Lagos — Abia, God's Own State, teeming with world-class human resources and material capital, pacesetter in education and entrepreneurial acumen of legendary proportions, once the Star of the East but now eclipsed under mountainous heaps of garbage is a few tottering steps away from being classified as a failed state.

A blur of despondence now covers the face of a proud and enterprising people used to being emulated by awe-struck peers and neighbours. Abia, a classic case of arrested development confirms the well-known belief that poor leadership can bring even the most sophisticated community on its knees.

Whatever happened to the development legacies handed down by Dr Michael Okpara and Dr Sam Mbakwe? Okpara and Mbakwe originated and implemented development paradigms that were authentic, community-based, radically progressive and futuristic. Umuahia and Aba were planned as centres of excellence. Aba emerged the regional centre of enterprise, a town of legendary overcomers where the dynamism of industry, entrepreneurial acumen and unrelenting pursuit of success created folklores and idols. Mbakwe envisioned a commercial town of small and medium scale ventures with model markets that boasted something for every visitor.

An unintended incident at the swearing in of fresh medical doctors from the State owned University in Uturu last August summarised Abians' current line of thinking. A Professor who was asked to say the closing prayer asked God to facilitate the emergence of "our able, dynamic and youthful" Governor as the next occupant of Aso Rock come 2007. The crowd murmured a subdued Amen more out of reverence to God than acquiescence of the obnoxious, unsolicited prayer.

For how indeed could someone wish the Abia debacle be replicated at the Federal, or any other, level? By several rational parameter all the vestiges of good governance, notionally and substantially, have since melted down. The state of infrastructure is so abysmally poor that by comparison, clearly incompetent and wasteful Governors in nearby states now shine like visionaries they are not. Have you passed through Owerri-Aba road through Park road into Aba-Port Harcourt road or ventured into the once-famous Ariaria Market recently? The standard excuse for the deplorable state of the roads is that they are federal roads as if serious minded state governments elsewhere have not repaired federal roads and get reimbursed by the federal government. Virtually every facet of governance in Abia is begging for visionary initiative, from education to housing to healthcare delivery. Abia is the most insecure state in the federation. When it rains in Aba, as it often does, the streets are flooded and movement is impossible. On a normal day, driving from Alaoji to Abayi junction, a five minute journey is tedium.

The news, still being whispered though, that the highly respected Onyema Ugochukwu, would throw his distinguished hat into the Abia gubernatorial ring, may well be the best thing to happen to the people of the state since its creation in 1991. If his candidacy comes into fruition, it would gladden the hearts of progressive romanticists like us whose spirit were exceptionally buoyed by the patriotic decision of Professor Pat Utomi to join the Presidential race, Comrade Adams Oshomole to join the Edo gubernatorial race and for Olisa Agbakoba, SAN, to vie (and win) the Presidency of the increasingly relevant and assertive Nigerian bar Association.

Onyema Ugochukwu as Governor of Abia state? Now, some news can be too good to be true. A colleague who also heard the buzz commented that the man is perhaps too good to muddle through the murky waters of state politics but could a man be too good to serve his people in their hour of dire straits? It was Edmund Burke who argued that all that is required for evil to triumph is for good men to do nothing. In other words, it is the refusal of the Onyema Ugochukwus of this world to dirty their hands in the murky waters of politics that clears the way for all manners of mendacious rascals and political adventurers to take over the stage and set the hands of development back by years of careless, rudderless, visionless rule.

A first-rate professional communicator, economist, development strategist and visionary administrator, Ugochukwu represents that genre of estimable, unblemished, patriotic and suave professionals that flourished under President Obasanjo's meritorious mentoring system, a caste that includes the Dora Akunyilis, the Nasir El-Rufais, the Ngozi Okonjo-Iwealas, the Nuhu Ribadus, the Oby Ezekwesilis, the Steve Oronsanyas, Ernest Ndukwes; ethically-groomed professionals, men and women who dream dreams of a better Nigeria and who, despite overwhelming odds, mustered the courage and singular conviction to live their dreams.

As a journalist, editor and newspaper administrator of unblemished integrity, Ugochukwu carved his name in gold; he is undisputed godfather to a whole new generation of editors and writers beholden on the finest principles of ethical journalism and professional decency. The Business Times (and later the Daily Times) under his editorship emerged brilliant, broad-minded and honourable newspapers which managed to serve the objective interests of the federal government that owned them alongside those of the larger society that depended on them for information and knowledge, in a most professional manner, a tricky, balancing act that required astuteness of mind and transparency of action. The Daily Times he left behind continued to swim in halcyon waters until circumstances beyond the scope of this piece overwhelmed it. Looking back today with nostalgia, it is incontrovertible that Onyema Ugochukwu's name would be associated with one of the glorious epochs in the long-running history of that institution. It is no coincidence though; a sound mind would produce a quality product.

The opportunity of leading the publicity team of President Obasanjo's election and re-election in 1998-99/2002-3 provided the public the best chance of assessing the quintessential Onyema; colleagues in the publicity committee and the political press had nothing but superlative adjectives for his cerebral and professional interventions. As managing a President steeped in his immutable convictions did not make the committee's dealings with the press or the public any easy, Ugochukwu's personal charm, honesty and Puritanism came in handy at crucial moments. Many op-ed writers saved their venom for another day (or another object) when they realised that Onyema Ugochukwu, the editor's editor, an icon they were struggling to emulate, would also be in the line of fire.

Ugochukwu's moment came when the President, realising his worth, seconded him to the Niger Delta Development Commission, the development intervention agency in which the Obasanjo Administration has invested finance and buoyancy as a systematic and institutional panacea to one of the country's festering problems. As chairman, Ugochukwu laid a solid foundation for a commission that would succeed where others failed, one that would enjoy the confidence, goodwill and legitimacy of communities traumatised by over 46 years of pillage and neglect. The NDDC under Ugochukwu had a patent idea of why it was set up and its stated vision to "offer a lasting solution to the socio-economic difficulties of the Niger Delta region" struck an agreeable cord among stakeholders.

Few people today remember that Ugochukwu's NDDC so successfully managed its mandate under difficult moments characterised by protests against his nomination in the first place, budgetary constraints, reluctance of oil companies to identify with an agency they have no direct control and non-abating acts of pipeline vandalism, that youth restiveness and other acts of mischief in the region were put under control. He topped his illustrious career in NDDC with the formulation of the Niger Delta Master Plan, which Government and stakeholders have approved. The Master Plan contains the roadmap to driving the Niger Delta region out of poverty, neglect and despoliation into an era of responsibility, prosperity and progress.

Development analysts have contended that Onyema Ugochukwu's experience and track record in NDDC, his central role in formulating, coordinating and presenting the Niger Delta Master Plan, a visionary document with benchmarked features and one accepted by all stakeholders in such a tensed and complicated region as the Niger Delta, his acclaimed tact in steering the youths from destructive tendencies to sustainable living, his rapport with traditional rulers, oil companies, community leaders, elected and appointed leaders and indeed the variegated and often conflicting interests at play in this region are sufficient credentials to rule any Nigerian state.

Abia would thus count itself extremely lucky to be governed by the master builder himself. His landmark achievements in NDDC stand him in good stead to govern the state, currently writhing in the throes of abjection.

As the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Public Communication and Chairman, Presidential Committee on Public Communication, Onyema Ugochukwu stands head and shoulders above any other aspirant in driving the development needs of Abia through the defined lines of the President's Reform Initiatives anchored on the National Economic Empowerment and Development Strategy (NEEDS).

As one who has partnered with foreign and local aid agencies, he is in the best position to leverage funds, attract counterpart funding, jumpstart the state's stagnant development initiative and fast track human resource development, food production, industrialisation, small and medium scale entrepreneurship, market development and turnaround of obsolete infrastructure.

- Dan Okereke, a development journalist, contributed this piece from Abuja