“Leadocracy” Meets “Beyond Reform”: How Governor Alex Otti Restored Dignity and Purpose to Abia’s Permanent Secretaries – By Prof. Chukwuemeka Ifegwu Eke
When Geoff Smart wrote Leadocracy: Hiring More Great Leaders into Government, he argued that the only way to save public institutions was to infuse them with private-sector discipline and moral clarity. When James D. Ward followed with Leadership and Change in Public Sector Organizations: Beyond Reform, he showed how reform becomes real only when leaders redesign the culture of governance itself.
Both theories, though conceived in global academia, have found vivid expression in one corner of Nigeria: Abia State under Governor Alex Otti.
From Bureaucratic Fatigue to Administrative Pride
Until recently, Abia’s civil service was the picture of what Ward called “institutional stagnation”—bureaucrats stripped of motivation, structure, and tools. Offices were relics of neglect; Permanent Secretaries were sidelined from the engine room of governance.
Today, under Otti’s reformist vision, that picture has changed dramatically. Permanent Secretaries now work in modern, well-furnished offices equipped with digital tools and functional systems. Their official vehicles have been upgraded, their operational autonomy restored, and—perhaps most importantly—they now sit at the table of governance as full members of the State Executive Council, a privilege they were long denied.
This is not administrative window dressing. It is, in every sense, a textbook implementation of what Smart called the Leadocracy Model—where excellence, accountability, and professional respect return to the heart of public service.
A Corporate Mind, A Public Mission
Governor Otti’s career before politics reads like a case study in Smart’s argument: great private-sector leaders must be recruited into government to save it. As a top banker and management strategist, Otti brought with him the structure of the boardroom and the ethics of audited performance.
His approach echoes Ward’s principle of “leadership beyond reform,” where government doesn’t just change rules—it transforms relationships. In Abia, Permanent Secretaries are no longer gatekeepers of red tape but partners in policy implementation. They contribute ideas, oversee execution, and report measurable outcomes. Governance has become a living, participatory process.
Restoring the Soul of the Civil Service
Across ministries, the culture of work is shifting from compliance to commitment. Files no longer gather dust; decisions move with purpose. The refurbished offices, upgraded logistics, and regular training sessions have re-ignited what Ward described as the psychological contract between the state and its workforce—the understanding that government values competence and loyalty in equal measure.
This is why the transformation in Abia’s civil service resonates far beyond Umuahia. It proves that when leadership is grounded in both philosophical intent and managerial skill, institutions recover their dignity.
The Lesson from Abia
The combination of Smart’s “Leadocracy” and Ward’s “Beyond Reform” theories finds real-world validation in Alex Otti’s Abia. He has shown that a state can move from stagnation to structure, from neglect to efficiency, when its leader acts not as a politician chasing applause but as a reformer building systems.
Permanent Secretaries, once sidelined, now symbolise this rebirth. Their restored dignity is the clearest sign that Otti’s model is working—not as theory, but as lived reality.
In an era when most public institutions struggle for relevance, Abia stands as a case study in how visionary leadership, informed by corporate discipline and global best practices, can turn governance into a masterpiece of order, respect, and renewed purpose.
Conclusion
Abia’s civil service today is not a relic of reform—it is the product of reinvention. Governor Alex Otti has achieved what scholars only theorised: he has taken the lessons of Leadocracy and Beyond Reform and turned them into policy, practice, and progress.
In doing so, he has proven that governance, when driven by competence and conscience, can indeed restore dignity—one Permanent Secretary at a time.
AProf Chukwuemeka Ifegwu Eke
