Abia is an acronym formed from the initial letters of four geographicl areas: Aba, Bende, Isuikwuato and Afikpo. The state was created on 27th August 1991 by Miliatary fiat under General Ibrahim Babangida. It was called "God's Own State" by the ounding fathers as the spirit behind the creation was good and benevolent.
Abia state goes with the slogan of God's Own State". This means that ewverything in the state belongs to God. The government, the masses and all availabel resources in the State belong to God.If this true, the secio-economic and political events in the state, from creation, made people to believe that God created his state and deserted it , or that God abandoned his state.
The first civilian Governor of the State was Dr. Ogbonnaya Onu, an erudite scholar who ruled for onlyeighteen months. Rhere were some military governors that imposed on the state after him. They all pillorised, destituted and pulverised the state.
In 1999, Dr. Orji Uzor Kalu became the Executive Governor of the State. He ruled for eight years, from 1999 to 2007. The young and vociferous politician who was expected to be the messiah, only reduced the state to a joke.
No wonder many political commentators described his eight years administration as disaster. It was characterised by extra-judicial killings, imposition of outragours taxes and levies on the people, collapse of industries, decay of infrastructures. The civil service was reduced to ashes within the period. Also, Aba which is the commercial nerve centre of the state was turned into a refuse dump.
Then came the 2007 election when Abia people were expected to seek salvation, to extricate themselves and generations unborn from the servitude of Kalu and his family. And for reasons only known to God, Dr. Lau's man, miraculously won the election from the EFCC prison.
People cried and fought to turn the table against the man that God placed in governance of the state through kalu. His case went a long way to show that what God established, no man can pull it down. However, following the means that the man that succeded Kalu came into power in 2007, what was not in doubt was that the state would be under the control and servitude of the erstwhile governor and his family, using the incumbent as a proxy.
It would be incorrect to say that the people's expection never happened. Not only that it was true, a very disheartneing story making round the state was that the former planned it that the incumbent would resign in due course with his deputy to make way for an ubnpopular person to assume office as the Chief Executive of the State. The schemings and other factors culminated in rescinding democracy dividends in the state.
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