TOWARDS 2027: THE FUTILE GATHERING OF VULTURES IN ABIA STATE
BY DAVID CHUKWU
The political atmosphere in Abia has been heated up following a recent gathering of the political buccaneers who seem bent on returning the state on the path of infamy and perdition after Governor Alex Otti has taken it to higher developmental pedestal in less than three years. These wolves led by former governors of the state, Orji Uzor Kalu and Theodore Orji, who met under the banner of APC Stakeholders at the Umuahia residence of Theordore Orji vowed to reclaim Abia from Otti.
Orji Kalu boasted that he would win the state for his party come 2027. He went further to downplay the matchless performance of Otti by shamelessly claiming that the beautiful roads that Otti had delivered in all parts of Abia were done by him, Orji Kalu, adding that what Otti was doing was just mere painting of the roads built by his administration between 1999 and 2007. Nothing could be further from the truth!
Orji Kalu`s outburst has predictably provoked outrage amongst the people of Abia State who saw through the ruinous 24 years of the combined PDP-led administrations of Orji Kalu, Theodore Orji and Okezie Ikpeazu.
Those were the years of the locust in which the state was looted to the ground with no modicum of infrastructural development to show for it. Those were the years of fetish, diabolical and occultic practices in which only those initiated into the Okija shrines held power for themselves and their families and small circle of cronies, court jesters and sycophants. The state was left to lie prostate, and the two major cities of Umuahia and Aba were abandoned and allowed to be overtaken by mountains of garbage. Abia State, under the watch of these men, was rated nationally as the most underdeveloped in the entire Federation.
But in just two and half years, Otti has changed the face of Abia for good. The state has witnessed an unprecedented transformation never seen since its creation in 1991. Otti has returned Aba to its former glory through the incredible works he has done in the areas of urban renewal and massive reconstruction of the terrible roads in the Enyimba city, including the strategic Port Harcourt Road that was criminally abandoned for 24 years by the vultures that gathered at Ochendo`s residence in Umuahia when they held sway in the state..
Otti has similarly brought his Midas touch to Umuahia, the state capital. The town is completely transformed and now wears a look that befits a capital city of its status. Prior to Otti`s intervention, Umuahia was basically provincial and rural in character. A recent visit to Umuahia shows a city with expanded roads adorned with functional traffic lights and modern bus stops. Otti has also completed an ultra-modern Central Transport Terminal in Umuahia, the first of its kind in the state. The terminal, which is integrated into the existing railway lines in the town comes with a modern escalator, which helps to quicken the movement of passengers and their goods. The same facility is being replicated in Aba, with a similar proposal for Ohafia.
Last December, the governor introduced electric buses to ply designated routes within Umuahia, Aba, Ohafia and other parts of the state. Abians have been enjoying free rides inside these luxury buses during the Yuletide and the New Year, courtesy of Otti`s gesture of goodwill. The people of Abia are full of praise for Otti, whom they have sworn to return to the Government House in 2027 in reciprocation for the great work he is doing in the state. This is what has made the buccaneers jittery and aghast.
In 2027, the votes will count in Aba. The good people of Abia who are impressed with the sterling performance of Otti would return him with an overwhelming mandate and resist any attempt by any person or group of persons to rig elections in the state.
What this means is that the political career of Orji Kalu and his co-travellers are heading for the rocks. The people of Abia North, who never voted for him in the last election, are standing ready to retire Kalu to his Igbere village. Invoking President Tinubu`s name, as he is wont to do, is not going to help him.
Abia people had a raw deal in the hands of Kalu and the other visionless leaders during their wasteful years in power. They are not ready to return to the path of infamy. It is Otti all the way till 2031.
Chukwu, a Political Analyst, writes from Aba.