GOV OTTI @61: ABIA, INDEED, HELP IS HERE!
By Kazie Uko
As we prepared for the inauguration of the newly-elected governor of Abia State, Dr. Alex Chioma Otti, OFR, on May 29, 2023, one of the issues the Central Planning Committee had to deal with was to come up with a key word, phrase, or statement to set the mood upon which the structure for the new dispensation will be built.
Eight different committees were set up to plan the inauguration ceremonies. They were: Programme and Invitation, Venue, Entertainment, Protocol, Logistics, Media and Publicity, Security, and Finance. Members, expectedly, were drawn from within the Alex Otti political family – the Abia Arise, the campaign council, and the campaign organisation – and various support groups in and outside the State. Hon. Iheanacho Obioma, who had served as the State Coordinator of the Alex Otti Campaign Organisation in the 2023 governorship election, was named the Coordinator of the Planning Committee. I led the Media and Publicity sub-committee, which had my fellow comrades; Ferdinand Ekeoma, Dodoh Okafor, Ihedigbo Mbaukwu, Jerry Njoku, Dike Nwankwo, and Sam Odita, as members.
The floor was thrown open by the soon-to-be-inaugurated Governor for ideas and contributions by members of the committee, initially about 70 in number, but later expanded. WhatsApp groups were created by the various committees for administrative purposes. After days of deliberations at different committee levels, submissions were made and tabled before the leader, the Governor-elect, for final approval. Some of the inauguration themes drawn up and which received some wide acceptance among the committee members included, “A New Dawn”, “A New Era Begins”, and “Help is Here!” At the end of the day, the Central Planning Committee, following the final decision of the Governor-elect, settled for “Help is Here!” as the inaugural theme. Suffice to state here that this inaugural theme is one of the numerous intellectual contributions ‘Yours truly’ made in the course of enthroning the Alex Otti governorship in Abia.
Prior to becoming governor, Dr. Otti’s campaign charge to Abians was, “Weep not, help is on the way”. Two years and nine months after his inauguration and as the chief executive officer of Abia State, it cannot be much truer to say that Governor Otti has brought help to the people. Evidence abounds in the innumerable physical infrastructural development and upgrades never before witnessed in the state since its creation about 35 years ago. Beyond the reconstructed road networks across the state; renovation and retrofitting of public buildings, including schools, hospitals, courts, government house and secretariats; markets, building of world class road transportation hubs, cleaning up the massive environmental wastes that had threatened to swallow up the entire state, and, of course, improving on security, one major achievement of the Otti administration that has received the least attention is the restoration of the dignity of the Abia person.
Abia, before the coming of Governor Otti, lagged behind in various indices of human and infrastructural developments. Infact, it was common knowledge that citizens and businesses relocated from the state in droves as a result of failure by successive governments to provide the basic necessities of life and creating the enabling economic environment for the state and its people to thrive. This much was restated recently, when a group of stakeholders in Ikwuano Local Government Area of the State rebuffed a claim by three former governors of the state who had ganged up to underestimate the enormous work done by Governor Otti to upgrade the people’s standard of living, through the prompt and regular payment of workers salaries and pensioners benefits, among other intentional efforts aimed at restoring the dignity of the Abia person and rebuilding public infrastructure.
In the years leading up to this current administration, Abians were made the butt of rude jokes at different gatherings, within and outside of the state, simply because our so-called political leaders failed woefully in their sworn task of improving on the welfare and well-being of the citizenry. They hijacked our commonwealth meant for public good for their selfish aggrandizement and mistook their individual prosperity as achievement in public office. They spoke and acted in manners devoid of any iota of humility and due regard to the people they claimed elected them. In their stupor, they even boasted without recourse and reverence to the will of God, “Otti will never be governor!”
But see who laughs last! The scripture is true: The Egyptians you see today, you will see them no more. The spiritual Egyptians that held Abia bound for 24 years, prior to Alex Otti’s coming on May 29, 2023, Abians will see them no more. Of course, they are gathering again, but because their gathering is neither of God, nor of Abia people, they will scatter. The deliverance of Abia from the hands of marauders masquerading as political leaders has gone full circle and will never be truncated. It does not matter what nomenclature they go by today, and the days leading up to the 2027 elections, Abians have tested good governance with Governor Otti, and we will make the right decision when the time comes.
Expectedly, there is joy in the streets of Aba, Umuahia, Ohafia, Arochukwu, Isialangwa, Bende, Obingwa, Ukwa, Ugwunagbo, Abiriba, Item, Abam, Umunneochi, and the various communities across the three senatorial districts of Abia North, South and Central, where the impact of Alex Otti governorship has been seen and felt, particularly because today, February 18, 2023, is the Governor’s 61st birthday.
I join the majority of grateful Abians to wish our hard-working and result-oriented governor a happy birthday and pray that God continues to guide and protect him in his service to Abia State and its people. Indeed, help is here for Abians. Happy birthday, Your Excellency, Governor Alex Otti, OFR.