Columns/Opinions/Letters

EKWEDIKE, ASK QUESTIONS—BUT DO NOT MANUFACTURE CONCLUSIONS Your questions about the proposed $145 million solar manufacturing project are legitimate. Abians deserve to know the proposed PPP structure, the responsibilities of the investors, the government’s contribution, the status of the land, the risk-sharing arrangement, implementation milestones and safeguards for public assets. However, asking legitimate questions does not give anyone permission to insert unsupported conclusions into the answers. FIRST, THIS IS STILL A PROPOSED INVESTMENT The public statement says that Governor Alex Otti welcomed investors proposing to establish a $145 million solar manufacturing plant at Umuelele in Isiala Ngwa South. It does…

THE LETTER THEY QUOTED, THE CONTEXT THEY HID How Mischief Makers Are Distorting Alex Otti’s 2018 Position There is a growing desperation among some opposition voices in Abia State. Unable to confront the present administration with facts, they have returned to an old letter written by Dr Alex Otti in 2018 and are now presenting it as evidence of hypocrisy. But their argument collapses immediately the full context is restored. The 2018 open letter was written during a period of deep humanitarian crisis in Abia State. At the time, civil servants were reportedly owed up to ten months’ salaries, while…

GOV OTTI IS LISTENING, STUDYING AND STRATEGIZING By AProf Chukwuemeka Ifegwu Eke The images emerging from Ovom along Opobo Road are troubling. Floodwater has disrupted movement, threatened livelihoods and reminded everyone that some communities still carry the burden of years of neglected drainage and inadequate road infrastructure. But this is not the time for empty political noise. It is the time for responsible leadership, proper assessment and lasting intervention. Governor Alex Otti is listening. He is listening to residents describing their daily struggles. He is paying attention to the videos, photographs and reports coming from the affected communities. More importantly,…

SMART BUT DUMB: WHEN POLITICAL DESPERATION CELEBRATES A FLOODED VEHICLE By celebrating the sight of a Labour Party campaign vehicle trapped in floodwater, some political actors have once again exposed the emptiness of their opposition and the danger of deliberately misinforming the public. Their argument is as laughable as it is dishonest: because a branded vehicle was caught in floodwater, Governor Alex Otti should be blamed and “sent back to Isialangwa.” What kind of reasoning is that? 🤣😂 A vehicle entering a flooded section of a road does not automatically prove that the present administration created the drainage problem. Aba’s…

THE CASSAVA-STEM COMEDIANS AND THEIR HARVEST OF IGNORANCE 🤣😂 Some mischief makers have apparently become so politically frustrated that they now regard cassava stems as symbols of failure. 🤣😂 They saw farmers receiving improved cassava stems, fertiliser and other agricultural inputs, yet hurried to social media to announce that Governor Alex Otti was “empowering Abians with ordinary sticks.” What spectacular ignorance! Cassava stems are not firewood. They are planting materials—the foundation of cassava production, food processing, livestock feed, industrial starch and rural income. No serious agricultural economy mocks the distribution of improved seedlings to genuine farmers. The programme shown in…

OTTI, NYSC ALLOWANCES AND THE POLITICS OF DELIBERATE MISINFORMATION There is a clear difference between constructive criticism and the deliberate twisting of facts for political entertainment. Governor Alex Otti approved an enhanced allowance for members of the National Youth Service Corps serving in Abia State. When the new NYSC State Coordinator, Mr Yunusa Tanimu, informed him that the approval had not been fully implemented, the Governor did not defend the delay, blame previous administrations or pretend that everything was perfect. He expressed surprise and immediately ordered the removal of every administrative bottleneck delaying payment. “I am surprised that the extra…

Otti's Inclusive Leadership: Why Imo Indigenes in Abia Endorsed Him for 2027 By Ebere Uzoukwa, PhD In politics, endorsements are often driven by party loyalty, ethnic affinity or electoral calculations. Occasionally, however, an endorsement transcends politics and becomes a referendum on leadership itself. Such was the significance of the decision by Imo-indigenes resident in Abia State to unanimously endorse Governor Alex Chioma Otti, OFR, for a second term in office. Their endorsement was not merely a gesture of solidarity; it was a recognition of a governor whose inclusive leadership has dismantled barriers of discrimination, restored confidence in governance and demonstrated…