PO LIT 1 C S & LA W

presently; it is tr. 2.- i c r d : a c .. giants such

as Shell, Agip. Acc2_= a r c Exxon Mobil with
large commercial cfccw eiie s of oil and gas
deposits. It is a~ : to pcin: out that the creation
o f a sta te in stils co m p e titio n an d
development am ong states
Should state creation be the country's priority
for now? For the rercrd. die South East has
the least number c f states am ong the six geo
political zones of me country. While the
South-South has six states
Edo, Delta,
Bayelsa, Rivers. Akv.a-Ibom and Cross
River; the South-East has only five Imo,
Anambra. Abia. Ebor.yi and Enugu. Also,
while the North East has seven states
Jigawa, Bauch:. Gcm.be. Yobe, Borno,
Adam awa and Taraba. die remaining zones
have six states each: South-West Lagos,
Ekiti, Oyo, Osun. Ondo. Ogun; North-West
Sokoto, Kebbi. Zamiara. Katsina. Kano and

Kaduna; and North Central Niger, Kwara,

Kogi, Nassarawa, Benue and Plateau. The
creation of Orlu State will not only help
bridge the imbalance in state creation in the
country but will energise the people to be
more productive towards its development in
particular and the nation as a whole.
Apart from correcting the imbalance in
state creation, what else will the
proposed Orlu State bring to the
South-East and the country?
A state in Orlu will bring with it development
in each of her 12 local government areas
which will in turn bring about development
in the nation. We are peace-loving with a rich
cultural heritage, which if developed, could
be a centre for attraction, and attract inter
state competitions and econom ic growth.
With the support of m y people and absolute

faith in G od, it is my sincere hope that my

colleagues at the National Assembly will
discuss the subject o f Orlu State creation
with keen interest and proper consideration
for fairness, good governance, and justice
when the motion for it is moved. In m y view,
the zone's hunger for an Orlu State must be
that which at the end would mark it out as
the little 'Asian Tiger of Nigeria
It is now obvious that the issue of an
additional state for the South-East should
top the agenda of our legislators. It is the
expectation of the people of the zone that
the Deputy Senate President, Deputy
Speaker of the House o f Representatives
and other members o f the 7th National
Assembly will come back to Igbo land in
2015 with an additional state and that state
is Orlu which has vast potentials and
viability.

Young Tobias Ekechi

- A quintessential Banker in Grassroots Politics.
e is vet to dodk 40lB hI A e n U z
kid Chairm an of th e Caretaker
Committee, K gor- O kpala Local
Government Area, has traversed a range
o f financial institutions, from M ortgage
Banks to normal Com m ercial Banks,
operating at higher levels.
His name is Young Tobias E kechi
Bom on M ay 2 4 .19 2, at Imerienwe, his
EGA headquarters, where he is now the
boss; Young-Tobias absolved his
prim ary school education at Umuoye
Central School, Im erienwe, 1976-1982
and went ahead to enroll at Owerri
Gram m ar School, Im erienwe 19831988.
A home- boy indeed, the young YoungTobias was to leave hom e only when he
had to go into the tertiary level o f
education.
He read Economics at A bia State
University. Uturu, leaving in 1996 with
B.Sc Econom ics (Second Class, Upper).
For his Master's Programme, he opted
for Financial M anagement at Institut
Primae Bestari Malaysia.
oal assignments
He begat;
at ASO
i Loans PLC
1 leading mortgage
(Mortgage
bank in
Mr.
Regional
SouthHe was
businesses
Major
prominent

Exclusive Gardens. Bayelsa State, Fort

Royal Homes. Airport Road, Abuja;
Akp abuyo Housing Scheme, Uyo Akw a
Ibom State and the Greater Port-Harcourt
City* Proposed Housing Scheme.
Young-Tobias was later prom oted to the
position o f Head, Internal Control and
Compliance o f the M ortgage Bank w here he
was responsible for the General Internal
Control o f the Bank.
In this position his menu o f
responsibilities included detection o f fraud
prone activities and processes and advising
management accordingly; regular
Presentation o f fraud and fraud related
activities to CBN and Management, and
liaison personnel to the law enforcement
agencies, Police and EFCC.
From the post o f Head, Internal
Control, Mr. Ekechi moved again as Head,
Business Process Re-Engineering/ Service
Quality Management.
Am ong his responsibilities here were
the review o f existing Policies and
Procedures and upgrade to International
Banking Standard; form ulation o f less
bureaucratic ways o f carrying out
businesses with a view to im proving Turn
Around Tim e (TAT) and ensuring that
services provided for both internal and
external customers are efficient and
effective.
Our young grassroots banker-politician
is credited to have been responsible for the
preparation of about 70 percent o f the
current policies and procedures, including
the internal Control Framework,

Young Tobias Ekechi

Operations Policy Manual, Code o f
Conduct, Vehicle Policy, am ongst others
of A SO Savings and Loans PLC
(Mortgage Bankers).
M oving on, and away from the Mortgage
Bank, Young-Tobias relocated to Access
Bank PLC as Head, Branch Services,
where he w as in charge o f the general
Supervision o f branch Operational
services am ong other duties.
He also plied his trade at Citibank
Nigeria (CITI GROUP) as Head, Trade
Services Desk, Port-Harcourt; Head
General Internal Services, Port
Harcourt; and acting Head, Regional
Internal Control, South.
Later he was to becom e the bank's
Teller and CBN Clearing Representative;
Pioneer Head, Internal Control Unit,
Abuja and finally acting Cash O fficer and
Funds Transfer Supervisor.
Young-Tobias Ekechi, the present
Caretaker Committee Chairman o f NgorOkpala Local Government Area, Imo
State, has had some publications. They
are Deregulation o f Nigerian Banking
Sector: Nature, Scope and Prospect
(1996 Project w ork), The Impact o f
Credit Administration on Commercial
Banks Performance, and 'Personnel
administration for 2011 Elections:
paper submitted and partly utilized by
INEC Chairman Prof. Attahiru Jega for
the 2011 Elections.