When Dr. Alex Otti clocked his first one hundred days in office as governor of Abia State on Wednesday 6th September 2023, majority of Abians were convinced that indeed the state is quickly being rescued from the clutches of the PDP’s twenty four long years of the locusts and celebration of criminal behaviour in high and low places. It is no gainsaying that Abia is indeed fast returning from Golgotha where political bandits consigned its destiny for more than two decades.
Take Aba the pride of Abia and the pearl of the South East of Nigeria for example. The great Enyimba City is already wearing a new look with the immediate and spontaneous ongoing reconstruction of eleven major roads all at a time by the new government. The new culture of round-the-clock refuse disposal by the newly reconstituted Abia State Environmental Protection Agency, (ASEPA), with its completely de-silted gutters and waterways, garbage and debris wholesomely carted away, even for recycling into new wealth.
The state of peaceful security of lives and property currently being experienced by citizens and residents including visitors to Abia is truly commendable since the Governor Otti launched the twenty four hour “Operation Crush” in the state. There is equally no more traffic hold-ups and general molestation of citizens by PDP thugs and bandits employed by Dr.Okezie Ikpeazu and his goons on the public highways and city streets, alongside other community roads in a siege style common with that past administration.
The unending kidnapping saga between Umunneochi and Lokpanta along Enugu-Port Harcourt Expressway now faces its demise and total stop under the impact of “Operation Crush” which has executive instruction to flush and smoke out all criminals no matter their location and flexibility. Dr.Otti’s intervention has drastically reduced the overzealousness of some uniformed men of both the police and armed forces who have to work and mingle with the Abia public daily in the course of living and commercial activities, that presently, there exists an almost seamless peace between the public and these security agents whom he has promised all available support to do their work happily and successfully. A feat unheard of in past administrations that used such security agents to carry out heinous, horrendous, despicable, dastardly and atrocious activities in the name of governance. Various kinds of street fighting, affray and sporadic gun firing are no longer tenable in the new Abia according to the gospel of Dr. Alex Otti, and the people are loving it.
A completely new foundation is being laid for God’s Own State in all sectors of a formerly battered and damaged economic and political landscape.This situational fact made the immediate past Governor of Ebonyi State of Nigeria, Engineer Dave Umahi who is the current Minister for Works in the Federal Republic to openly praise the earliest efforts of Governor Otti when the minister visited Abia State very recently and said ” There is nothing meaningful that anybody who intends to work can achieve in one hundred days. You may not even design a meaningful project in one hundred days. But we have been seeing what you have been doing. Because you have been around, you understand the pains of your people, and I also commend you ” , gushed the minister in a speech of unparalleled encouragement to the Abia State helmsman as the minister has seen firsthand the great strides already on ground in the state. Such valid praise from a highly successful past Governor of a progressive Ebonyi State, who during his eight years double tenure in office achieved evident and great developmental landmarks is not surprising, since Umahi just recently left the saddle as an examplary Governor across party lines in the Federal Republic of Nigeria. Such a praise came on the back of Governor Otti’s state of emergency declarations on road infrastructure, education, health, security, civil service reforms and debt management, digital revenue collection and treasury single account operation, massive investor incentives and several other changes taking place with the relative peace that has returned to the state in such a short time since the new governor took office on May 29, 2023, among many other feats and ongoing accomplishments.
For instance, from now onwards, government revenue in the state will never ever go into wrong hands and purses as all legitimate levies and monies meant for government coffers are fully computerized and digitally collected into a consolidated Treasury Single Account, (TSA), designed for such funds from where government receive and disburse all project cum administrative expenditures. This has in turn permanently thrown out all forms of double taxation that kill businesses as well as consigning extortionists and sundry criminals and embezzlers of public funds to the garbage can of history in the new Abia state of Nigeria.
Motorists and general road users are no longer at the mercy of greedy and spineless extortionists who were the commonest sights on our highways and motorways during the past administrations in the state. Keke riders and commercial drivers are currently savouring a new lease of business lives orchestrated by a genuinely decent leadership provided by Dr.Alex Otti and his trusted Lieutenants. Even then, such keke riders, commercial drivers, market women and traders, artisans and ordinary people now benefit from the state government introduction of free or highly subsidized health services provided by the new administration in Abia in forms of medical check ups and examinations for pregnant women, nursing mothers, new born babies, infants under five years of age and several other groups including solving of surgical and cancer detection cases for our citizens and indigent persons. An improved primary healthcare services which seeks to drastically reduce renal and cardiovascular cases through early detection and possible prevention.
Same government under its current emergency health reforms have commenced the refurbishment and rehabilitation of three general hospitals each in the three senatorial districts of the state to usher in a season of reliable and affordable healthcare provisions for all Abia citizens who have not enjoyed anything like that for over two decades from past leaders and politicians who only catered for their own health through expensive medical tourism overseas with state funds, while the public groaned and died in pain due to the insensitivity of the said political leaders.
In the education sector of the new government’s plan, the state is embarking on the construction of seventeen model primary schools in the seventeen local government areas of Abia State including the reconstruction or remodeling of some secondary schools and other forms of educational facilities abandoned, sold, appropriated or used for the settlement of political stooges and cronies in the past administrations as the already functional panel of inquiry on the recovery of stolen public properties are on top of the situation in their continuing sitting processes and desired prosecutions.
The currently emerging Abia State civil service promises to be a model that set the benchmark of professionalism in public services since its finished product will usher in an era of no-ghost workers, prompt payment of salaries, emoluments and benefits (which has already commenced) before the end of every month, dedicated payment of pensions and allied benefits to retired senior citizens, no absenteeism in official duties, no wasting of government cum executive time in all ministries, agencies, parastatals,boards, commissions, departments, companies and corporations. All these are in consonance to what the newly repackaged Debt Management Office (DMO) is currently putting in place to henceforth, seamlessly collate and manage the humongous debt burden of over 200 Billion Naira incurred by the past administration of Dr. Okezie Ikpeazu and his gang of ragamuffins.
The (DMO) is also building capacity to be in the position of successfully accessing new funds for the much required development projects in the state. Governor Otti has also set up a dedicated independent office in his administration to coordinate Abia State’s transactions with regional and global institutions and multilateral agencies to maximize the benefits of intervention funding for various aspects of development in the state which would along the line aid the building of systems that sustains businesses and industry by designing several projects capable of benefiting SMEs, small holder farmers and cooperatives to deepen encouraged entrepreneurship amid our teeming public driven by a spirit of enterprise.
All these are in the wake of a planned plot to midwife hundreds of new production facilities across the state in a variety of sectors such as agriculture, energy, entertainment, real estate and others with their economic multiplier effects of growing more local businesses. The government commitment to re-establish Aba the Enyimba City, as the true beacon of economic and social hope for the south east of Nigeria cannot be overstressed, as Dr. Otti made Aba the centrepiece of his campaign priority. A city being remodelled to catalyse a limitless birthing of new businesses and enterprises along the lines of manufacturing and service sales in all sectors of the global economy. A reinforced new industrial hub facilitated by digitized processes which reestablishes it on the global enterprise map with improved electricity power supply and internet service facilities in its businesses and schools.
Governor Otti has severally restated his resolve to construct and develop a film village in Isiala Ngwa of the old Aba province which will ensure that the greater percentage of Nollywood movies shot in Nigeria are produced in Abia where that industry actually began more than three decades ago. A situation that will make the Elephant City the entertainment and film making hub in Nigeria. All the above are captured in the original master plan of Dr. Otti’s new government that hopes to transform every step of Abia’s new aspirations.
Also, with the realities of Umuahia’s place in the history of Nigeria, Dr. Alex Otti has equally drawn out a development roadmap for the sleepy town which is the capital city of God’s Own State where dead gigantic industries such as the Modern Ceramics Industry and Golden Guinea Breweries still lie in waste amid great economic potentials. The Umuahia development plan according to what Dr. Otti has unfolded for the Nigerian public is equally as ambitious as the Abia megacity plans and proposals. Citizens and visitors to the state can clearly see all these fact by observing what is already on ground which is beginning to attract new investors and former run-away businesses to Abia. This and other reasons were the case why the State Government officially refused to celebrate any event but rather tried to remind the public of the enormous challenges ahead of Abia, God’s Own State. However, an excited and impressed Abia public took it upon themselves to jubilate in their new found general lease of unfolding good life which they are beginning to feel and experience. Their evidently resourceful Governor continues to express his gratitude to the Abia public for finding him worthy of this great leadership challenge that made them to single mindedly defy PDP’s intimidation and blackmail, to come out and vote for his victory at the last governorship polls. This is simply a first one hundred days designed as a ” Return from Golgotha to the Promised Land”.
Charles Chinekezi is a journalist and public affairs commentator.