Columns/Opinions/Letters

STOP MISLEADING THE PUBLIC: THE ABIA HOTELS STORY IS AN ALLEGATION, NOT A COURT VERDICT The report on Abia Hotels is presented as though illegality has already been established. It has not. What the publication contains is largely the account and accusations of Investment Guarantee Limited. No judgment, restraining order, inventory report, valuation certificate, police report or documentary evidence establishing the alleged “illegal sale of over ₦600 million assets” was reproduced. Here are the major holes and half-truths: IT CONCEALS THE CENTRAL ISSUE: THE HOTEL IS AN ABIA STATE ASSET Investment Guarantee Limited was not the original owner of Abia…

TO THOSE STILL QUESTIONING THE FACTS ABOUT THE ABIA STATE GOVERNMENT HOUSE… CAN WE NOW REST? 🤣😂 They said there was no construction.They said it was propaganda.They said the Government House existed only on social media. Now the Honourable Minister of Education has physically toured the ongoing Governor’s Office and Governor’s Lodge, while workers were visibly on site. What shall we call this one again—computer-generated scaffolding? Imported workers? Or an imaginary building captured by a real camera? 🤣🤣 The structure is rising. The evidence is visible. The doubters are now searching for another complaint. Abia is working. Facts do not…

WHO IS AFRAID OF AI-ASSISTED FACT-CHECKING? A new discipline is quietly changing public debate: AI-assisted digital verification, also called computational fact-checking. It combines artificial intelligence, internet search, document analysis, data comparison, image examination and source tracing to test claims against available evidence. For decades, misinformation prospered because verification was slow. A person could manufacture a quotation, remove a statement from context, confuse a proposed budget with actual expenditure, recycle an old photograph or present an allegation as an established fact. Before the truth travelled through libraries, archives and government records, the lie had already toured WhatsApp, Facebook and political meetings.…

FACT-CHECK: WHEN PROPAGANDA FAILS BASIC ARITHMETIC 🤣😂 Doc Paul Chijindu’s post is not an audit. It is a mixture of unrelated figures, unidentified photographs and emotional insults presented as accountability. First, the government did not claim that ₦82 billion was spent on 54 smart schools. Abia’s official smart-school programme involves 20 schools across the 17 local government areas, not 54. Proof:https://www.premiumtimesng.com/news/more-news/807520-abia-govt-firm-sign-agreement-to-establish-20-smart-schools.html The figure “54” referred to schools still undergoing renovation out of 63 schools being worked on. Nine had reportedly been completed, while 54 were at different stages of completion. That is not the same as 54 smart schools. Proof:https://nationalambassadorngr.com/abia-govt-reports-progress-on-model-schools-road-projects-others/…

WHEN DOCUMENTATION BECOMES PUBLIC SERVICE At a time when public discussion is often dominated by propaganda, insults and selective storytelling, Tochukwu Ogbuagu Kepukepu deserves commendation for using his platform to document the realities within our communities. His presentation of the Port Harcourt Road axis around Coca-Cola Junction performs an important civic duty. It shows the reconstructed road, modern streetlights and improved traffic movement, while also drawing attention to the environmental and sanitation challenges that still require urgent intervention. That balance is valuable. Genuine advocacy should acknowledge progress without pretending that every problem has disappeared. The images reveal visible transformation: a…

FACTS OVER FALSEHOOD. PROGRESS OVER PROPAGANDA. The Honourable Minister of Education’s visit to Abia State was not staged. It was an inspection of visible development, public infrastructure and purposeful governance. The anti-Abia argument asks whether the Minister was travelling to Abuja before visiting the Prof. Nnenna Oti Bus Terminal. That is a false condition. A Minister does not need to board a bus before inspecting a major transport facility. The same critics demanded that he should be taken to schools. Yet the Minister also commissioned the Smart School at Ogbo Ubakala. Immediately one achievement is presented, the goalpost is shifted…

ABIA’S RISING CURVE: THE NUMBERS BEHIND THE RENEWAL, 2023–2026 The charts present a clear picture of Abia State’s changing development trajectory between 2023 and 2026. The approved budget rose sharply from ₦160.52 billion in 2023 to about ₦1.016 trillion in 2026, with 79.9% of the 2026 budget devoted to capital expenditure. Internally generated revenue also increased from ₦23.73 billion in 2023 to ₦40.01 billion in 2024, representing approximately 68.6% growth. Public-school enrolment reportedly expanded from 117,000 to over 300,000 learners, while 5,394 teachers were recruited. In infrastructure, the government reported 414 completed road projects covering 864.12 kilometres, with another 82…