ANOSIKE’S FALSE CHOICE: YOU CANNOT BUILD PEOPLE BY INSULTING THE ROADS THAT CARRY THEIR FOOD, THEIR CHILDREN, THEIR PATIENTS AND THEIR BUSINESSES
Let us begin from the most dangerous weakness in Dr. Kelechi Anosike’s recent argument: he is trying to create an artificial quarrel between “roads” and “people’s wellbeing.”
That is not development philosophy.
That is campaign drama.
No serious economist, planner, governor, development expert or public administrator separates people from the infrastructure that sustains their daily lives. Roads are not ornamental concrete. Roads are life channels. Roads carry food from farms to markets. Roads carry children to school. Roads carry pregnant women to hospitals. Roads carry traders to customers. Roads carry investors to locations. Roads reduce transport costs. Roads open communities. Roads connect people to opportunity.
So when Anosike says development should not be measured by roads, buildings and physical infrastructure, he is not saying something profound. He is revealing a shallow understanding of how human development actually works.
The World Bank has been very clear that road and transport infrastructure are critical to economic development, access, competitiveness and service delivery. The UNDP also defines human development around a long and healthy life, knowledge and a decent standard of living.
Now ask Anosike one simple question:
How do you improve health without hospitals and access roads?
How do you improve education without schools and safe access?
How do you improve standard of living without markets, roads, drainage, power, sanitation, skills, investment and jobs?
That is why Governor Alex Otti’s model is superior.
Otti is not choosing roads over people.
Otti is using roads, schools, hospitals, pensions, salary reforms, education reforms, healthcare reforms, fiscal discipline and infrastructure renewal to build people.
Anosike says: “Development should not be measured solely by roads, buildings and physical infrastructure.”
Correct. Nobody said development should be measured only by roads. But only a politician looking for cheap applause would pretend that roads are not part of people’s welfare.
A pregnant woman in Ohafia going to hospital does not need campaign grammar. She needs a passable road.
A trader in Aba does not need slogan. He needs access, drainage, security, lighting and a business environment that works.
A child in a rural community does not need political poetry. That child needs a school, a teacher, a desk, a safe road and a government that has stopped treating education as charity.
A farmer in Bende, Umunneochi, Isiala Ngwa, Ukwa or Ohafia does not need “people first” rhetoric. He needs farm access, storage, markets, roads, input support and security.
So when Governor Alex Otti points to hundreds of roads constructed and rehabilitated across Abia, that is not “road politics.” That is development evidence.
When reports say Otti’s government has built 414 roads covering about 864.12 kilometres, with more still under construction, that is not empty propaganda. That is infrastructure speaking in figures.
Anosike says: “Our success will not be measured by the number of projects commissioned, but by the number of lives improved.”
Beautiful sentence.
Empty logic.
How are lives improved in government?
Through measurable interventions.
Through roads.
Through schools.
Through hospitals.
Through salaries.
Through pensions.
Through security.
Through drainage.
Through power.
Through public service reform.
Through clean public finance.
Through markets.
Through investment.
Through accountable governance.
Through public assets protected from political waste.
Lives are not improved by speeches alone. Lives are improved when government converts public resources into visible, measurable and useful public goods.
In Abia today, the evidence is not hidden. Otti’s government has pursued road construction at scale, expanded infrastructure work, pushed fiscal discipline, addressed pensions and salaries, and is rebuilding public institutions that were weakened over the years.
That is how serious governments speak.
Not “we will.”
But “we have started.”
Not “we promise.”
But “go and see.”
Anosike says: “We will establish functional primary healthcare centres across all 17 local government areas.”
Good sentence.
But again, he is speaking in future tense. Otti is governing in present tense.
Healthcare is not built with slogans. Healthcare requires hospitals, primary health centres, workers, diagnostics, equipment, electricity, funding, drugs, access roads and management systems.
A health centre without access road is a locked promise.
A hospital without workers is a political signboard.
A clinic without equipment is a campaign poster.
A healthcare reform without fiscal discipline is another abandoned project waiting to happen.
So when Anosike talks about healthcare while mocking infrastructure, he contradicts himself. Healthcare needs infrastructure. Emergency care needs roads. Maternal care needs access. Medical supply chains need transport. Doctors and nurses need functioning facilities.
You cannot insult the foundation and still claim you want to build the house.
Anosike says: “Education is central to human capital development.”
Again, correct phrase. But Abians should ask him: who is already doing it?
Under Governor Alex Otti, Abia announced free and compulsory education from primary school to junior secondary school in public schools, with implementation from January 2025. That is not campaign grammar. That is a policy direction.
The Otti administration has also reported major investment in the retrofitting and renovation of public schools, including about ₦14.43 billion spent on 61 public schools as of June 2025.
That is the difference between campaign English and governance evidence.
Anosike says education is central.
Otti is putting money into schools.
Anosike says people matter.
Otti is removing barriers to basic education.
Anosike says human capital.
Otti is rebuilding the classrooms where human capital is formed.
Abians should know the difference.
Anosike says: “Youth empowerment will receive special attention.”
That line is old.
Every conventional politician in Nigeria has used it.
“Youth empowerment.”
“Women empowerment.”
“Support scheme.”
“Grant.”
“Welfare.”
“Stomach infrastructure.”
“Poverty alleviation.”
Abians should beware. Whenever politicians begin with “empowerment” and “welfare” without showing a productive framework, the trap is simple: return the state to sharing money, sharing rice, sharing motorcycles, sharing envelopes, sharing temporary favour, sharing political patronage — while roads collapse, schools decay, hospitals weaken and the same politicians return every election season to share again.
That is not development.
That is dependency.
True youth empowerment is not handout politics. It is a productive ecosystem.
Build roads so businesses can move goods.
Fix schools so young people can learn.
Improve healthcare so families are not destroyed by preventable illness.
Pay salaries and pensions so households regain dignity.
Reform public finance so money stops leaking.
Create infrastructure so investors can come.
Support skills so youths can earn.
Improve markets so traders can grow.
That is the Otti direction.
Not sharing.
Building.
Not patronage.
Productivity.
Not election-season benevolence.
Permanent opportunity.
Anosike says: “Workers deserve dignity and fair compensation.”
Yes. But dignity is not a sentence. Dignity is payment.
A pensioner does not eat grammar.
A civil servant does not pay school fees with manifesto.
A retired teacher does not buy medicine with campaign slogans.
Governor Otti met a state where salary and pension arrears were heavy burdens. His administration has reported committing ₦30 billion to inherited salary and pension arrears. PenCom also commended Abia for steps taken on pension reform, including clearing pension backlog and signing the Abia State Pension Reform Law 2024.
So let no one lecture Abians with sweet words while ignoring the painful history of unpaid workers and abandoned pensioners.
Those who reduced pensioners to tears cannot suddenly become apostles of welfare because election season is approaching.
Anosike says: “Agriculture will play a central role.”
Good.
But agriculture without roads is poverty with hoes.
How does cassava leave the farm?
By road.
How does palm produce reach the market?
By road.
How does fertilizer reach rural farmers?
By road.
How do agro-processors move finished products?
By road.
How do buyers enter producing communities?
By road.
How does rural prosperity expand?
By access.
That is why it is intellectually weak to mock roads while promising agriculture. Roads are not the enemy of agriculture. Roads are the backbone of agriculture.
Any candidate who promises agriculture but downplays road infrastructure has not understood the value chain he is talking about.
Anosike says: “I trust INEC.”
That is his business.
Abians should trust their eyes.
Trust the roads they now use.
Trust the schools being rebuilt.
Trust the pension alerts received.
Trust the drainage that reduces flooding.
Trust the street lights that extend economic life.
Trust the workers who are paid.
Trust the communities being opened.
Trust the visible difference between political promise and measurable performance.
Anosike says: “I am ready to debate Governor Otti.”
Debate is welcome.
But debate must not be theatre.
Debate what exactly?
A microphone against measurable performance?
A manifesto against roads, schools, pensions and reforms?
A future-tense politician against a sitting governor showing work?
A slogan against figures?
Let him come with numbers.
Let him come with costed plans.
Let him come with funding models.
Let him tell Abians how he will pay for all his promises without returning the state to political sharing culture.
Let him show what he means by “people’s welfare.”
Does he mean public goods?
Or does he mean old-style distribution?
Does he mean hospitals, schools, roads, salaries, pensions and markets?
Or does he mean grants, envelopes, rice, handouts and patronage?
Abians must ask.
Anosike says: “I secured over 16,000 votes while the next contender received about 3,000.”
That is PDP internal arithmetic.
Abia people are not PDP delegates.
Winning a party primary is not the same as winning public trust.
A delegate election is not a referendum on Abia’s future.
Abia has moved beyond delegate politics. Abians have seen what governance can look like when public funds are treated as instruments of development, not food for party structures.
This is the real warning to Abians:
Be careful when any politician uses the phrase “people’s welfare” to attack infrastructure.
In serious governance, welfare is not sharing money.
Welfare is building the conditions that allow people to live better.
A good road is welfare.
A functional school is welfare.
A working hospital is welfare.
Paid pensions are welfare.
Paid salaries are welfare.
Clean drainage is welfare.
Street lights are welfare.
Security is welfare.
Debt discipline is welfare.
Public accountability is welfare.
Investor confidence is welfare.
Market access is welfare.
Skills training is welfare.
Food access is welfare.
A productive economy is welfare.
Anosike’s message sounds emotional, but the hidden danger is clear: once a politician separates “people” from “projects,” he is preparing the ground to replace development with distribution, infrastructure with patronage, and governance with sharing.
Abia must not go back.
Governor Alex Otti’s argument is simple: build the structures that improve lives permanently.
Roads today.
Schools today.
Hospitals today.
Pensions today.
Salaries today.
Reforms today.
Jobs tomorrow.
Dignity always.
As the saying goes, “The best time to plant a tree was twenty years ago. The second-best time is now.”
Abia wasted many years.
Otti is rebuilding the foundation now.
And another truth remains: “You cannot harvest where you did not plant.”
Those who planted arrears, broken roads, weak institutions, decayed schools and political dependency cannot suddenly harvest credibility by speaking polished grammar.
Abians should ask every candidate one question:
Where is your evidence?
Not your poetry.
Not your promise.
Not your slogan.
Not your “people first” cliché.
Where is your evidence?
Because in the new Abia, development is not measured by noise.
It is measured by visible change.
It is measured by verifiable figures.
It is measured by functioning institutions.
It is measured by roads that connect communities.
It is measured by schools that open futures.
It is measured by hospitals that save lives.
It is measured by pensioners who can smile again.
It is measured by workers who are paid.
It is measured by public funds used for public good.
And on that score, Governor Alex Otti is not merely speaking.
Otti is showing working.
Abia must not go back.
Abia must move forward.
REFERENCES / LINKS
World Bank – Transport and development:
https://www.worldbank.org/ext/en/topic/transport
UNDP Human Development Index:
https://hdr.undp.org/data-center/human-development-index
Punch – Otti’s reported road construction and debt claims:
https://punchng.com/my-govt-built-414-roads-cut-debt-by-60-in-three-years-otti/
The Guardian – Abia declares free education up to secondary school:
https://guardian.ng/news/abia-declares-free-education-up-to-secondary-school/
Vanguard – Abia announces free and compulsory education:
https://www.vanguardngr.com/2024/11/abia-announces-free-compulsory-education/
BusinessDay – Abia spent ₦14.43bn to renovate 61 schools:
https://businessday.ng/education/article/abia-spent-n14-43bn-to-renovate-61-schools-otti/
Alex Otti Official Website – ₦14.43bn spent on 61 schools:
https://www.alexotti.com/gov-otti-spends-n14-43-billion-on-61-schools-tells-chikamnayo-that-his-government-will-not-hire-him/
National Ambassador – ₦30bn committed to salary and pension arrears:
https://nationalambassadorngr.com/weve-committed-n30bn-to-clear-inherited-salary-pension-arrears-in-abia-gov-otti/
PenCom – Commendation of Abia pension reform steps:
https://www.pencom.gov.ng/pencom-commends-governor-otti-for-his-commitment-to-setting-up-a-seamless-pension-scheme/
