Somtochukwu

Speaker of the Abia State House of Assembly, Rt Hon Chinedum Orji, who marked his 50th birthday on December 25, granted interview to TheSun about his life, politics and governance.

In this rare interview, which was monitored by IgbereTV, the Speaker, a son of former Governor Theodore Ahamefula Orji, also spoke about his relationship with the present governor of Abia State.

Below is the interview.

Mr. Speaker, we will start first by congratulating you on your birthday coming up on December 25. You were born the same date Jesus Christ was born. How does it feel to share the same birthday with the Saviour of the world?

Well, I feel special as a human being, knowing that there is reason for everything and even though nobody is perfect, I try to do things that will please people, being born on a Christmas Day. I see it as a rare privilege.

Would you say sharing birthday with Jesus Christ is a blessing or burden?

It is both a blessing and a burden. It is a blessing because everything associated with Jesus Christ is good. However, I think it’s more of the latter because nobody can equate himself with our Lord and Saviour. Your life should not be for personal aggrandisement but for the benefit of others. Christmas is a time you reach out to the less privileged in society; you try to make your environment better than you met it, whether you are rich or poor.

People say life begins at 40 and you are 50. How does it feel to join the golden club?

I feel a sense of pride, a sense of accomplishment. I feel a sense of pride in the sense that I’m grateful to God that He has kept me alive up to this point. I feel accomplishment that God has granted me favour in His eyes. I am happy for the grace of God. It is His grace that has made it possible for me to achieve whatever I have been able to achieve. 

Looking at your family background, could you share with us what your growing up was like and what life has taught you?

My growing up was very interesting. I was the only child of my parents for almost 16 years. Most people don’t know that. Because of that, my parents, especially my mother pampered me a lot. In fact, while growing up, when I walked in the street with my mother, people thought she was my sister; they never believed she was my mother. So, I was well taken care of by my parents because I was the only child for close to almost 16 to 17 years. In fact, when they put me in boarding school, I ran back home after one month. I couldn’t stay because as only child then I got all the attention. In boarding house, it was different; so I ran home. My parents didn’t chase me back; they allowed me to go to school, Government College, Owerri, from home. So, I was desirous of having other siblings around me, I was not happy being alone for almost 16 years.

By the grace of God, my parents were then blessed with two other girls and three boys, who came after me. I don’t have any other best friend; my wife, parents, brothers and sisters are my best friends.

Talking about what life has taught me, I would say that life has taught me resilience, loyalty to a cause, hard work and being generous to people. It has taught me many good things, which I imbibed when I was growing up. My father told me something that has helped me in life. He listed somethings I should avoid in life; they are about four . He said I should never allow quarrel to come between anybody and I based on four things.

The first one is land matters. I don’t get involved in land matters. I know you will be shocked to hear that. Two, money. If you and I do a business together and you decide to cheat me, so be it. I know that God has a way of sorting it out, in the long run. Three, my father told me not get into confrontation with my friend or anybody because of a woman. Then lastly, he said I should be careful how I drink. According to him, there is nothing wrong with socialising, but do everything in moderation.

With those four principles, my parents, especially my mother who is the stricter person, helped me to mould my attitude in life.

Life has taught me how to cope with such things as betrayal, envy and jealousy. I did not make myself to be the son of a governor, neither did my father wake up one day and saw himself as a governor. Somebody and some people made very big use of the man’s quality as a decent man and based on those attributes, he became a governor. So, for somebody to envy you or to betray you means that that person may not likely get to the position you are currently occupying.

How do you manage things like betrayal?

It is usually painful to be betrayed. I have had it in abundance. People will betray you when they feel that they need to be you. I have learnt to ignore them and move on in my life. I know that as long as there is this thing called conscience, such people do not eventually have peace because betrayal is very bad. It is sad that some people will instigate problem between you and somebody deliberately. That’s why we should not be too quick to judge. People cause crisis and fuel it for their own interest. So, it takes wisdom and God’s guidance to manage this. Always pray to God to open your eyes and help you to avoid such people, to stay on your own and allow nature to take its course.

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