ENYIMBA GARMENT FACTORY: WHEN PROPAGANDA WEARS FACTORY OVERALL AND STARTS SHIFT WORK
Oracle, biko shift small. Let facts breathe. That CV story is a figment of your imagination. My CV is everywhere as a global scholar – www.googlescholar.com/Chukwuemekaifegwueke
One day you know much more about my relationship with my state – Abia!
Ehnnnnnn, to your false allegations…
You said Governor Otti abandoned Enyimba Garment Factory for 3 years. Beautiful comedy. Very colourful fiction. But the calendar is not a member of any political party.
FACT 1: Enyimba Garment Factory was commissioned on Saturday, May 27, 2023 — barely two days before Dr. Alex Otti was sworn in as Governor of Abia State on May 29, 2023. Channels Television reported clearly that the outgoing Ikpeazu administration inaugurated the Enyimba Garment Factory and Abia Specialist Clinic on May 27, 2023, “barely a day to his exit from office.”
So, please, how did Otti abandon for “3 years” a factory handed over at the door of Government House like last-minute exam script?
This one is not opposition. This is arithmetic.
FACT 2: Before that last-minute commissioning, reports from May 2023 still described equipment installation as ongoing. One report of May 11, 2023 stated that Governor Ikpeazu inspected “ongoing equipment installation work” at the Enyimba Garment Factory. So the same facility that was still receiving equipment in May 2023 suddenly became a fully functional global industrial miracle by May 27, 2023?
Wonderful. Even Dubai construction people should come and learn this 16-day miracle.
FACT 3: The employment claim must be handled with sense. The public claim around the factory was that it could provide a minimum of 560 direct jobs per shift, not “thousands of jobs” already created. There is a difference between projected jobs and existing jobs. One is planning. The other is payroll. Propaganda loves confusing both.
If the factory had truly been operating seriously before Otti, show us the staff list, payroll record, production figures, supply contracts, market distribution records, revenue remittances and audited management accounts.
Not microphone. Not tears. Not “Ikpeazu did it.” Bring records.
FACT 4: The claim that Otti “allowed the factory to deteriorate” is another political Nollywood script. By March 12, 2026, Abia’s Commissioner for Industry and SMEs, Mazi Michael Enyinnaya Akpara, had inspected ongoing renovation works at Enyimba Garment Factory and ENASCO in Aba as part of efforts to revive key industrial establishments.
So what is the real offence here? That Otti is reviving it? That he is repairing what was not sustainably operational? That he refused to clap for ribbon-cutting without production?
Please, let us be serious. A factory is not a banner. A factory is not a commissioning cake. A factory is not a campaign backdrop. A factory is machines, workers, orders, production, maintenance, revenue, market access and management discipline.
FACT 5: Abia’s unemployment figure of 18.7% is real, but it is not a toy for propaganda. The National Bureau of Statistics’ 2023 Labour Force Survey reported that Abia had the highest state unemployment rate at 18.7%. The same report also showed Abia with a youth NEET rate of 38.1% — young people not in employment, education or training.
But the honest question is: who left the state with that 2023 labour-market wound?
Otti entered office on May 29, 2023. The NBS 2023 annual labour report reflects the labour market of that transition year. So to wave the 2023 unemployment figure as if Otti created it is like setting fire to your kitchen in the morning and blaming the new tenant by evening.
Very poetic. Very unserious.
FACT 6: On Geometric Power, let us not behave like history started when someone discovered Facebook live. The Aba Integrated Power Project was officially commissioned on February 28, 2024 and is a 141MW integrated power project serving the Aba ring-fenced area covering nine LGAs. Afreximbank described it as a pioneering project.
There was also a public controversy in March 2024 over Abia State’s alleged equity stake. Premium Times reported that Governor Otti said there was no evidence before his government that Abia had invested in the Geometric Power Plant. Vanguard also reported the counterclaim from Ikpeazu’s former officials that approval was given for Abia State to invest in Geometric Power.
So the fair thing is simple: if anyone insists Abia paid $3 million, $3.56 million or $5 million, produce the bank transfer, share certificate, equity instrument, board resolution and audited entry. Governance is not beer-parlour affidavit.
FACT 7: On the so-called “N3 billion left in the bank,” let the person making the claim provide the statement of account, the bank name, the exact account number, the date, the balance certificate and the handover note. In public finance, “we left money” without documentary proof is not evidence. It is bedtime story with government letterhead.
FACT 8: The Aba Specialist Hospital/Clinic was also commissioned on May 27, 2023, at the same exit-door ceremony. Again, if it was fully functional before May 29, 2023, show the patient records, staff deployment, equipment inventory, medical service statistics, budget releases and operational reports. Commissioning is not the same thing as functioning.
FACT 9: Continuity in governance is good. But continuity does not mean blindly inheriting bad workmanship, weak structure, poor management or politically hurried projects. A serious government must audit, repair, restructure and make assets productive. That is not abandonment. That is rescue.
If a man hands you a car with ribbon on the bonnet but no reliable engine, your duty is not to drive it into the bush for applause. Your duty is to open the bonnet.
FACT 10: The new Abia approach is simple: revive assets, rebuild infrastructure, create industrial support systems, attract private capital, fix Aba, improve power reliability and make enterprise work. That is why Aba roads, erosion control, hotels, industrial zones, power engagement and SME-focused projects are being linked into one development logic.
The opposition wants Otti to inherit ribbon, praise ribbon, worship ribbon and keep ribbon.
But Abians need production, not ribbon.
So let us end this comedy politely.
If Enyimba Garment Factory was fully functional before Otti, bring:👇🏻
- payroll records;
- staff numbers;
- production data;
- sales records;
- audited revenue;
- maintenance reports;
- supply contracts;
- management accounts;
- electricity consumption records;
- export or distribution evidence.
Until then, what we have is not “the sad story of Enyimba Garment Factory.”
What we have is the sad story of political commissioning without sustainable operation.
Otti is not destroying Ikpeazu’s legacy.
Otti is separating real assets from political decorations.
And that, my brother, is why propaganda is crying in garment factory uniform.
REFERENCES / LINKS
Channels Television, May 27, 2023: “Abia Govt Inaugurates Garment Factory, Clinic”
https://www.channelstv.com/2023/05/27/abia-govt-inaugurates-garment-factory-clinic/
Nairaland report, May 11, 2023: Ikpeazu inspects ongoing equipment installation at Enyimba Garment Factory
https://www.nairaland.com/7686000/ikpeazu-inspects-equipment-installations-enyimba
National Bureau of Statistics, Nigeria Labour Force Survey Annual Report 2023
https://www.nigerianstat.gov.ng/pdfuploads/Annual_Nigerian_Labour_Force_Survey_Report.pdf
Gazette Nigeria, Sept. 24, 2024: Abia recorded highest unemployment rate at 18.7%, citing NBS
https://gazettengr.com/unemployment-rate-stood-at-5-4-in-2023-abia-recorded-highest-nbs/
BusinessDay, Sept. 27, 2024: Abia leads states with highest unemployment rate
https://businessday.ng/news/article/abia-leads-top-10-nigerian-states-with-highest-unemployment-rate-survey/
National Ambassador, March 12, 2026: Akpara assesses renovation progress at Enyimba Garment Factory, ENASCO
https://nationalambassadorngr.com/akpara-assesses-renovation-progress-at-enyimba-garment-factory-enasco/
Afreximbank, Feb. 28, 2024: Geometric Power commissions 141MW Aba Integrated Power Project
https://www.afreximbank.com/geometric-power-commissions-the-afreximbank-backed-141mw-aba-integrated-power-project-%EF%BF%BC/
Premium Times, March 4, 2024: Geometric Power Plant speaks on Abia govt’s equity stake
https://www.premiumtimesng.com/news/top-news/674224-geometric-power-plant-speaks-on-abia-govts-equity-stake.html
Vanguard, March 1, 2024: Otti, Ikpeazu’s aides war over Abia’s 5% equity share in Geometric Power
https://www.vanguardngr.com/2024/03/otti-ikpeazus-aides-war-over-abias-5-equity-share-in-geometric-power/
Federal Ministry of Information, Nov. 16, 2021: Enyimba Automated Shoe Company commissioned with 2 million pairs annual production capacity
https://fmino.gov.ng/senate-president-dr-lawan-commissions-automated-shoe-company-aba-built-by-the-ikpeazu-administration/
