Even before he became the Chief Press Secretary (CPS) to Abia State Governor, Charles Ajunwa had been known among his colleagues as an informed journalist with good exposure. The encounter had been scheduled to take place in Umuahia, the Abia State capital, on Democracy Day, but the celebration was later called off as Abians were urged to pray God to intervene in the security challenge ravaging the country, particularly on the release of the Chibok girls that were abducted close to seven weeks now.
Theodore Orji
As fate would have it, this reporter was on unscheduled visit in the state and ran into Ajunwa in Umuahia.
The CPS was quick to explain why the government suspended activities for the Childrens’ Day as well as Democracy Day celebrations.
“Our governor, Chief Theodore Orji, is passionate on the security of human lives. He is a father with a feeling, who cares and shares the problem of others. He is concerned and seriously touched by the abduction of the over 200 school girls in Chibok, Borno State. These girls have been with their captors for over six weeks now and you can imagine the mental torture they must have been undergoing. You can imagine what their parents may have been undergoing. So the governor felt and reasoned that those two days should be dedicated for serious prayers and reflections for God’s intervention.
“The governor urged all Abians to pray and fast for the safe release of our young and innocent Chibok girls. So Abia, being a state committed to the things of God, used the two days to seek the face of God for His intervention,” Ajunwa said.
He talked on the voter registration exercise in the state, explaining that it was peaceful, as the people were adequately sensitised to take advantage of the exercise to ensure that they register, particularly those that had just clocked the voting age of 18 years.
He said: “The exercise was the collection of Permanent Voter’s Card (PVC) preceding the new registration going on now, which is the registration of people that have just attained the age of 18 years. The people that came out for the exercise were quite impressive. Government on its part made conscious efforts by way of putting up jingles, announcements in radio and television as well as using newspaper adverts, posters, town-criers among other means to sensitise the people on the exercise.
“Enough awareness was created and the people came out in their hundreds to be part of the national exercise. So far, it was smooth, peaceful and devoid of any violence.”
Ajunwa could not hide his feelings on what he described as senseless attacks on Orji by few individuals who have sworn not to see anything good in his administration.
He explained that the prudence in governance upheld by his principal has made it possible for the giant strides recorded through the legacy projects of the administration.
He described the governor’s record as intimidating, stressing that it is the feat that is driving his detractors crazy.
Ajunwa added that Governor Orji virtually met nothing on ground, but has laid a solid foundation for his successor to build on.
While throwing more light on the true position of issues, the CPS said: “What Ochendo (as the governor is fondly called) has done has overwhelmed his critics, but the governor is fulfilled because he knows that Abians are happy with what he is doing with available resources at his disposal. Today, Abia is a huge construction site.”
For him, those criticising the governor are either being mischievous or ignorant of the massive transformation going on in the state and in all the sectors simultaneously.
According to him, “I have always said the governor is not averse to criticisms, especially if they are constructive ones. In fact, he welcomes them and uses them to improve on what is on the ground so far. But what we have observed is that some insignificant individuals, out of hatred – and you can count them by the fingers – are bent on discrediting all that the governor is doing.
“They are not doing it with honesty or pointing out any alternative. In fact, they are bereft of ideas themselves; but they just want to make noise to attract attention. To be frank with you, Abians see them as nuisance and, of course, in a democracy, you have to tolerate their nuisance value.
“Without sounding immodest, these people, inconsequential as they are, are not relevant in the system. They cannot win an ordinary councillorship election in their area. Of course, we know them. They have sworn to destroy, through propaganda, all that the governor has put in place, which has positively changed and advanced the face of Abia.
“Their only job and track record is to use the pages of some newspapers to make unsubstantiated allegations that are baseless, without proof. But I can tell you the governor is not bothered and has never lost focus on what he wants to achieve and where he wants to leave Abia by the time his tenure expires.
Throwing more light on how far the governor has taken the state, he said: “The question to ask, which is natural, is: what did he meet on ground when he took over? There was nothing, because it is now that he is fixing every foundational project you can think of. To the best of my knowledge, the governor met nothing on ground when he assumed office.
“The governor started from the scratch to build the state that we are all proud of today where Abia is described as a construction site. It is now that he built a befitting state secretariat; it is now that he is building the Government House, international conference centre, dialysis hospitals of best standards.”
According to him, by the time the committee headed by the Commissioner for Information and Strategy, Dr. Eze Chikamnayo, took inventory of some of the projects of His Excellency, recently, over 10,000 projects were identified, yet the governor has continued to commission projects.