By Barr. Benjamin O. Kalu
A bridge across many tribes and tongues in Nigeria .
Loved in the South celebrated in the North, there is hardly any tribe or tongue in Nigeria yet to experience the OUK movement. With long standing friendship that extends to all major communities in our nation . OUK can never get lost or stranded in any part of Nigeria. He has sold himself well through business, politics, sports etc, to the unbiased while to the biased, he remains a mystery, a puzzle that only the wise and the spiritual can unbundle. “Aku na Ike ochichi sinachi”( wealth and the power to lead is from God).
By Barr. Benjamin O. Kalu
A bridge across many tribes and tongues in Nigeria .
Loved in the South celebrated in the North, there is hardly any tribe or tongue in Nigeria yet to experience the OUK movement. With long standing friendship that extends to all major communities in our nation . OUK can never get lost or stranded in any part of Nigeria. He has sold himself well through business, politics, sports etc, to the unbiased while to the biased, he remains a mystery, a puzzle that only the wise and the spiritual can unbundle. “Aku na Ike ochichi sinachi”( wealth and the power to lead is from God).
Almost eleven years after serving as the governor of a state , he has refused to go into extinction like most of his contemporaries. The sustaining force has been his believe in the people, the trust he has built and earned with the small, the big and the mighty and absolute confidence in God. His deliberate act to sustain relationships has always paid him off, for nature honours gratitude and gratitude births
greatness in the mind of the receiver .
He is yet to forget the assistance he got from the Hausas as a young lad studying in the north. According to him “when professor Jubril Aminu helped me , he did not remember my tribe, he saw me as a Nigerian in need of mentorship. The same goes for President Babangida and that’s why I don’t see tribe when I choose the people to work with in business or politics and guess what ? I don’t see the symbols of religion. I see only the good in every one. “
On one occasion, we were flying on British Airways to the UK and I just had finished handing him his travel allowance for that board meeting when he saw one of his mentors from the north and immediately handed the huge sum over to the wife promising to come visit them in London once we touch down; a promise he kept . We were going beyond London for meetings and I was worried that he handed over all he had for that trip he replied “ Ben, this man helped to form who I am today, he does not ask me for any thing but every time I think of him I feel like giving back, you must do the same in life , be indebted to those who showed you the path ways to your destiny”. Though he was preaching to the converted seeing him practicing his sermon was taking it to the next level . How I wish Nigerians will place value on gratitude without taking it for granted and neglecting those who helped them in what ever small measure.
Dr Orji Kalu’s believe in relationship and his deliberate effort to sustain them will earn him more life trophies . Since he left Maidugiri, there is hardly a year he failed to visit the north . He has in such visits United the Igbos in the north and encouraged Peace between the north and the south east. No tribe is more at home in the north than the Easterners. By this recognition of one of the first igbo sons in the current political dispensation, this bond has been strengthened and repositioned to last longer than the nay sayers thought. His support for the great son of Daura is not in doubt, according to him “ even if I am the lone voice supporting Buhari , even if all the Hausas and the Igbos are against me , I will proudly go ahead without looking back and with time the nation will understand why”.
The propaganda that the Igbos are no longer accepted in the north after investing over a trillion naira in the northern economy is not true for what is a better acceptance than that your son is recognised as the gifted one of the Hausa nation ( a rare title not easily given)? By this, the Igbos will relax more in this relationship which has been under the suspicion of the biased. Those on the fence with their support for Buhari, will fully engage their structures because truly Buhari means well.
While the conferment of this prestigious title is the public show of love and acceptance of the renewed Northern Eastern Union, President Buhari has always given ears to the needs of the Igbos presented to him by Dr Orji Kalu. The constituents of Bende Federal Constituency and that of the Abia north Senatorial district will attest to this with the number of roads fixed or constructed by this government within two years with more approvals to do more. Just because President Buhari listened to Orji Kalu Ph.D.
Greatness resides with our awesome God who gives according to His pleasures. He has chosen Dr. Orji Uzor Kalu to bless and it is beyond human interference. You are the chosen one. As your name resonates across the nation today as the gifted one of the Hausa tribe , all your indefatigable allies are proud of your achievements and acceptance as the main voice among the Igbos by the Hausa Nation. We are aware of what this signifies and we will not cease from supporting you till the significance is felt by all Nigerians.
The Igbos are happy with the Emir of Daura , Alhaji Dr. Umar Faruk Umar for ignoring the whispers of tribalism and focussing on nation building by celebrating our very own OUK. OUK remains the best bridge between the South and the North. The only living Igbo man to restore the dignity of the old existing Hausa – Igbo relationship . He has the trust of both tribes .
All the Igbos appreciate this magnanimous act and shall reciprocate this love with our support for President Mohammad Buhari and his government. South east will vote massively for President Buhari come 2019.
Congratulations Dan Baiwan Hausa,
The Nmiri riri enyi 1 of Igbo land, Dr. Orji Uzor Kalu.
Barr Benjamin Kalu is a House of Reps Aspirant and writes from Bende
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