A year, five months in office: Indigenes, non indigenes lauds Otti’s uncommon giant strides

Ify Ash

Abia residents, including the indigenes and non indigenes, who collectively worked for the emergence of Gov. Alex Otti (OFR), are feeling largely acquitted for making the right choice, considering the feat so far achieved by the present administration in changing the narrative of Abia’s development since its creation in 1991.

During his inauguration on May 29, 2023, Otti told the mammoth crowd of Abians that thronged the Umuahia Township Stadium to witness his oath-taking, that the days of misery were over in Abia.
He said, “Weep no more, look out for a new Abia, hope has come”.

As can be seen today, it is obvious that the expression was not a mere political rhetoric nor meant to cajole Abians but the reality is here with us and everybody is testifying that Gov. Otti has truly demonstrated that his word is his bond, proving also to be the messiah the people have been waiting for.

He has at different fora made it clear that his aim of leaving his plum banking job to join the Abia governorship race was not for self-aggrandisement but to bring development, free the state from god-fatherism and those who have held it down for decades, and for Abia to be rated among one of the best in the federation.

I recall his story then of how sad it was to always hear his friends taunt his state, especially Umuahia, the capital, which they often derogatorily referred to as a glorified village.

According to him, this is the more reason he vowed not to throw in the towel, in spite of the conspiracy to frustrate him, until he took over governance from the political marchants that kept the state in ruins for 24 years. The tradition was sharing the state’s resources, which Otti fondly described as “blood tonic”, to their god fathers, whose relevance to the advancement of the state remained questionable, instead of using the resources to develop the state.

Otti, a First Class graduate of the University of Port Harcourt, promised that every section of the state would witness transformation under his administration. Indeed, he has redeemed his promise in just one year and five months since he assumed office.

In their opinions, both the indigenes and non indigenes, Abians in diaspora, pensioners, traders, civil servants, all testify that a new Abia has begun to emerge under Otti’s watch.

They scored the administration high, saying that Abia had never seen such a positive transformation since the return of democratic governance in 1999.

Speaking in a recent media interview in Umuahia, the Chairman of the Board of Trustees, Association of All States Residents in Abia, Sir Pat Mgbemene, said he had lived a better part of his life in Abia and could testify that Otti had done pretty well in his less than one-and-a-half years in office.

Mgbemena, who also doubles as the President, Umuahia Sports Club, said: “Based on the present dispensation, I will say the governor is doing well, especially in the areas of infrastructure, road construction and environmental sanitation.

“Since he came on board, Umuahia and Aba are now wearing clean looks. I remember that the state was battling with waste disposal before his coming into office, but all that have now changed”.

And in terms of payment of salaries and pensions, Mgbemene said the governor is doing pretty well, as workers themselves testify that they now receive their salaries as and when due.

“I will also commend the governor for his zero potholes policy, opening of new roads and reconstruction of dilapidated roads. It’s the right way to go because good road network brings development,” he said.

Also, an America-based Abian, Dr Alex Ariwodo, said the economy of the world is changing and he expects Nigeria, including Abia, to be part of the change phenomenon in line with modern day reality.

Ariwodo said that he might not compare the past government of the state with the present but would commend the governor for starting well.

He said, “We are loyal to Dr Alex
Otti’s government. Some of us living abroad admire him and we urge him not to relent in changing the face of Abia.

“We want anytime we come home to see something new and captivating. This will always make us look forward to coming home.

Speaking in a similar vein, Nze (Dr) Nelson Ihechituru Arukwe, a retired civil servant in Abia State, said there is no basis to comparing the present government and the immediate past, adding that “even the blind can testify that there is a remarkable change between the past and present”.

He said that he retired since 2008 and it had been hell for him because their pensions and arrears over the years were not paid until the coming of Otti.

“Otti has changed the story, we are now paid our pensions at the end of every month and that gives us joy and made us to appreciate and believe in him the more.

“I want to say the present government is pro workers, while the past was pro party,” Arukwe said, adding that “even God loves policies that favour the people”.

He further lauded the governor for ensuring a clean environment, a situation, he said, made residents of the state and thoroughfarers happy.

An Aba-based businesswoman, Mrs Kate Kanu, said that Otti’s administration “has no comparison” as there have been visible improvements in all facets of the state.

Kanu said that before now, the roads in Aba were neglected, flooded and rendered impassable, pointing out that Otti had changed all that within a space of one year and five months.

According to her, the roads are now motorable with solar-powered streetlights luminating all over the cities of Aba and Umuahia.

“Otti is God sent, his leadership is good to us. God heard our prayers after many years of bad governance and brought him, a man who knows what governance is all about,” Kanu said.

She further said that “another good thing about Otti is that he respects women and gives us our right, unlike what obtained during the past administration”.

She said that under the Otti-led government, women now have a voice and have become visible through strategic appointments into positions that were hitherto exclusive to men. To God be the glory.