Former Abia State Governor and Senator representing Abia North, Orji Uzor Kalu, has disclosed that he was once involved in the arms trade, selling weapons to anyone willing and able to pay for them.
Kalu made the revelation during an interview with Charles Aniagolu on Arise News Prime Time, titled โOrji Kalu: Business, Politics and Ambition.โ
During the interview, Aniagolu asked Kalu whether he had previously worked as an arms dealer, to which the senator responded in the affirmative.
Explaining his involvement in the business, Kalu said his primary motivation was to make money, adding that he was not concerned about how the weapons would be used or whether they would result in loss of lives.
He, however, disclosed that he eventually quit the business after his parents intervened and urged him to stop.
โMy parents, my mother, my father came and said I must stop, and I stopped,โ he said.
Asked whether he supplied weapons to the African National Congress (ANC) during the struggle against apartheid in South Africa, Kalu denied any specific arrangement with the organisation, insisting that he sold weapons to anyone who could afford them.
โI was selling to anybody who wants to buy. You have the money,โ he said.
The senator declined to disclose where he sourced the weapons, describing it as confidential business information.
When Aniagolu raised concerns about the proliferation of small arms and asked whether he had supplied weapons to Libya, Kalu maintained that his business was open to any buyer with the financial capacity to purchase them.
He also made a remark about former Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi when asked specifically whether he had sold weapons to him, describing the late leader as a good man without directly confirming the transaction.
Beyond his business dealings, Kalu also spoke about his relationship with prominent South African leaders, revealing that he met former President Nelson Mandela many years ago and maintained a friendship with him.
According to him, Mandela introduced him to several South African presidents, including Thabo Mbeki, who subsequently introduced him to Jacob Zuma
