THE IMPACTFUL ONE YEAR ANNIVERSARY OF THE ABIA STATE GOVERNOR, DR. ALEX OTTI, OFR

Exactly one year ago, precisely on Monday, 29th May, 2023, the fifth democratically elected governor of Abia State, Dr. Alex Chioma Otti, OFR, was sworn-in at the Umuahia Township Stadium to superintendent over the affairs of Abia, the God’s Own state.

Right there at the inauguration arena, the well – prepared – ready – to – serve – governor of Abia state, Dr. Alex Otti read a 44 paragraph inaugural speech to the patient Abians and residents, whose joy knew no bounds as they beheld a new dawn in the administration of Abia state. Dr. Alex Otti among other things in his inaugural speech assured the people that he was going to deliver a people oriented government that would be the envy of all. He vowed that Abia was no longer going to just be the first in alphabetical order but be a state to reckon with in the comity of states in Nigeria.

In fact governor Otti declared thus,
“The Deputy Governor, Engr Ikechukwu Emetu, and I, together with our team, are fully ready to bequeath to our successors a far better Abia State than the one we have inherited today.”

He further stated that, “We have 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, our senior citizens, who feel blatantly betrayed by successive administrations that wilfully and unconscionably abandoned them to live in wretched sub-human conditions.”

Having identified these challenges in the state, the governor hit the ground running immediately and started addressing the issues which are in line with his policy thrust of creating wealth and lifting the people from poverty. Abians are already celebrating governor Otti’s achievements so far. In the last 365 days, the focused and visionary administration of governor Alex Otti has been impactful as he has proven his mettle in road infrastructure, security, education, health, waste management, environment, commerce and industry, ease of doing business, media engagements digital economy among others.

For instance, governor Otti as at the second week of May has rehabilitated 79 roads with direct labour, fixed and commissioned 10 roads with over 23 roads undergoing reconstructions. He is doing the roads with reputable companies including the Julius Berger that is handling the Portharcourt road, Aba. In security, the governor launched ‘Operation Crush’, a security team with men from various security agencies in the state and the team has dislodged criminals and has brought calm to Abia especially, at the Leru-Lomara- Lokpanta -Umunneochi LGA axis of the state which was notorious for kidnapping and other criminal activities. He has consistently supported the security agencies in the state in the provision of logistics and has just recently inaugurated the Abia State Security Advisory Council and Abia State Security Trust Fund to further support a robust security architecture in Abia.

In trade, commerce and industry as well as digital economy and small & medium enterprise, the governor has succeeded in changing the narrative of the entrepreneurs and has introduced the Aba business community to the digital marketing that would see them conduct their businesses online and across the globe. Trade fairs have been held while efforts are on to fix the markets in the state to make them conducive for businesses to thrive.

Also in his bid to industrialize the state the governor in partnership with private investors has embarked on the establishment of Abia Innovation Industrial Park (AIIP) at Owaza. The AIIP would host a modular refinery, manufacturing plant, incubation centre and other industrial concerns and would be one of the biggest industrial parks in West Africa. The private sector driven project has the private investors providing 90 percent of the funding while the state government would cater for 10 percent. The governor has equally given structural support to Geometrics which today is providing steady power supply in Aba, a project that is boosting businesses in Aba.

Governor Alex Otti within this one year has done a lot in education. The administration has done “Reclaim Our Schools Initiative”, aimed at reclaiming of public schools illegally taken over by private individuals and has commenced the remodeling of 13 schools per LGA; 10 primary schools and 3 secondary schools to meet basic standard requirements. Also, efforts have been made to standardize both public and private schools. His resolve to make teaching profession more attractive made him to increase the retirement age of teachers from 60 to 65 years and he is introducing a discriminatory compensation package among other packages for teachers in the state.

On Health, the governor has ensured that health facilities in the state including general hospitals across the 3 senatorial zones are retrofited to meet the growing health needs of the people. He has embarked on free medical services that ended in December and equally held a one week medical outreach in the state in partnership with the Association of Nigerian Physicians in the Americas (ANPA). Governor Otti is making serious plans are to set up the Abia medical village with the aim of reversing medical tourism from overseas to Abia.

In agriculture, the administration is currently working towards disentangling various agricultural estates in the state from their concessioneers to enable government take over and revitalize them to meet the needs of the people. Of course, in waste management, environment and urban renewal, the administration has changed the negative narrative of dirty and poor waste management system. It has also embarked on the “Light Up Abia Initiative”, where light now glow steadily in our roads and streets Governor Otti has blazed the trail in ease of doing business as well as in land and housing, where certificate of occupancy is now being acqured within 30 days of application while serious renovations and retrofiting have taken place in many government offices. The empowerment of the women and youths is not left out as programmes have been rolled out for it.

In information and media , the governor has not only allowed freedom of the press but has always engaged Abians through his monthly media chat tagged “Governor Alex Otti Speaks to Abians” where journalists and Abians are given unrestrained opportunities to ask questions on government and governance of the state. The government through the articulate Honourable Commissioner for Information and Culture, Prince Okey Kanu has always briefed the press every Monday on the outcome of the weekly State Executive Council meetings which keeps Abians in the know of government policies and programmes.

In the area of law making and policy formation, the governor has succeeded in assenting into law, the executive bill on the establishment of Greater Aba Development Authority (GADA) which gives impetus to the development of Aba and another executive bill being the “Abia State State of Nigeria Governors and Deputy Governor Pensions (Repeal) Law 2024″; a law that abolishes payment of pension to former governors and deputy governors in Abia state. He has conceived and signed for immediate implementation, the “Dig Once Policy”, a policy developed to regulate and direct the laying and installation of underground broadband technology infrastructure for individual and enterprise use in urban and semi-urban communities as well as assist the state to tap into the endless opportunities and promises of the world of high-speed internet and telecommunications Services.

Governor Otti also launched a new digital tax system for transporters and traders in the State with the aim of eliminating all forms of manual collection of revenue, fraud and middle men in revenue collection and to block revenue leakages, increase the revenue base of the State.

In line with his promise to rejig the state civil service and achieve a sustainable service, he constituted the Abia State Civil Service Reform Committee which was to among other things; review the current civil service structure with a view to improving the efficiency of the civil service. The governor in fulfillment of of his campaign promise defrayed arrears of pensions owed our retirees by the past administrations and commenced regular payment of 100 percent monthly pensions of which the pensioners in Abia today get their monthly pensions the same 28 of each month the regular workers receive theirs

This gesture has brought to an end seeming unending sufferings of the pensioners in the state, who hitterto had their payments delayed or most times outright non-payment not minding series of protests that was their lot.

Truly, this one year in of the focused and visionary government of Dr. Alex Otti ,OFR is impactful and deserves to be celebrated. Abians are happy with the tempo of works in various sectors of the state economy and for the governor himself, he says that what we see in the state now is just a dress rehearsal as he has continuously assured that by the time he will have been through with the programmes and projects he has for the people, Abians would have all cause to celebrate God for bringing him into power.

It has therefore become imperative for all stakeholders and good people of the state to throw their weight behind governor Alex Chioma Otti OFR, to enable him succeed and take Abia to the Canaan of her hope.

Happy first year anniversary Your Excellency!
 
Happy first year anniversary CHIOMA NDE ABIA!!

Happy first year anniversary the champion of the new Abia, Governor Alex Otti, OFR!!!

Written by Divine Nwankwo ,
Asst. Head, Information and Press
Govt. House, Umuahia.