Evaluating the impact of Gov. Otti’s media interaction on good governance
By Ogbonnaya Ikokwu
Democracy thrives on the principle that allows the electorate the right to elect their leaders and in turn hold them accountable for their actions while in office.
It is on this basis that the people regularly demand for periodic account of stewardship from the leaders at various levels of governance.
However, the extent at which the social contract between the leader and the led pans out depends largely on the commitment of the leaders to prioritise good governance over personal interest.
Abia State, under the leadership of Gov. Otti, is fortunate to have a leader who believes that the governed have every right to know what those they elected are doing for them.
Gov. Otti has maintained that Abians hired him to work for them, hence resources that accrue to the state must be deployed in working for them.
In addition to his vow to deliver the dividend of democracy to the people whom he sees as his own “god-fathers”, Gov. Otti has also prioritised the need to interact with the people at different fora, particularly through the monthly Media Chat, dubbed “the Gov. speaks to Abians”.
The programme, which was introduced in August 2023, soon after his inauguration, has proved to be worthwhile as the governor receives first hand information concerning the needs of the people and gives instructions for immediate interventions to be carried out by the ministry or agency of government saddled with such responsibility to address the issues.
Many communities in the state have received urgent government’s interventions to their needs through the media interactions. Instances of such interventions include the Okwoyi Community Water Project and the intervention on the Ahiakwu-Olokoro Road, which was in a very deplorable condition.
Speaking during the March edition of the media chat, Gov. Otti said his administration would not renege on its campaign promise of building a new Abia State, providing a conducive environment for the residents to go about their lawful businesses.
He said that the State Government was working assiduously to achieve its set targets in the areas where he declared state of emergency during his inauguration on May 29, 2023, including health, education and waste management, among others.
The governor announced that a lot of progress had been made in the health sector, following the ongoing renovation and retrofitting of 200 Primary Health Care Centres in the 17 LGAs, codenamed “Project Ekwueme”.
He maintained that the project was receiving 100 per cent funding from the State Government, adding that Abia is also lucky to have the World Bank select 67 other health centres for renovation.
The state chief executive also reported that efforts were on to fix all the secondary and tertiary health facilities in the state, with the upgrade of Umunnato General Hospital to a Specialist and Diagnostic Centre.
Speaking on his administration’s resolve to revamp the education sector, Gov. Otti reported that his administration has continued to push hard in its avowed determination to rewrite the story of the poor condition of schools it met on ground.
He announced that plans were in top gear to employ 5,000 teachers in the state to raise the number of teachers to match with the increased enrollment of pupils in government schools as a result of the government’s free and compulsory education.
“The situation we met on ground in the education sector was very poor, but we don’t believe in complaining, we have decided to take every useful step to ensure that our schools become comfortable for teaching and learning.
“Beyond the infrastructure, we have also launched training programmes for our teachers, because what they know is of utmost importance to us.
“The teachers must be abreast with the latest development in ICT, robotics, Artificial Intelligence and driverless cars.
“If teachers are still talking about pinhole camera in this 21st Century, then the students they are teaching will not be able to compete favourably with their mates in the developed world,” Gov. Otti said.
He also announced that the State Government had continued in its infrastructural revolution with multiple roads, including the iconic Omeneuko Bridge in Arochukwu LGA, commissioned for reconstruction.
He said that the resurfacing of the Aba-Owerri Road would soon commence, adding that Port Harcourt Road, Aba, undergoing reconstruction by Julius Berger Construction Company, would soon be ready for inauguration on May 29.
Gov. Otti also reacted to a complaint of alleged extortion of members of the Cocoa Association of Nigeria, Abia State chapter,
by the Cocoa Monitoring Team attached to the Office of the Deputy Governor. He promised to investigate the allegation, pointing out that his administration had zero tolerance for extortion.
As the benefits of regular engagements with journalists and Abians cannot be exhausted in one piece, we can only encourage the governor to sustain the tempo with a view to keeping the people of the state abreast of the government’s policies, programmes and activities.
#Gov. Otti is Building the new Abia!
#To God be glory!
Ogbonnaya Ikokwu, a journalist and public affairs analyst, writes from Umuahia.