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ONE PHOTOGRAPH, MANY FALSE CLAIMS: DISMANTLING THE PROPAGANDA AGAINST GOVERNOR ALEX OTTI A political graphic currently circulating on social media attempts to reduce the economic performance of Governor Alex Otti’s administration to a photograph of an overgrown section of Eke-Ututu Market and several unsupported economic claims. Although every abandoned or underdeveloped public facility deserves government attention, one photograph cannot constitute a credible assessment of an entire state economy. The graphic is a classic example of how political propaganda attempts to imitate economic analysis. It presents figures and categorical conclusions without identifying the sources, dates, definitions or methods through which they…

THREE YEARS OF DECEIT? How Political Propaganda, Distorted Figures and Selective Outrage Have Tried—and Failed—to Conceal Governor Alex Otti’s Transformation of Abia State An investigative defence of the “New Abia” record For three years, Governor Alex Otti has governed Abia State under an extraordinary burden. He has not merely had to reconstruct broken roads, rehabilitate abandoned schools, revive decaying hospitals, restore confidence in government and confront inherited financial liabilities. He has also had to govern against a coordinated political industry whose survival increasingly depends on convincing Abians that what they can see with their own eyes does not exist. That…

ABSU, ASUU AND THE OTTI ADMINISTRATION: UNEARTHING THE TRUTH BEHIND THE STRIKE THREAT A fact-based response to claims of obsolete salaries, punitive taxation, propaganda and worsening poverty in Abia State A recent political publication claims that the Academic Staff Union of Universities at Abia State University has threatened industrial action because lecturers are allegedly still being paid under the 2009 salary structure. It compares Abia unfavourably with Imo State, accuses the Abia Government of rushing to impose a new tax regime, alleges that state revenue has increased fourfold and concludes that Governor Alex Otti spends heavily on propaganda while Abians…