Amongst the class of 1999 governors, Chief Orji Uzor Kalu, then governor of Abia state, was arguably the most influential and promising of the lot. Those were the heydays of the PDP. His mother, who wielded significant influence, held the state with a firm grasp. Everyone who mattered, including commissioners, permanent secretaries, contractors, LGA chairmen, etc., would gather in his mother’s house for the infamous ‘egusi peeling’. My late aunt, who served in the administration, was amongst the egusi peelers. It was essentially mandatory to participate if you were in the political scene then.
I had the rare opportunity of listening to Orji Uzor Kalu in 2001 in Enugu during the Ohaneze Ndigbo Annual General Assembly. I was invited by the late Professor Ben Nwabueze. In that assembly were the best of Igbo intelligentsia, traditional rulers, Igbo professionals, academia, and spiritual leaders, state governors of the five southeast states, ministers from the east, and elected representatives. Notable amongst those present were the late Chief Odimegwu Ojukwu, Professor Ben Nwabueze, Chief MCK Ajuluchukwu, Rtd. Honourable Justice Eze Ozobu, Chief Evan Enwerem, Dr. Alex Ekwueme, all of blessed memory. When it got to the turn of Orji Uzor Kalu, he opened his mouth as usual and poured out unsavory invectives on the Igbo leaders and elder statesmen. Accusing them of trading Igbo interests for Abuja contracts, he referred to them as ‘glorified errand boys’. It was in that meeting he announced for the first time ‘the Igbo presidency project’. This provoked the Igbo leaders who felt insulted by his unguarded utterances and, in protest, stormed out of the meeting one by one. To his admiration, the Ohaneze Ndigbo Youths carried him shoulder-high, thinking that a new and genuinely committed young Igbo leader had emerged. That meeting marked the beginning of the decline of Ohaneze influence.
Fast forward to 2003, at the PDP convention in Abuja, Orji Uzor Kalu, then the first citizen of Abia state and, by virtue of alphabetical order, was the first person to cast his vote in a process that had the late Dr. Alex Ekwueme as a candidate contesting against the former president, OBJ. Guess who this supposed ‘Igbo leader’ voted for? Yes, you guessed right. He voted for Obasanjo and was bold to say that he voted for continuity for the sake of his friend, Atiku, the then vice president.
This man betrayed the Igbos in Abuja. This man chested it out and told us he implemented the infamous Buhari Ruga in Abia state. This man, who was so unpopular in Abia state and was stoned in Aba, is the one gathering all the hawks and vultures who had devoured Abia state for over 23 years, boasting and threatening to remove the governor of Abia state, Chief Alex Otti. Chioma Ndi Abia.
Ode, let me remind you that in a sane society, you would still be an occupant of Kirikiri correctional facility as a consequence of your misrule in Abia state. Collectively, Abia rejects you.
- Collins Obinwanne Nwanguru
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