The name, His Excellency Senator Orji Uzor Kalu (OUK) means different things to different people depending on how you perceive the persona of this successful businessman, politician, former governor, and Senator of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
Many perceive him as a tactical, bold, and courageous politician who bares his mind without inhibitions irrespective of whether he is right or wrong, others see him as an enfant terrible with a magic wand that evokes success and dominates his environment.
Others think of him as a man who is always courting controversies and never allows himself to get lost in the crowd even if he has just a partial grasp of the issue on the table.
But my evaluation of OUK suggests him as a hardworking and visionary character who lives his natural self, displays openness, is very humane, unpretentious about life, and is very vociferous, he doesn’t hang onto malice and cannot display ethnicity or tribalism.
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As a businessman, Orji Uzor Kalu was formidable, influential, and vast, he built his business empire at a very young age and is the owner of a conglomerate that consists of an array of successful companies, among which are Ojitex Furniture Company, SLOK Nigeria Limited, SLOK Vegetable Oil, SLOK Paper Factory, SLOK Airlines, Sun Publishing Limited, First International Bank Limited, and host of other international businesses under SLOK group, he is an employer of labour with thousands of Nigerians working and earning a living under his business empire.
In Politics, Kalu is persuasive, foresighted, outgoing, and confident, he is also analytical and creative, an astute politician with strategic thinking, and an amiable personality.
He became the governor of Abia state in 1999 upon the return of the 4th republic politics and during his time as governor, he pioneered most of the developmental milestones subsequent governors have been building on including the Aba Independent Power Project that is being celebrated across the country today, I can vividly recall how he recovered most parts of Aba from infrastructural decay, parts of cemetery road and other areas of Aba was fully submerged under the mud then, save for the intervention of OUK.
He established an indigenous home-grown and people-oriented security that effectively contained and to a very great degree decimated the activities of criminals and mafia groups that brazenly held the commercial town of Aba to ransom unchallenged, overpowered the police, and were even imposing taxes on residents and grounded commercial activities until OUK stepped in, he established and equipped the Bakassi boys that later became Abia Vigilante Services and charged them with the responsibility of returning security and sanity to Aba and Abia state at large and till date we are yet to see a better equipped and more successful Vigilante outfil in the whole of Nigeria.
During his time, OUK was rated as the best-performing governor and Abia was the most celebrated state in terms of infrastructural development after Lagos at the time, he influenced the context in which development could be evolved and sustained and that earned him the moniker “ACTION GOVERNOR”
OUK is referred to as the father of Abia Politics because most successful and less successful politicians in Abia State started under him directly or indirectly.
As a governor he prioritized education and health care and made primary education compulsory and free, Yes, he has his lows as a human but objectively one can attest to his visionary, charismatic, pragmatic, and sterling leadership qualities.
Little wonder he remained relevant even after leaving office as governor and without any political position for close to a decade.
As a Senator, it is debatable if any other senator had attracted more developmental projects to the zone than OUK or outperformed him as a legislator, he has attracted the construction of rural roads across the 5 LGAs, which make up Abia North senatorial zone, he has also attracted construction, and Renovation of public schools and hospitals, and had delivered empowerment items and scholarships to his constituents among other numerous achievements in the green chambers that earned him recognition as the 2022 Best Senator of the Year in constituency projects.
The truth is that Senator Kalu has always demonstrated deep-rooted concern for the welfare of people particularly the underprivileged.
Senator Kalu is a revered political figure whose opinion on national issues is never taken for granted, a significant personality whose achievements and inputs in business and politics will remain embossed in Nigeria’s history.
His Excellency Senator Dr. Orji Uzor Kalu is one outstanding stakeholder in the Nigerian project whose contributions to the growth and development of the country’s socio-economic and political development have been very significant.
Though often misunderstood, he has always lent his voice to the injustice and imbalance in our political system and has in many political seasons signified intentions to contest for the presidency.
Senator Kalu is very eminently qualified with all the characteristics and qualities of a prepared leader, but sadly he may not have the chance again to be president unless, by some divine arrangement, the present political equation does not favour his ambition given his geographical identity as an Igbo Man.
Senator Kalu celebrated his 64th Birthday on Sunday 21st April 2024 Let’s wish Mmiri Riri Enyi Ndi Igbo, a happy birthday.
Chief Uche Aguoru
A Public Affairs Analyst
Writes From Umuahia
