Thursday, 17 July 2014

Hate Kalu or like him, he is a hero

By Odimegwu Onwumere


Anyone who has taken a keen study of the former Governor of Abia State and the President Slok Group, Dr. Orji Uzor Kalu, will attest to the fact that the mature man, who has achieved majority of the things that a normal human being is expected to achieve before he was 40, is a great hero.


This is a man who has sojourned on the paths of great hitches and loads to become the envy he is today. Hardly would many survive in the politics of over-the-rivers and the woods that are played in Nigeria, but here is Kalu still waxing stronger, after being betrayed by many he trusted.


Those that are closer to Kalu say that he is humble to the earth, not minding the ubiquitous accolades and powers that follow him anywhere he went. His name and personality resonate positively beyond the West. He has become a hero before he became significant in the murky political waters that characterize the country.


The most mind-blowing is that his friends and associates say that his type of leading-actor does not know class and does not segregate. Attesting to this, they say that Kalu is a super-hero, because he does anything positive within his reach, to make the world a better place than he met it.


Kalu talks about goals and refutes dreaming like most people are inadvertently or intentionally subjected to. He is admired by millions of people across all the walks of life, because he is a soldier of good fights and does not shy away from airing his views pointblank. His voice laced with truth is like a gunshot, especially in Nigeria, where people preferred to maintain quietness in the face of totalitarianism.


Different people have different standards with which they measure Kalu. To many, he is a hero, because he does things which people recognize and that which majority of the people lacks the qualities to do. In many people’s closets, without doubt, they want to be like Kalu.


It is aplomb to be satisfied with him. In the work, “Tomorrow, When the War Began” John Marsden writes: The Bible just said ‘Thou shalt not kill’, then told hundreds of stories of people killing each other and becoming heroes, like David with Goliath… Kalu is not this type of heroes!


One of the things that make Kalu a hero is that he is always thinking 10 minutes ahead of the time. It is only the jealous person or do-nothing that would say that heroes do not exist; here is one in Kalu. One thing again that puts Kalu out among the many heroes in the world is that he goes out and speaks unaided.


A look at him sends a message of how sweet and splendid the world goes, no matter certain sorrows that go together with human existence. One unique aspect of his fame is that he is garnering it while alive and will not fade anything he is old enough and goes to the great beyond.


He is one man who has been receiving admiration in this generation and will not be despised in the next generation. Where is the man that spreads his broad and large heart across all divides of human undertakings if not Kalu? A thing with him is that he allows many people who are closer to him to be famous, unlike many in his class that would want to be the only masquerade on the stage, except they exited.


It is overwhelming that the world has produced a man like Kalu in this generation. He exudes the bravery, potency, goodness, and is ever ready to withstand hard-times. He is not a product of murkiness, but of natural manifestation. He is a leading provider to humanity and their services. His, is not self-elevating.


Few people might argue that he is not a hero, but on a truly fair or impartial trial, he is. It is the wish of many that he continues to be fit in order to manage the classified networks of positive change he has been creating for long periods of time, which have hatched credible things, pleasant things that belong in and to the public sphere-of-influence.


He may not have won the appellation of his political rivals, but his efforts in bettering the environment he found himself, have never gone unnoticed. This is evident from Sokoto to Lokoja, from Abia to Abuja. Kalu is a mighty man in battle, a public figure, a man of the people, a man who heeds to his conscience and gives priority to the common people in the society.


No matter how anybody feels about Kalu, he understands the policies and programmes that govern mankind and, keep to them. These have kept him safe and, been keeping him safe.


Odimegwu Onwumere, a Poet/Writer, writes from Rivers State.
Tel: +2348032552855

No comments: