Abia elders challenge Kalu to spelling contest
By Chinyere Okoye, 02.25.2008
Monday, February 25, 2008

Can Chief Orji Uzor Kalu, former governor of Abia State, successfully spell “leadership series” – the title of the column he purportedly writes in a newspaper? Will Kalu do well in the Spelling Bee competition organised by the Lagos State government for its secondary school students?

Abia Elders’ Forum, a pressure group, has challenged the former governor to a televised spelling contest with a promise to pay him N100,000 for every word he spells correctly and another N100,000 for the one he knows the meaning.

In a statement signed by Hon. Uchenna Kalu, the Forum accused Kalu of being anti-intellectual.

“It is ironic that it is Orji Kalu's latest gimmickry of being a newspaper columnist which has awakened interest in his character, or indeed lack of it. The column stunt is, of course, part of his anti-intellectualism, which delights in deriding scholarship, whenever he can. The reasoning here is to show that there's nothing special about the writing of columns: Anyone can do it,” the Forum said.

The Forum said Kalu “is not the writer of the so-called column, to which he appends his name. We know who the ghost-writers are; some of them [are] doubling as Kalu's attack dogs… We in the Abia Elders Forum challenge him to a simple test: If he can spell five words, chosen randomly from each of two of his columns, and give their meanings correctly, we shall give him N1million. That works out at N100,000.00 per word, and ought to be attractive enough to even a self-proclaimed ‘billionaire’…”

If Orji Kalu was willing, said the Forum, the test should be organised on TV. “If you are ready, we shall pay the amount to any appropriate account nominated… We are sure that the whole world will soon see that Orji Kalu cannot even spell, not to mention giving the correct meanings of word taken from a column which he pretends to have written,” it said.

The Abia elders also accused Kalu of appropriating a national honour to himself.

“As everyone knows, Orji Kalu appropriated the National Honour of ‘Member of the Order of the Niger, MON’. The MON was added to his official photograph from 1999, and is still there. In his first term, 1999-2003, his name could not be announced without the mention of the MON.

“Then in 2003, it was discovered that Orji Uzor Kalu was never awarded any national honour by anyone. He had simply taken the honour. When confronted with the criminal appropriation of a National Honour, he turned around and claimed that his own MON was not a National Honour, but was derived from an Igbochieftaincy title of “Mmadu Oha Nile”, meaning “man of the people”. He never said who gave the title and when it was given. He has continued to parade himself as an MON,” the Forum alleged.

Source: http://odili.net/news/source/2008/feb/25/212.html (This Day Newspaper 25 02 08)

'Landers, what do you make of this?

my goodness. cant believe this

Our country is doomed.

Naija too funny abeg. . . .I almost hit my head on the workstation.

hehehehe

abeg I be Kalu younger brother. . .dem go let me represent am?

I need that 1 mill really badly

Kai!!! this is so embarrassing!!!

debosky:

hehehehe

abeg I be Kalu younger brother. . .them go let me represent am?

I need that 1 mill really badly

Can you spell-- water?

Kaiiiiiii Abia steti

Simply incredible.

When will Nigeria and Nigerians wake up from their slumber and realise that it is better to stop these idiots and let the WHOLE nation progress than to think only of personal aggrandisement? The reason such a man is able to perpetuate such nonsense is the fact that those who should team up to stop the nonsense are hoping to reap something from that nonsense.

Giving me a spell check please

@ stillwater

w-o-t-a shebi I get am?

the dude even goes about running his mouth boasting about his MON award  . makes me wonder if his doctorate is an honorary degree he paid for or one he worked his ballz off for. he should hang his head in shame claiming to be a columnist, it will come as no surprise if it's for the sun.

debosky:

@ stillwater

w-o-t-a shebi I get am?

debosky what about the 'h' at the end. regardless you deserve the 1million. to hell with big bros.

Of course the guy can spell!
He even writes for Sunday Sun!
Unless he uses ghost writers, which I think he does! .

You can check his last essay
Judge for yourself
The man dey try o!
Na proper jibiti man
What has writing got to do with spelling anyway?

http://www.sunnewsonline.com/webpages/columnists/kalu/kalu-23-feb-2008.htm

Suhartology and contemporary Africa
By Orji Kalu (Kalu Leadership Series)
Saturday, February 23, 2008
Death is an enemy. But when Jesus returns, God has promised to wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.”- Revelations 21:4

The death and burial of former Indonesian dictator Suharto, is no longer news. It’s equally no longer news how President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono declared a state burial and one week of national mourning so as “to pay their last respects to one of Indonesia’s best sons.” Therefore let the soul of the departed rest in perfect peace. Amen.

However, how so many sobbed and called out the name of a dictator whose military regime was reported to have annihilated thousands of left wing opponents, had really closed a chapter of global totalitarianism and had added a new lexicon, nay school of how politics should not and never be played globally.
I have termed the new lexicon “Suhartology” after the man who means so many things to so many people. Unarguably as good students and products of politics and power, we should learn from the actions and inactions of our leaders, sifting the wrongs from the rights and therefore preparing ourselves for representative governance.

Just like many Indonesians, Suharto used only one name. He was born to a family of rice farmers in the village of Godean, on June 8, 1921. When Indonesia gained independence from the Dutch in 1949, Suharto quickly rose through the ranks of the military to become a staff officer. In the military, Suharto faced the challenge of his career when the army’s then commander, Gen. Abdul Haris Nasution, accused him of corruption in awarding army contracts. However, mother luck was on his side as he survived sack.
Consequently, in September 1965, when the army’s six top generals were murdered under mysterious circumstances, and their bodies dumped in an abandoned well in an apparent coup attempt, Suharto who was next in line of command, quickly asserted authority over the armed forces and promoted himself to a four-star general.

Suharto would not have been in a position of such influence if the organizers of the “September 30th movement,” had deemed him important enough to be included in their list of generals targeted for execution.
As President, Suharto placed his predecessor Sukarno under close surveillance or rather house arrest at his Bogor palace, where he later died in 1970.
He reversed some of the previous regime’s foreign policies, such as confrontation with Malaysia and general hostility to the West, thereby displaying a problem-solving style in his approach to domestic problems. However brutal, Suharto’s wresting of power from his predecessor, Sukarno, brought a shift in policy that allowed USAID and other relief agencies to resume operations within the country.

Suharto opened Indonesia’s economy by divesting government’s involvement in state owned companies and Western nations in particular were encouraged to invest and take control of many of the mining and construction interests in Indonesia.
The “New Order” regime, as it was later called also drew legitimacy from his appointments with a crop of technocrats and highly placed economists trained in the United States. Soon after coming into power, he passed a number of reforms meant to establish Indonesia as a center of foreign investment. The administration favoured privatization of its natural resources to promote their exploitation by industrialized nations, labour laws favourable to multinational corporations, and soliciting funds for development from institutions including the World Bank.

In the 1970s, when there was a surge in oil revenues, Indonesia’s economic situation improved substantially during Suharto’s presidency. Even with Suharto re-appointment to the presidency every five years with virtually no opposition, yet his administration was not devoid of criticisms.
Given Indonesia’s strategic location at the eastern entrance to the Indian Ocean, including command of the Malacca and Sunda straits, the country, no doubt was viewed as vital to the Asian interests of the West. Therefore, foreign relations after 1966 could be characterized as moderate and regionally focused.
During the 1970s, Indonesia was the largest recipient of Japanese official development assistance and vied with China for that distinction in the 1980s. The New Order targeted ethnic Chinese and enacted several anti-Chinese legislations, banning them from public life. Chinese literature and characters were outlawed, and they were forced to renounce their Chinese ties and adopt Indonesian sounding names. Many Chinese were forced into exile, while others were killed during the anti-Communist purges.

No doubt, the “New Order” was abused and virtually introduced unchecked forces in Indonesian society. However, members of the military and Golkar Party were heavily involved as intermediaries between businesses, both foreign and domestic. This led to the bribery, racketeering, and embezzlement, with wanton killings and annihilations of opposition. Historians would agree with me that during Indonesia’s 1975-1999 occupation of East Timor, up to 183,000 people died, owing largely to killings, disappearances, hunger and illness, according to an East Timorese commission sanctioned by the United Nations.
Suharto’s five successors as head of state all vowed to end the graft that took root under his regime, yet it remains endemic at all levels of Indonesian society.
However, in all of these, many would ask what do Africans or Nigerians intend to get and learn? Well, I believe when we are ready to critically analyze others, as they had and would assess our own leaders, then we are ready to face the realities of the global village.

From 25th May 1963 till 17th July 1964 when Haile Selassie of Ethiopia headed the Organization of African Unity OAU, and the aftermath of a sudden birth of the African Union (AU), which was formerly headed by Thabo Mbeki of South Africa between 9th July 2002 and 10th July, 2003 but now headed by Jakaya Kikwete of Tanzania, who started last 31st of January, have these leaders been able to respect the rule of law? Have these African leaders in their different countries been able to abstain from constitutional manipulation of which some of them participated in drafting, accepting and promoting?
How do we appreciate the fact that we have the umbrella union of all leaders in Africa, yet Zimbabwean President, Robert Mugabe, who has changed Zimbabwe’s constitution to allow the seizure of white-owned farm lands without any compensation?
The time for African leaders to realize the fact that investors would only invest in the continent of stability, rule of law and democracy has not only come, but has also come to stay.

Thus the call by these African leaders on the international community to establish a fair and equitable trading system through the elimination of tariff and trade distorting subsidies is mere shadow-chasing and sheer waste of time.
Our so called leaders should begin to think again, by confronting issues of government accountability, combating corruption, halting conflicts and the respect for human rights before convoking all the over-bloated conferences where the tax-payers money of their different countries is wasted.
The doubt that Africa is unable to resolve its own problems is further reinforced when most African leaders are busy globe-trotting, while Kenya remains torn apart by war and run by war lords.

The story is equally similar in Sudan’s western Darfur province, where tens of thousands of people have been killed and millions rendered homeless in a bloody conflict that has raged, despite the deployment of African Peace Keepers. Let these leaders learn from the mistakes of the past so as to make Africa tomorrow’s paradise.

N/B: I want to thank all the readers of this column who have sent me different mails on some of the issues which I had addressed. I assure them that with time I would reproduce them in full details for public consumption

Well, Kalu has been fond of throwing such challenges to others. I expect him to rise to this occasion, even tho the very challenge itself seems a big insult.
Actually, Orji Uzor's command of the English language improved tremendously while he was in office. if u heard him speak in 2000 and heard him in 2007 or today, U'd surely agree with this. not forgetting also, his famed university career at ABSU while in office as executive governor.

Orji Uzor Kalu's political enemies at work again. Dont beleive everthing that comes from the so called Abia elders forum or all you read here.

I have to be careful to aviod sack abeg, Una no go kill me with laugh

A lot of stupid people in here!!

I saw him in BBC Hardtalk last year and he spoke very well, The real illiterates are the Abia Elders for bringing up such a nursery school idea. And how is Orji Kalu's ability to spell or not going to help the people of Abia state? Our elders must stop being so dumb

Thus the call by these African leaders on the international community to establish a fair and equitable trading system through the elimination of tariff and trade distorting subsidies is mere shadow-chasing and sheer waste of time.
Our so called leaders should begin to think again, by confronting issues of government accountability, combating corruption, halting conflicts and the respect for human rights before convoking all the over-bloated conferences where the tax-payers money of their different countries is wasted.

this kalu guy must be joking. if he did write this bollocks of a column then he's nothing but a bloody hyprocrite.

@romeo, yes you saw him on hardtalk make a complete fool of himself, right? shouting all over the studio contradicting himself on all the issues discussed. i even saw him on haney's show running his mouth talking trash about policies. he dunno nothing about policies and neither can he write too.

ojimbo IV:

@romeo, yes you saw him on hardtalk make a complete fool of himself, right? shouting all over the studio contradicting himself on all the issues discussed. i even saw him on haney's show running his mouth talking trash about policies. he don't know nothing about policies and neither can he write too.

Really? He can't write? is he Chinua Achebe? running his mouth and contradicting himself is not the same as not being able to spell. Abeg that spelling issue is dumb

Limits to strategic re-empowerment of the Igbo
By Orji Kalu (Kalu Leadership Series)
Saturday November 17, 2007
In “A Journey Through Time” I stated as follows: While the 1940s, 1950s and 1960s witnessed the emergence of two institutional platforms – the NCNC and the Igbo state Union- that aggregated Igbo group interest on the political, social and cultural frontiers, and provided coherence, order, logic and direction to Igbo political quest… the contemporary epoch is devoid of any platform recognized, accepted and adopted by the generality of the people as their own.
Continuing, I also stressed that: Rent by internecine and fratricidal political infighting and over burdened by lack of clear sighted grand political strategy, vision and ideals commonly accepted by all the people, and not the factions of the various political elite, Igbo society currently drifts, buffeted by clashing political winds that scatter the people in several directions.

Without a doubt, there is an evolving national political consensus, which underpins the contestation for power, influence and space by the various ethno-national and geo-political coalitions and formations. Geo-strategic capacity determines the ability of each federating unit to buy into and help in driving emerging national scenarios and, consequently, in negotiating political and other national conditions favourable to their people. A few examples will suffice here. Since the annulment of the June 12 presidential election, the Yoruba nation developed a grand political strategy that seemingly sublimated the quest for ethnic survival under a grandiose pro-democracy package.

Through this, they expanded the reach and range of agitation to encompass other progressive political formations in the East and the North. Propelled by a visible desire to restore electoral mandates and democratize society, but equally mindful of the fact that the terms of this negotiations will be favourable to them, Nigeria emerged at mid-1998 to the realization that a Nigerian presidency of a Yoruba extraction had become inevitable.

Interestingly, the fact that the PDP eventually produced Olusegun Obasanjo as its presidential flag bearer (the least of acceptable Yoruba choice) and the AD-APP alliance threw up Olu Falae as its presidential candidate (a more acceptable Yoruba choice) showed the geo-strategic capacity of the Yoruba nation in determining the direction of the Nigerian state favourable to them.

When Nigerians thus went to the pools in February 1999, they had a limited choice: to elect one out of two Yoruba candidates. Ultimately, the mainstream Yoruba political tendency got what they demanded; a Yoruba president, but not the candidate of their choice. This, of course, is realistic in the context of every political negotiation: the sense of accommodation, the striking of balance, the building of consensus, etc.

Another example that readily comes to my mind is the patience of the Northern, mainstream political establishment who endured the 8 years of Obasanjo’s insufferable mischief, highhandedness and a far-reaching strategic agenda of de-constructing Northern political power structure and base, a process that reached its high water mark in the perfidious Third Term, Life Presidency project.

Their ability to withstand Obasanjo’s “Shock and awe” political tactics, to attenuate personality differences and ego in favour of group interest, and to finally compel Obasanjo to abdicate power in favour of a president of Northern extraction is a testimony to their staying power, the corrections of their political vision and the relative success of their grand power strategy. Yet, as in the case of the 1999 political transition; and given the complications of the April 2007 general elections, the North may not have got all that they demanded, but they have secured the space to operate, to manoeuvre, and to begin the urgent task of re-constructing and re-constituting their political base which Obasanjo dealt a harsh, 8- year blow. Thus, without a clear political strategy, without a well-developed political programme, and without a commensurate level of intellectual and strategic thinking they wouldn’t have achieved the much they did.

The third and last example I will give pertains to the grand political strategy of the Southern minorities who inhabit the South-South geo-political zone. This grand strategy nearly delivered the Nigerian presidency to the zone, has made the Niger Delta region the hottest national topic and the international security concerns of the Big western powers in Africa; and delivered the nation’s Vice President to them virtually on a platter of gold. The far- reaching implication of this last political set up is that it has successfully negated and deconstructed the prevalent historical power – sharing arrangement in Nigeria given the examples of the 1960 post-colonial arrangement and the 1979 post-military political arrangement.

Yes, the Niger Delta still bristles with poverty, ecological and environmental disaster, militancy and seemingly intractable conflicts, yet it is, again a testimony to their sacrifice, steady political course, resolute will and a clear sighted strategic power agenda that have enhanced the region’s profile and made it the centre piece of virtually all national political and economic dialogues and discourses.

What about the Igbo nation? How far has it fared in the course of Nigeria’s contemporary history and democratic transition? Answers to these posers are not far fetched. In 1960 the Igbo-dominated NCNC shared political power with the NPC, a situation that produced a ceremonial Igbo president, a deep Igbo presence in the Federal Cabinet and Strategic Igbo placements in the civil service. In 1979, barely 9 years after the civil war which the Igbo-led Biafra lost, they also produced the nation’s Vice President, the Speaker of the Federal House of Representatives and choice cabinet appointment, essentially because of the alliance between the Igbo dominated NPP and the ruling NPN.

Yet, in 1999, a clear 8 years after the relatively golden moment in Igbo political history they failed in their charge to produce the nation’s President, they also lost the Vice Presidential slot; they had to beg for accommodation at the strategic sectors of the federal cabinet, and even when eventually the President of the Senate became the only visible political bargain they could muster, it became over time a symbol of group failure and an illustration of the deep penetration of Igbo politics by outside forces, aided, I would say, by the dominant position occupied by the clientele class on Igbo politics.

It was therefore not surprising that between 1999 and 2007, Igbo land had produced 5 Senate Presidents, one for each core Igbo states, not as matter of group choice but a consequence of group vulnerability[b]. This clearly absurd scenario became an eloquent testament of the disdain a number of people held for the Igbo elite, and a clear demonstration of the Igbo lack of a credible political platform, abiding Igbo state socio-cultural union capable of mobilization progressive forces in Igbo land and an absence of strategic thinking and intellectual depth in Igbo political calculation.[/b]
Today, Igbo land has been downgraded one step back from the Senate Presidency to the Deputy Senate Presidency, while the group that produced the nation’s Presidency for 8 years is today still rewarded with the Speakership of the House of Representatives and a very powerful Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the ruling PDP. The chance to produce the chairman of the ruling party is scant consolation given the power dynamics of the Nigerian state, and the location of real, concrete and effectual power in the polity.

Igbo political power base is in urgent and dire need of re-construction and re-constitution. I have tried to present the limit situations that make this process a difficult one. Yet it is, as the saying goes, a task that must be accomplished.

To achieve it will demand time, tact, strategic thinking and profound intellectual ability. This agenda must balance the interests and needs of the Igbo with the interests and needs of the other groups that constitute Nigeria. It also requires capacity in the area of strategic networking, consensus building and multi-layered dialogues across the ethnic and geo-political lines.

But most importantly, it will require rooting out the clientele Igbo political elite from the Igbo political space, so that the people can re-discover themselves, breath fresh political air, and begin the task of their re-humanization.

omg! this is very nice work. i can't help but feel some high level poetic control of grammar and technique ability in this piece - makes me wonder if this was written by an understudy to prof. soyinka. therefore, casting doubts over the credibility of the writer (i.e kalu  )

no doubt kalu can spell, but i strongly disagree his vocabulary is as good as what the articles suggest. the action of the elders is to checkmate him flossing himself with articles like these. but damn are there some massive words in 'his' articles  whew!

With the Personal computer,do you need to spell well these days?
You have the spellcheck ti do the job for you.

Henry Ford was not that educated, but isnt he one of the greatest?

ojimbo IV:

omg! this is very nice work. i can't help but feel some high level poetic control of grammar and technique ability in this piece - makes me wonder if this was written by an understudy to prof. soyinka. therefore, casting doubts over the credibility of the writer (i.e kalu )

no doubt kalu can spell, but i strongly disagree his vocabulary is as good as what the articles suggest. the action of the elders is to checkmate him flossing himself with articles like these. but damn are there some massive words in 'his' articles whew!

get some life dude!! Do you know him personally? I hate cheap haters

Please let Kalu be, provided the piece reflects his thougts.

Hello Nairalanders, it is not a good enough reason to judge a person courtesy of a perception or view point of someone else, however, imight be forced to remind you that the media which we all reckn with is a great instrument of propaganda against all odds

Based on the logical approach whereby a conclusion is drived from a premise i thus assert,
1) ORJI IS A GOOD COLUMNIST
2) HIS ARTICLES MAKE GREAT SENSE
3) HE IS KNOWN TO NIGERIANS AS A MAN WHO HAS CONSTANTLY DEFEATED HIS FOES
4) THE ELDERS FORUM AS PUPORTEDLY CLAIMED,(if one exists) SHOULD COME OUT IN PERSON AND MAKE HIMSELF AVAILABLE FOR THE SPELLING CONTEST WITH ORJI, IF
5) UNTIL THEN, ORJI REMAINS A VIABLE COLUMNISTS IN THE NIGERIA POLITY AND WE HAVE NO GROUNDS AS TO JUDGING HIM,
Let me categorically state that its all a media gimmict to tople a great man,

this poster and the abia state elders'forum are as useless as this topic.
what has spelling words has to do with his business life? if u know he does not know how to spell his name, why did u let him be ur gov? was spelling a criteria for occupying any office in nigeria?
prof. iwu who cld spell every word and even form his own did not bring in any positive thing into our system so what is the need for all these useless knowledges.
@poster,
get urself another topic and make sure is not abt how orji uzor kalu drives car or how he behaves in the toilet.

This belongs in the jokes section

This shit still cracks me up everytime.