General Azubuike Ihejirika( rtd)

By PETER ANOSIKE

The next general election is around the corner and many politicians are dusting their hats to throw them into the ring to contest various elective positions.

In Abia State,one of the people who have indicated interest to run for the office  of the governor is General Onyeabor Azubuike Ihejirika( rtd) the immediate past Chief of Army Staff who wants to succeed Chief Theordore Orji in Abia State Government House.To show his readiness for the job,his posters now adorn strategic places in Abia State and waiting for INEC to blow the whistle for campaign to commence.

Gen.Azubuike has the quality of the person Abians need in 2015 for stability and growth. His emergence would also attract respect to the Igbo nation as a whole because, for some time now, the  South East has lacked vocal and influential governors who would be protecting their interest. This has made governors and other politicians from the other zones to be talking down on the Igbos and at the same time maltreating them because whenever they look around Igbo land  they would not see governors with influence that they would respect if not fear. This is the fall out of god fatherism, a situation whereby some politicians pick mediocre who they could easily manipulate and make them governors so that they (god fathers), would be ruling by prozy. The emergence of Gen. Ihejirika as the governor of Abia State would bring to an end this ugly situation because of his attainments in the society.

If he emerges the state governor in 2015, he would certainly be in government while the good people of Abia State who gave him the mandate would be in power unlike in the  past when a governor would only be in government while one shylock investor under the guise of god father would be in power, dictating what happens in the state and at the same time siphoning the resources of the state under the guise of recouping his investment to the detriment of the people and development in the state.

Ihejirika is a man who would not be influenced by any political contractor in the state or beyond  and as such his focus would be delivering the dividends of democracy. A case in point is Anambra State where Peter Obi governed the state without the influence of a god father and the state was the best for it. The reason is because Obi had already established himself  before he came to power and as such was nobody’s boy. He was only answerable to the people. Because of that, Anambra under him witnessed a quantum leap in development.

The same  would happen in Abia State if Ihejirika emerges as the next governor. His priority would be the good people of Abia State because he has outgrown manipulation by Abia self serving politicians and like in Anambra, Abia would be the best for it.

Another area where the government of Ihejirika would make a difference is peace and stability. Coming from a different background, he does not belong to any of the power blocs that have been scrambling for the political and economic spoils of the state since1999 and making enemies among themselves and at the same time drawing the state backwards. He would be a rallying point for all Abians because he would be fresh and neutral. This would reduce the political gangsterism that has bedeviled the  state and bring about peace and stability which are the forerunners of economic growth and development.

In the area of security, without which there can be no development everybody know the state Aba was few years back because of the activities of kidnappers. For more than two years, Aba, the economic nerve centre of Abia State was completely shut down socially and economically. Banks and other businesses relocated enmasse from the town. Enyimba City was turned into another Somalia and the economy of Abia State suffered a great loss because Aba which is supposed to generate the bulk of the state’ s internally generated revenue, was under siege by kidnappers.It took an Azubuike Ihejirika  to liberate the town from the stranglehold of kidnappers and restored life and businesses back to  the commercial town.

Today, progress which is the aftermath of peace and stability has returned to Aba in particular and Abia State in general as people are now going about their businesses without fear and sleeping with their two eyes closed. Abia state has thus become one of the  most secured states in the country.  A state where investors no longer think twice before they put their money down because the environment is conducive.

What is needed is for this peaceful atmosphere that is now reigning in the state to be sustained and Ihejirika with his background and wealth of experience in security matters which has been tested at the national level and found very competent would make sure that Aba in particular and Abia State in general would never return to the dark years of kidnappers and armed robbers but rather ensure that it would be forward ever and backward never in terms of peace and development for Aba and Abia State.

It is a fact that among all the politicians who have indicated interest to run for the office of the governor of Abia State, none of them can boast of this credential and we know that public office is a case whereby a people brings out its most competent for the good of all. That has therefore,explained  the reason for the pressure the good people of Abia State, from all the nooks and crannies have been mounting on Ihejirika since he left office as the Chief of Army Staff to come and take God’ s own state to where it is supposed to be.

Anosike, a journalist, writes from Lagos.