Starting from the ancient days of Greek Civilization, the human society has always craved for a harmonious and peaceful co-existence. Efforts have always been made to minimize disenchantment, discord and aggression. This was why the principle of Zoning and rotation waspractised in Athens and Sparta. It was equally put into effective use by the Roman Empire. The principle simply means equitable sharing of power amongst the component sections of a human society. This principle had even been in existence before the introduction of democracy by the Greeks.
The principle of zoning and rotation has always proved effective and even profitable in a polyglot or in a multi-ethnic or sectional society. As Ifedi Andi Okwena would aptly put it, another name for the principle of zoning and rotation is fair play, compromise and co-existence. It counters the negative impulse and tendency of a group or section of people to remain in power as long as possible and use the resources of the polity to service its parochial interest. It encourages nepotism, corruption and ends up laying the avoidable foundation for discontent, disharmony and crisis.
The 1999 constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, as amended, captures the principle of zoning and rotation of power in the states, hence the constitution unambiguously divides each state of the Federation into three. In Abia State, there are Abia-North Senatorial Zone, made up of Arochukwu, Bende, Isuikwuato, Ohafia and Umunneochi, Abia-Central,comprising Ikwuano, Isiala Ngwa North, Isiala Ngwa South, Osisioma Ngwa, Umuahia-North and Umuahia South and Abia-South consisting of Aba-North, Aba-South Obingwa, Ugwunagbo, Ukwa-East and Ukwa-West Local Government Areas.
The intendment of this commendable constitutional demarcation of each state into three zones is to guarantee equitable distribution of power, appointments and infrastructure. The reality of power equation in Abia State is that, Abia-North and Abia-Central, having produced a governor each, equity, fairness and justice combine to demand that Abia Governorship in 2015 should go to Abia-South.
At this point, kudos must be given to the leadership of People?s Democratic Party in the state for towing the seamless path of equity and fairness by resolving, in a collectivity, that the next Governor of Abia State should be of Abia-South extraction. For the leadership of P.D.P to have taken this angle of honour and sensitivity to human sensibilities, the Governor of Abia State, Chief Theodore Ahamefula Orji, has, in a very exemplary classical distinction, justified the long stream of confidence people from different walks of life have continuously reposed in him.
It is pertinent to point out at this juncture that of all the material and immaterial legacies the Ochendo administration has continued to pile up, the one that will place him in the most conspicuous space in history is his commitment to quantifiable dispensing of equity and fairness. This is true because as Governor T.A. Orji has, for instance, built a twin four ? Storey Civil Service Secretarial Complex, if another Governor successfully decides to build a seven storey secretariat for Abia Civil Servants, he would have towered above Ochendo in that area. The same comparative assessment would be obtainable in the sector of road construction. What, therefore, could make Chief T.A. Orji tower above all leaders, even generationally, in Abia State would be his successful insistence in equitable transfer of Power to the good people of Abia-South.
Chief T.A. Orji has a pedigree of sincerity and consistency. As a scrupulous administrator, he does not embark upon a journey he would not accomplish or come back to look for stories that would only justify failure. By his pedigree, Ochendo is not given to boisterousness or verbal flamboyancy. He is, rather, a cool headed, calculated, and taciturn strategist. He believes in sequence of actions that flow from a carefully articulated master plan. For Ochendo to have openly associated himself with the inevitability of power rotation to Abia-South, any body or group working in the opposite direction, will only be hitting his or its headagainst a brick wall.
With regards to two male aspirants from Abia-North and one female ambitious power seeker from Abia-Central, it is necessary to remind them that no body ever has his or her cake and still eats it. The duo of Dr Uche Ogar and Dr Alex Oti, who hail from Uturu and Arochukwu, respectively, both in Abia-North, must be day-dreaming to think that State power could go back to Abia-North after Chief Orji Uzor Kalu?s eight years without the people of Abia-South clinching it and exhausting their own eight years. The same encumbrance that Ogar and Oti are bound to suffer in their pursuit of inordinate ambition is, in the same dimension, what awaitsSenator Nkechi Nwogu who comes from the same senatorial zone with the incumbent Governor of Abia State. Abians and, indeed, admirers of equity and fairness should sympathize with them because they have presently and unfortunately become prisoners of parochialism and preposterous political calculations.
The trio of Nkechi Nwogu, Uche Ogar and Alex Oti have taken interest in hiding under a misconstrued and distorted concept that it is undemocraticto zone governorship to Abia-South. This is a very antithetical comprehension of democracy. The Greeks who originated the concept ofdemocracy in the 6th century B.C.E. did not mince words when they defined it as ?government of the people, by the people and for the people?. If the People?s Democratic Party in Abia State could holistically resolve to give equity a major consideration by shifting power to Abia-South in 2015, what element in this resolution is undemocratic?
Nkechi Nwogu, Uche Oga and Alex Oti should not pretend to be oblivious of the truth that by calling the bluff of the leadership of P.D.P in the state, they are questioning the leadership credentials of Governor Chief T.A. Orji who has given his best to make sure Abia State is completely liberated from the shackles of hegemonic exploitation which was the order before his ascension to power in 2007. To be frank, the trio have openly declared a war, not only against Chief T.A. Orji and the People?s Democratic Party in Abia State but aganist every human-being that believes in equity. It is, therefore, imperative that since the three are haters of equity, none of them can make good leadership in a democratic dispensation. It is not too late for them to retrace their steps and join the boat of equity.
Chief (Sir) Don Ubani; ksc, JP
(Okwubunka of Asa)
Umuiku-Isi-Asa
