OUK vs. TA: The limits of knavery

The unwary in the land may have been led to believe that Abia State is the worst run in the last four years. They may even begin to think that its immediate past governor, Chief Theodore Ahamefule Orji (TA), is the only governor in the land. This is the result of sustained and unrelentless campaign of calumny against him by his predecessor, Chief Orji Uzo Kalu (OUK).

Using the instrumentality of two national newspapers and some of the best columnists in the land, OUK literally tied TA to stakes throughout his tenure. Consider the image of a man hounded and stabbed viciously for four years. To think that it is all born out of mischief and outright knavery. In fact there must be something utterly sinister about the proverbial pot going on a road show to prove that the kettle is black.

In all the ceaseless attacks by his predecessor, he never uttered a word. Even though he is disposed to have all the facts about Abia State Government in the last 16 years, and could put his traducer away by just one fool-proof deposition, he refused to be drawn to the mud fight.

The latest antics of serialising a supposed petition against TA for days in a national newspaper must be the limit of self-mockery. The petition was supposedly for the period, 2011 to 2015 while cleverly overlooking 1999 to 2011 when OUK held sway in Abia and ran it like a family provision store. Leadership is surely a more elegant enterprise.