ABIA STATE TOWN UNIONS ASSOCIATION (A.S.T.U.A.)
Our Dear Governor T.A. Orji (Ochendo),
OUR POSITION ON THE TRANSFER OF NON-ABIANS
At our well attended meeting of 17th September, 2011, following from the exclusive session we had with you Sir, earlier in the month of August, it was thunderously resolved and agreed upon, that we officially extend our sincere gratitude to you Sir for your thoughtful, bold and pragmatic initiative of rationalizing the bourgeoning work force of Abia State, which has unacceptably become frightening.
Your Excellency, it became imperative and expressly cogent that we bring this unanimous position of Abia State Town Unions Association to the wider domain of the reading and enlightened public, having watched with aghast and utter disbelieve the deceptive volley of blind and senseless vituperations, trailing your harmless and well intended position on the inevitability of shedding the State public service structure. It will interest you to know Sir that while you are vilified and demonized by some pretentious hack-writers and chronic critics, your ratings back home has soared like the Eagles. The generality of Abians have always wondered; “when will this external domination of Abia State Civil Service end, even when Abians cannot secure the position of office messenger in any other South-East State?”
The vicious and self serving angst trailing your genuine and sincere desire to re-engineer the State public service can only emanate from myopic critics, who are duns in historical antecedents. The Igbos will say: that “tomorrow is pregnant and no body knows what it will give birth to”. Today’s Abia has given birth to an over bearing and capital intensive service structure, aggravated by the compulsory new wage bill of N18,000. Application of your strategic initiative in dealing with this challenge requires that you must rationalize. In doing that, there is a moral and patriotic ground of starting from without since Abians have also suffered similar fate on the platform of hatred, vindictiveness, and sheer mischief.
We are strongly of the opinion Your Excellency, that if retaliation of our sacked indigenes from our sister States in the South-East carried out several years ago was the intended purpose for this down-sizing, it would have been long done. Without wanting to join issues with the retinue of brick-bats and verbal abuses that have followed your populist programme here in Abia State, we enjoin our brothers and sisters in South-East to take it in good faith and equanimity. The Governors’ well worded letter to his brother Governors is a unique and classic soft-landing that will facilitate integration into their various State service structures.
The Association also wishes to commend the holistic approach of your civil service re-engineering, which has ushered in a terminal duration of 8 years for Directors and 4 years at the first instance for exceptional Permanent Secretaries.
Your Excellency, we are convinced beyond every reasonable doubt, that it will effectively check the lopsided nature of Directors and Permanent Secretaryship positions in Abia State and ultimately promote the intended clannish and zonal interest of our people.
May we assure you Sir, of our continuous and sacrosanct loyalty and co-operation as we kindly use this medium to advice all baseless and distracting comments from all aggrieved quarters to cease, failure which we will deploy whatever approach necessary to advance our case. No body has the monopoly of gutter language. The Governors primary responsibility is to his state, which he swore to its continuous transformation, and this is without prejudice to Igbo unity. After all, no body can be more Abia than the Abians themselves neither will you “strap your illegitimate child on the back and drag the legitimate one along”. The likes of Igbo advocates of Unity should spare us the bullshit of preaching Unity when they kept a blind eye to the hounding of innocent Abians in the public service of other South-East States. Imo remains the worst culprit in this exercise and lacks all moral grounds to even talk about it.
Thank you Your Excellency as we gladly look forward to more transformational milestones.
Signed:
Abia State Town Unions Association (A.S.T.U.A.)
Chief Timothy Nwankwo, National President Mbutu-Ukwu
Chief N. Maduka, President Item Dev. Association
Chief Onny Igbokwe, President Bende Union, Umuahia
Jude Martins Onwunali, National President Ituahia Porukwu Obingwa LGA
Chika Iheonunekwu, President-General, Uzuakoli Dev. Association
J.K. Kalu, President-General, Bende town
Okpewa Ogbonnaya, Chairman, Ugwueke Dev. Association
Elechi Uche, President General, Alayi Dev. Union
J.Agbai Kalu, President, Ohafia Dev. Union
10.
Prince Kingsley Nkume, Vice President, Ikwuano Dev. Union
11.
Ojinji Anthony, President, Isuikwuato Union
12.
Elder (Barr) Ahamefule S. Amaramiro, 1st V/P Nzuko Aro W/Wide
13. Chief Churchill Macebuh, Sec. General Asa Dev. Union Ukwa/W
