Abia State - Abia ThinkTank News

Jan

2026

Hon. Ikenna Ukwa Congratulates Chief Kalu Ikpemini On Hostoric Election As Ohafia Improvement union(OIU) President-Elect

Hon. Ikenna Ukwa Congratulates Chief Kalu Ikpemini on Historic Election Victory as OIU President-Elect The Senior Legislative Aide to the President of the Nigerian Senate, Hon Ikenna Nicolas Ukwa has extended heartfelt congratulations to Chief Kalu Ikpemini on his resounding election as President-General of the Ohafia Improvement Union (OIU), Inc. In a statement released today, Chief Ikenna Nicolas Ukwa hailed Chief Ikpemini as a philanthropist par excellence whose selfless service and deep commitment to community development have earned him the trust and admiration of Ohafia sons and daughters, both at home and in the diaspora. “Chief Ikpemini’s victory is a…

Jan

2026

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How 31 Months Of Quite Institution-Building Set The Stage For Abia’s 2026 Acceleration -By Prof Chukwuemeka Ifegwu Eke

Abia State, Columns/Opinions/Letters, Good Governance

How 31 Months of Quiet Institution-Building Set the Stage for Abia’s 2026 Acceleration For much of 2024 and 2025, the loudest conversation about Abia State has not been about policy details but about noise—social media claims, counterclaims, and the familiar Nigerian suspicion that “nothing really changes.” Yet governance is rarely measured in decibels. It is measured in systems built, arrears cleared, and decisions locked into law. By that standard, Governor Alex Chioma Otti’s first 31 months look less like improvisation and more like deliberate sequencing.From the outset, Otti signalled a break with Abia’s 24-year PDP era, widely documented as a…

Jan

2026

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Abia 2026 Appropriation: A Strategic Budget Of N1.016 Trillion – By Prof Chukwuemeka Ifegwu Eke

Abia State, Columns/Opinions/Letters, Economy, Good Governance

Abia 2026 Appropriation: A Strategic Budget of ₦1.016 Trillion Abia State has formally entered a new fiscal category. With the signing into law of the ₦1.016 trillion 2026 Appropriation Act, Governor Alex Chioma Otti has positioned Abia among Nigeria’s high-capacity subnational economies, moving the conversation from promises to measurable commitments. The figure—₦1,016,228,072,651.99—was confirmed by the Abia State Government following the budget signing on December 29, 2025, a full three days before the new fiscal year, signalling planning discipline rather than improvisation (https://abiastate.gov.ng).Unlike previous cycles where budgets were largely aspirational, the 2026 appropriation is structured around consolidation of ongoing infrastructure, institutional…

Jan

2026

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They Call Me Many Names: A Pen Terrorist, A Stinging Bee, And Lately Even A London Propogandist – By Prof Chukwuemeka Ifegwu Eke

Abia State, Columns/Opinions/Letters, Personality

They call me many names. A pen terrorist. A stinging bee. Lately, even a London propagandist. I wear none of these labels with anger. I understand where they come from.When you refuse to shout with the crowd, when you insist on evidence over abuse, when you choose structure over sentiment, discomfort follows. Especially when your convictions do not align with the candidate or principal others wish you to promote.Yes, I believe in what Dr. Alex Otti is doing in Abia State. Not because he is perfect, but because governance should be judged by direction, discipline, and data—not by noise. I…

Jan

2026

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Condition Of Abia State Schools: Laughable, Myopic And Sadistic Analysis – By Prof Chukwuemeka Ifegwu Eke

Abia State, Columns/Opinions/Letters, Education

LAUGHABLE. MYOPIC. SADISTIC. What you call “analysis” is really a tired social-media trope built on exaggeration, selective blindness, and deliberate amnesia.First, the hypocrisy. You praise Peter Mbah and Charles Soludo as “quiet performers” while dismissing Alex Chioma Otti as a “social media governor.” Yet you ignore the obvious philosophical flaw: visibility is not noise, and documentation is not propaganda. A government that publishes what it is doing is not weaker than one that communicates less; it is simply more exposed to scrutiny. Serious governance welcomes exposure.Second, the intellectual dishonesty. You assert that “almost ₦100bn was spent on schools and no…

Jan

2026

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We Will Work Together For The Progress And Development Of Ohafia – Chief Samuel Ume Tells Ikenna Ukwa

Abia State, Columns/Opinions/Letters, News Flash, Politics

WE WILL WORK TOGETHER FOR THE PROGRESS AND DEVELOPMENT OF OHAFIA, CHIEF SAMUEL UME TELLS IKENNA UKWA A prominent businessman, Chief Samuel Ume yesterday hosted his brother, friend and the Senior Legislative Aide to the Senate President of Nigeria, Hon Ikenna Nicolas Ukwa in his country home, Ugwuegbenzu, Amaekpu Ohafia. Chief Sam Dimgba and his friends who were around to welcome Chief Ikenna Nicolas Ukwa took turn to eulogise the OMEZIMBA 1 OF AMAEKPU OHAFIA for his visions, ingenuity and people oriented projects, especially for installing solar powered street lights in the emerging Ugwuegbenzu estate in Amaekpu Ohafia, which they…

Dec

2025

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Abia 2026: From Argument To Appropriation – When Ideas Finally Become Law – By Prof Chukwuemeka Ifegwu Eke

Abia State, Columns/Opinions/Letters, Good Governance

ABIA 2026: FROM ARGUMENT TO APPROPRIATION — WHEN IDEAS FINALLY BECOME LAW Only days ago, three connected arguments framed the debate about Abia’s future. One warned that Abia’s real struggle was not noise versus silence, but institutions versus personalities. Another situated Abia within a global reform moment, comparing Governor Otti’s posture to learning states that prioritise systems over spectacle. The third insisted that reform becomes real only when ideas survive rhetoric and enter enforceable law.On December 29, 2025, that debate crossed its first irreversible threshold.With the signing of the 2026 Appropriation Bill into law by Alex Chioma Otti, Abia moved…

Dec

2025

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Gov. Alex Otti And DSP Benjamin Kalu: When Politics Becomes Sport, And Governance Becomes The Scorecard- By Prof Chukwuemeka Ifegwu Eke

Abia State, Columns/Opinions/Letters, Good Governance, Politics

GOV. ALEX OTTI AND DSP BENJAMIN KALU: WHEN POLITICS BECOMES SPORT, AND GOVERNANCE BECOMES THE SCORECARD If politics were a competitive sport in Abia today, Deputy Speaker Benjamin Kalu appears to have chosen a single favourite event: bashing Governor Alex Otti. Week after week, interview after interview, press line after press line, the fixation is unmistakable. Not policy alternatives. Not competing development blueprints. Not verifiable achievements on Abia soil. Just relentless shadowboxing with a governor who is already in office and already delivering—however imperfectly—within the full glare of public scrutiny.That obsession is politically revealing. Serious contenders build parallel records; unserious…

Dec

2025

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Beyond Politics, Toward Institutions: Alex Otti, The Learning-State Idea, And The Global Case For Legacy Governance – By Prof Chukwuemeka Ifegwu Eke

Abia State, Columns/Opinions/Letters, Good Governance

Beyond Politics, Toward Institutions: Alex Otti, the Learning-State Idea, and the Global Case for Legacy Governance When Governor Alex Chioma Otti says, “I am not a politician; I came to save Aba and rebuild Abia,” he is placing himself—whether deliberately or instinctively—inside a global intellectual tradition that sharply distinguishes political power from institutional purpose. This is not the language of electoral dominance; it is the language of mission governance, a theme running through the most influential development literature of the past decade.Scholars like Mariana Mazzucato have argued that successful governments are not those obsessed with control, but those that define…

Dec

2025

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Edo Was An Exception, Not A National Formula: Abia’s Political Physics Is Unique – By Prof Chukwuemeka Ifegwu Eke

Abia State, Columns/Opinions/Letters, Politics

Edo Was an Exception, Not a National Formula: Abia’s Political Physics is Unique Why the “Okpebholo Precedent” Does Not Decide Abia 2027The argument begins—and must be confronted—at the so-called Okpebholo precedent. What happened in Edo did not establish a new electoral doctrine; it exposed the specific political mechanics of Edo State at a particular moment. Edo’s outcome was shaped by a rare convergence of factors: a fractured opposition, internal party implosions, elite realignments, litigation timing, and a local political structure that had already been hollowed out before voting day. Power there did not descend from Abuja by decree; it flowed…