governor Kalu has decided to once again engage in his pastime of fighting.
Must people just fight for the sake of doing so? Governor Kalu has a responsibility to produce good governance. He was elected on the same ticket with Dr Nwafor and has no business distracting public attention the way he is doing. How many deputies does he want to work with within his eight year period in office?
Perhaps our dear governor is focused on beating the record of the Jigawa State governor who has already worked with three deputy governors.
Perhaps, too, the governor does not know that Abia State is not insulated from the ravaging diseases of poverty, unemployment, squalor and hunger in the land.
All the people of Abia State want is close attention being paid to their welfare. Governor Orji Uzor Kalu would do well to concentrate on the primary reason for his election.
