By Gloria Acholonu (Imo State Correspondent)
Imo state governor, Senator Hope Odidika Uzodimma, has recruited Dr. Ugorji Okechukwu Ugorji, to serve as his Special Advisor on “Homeland Security and Intelligence.
A letter conveying Ugorji's appointment and dated February 23, 2021, was issued to him by the Secretary to the Imo State Government, Chief Cosmas Iwu. By his appointment, Dr. Ugorji will be in charge of the security affairs of the state and other related matters as governor's Adviser on Homeland Security.
A scholar in security studies, with a Master’s degree in Homeland Security from the George Washington University, located in Washington, DC, Ugorji returned to Nigeria in November of 2020 at the urging of Professor Ibrahim Gambari, the Chief of Staff of President Muhammadu Buhari of Nigeria. Among the ten books authored by him, his most recent is Securing the Homeland: Essays in Security Leadership, Intelligence, and Crisis Management (Sungai Books, 2020). Governor Uzodimma has persuaded him to advise him in the implementation of security and safety initiatives in the state.
Ugorji, a US-based scholar, writer, and publisher, has over 30 years of public administration experience with the New Jersey State Government. He has also served on several boards of agencies in several municipal governments in the United States. His earned doctorate degree is in Educational Administration and Leadership from Rutgers University, New Jersey. He has another Master’s degree and two Bachelor’s degrees from The College of New Jersey.
However, in a post-appointment interview with the Nigerian NewsLeader Newspaper in Owerri, the Imo State, Dr. Ugorji, said that Governor Uzodimma prioritizes the security and safety of the citizens and residents of Imo State. “His Excellency Governor Uzodimma wants to place emphasis on ideation, soft power, and proactive measures based on intelligence gathering and analysis.
"I have been assigned to conceptualize this approach and align it with the expertise and tools of hard power that the military and police have.” The key, Ugorji says, would be to build trust with the citizens and facilitate inter-agency collaboration and cooperation in the provision of security and safety in the state.
Besides his official brief as Special Adviser to the governor on security, Nigerian NewsLeader gathered that Ugorji, in addition to his duties in Imo State, will also be serving as a member of Professor Ibrahim Gambari’s Think-Thank in relation to the Office of the Chief of Staff to the President of Nigeria. He will provide insights and advice on matters of national cohesion, homeland security, and special national orientation missions.
An indigene of the Oke Clan in Aboh Mbaise Local Government Area, Imo State, Dr. Ugorji is the first son of the traditional ruler, HRH Eze Stephen Nwabueze Ugorji, Orji Ukwu 1 of LorjiNwekeukwu Autonomous Community. He is the Global Coordinator of GoBigNigeria.com, which canvassed for the reelection of President Buhari in 2019.
As the Executive Director of the theUS-based African Writers Endowment since 2000, he has celebrated and promoted African peoples in a Pan-African fashion to the admiration of personalities such as Professor Gambari, the late Professor Chinua Achebe, Professor Ngugi wa-Thiongo, Vice President Atiku Abubakar, Senator Ken Nnamani, Governors Rotimi Amaechi, Ogbonnaya Onu, and Kayode Fayemi, to mention a few. NNL.
