Economy

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…

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…

ABIA AT A CROSSROADS: A FACTUAL, HISTORICAL, AND REASONED DEFENCE OF OTTI’S 2026 BUDGET AND GOVERNANCE TRAJECTORY INTRODUCTION: WHY CONTEXT MATTERS MORE THAN SENTIMENT Public discourse in Abia State has recently been dominated by claims that Governor Alex Otti’s 2026 budget is unrealistic, deceitful or deliberately inflated. Such criticisms, amplified by former finance officials and political actors, often ignore the historical, structural and fiscal realities that shaped Abia’s governance environment long before Otti entered office. In policy analysis, especially at state level, facts—not political interpretations—must anchor conversation. Budgets reflect the intersection of inherited liabilities, present economic conditions and forward-looking development…