Good governance and spontaneous celebration across Abia – the Alex Otti effect
By Chukwuma Elvis
With the marking of two years in the life of the administration of Dr. Alex Otti, several attainments are to the credit of the governor and his team. For one, this is the first time in the history of the state that members of the public who are direct beneficiaries of government interventions, will organize solidarity march and carnivals to celebrate a government that has turned public perception of governance around within two years of existence.
It will be instructive to recall that the decay in public infrastructure and government services were at an all time high and all hope for change was almost lost because the negative status quo had become the norm.
Abians could only imagine good roads and experienced the pleasure of riding on such infrastructure when they travel outside Abia to neighbouring states. Often such experiences left Abians heartbroken from the feeling of being forgotten by time owing to bankrupt leadership.
This narrative has changed under the influence of Gov. Alex Otti who came to power with a bold vision and ready to deliver on the job. He came ready to relieve the psychological and physical pain the resourceful and creative people of Abia suffered under the locust years of leadership in the state.
It is then not surprising that different groups particularly in Aba under various umbrella – business/manufacturers association, landlords associations, community unions , transport unions amongst others mentioning just a few, have organized to spontaneously celebrate a visionary leader for his transformational leadership in Aba and Abia State.
The “promise made, promise kept” carnival held at Umuagbai secondary school located on the now recovered Port-harcourt road was the kick-off in a flurry of ‘thank you celebrations’ which has almost become a weekly occurrence in the city of Aba. This carnival was packaged entirely by the Aba business community and landlords association to express gratitude to Gov. Otti for keeping his promise to recover the iconic Port-harcourt road.
The large carnival which was wholly financed by the collaborating groups, had in attendance the who is who from the Aba business community and landlords association.
The joy and organic love from Abians and non Abians but residents of Aba knew no bounds at the carnival confirming that a performing leader doesn’t need to hire a crowd of paid supporters and praise singers to show love and appreciation as was the case under past administrations.
At the carnival, prominent members of the Aba business community professed that it is now easier to transact and trade in the city unlike in the past when it was extremely difficult to move in and out of Aba owing to long standing dilapidation of existing road infrastructure.
In like manner, the landlords association praised the efforts of the governor in revamping city roads particularly Port-harcourt road. Many among the group who are owners of property along the corridor reported that the value of these assets; some of which had been abandoned for many years have now surged. This speaks to a significant economic revival on that stretch of road hitherto lost to misrule and gross abuse of power by previous administrations within the past two decades, leading to the near collapse of the Aba economy.
It will not be forgotten in a hurry that the major heavy duty engine sales, accessories and service center domiciled on port Harcourt road Aba, serving oil rich Rivers state and beyond came to a halt leaving its operators in ruins and great despair before the coming to office of Dr. Alex Otti.
It is then no surprise that the forward thinking people of Aba who always love to thrive have spontaneously and organically expressed profound joy through carnivals, street storms and thank you marches to celebrate a forward thinking governor whose spirit and vision align with that of the good people of Aba the Enyimba city.
Transport unions operating in Aba would not be left out in the celebration. In an unprecedented two million man march, the group in unison and under the leadership of Chukwuma Azodo walked in procession with singers, dancers and revellers from Osisiomma on the Enugu-port Harcourt highway to Asikiwe Asa road in the heart of Aba in yet another display of solidarity and happiness over that which Governor Otti has turned Aba into within the first two years of his four year mandate.
Indeed Aba the city of wealth and all possibilities hasn’t had it this good in a long while. Time was when all the city came to know during the life of past administrations were protests. The body of lawyers in Aba at a time went on a city wide procession clad in yellow rain boots in public protest over the very poor road network. The story made national headline news – yet nothing was done to remedy the situation by the government in power at the time. This reference is just one in the midst of many public protests at the time against bad governance reflected in widespread dilapidated infrastructure.
People of goodwill everywhere can only celebrate positively impactful development. Cruel leadership will be despised, attracting vile comments amidst the desire for the right thing to be done.
Thus, the long desired positively impactful leadership is now made possible by the visionary and determined Dr. Alex Chioma Otti whose campaign slogan ‘weep no more, help is on the Way’ captured the expected fulfilment of the hopes, aspirations of Aba residents and Abians in general.
We are not disappointed in the choice we made in 2023. Our joy overflows because Abia is liberated from the shackles of mediocrity and backwardness by ‘Chioma Abia’.
Let the spontaneous, organic celebrations continue in the face of project commissioning and groundbreaking.
Chukwuma Elvis writes from Umuahia