Columns/Opinions/Letters

Dec
17
2025
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By Abia ThinkTank
Succession, Not Elections: The Hidden Battle That Will Decide Abia’s 25-Year Development Future – By Prof Chukwuemeka Ifegwu Eke

Succession, Not Elections: The Hidden Battle That Will Decide Abia’s 25-Year Development Future – By Prof Chukwuemeka Ifegwu Eke

Abia State, Columns/Opinions/Letters, Economy, Good Governance, Politics
SUCCESSION, NOT ELECTIONS: THE HIDDEN BATTLE THAT WILL DECIDE ABIA’S 25-YEAR DEVELOPMENT FUTURE For all the noise that dominates Nigerian politics, history shows that long-term development is rarely defeated by opposition parties or public criticism. It is defeated by something quieter and more lethal: succession failure. As Abia State sketches a 25-year development horizon under Governor Alex Otti, the most consequential question is not who wins the next election, but who governs after him—and whether governance survives beyond personalities. This is not speculation. It is a pattern well documented across successful and failed reform states worldwide. THE FIRST PHASE (2023–2031):…
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Dec
17
2025
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By Abia ThinkTank
NMDPRA Boss, Farouk Ahmed, Finally Responds To Dangote’s Allegation

NMDPRA Boss, Farouk Ahmed, Finally Responds To Dangote’s Allegation

Columns/Opinions/Letters, Human Rights, News Flash, Oil & Gas
NMDPRA Boss, Farouk Ahmed, Finally Responds To Dangote’s Allegation The Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA), Engr. Farouk Ahmed, has responded to recent claims regarding the financing of his children’s education and his integrity in office, insisting that the allegations are misleading and ill-timed. In a detailed statement, Ahmed said the allegations “necessitated this response, not because I fear scrutiny of my finances, which I welcome, but because the timing and nature of these claims demand context that only three decades of public service can provide.” Ahmed highlighted his career in Nigeria’s petroleum…
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Dec
15
2025
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By Abia ThinkTank
Forests, Fortune, And Power: The Dark Political Economy Of Violence, Exploitation And Insecurity In Nigeria – By Prof. Chukwuemeka Ifegwu Eke

Forests, Fortune, And Power: The Dark Political Economy Of Violence, Exploitation And Insecurity In Nigeria – By Prof. Chukwuemeka Ifegwu Eke

Economy, Columns/Opinions/Letters
FORESTS, FORTUNE, AND POWER: THE DARK POLITICAL ECONOMY OF VIOLENCE, EXPLOITATION AND INSECURITY IN NIGERIA Across Nigeria, the intersection of forests, fortune, and power has evolved into a shadow political economy where violence, criminal enterprise, and institutional weakness reinforce one another. Forests—once symbols of cultural heritage, biodiversity, and livelihood—have increasingly become theatres of kidnapping, banditry, and organised crime. This transformation is not accidental. It reflects how geography, poverty, governance failures, and profit incentives converge to create zones of impunity. Nigeria’s security leadership has openly acknowledged the strategic role forests play in sustaining criminal operations. The Chief of Defence Staff, General…
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Dec
14
2025
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By Abia ThinkTank
Governor Otti And The Culture Of Excellence In Abia – By Ebere Uzoukwa Ph.D (SSA To Governor Otti On Public Affairs)

Governor Otti And The Culture Of Excellence In Abia – By Ebere Uzoukwa Ph.D (SSA To Governor Otti On Public Affairs)

Abia State, Columns/Opinions/Letters, Culture, Good Governance
Governor Otti and the Culture of Excellence in Abia By Ebere Uzoukwa, PhD Governor Alex Chioma Otti, OFR, has deliberately and consistently introduced a refreshing model of leadership in Abia State, one that elevates excellence, honours legacy, and reinforces the enduring value of hard work and service to society. Beyond policy reforms and infrastructural development, the Governor is driving a deeper cultural transformation by recognising and celebrating individuals whose personal achievements have brought honour, dignity, and positive national and international recognition to Abia State. In recent times, this philosophy has found expression in the Governor’s practice of publicly celebrating distinguished…
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Dec
13
2025
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By Abia ThinkTank
From Moribund Assets To Living Industries: How Abia’s Development Strategy Fits Global Governance Theory – By Prof Chukwuemeka Ifegwu Eke

From Moribund Assets To Living Industries: How Abia’s Development Strategy Fits Global Governance Theory – By Prof Chukwuemeka Ifegwu Eke

Abia State, Columns/Opinions/Letters, Good Governance
FROM MORIBUND ASSETS TO LIVING INDUSTRIES: HOW ABIA’S DEVELOPMENT STRATEGY FITS GLOBAL GOVERNANCE THEORY Reclaiming Failed Assets and the Logic of Developmental States When the Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria (AMCON) formally handed over Star Paper Mill to the Abia State Government in December 2025, the moment represented more than the recovery of a long-abandoned industrial facility. It illustrated what Robert H. Bates describes in The Politics of Development as the defining test of governance in post-colonial states: the ability of political leadership to reverse institutional decay rather than merely manage decline. Bates argues that development occurs when governments confront…
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Dec
13
2025
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By Abia ThinkTank
Abia’s Health Sector Renaissance: How Governor Otti’s Reforms Earned National Recognition- By Ebere Uzoukwa Ph.D(SSA To Governor Otti On Public Affairs)

Abia’s Health Sector Renaissance: How Governor Otti’s Reforms Earned National Recognition- By Ebere Uzoukwa Ph.D(SSA To Governor Otti On Public Affairs)

Abia State, Columns/Opinions/Letters, Economy, Good Governance
Abia’s Health Sector Renaissance: How Governor Otti’s Reforms Earned National Recognition By Ebere Uzoukwa, PhD Abia State’s emergence as the best-performing state in the South East at the 2025 Nigeria Governors Forum (NGF) Primary Health Care Leadership Challenge, as well as its ranking among the six best-performing states nationwide, represents both a national endorsement and a compelling validation of the far-reaching reforms underway in the state’s health sector. Beyond the prestige of the award and the accompanying USD 500,000 zonal prize, the recognition underscores a deeper reality that Abia’s health system is undergoing a deliberate, people-centred transformation driven by the…
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Dec
13
2025
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By Abia ThinkTank
Otti’s Industrial Revival Strategy: Reawakening Abia’s Factories, Restoring Jobs, Rebuilding Confidence – By Ebere Uzoukwa Ph.D(SSA To Governor Otti On Public Affairs)

Otti’s Industrial Revival Strategy: Reawakening Abia’s Factories, Restoring Jobs, Rebuilding Confidence – By Ebere Uzoukwa Ph.D(SSA To Governor Otti On Public Affairs)

Abia State, Columns/Opinions/Letters, Economy, Good Governance
Otti’s Industrial Revival Strategy: Reawakening Abia’s Factories, Restoring Jobs, Rebuilding Confidence By Ebere Uzoukwa, PhD The acquisition of Star Paper Mill Limited in Aba and Owerrinta, alongside Afro Beverages Limited, from the Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria (AMCON) represents far more than a routine transfer of assets. It is a clear and deliberate statement of intent by the Abia State Government under the leadership of Governor Alex Chioma Otti, OFR, that industrialization remains the most sustainable pathway to job creation, economic growth, and shared prosperity. For decades, the silence of once-thriving factories such as Star Paper Mill symbolized the broader…
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Dec
12
2025
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By Abia ThinkTank
The Long Game Of Institutions: An Institutional Economic Strategy For Abia State – By Prof Chukwuemeka Ifegwu Eke

The Long Game Of Institutions: An Institutional Economic Strategy For Abia State – By Prof Chukwuemeka Ifegwu Eke

Abia State, Columns/Opinions/Letters, Economy, Good Governance, Infrastructure
THE LONG GAME OF INSTITUTIONS: AN INSTITUTIONAL ECONOMIC STRATEGY FOR ABIA STATE Institutions as the Foundation of Economic Life K. William Kapp’s The Foundations of Institutional Economics begins from a fundamental rejection of the idea that economic outcomes are the natural result of market forces operating in isolation. For Kapp, the economy is not an autonomous system governed solely by prices and individual choice, but a social process embedded in legal, political, and cultural institutions. As he argues, “economic processes are always socially organized and institutionally conditioned” (Kapp, 2011, p. 6). Development, therefore, cannot be reduced to capital accumulation or…
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Dec
12
2025
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By Abia ThinkTank
From Elusive Growth To Deliberate Reform: Otti Through Easterly’s Lens – By Prof Chukwuemeka Ifegwu Eke

From Elusive Growth To Deliberate Reform: Otti Through Easterly’s Lens – By Prof Chukwuemeka Ifegwu Eke

Abia State, Columns/Opinions/Letters, Economy, Infrastructure
From Elusive Growth to Deliberate Reform: Otti Through Easterly’s Lens William Easterly’s central argument in The Elusive Quest for Growth is that underdevelopment persists not because leaders fail to dream, but because economies operate on the wrong incentives. Growth does not emerge from declarations, committees or applause; it emerges when the rules of a society reward productivity, innovation and accountability rather than rent-seeking. Viewed through this lens, Abia State under Governor Alex Otti represents a deliberate attempt to reverse decades of distorted incentives and institutional decay. What makes the Otti moment particularly significant is that he is not merely increasing…
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Dec
11
2025
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By Abia ThinkTank
The Rise Of Manufactured Narratives In Abia Politics: How Mischief-Makers Distort Facts About Gov. Otti & Actual Records – By Prof Chukwuemeka Ifegwu Eke

The Rise Of Manufactured Narratives In Abia Politics: How Mischief-Makers Distort Facts About Gov. Otti & Actual Records – By Prof Chukwuemeka Ifegwu Eke

Abia State, Columns/Opinions/Letters, Good Governance, Politics
THE ANATOMY OF A TWISTED NARRATIVE: HOW MISCHIEF-MAKERS DISTORT FACTS ABOUT GOVERNOR OTTI — AND WHAT THE RECORD ACTUALLY SHOWS The Rise of Manufactured Narratives in Abia Politics Twisted narratives have become the preferred weapon of political mischief-makers, especially in periods where governance reforms threaten entrenched interests. What is unfolding in Abia State illustrates this perfectly. A series of sensational claims—ranging from the so-called “SSG resignation saga” to alleged airport land scandals and fictitious internal government collapses—have been designed to provoke suspicion, confusion, and doubt. Yet when these allegations are placed beside documented evidence, reputable newspaper reports, and independent transparency…
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