By Kelechi Isiagwanam

I HAVE  high regard and respect for Chidi Amuta as a renowned journalist with a track record of accomplishments. That is why every Thursday I don’t miss reading his column on the back page of Thisday newspapers. Before now, I have been following his write-ups in The Guardian, the defunct Post Express and The Nation. Truly, he is a fearless, well-grounded writer and analyst, especially on topical national issues.

But in his column of Thursday July 1 titled “Abia Tragedy”, Amuta failed in putting the records straight as regard the true situation in the state and the Governor Theodore Orji’s administration’s efforts in confronting challenges in the state.

In the introductory part of the article, Amuta admitted that Abia is faced with the challenges of meltdown and bankruptcy, but failed to explain what brought about these problems, though he agreed that the state has the smallest internally generated revenue profile. If truly Amuta as a son of the soil is really and truly in touch with the reality in the state, he will know that Abia State is highly indebted and after deduction of their allocation from source to service this debt stock, they come home monthly with little or nothing to spare.

Are people like Amuta aware that the present government in the state inherited debt worth N30 billion which the government is still servicing?  Why wouldn’t Abia have a small IGR profile in a situation where nobody is willing or ready to pay tax, but wants government to do everything for them free.

In Lagos where Amuta is residing, tax payment is civic and compulsory. It did not start with the present administration of Mr. Babatunde Fashola. It started during his predecessor, Bola Tinubu’s administration. It was such a solid foundation with availability of enough funds, coupled with prudence that gave Fashola mileage ahead of his colleagues in other states of the federation. There is no magic behind his performance. If you have the finest idea without money, you cannot do much and the idea will be dead.

The issue of tax payment was just recently introduced by the Abia government as a means of upping the revenue profile of the state in the face of global meltdown. Even at that, the people are not helping government at all as most of them are declining to pay. This disposition is common among people in Aba who believe that everything should be free. Is it right for anyone not to pay tax in this country? It is the only way of giving back to government what they have given to you and the Abia case cannot be different.

Immediately the Orji administration took off  in 2007, he was confronted with a barrage of problems like kidnapping which started in the Niger Delta region, but had infiltrated into the state because of its closeness to the region and those challenging his election at the tribunal. Has Amuta forgotten that before banks closed shops in Aba, that they first closed shop in Umuahia because of armed robbery and kidnapping?  That was before an attempt was made to kill Orji on his way back from the Owerri Airport. He was not daunted by these challenges  as he confronted them headlong and nipped them in bud, before the recent wave of kidnappings erupted again in the Ngwa axis of the state.

Thank God that Amuta acknowledged that some traditional rulers are behind the kidnappings in the state, but forget to state that Governor Orji sometime last year dethroned two traditional rulers, Eze Rubuen Nwaorgu of Ihe Iyi autonomous community in Ugwunagbo Council Area and Eze Emmanuel Oforji of Isi-Obehie autonomous community in Ukwa West Council Area for their alleged invovement in kidnapping. Why on earth, if not for greed and sabotage would  people of such calibre who are  supposed to be the custodian of traditional values  engage in such immoral act of kidnapping for any reason?It could only be to make illegal money and discredit the government.

Is Amuta not aware that kidnapping in the state, mostly in the Ngwa axis, is alleged to be sponsored by politicians from the area to discredit Orji ahead of the 2011 elections?  If not so, why is it that 90 per cent of kidnapping cases are within Ngwa where Amuta hails from?

As for Aba that Amuta referred to as the commercial nerve of the state, then it is clear to every Dick and Harry that kidnappers within the area had chased out investors and entrepreneurs who made the place tick before now, despite government’s unrelenting efforts in arresting the situation. Kidnapping is a national problem just like militancy. It is not about Abia, Anambra, Rivers, Akwa Ibom or any other state. It is all about the insecurity in the country and all hands should on deck to tackle it.

It is a responsibility for all Nigerians to find solution to the problem. A visit to Aba will clearly show that the masterplan of the place was serially violated by people in a bid to acquire landed properties. Houses were built on drainage channels and whenever it rains, everywhere will be blocked. In the face of all these, coupled with government’s effort, nobody is ready to allow government to demolish his house for construction of drainage channels. Efforts in this direction by the immediate past and the present administration have been resisted by the people of the area who threatened to make the state ungovernable if their houses were touched for any reason.

For Amuta’s information, in case he doesn’t go home often, other people come home without being molested. It is to everybody’s knowledge that the Ngwa area has become the den of kidnappers in the state in recent times, but efforts are being made by the state and Federal Government to tackle it adequately.  For Amuta to say that people don’t go home again is mischievious, hyperbolic and calculated to undermine government’s efforts in tackling the problem. If Amuta doesn’t come home for reason best known to him, many indigenes of the state and visitors come to the state freely without being molested.

On the non-payment of salary of workers as alleged by Amuta, the state just like any other states in the country has a vibrant labour union that cannot keep quiet if they are being owed salary by government for six months. While I may not speak for the government or the workers, I know that from experience, workers would have paralysed activities in the state, if they are being owed salary up to six months. So let no one, not even Amuta fan the ember of discord between the state government and the workers.

Mr. Isiagwanam, a public affairs analyst, writes from Isikwuato, Abia State.