My government will not give excuses – Otti

From Boniface Okoro, Umuahia

Newly sworn-in Governor of Abia State, Dr. Alex Chioma Otti, has assured Abians that though his administration has inherited enormous challenges, it will not give excuses but strive to rebuild the state.

Otti gave the assurance while addressing the mammoth crowd which trooped out to witness his inauguration on Friday, May 29, 2023 as the 5th elected Governor of Abia state at the Umuahia Township Stadium.

The Governor said he was entering into a new social contract which would enable him to rebuild Abia, adding that before mounting the saddle, he had studied problems confronting the state and had proposed solutions to them.

“Our social contract with the good people of Abia State, is that ours shall not be a government of excuses and finger-pointing. We have taken time to review the situation and we already have a clear understanding of what is expected from government,” he declared.

But reiterating that there was enough to be done, Otti said: “I must be frank to inform you that we have a very difficult and challenging road ahead of us. Abia State is starting, not from zero, but from an enormously negative position. While we were busy battling with the devastating effects of insincere and corrupt leadership, the rest of the world, and even many parts of Nigeria, would appear to have left us behind,” the Governor noted.

However, he vowed to turn things around for good in the state, saying: “I have abiding faith in our ability to conquer the challenges of decades of poor-quality governance; the decades of stunted growth and development; the decades of deprivation, injustice and loss of self-dignity, the decades of hopelessness, anguish, and pain.”

Otti said his administration was inheriting a poorly motivated workforce, extreme youth unemployment, collapsed physical infrastructure, a terribly frail primary, secondary and tertiary healthcare delivery system.

“These are in addition to a broken educational system, urban waste disposal crisis and a large army of citizens, especially teachers, health workers, including medical doctors and nurses, lecturers in tertiary institutions, Local Government Authority workers and most painfully, senior citizens, “who feel blatantly betrayed by successive administrations that willfully and unconscionably abandoned them to live in wretched sub-human conditions.”

Reeling out more challenges, Otti added: “The so-called urban centres in the State, have fallen far behind in terms of physical infrastructure, modern housing, amenities like pipe-borne water, quality road networks and some of the features one normally associates with modern cities.

“It will not be wrong to describe some of them as glorified villages. These places bear the semblance of urban areas in large part because of the resilience of the residents, but most importantly, because of the extensive investments made decades ago by our revered leader, Dee Sam Mbakwe. “Fixing these urban centres and bringing them at par with their contemporaries around the region and beyond would take a humongous amount of time and resources.”

He announced that part of the measures to salvage the state would be to partner the private sector.

“We can only save them through massive reliance on new public-private sector investments,” he said.

According to Otti, he was entering into a new social contract with Ndi Abia and appealed for their cooperation and support in the four-year journey. “While I pledge to use every attribute that God has given me to serve you, I would also demand from you some sacrifice.

“When a bird is released from its cage, it must flap its wings to fly and soar away to freedom. I promise to be a great conductor, but every member of this orchestra must play his or her instrument and must do so in harmony.

He the era of community learning or hearing what government was executing in their communities was over as they would witness such things live.

He said Abians would witness, firsthand, the actions of his administration, rather than relying on the media to know what was going on in their communities.

“Abians will no longer need the media to tell them what the government is doing in their communities; they will directly experience real development themselves as it occurs.”

He said the task ahead requires the sacrifice of all Abians. “After so many years in the doldrums, please let no one be in doubt that it will be very challenging at first. We must all brace up to hang in there and make the needed sacrifices. We must change our ways and we must endeavour to educate and enlighten all those around us to do the same.,” he said.

The state Chief Judge, Justice Lilian Abai, administered the oath of office on Otti at exactly 12.18 pm, after his Deputy, Engr. Ikechukwu Emetu had been administered same oath by 12.15 pm.

Those present at the Township Stadium, venue of the inauguration included such dignitaries as Nigeria former Vice President (Chief of General Staff), Commodore Ebitu Ukiwe, the Labour Party 2023 Vice Presidential Candidate, Dr. Datti Ahmed, who represented his principal and Labour Party Presidential Candidate, Mr. Peter Obi, National Chairman of Labour Party, Barr. Julius Abure, who led other National officials to the event, Senator T.A.Orji who was a former Governor of the state, and his wife, Mercy, General Ike Nwachukwu, immediate past Minister of Transportation,

Rt. Hon. Rotimi Amaechi, Senators Enyinnaya Abaribe and Chris Adighije, among others.