Good Governance

Eke O Ako’s Debt Arithmetic: When Liabilities, Loans and Debt Stock Are Thrown Into One Pot Eke O Ako has produced what looks, at first glance, like an intimidating collection of figures against the Abia State Government. Unfortunately, once the figures are separated into their proper accounting categories, much of the dramatic conclusion begins to wobble. 😂 Numbers may be stubborn, but numbers placed in the wrong columns can also become very obedient servants of propaganda. The first problem with Eke O Ako’s argument is elementary: total liabilities in a government financial statement are not automatically synonymous with DMO public-debt…

VANGUARD NEWSPAPERS AND THE ABSU CONTROVERSY: WHEN OWEI LAKEMFA’S POWERFUL HEADLINE OUTRAN THE FACTS, HISTORY AND ECONOMICS At first, the title “ABSU: Running a University as a Local Village Contraption”, published by Vanguard Newspapers and written by Owei Lakemfa, seemed to promise a serious interrogation of university governance, funding, labour relations and institutional autonomy. It sounded like the beginning of a rigorous public-interest intervention. Unfortunately, as one travelled deeper into the piece, the thunder of the headline increasingly became louder than the economics, history and institutional context required to sustain it. Mr Lakemfa is entitled to criticise Governor Alex Otti.…

A POLITICAL ECONOMY REVIEW OF THE RECKONING IN GOD’S OWN STATE: WHY ALEX OTTI DESERVES A SECOND TERM AND WHY HIS REFORMATIVE INNOVATIONS MUST CONTINUE By AProf Chukwuemeka Ifegwu Eke Agbeze Ireke Kalu Onuma, writing under the pen name AI-KO, has produced in The Reckoning in God’s Own State: Why Alex Otti Deserves a Second Term and Why His Reformative Innovations Must Continue an unusually expansive intervention in the political economy of subnational governance in Nigeria. The author identifies himself as a Nigerian writer, analyst and public intellectual whose writings traverse political history, governance and civic affairs. Although the work…

SO MOVING AN INDUCTION FOR SAFETY IS NOW EVIDENCE OF UNIVERSITY COLLAPSE? 😂 The Absurdity of Treating Safety as Collapse There is something almost comic about the argument that because an induction ceremony involving ABSU medical students was reportedly moved from ABSUTH to Rhema University amid tension and threats, this must automatically prove that the university has collapsed. Really? 😂 Since when did taking precautions become evidence of institutional failure? If there were credible concerns around the original venue, then relocating the ceremony was not weakness; it was common sense. The students still graduated, the ceremony still held, families still…

THE ₦158,000 ABSU SALARY STORY: WHERE THE DECEPTION BEGINS There is a legitimate conversation to be had about the remuneration of university lecturers in Nigeria, including lecturers at Abia State University. But legitimate advocacy does not require statistical sleight of hand, selective comparisons and political hero-making. The viral post being circulated by Obinna Oriaku is a classic example of how a real welfare question can be converted into a misleading political narrative. FIRST DECEPTION: A BANK ALERT IS NOT A SALARY STRUCTURE Look carefully at the screenshot. What does it actually establish? It shows a credit of ₦158,514.75 with a…

A PARAGRAPHIC CRITIQUE OF THE “WHERE ARE GOVERNOR OTTI’S LEGACY PROJECTS?” ARGUMENT The central weakness of the argument is not that it asks questions about Governor Alex Otti’s performance. Those questions are legitimate. Every governor should be subjected to scrutiny over expenditure, project completion, value for money, rural inclusion, pensions, hospitals, schools, electricity and industrial development. The problem is that the writer repeatedly moves from limited personal observation to sweeping statewide conclusions. He admits that he did not visit every part of Abia, specifically acknowledging that he did not visit the Old Bende axis, yet he confidently concludes that there…

Otti’s New Abia: How Transformation Made the State a Choice Destination for Youth Corpers The latest commendation by the Director General of the National Youth Service Corps, Brigadier General Olakunle Oluseye Nafiu, provides another important indication of the changing fortunes of Abia State under Governor Alex Chioma Otti, OFR. The fact that 8,890 corps members, including 5,083 females, are currently serving across all 17 Local Government Areas of Abia is significant. According to the NYSC DG, the higher number of female corps members reflects confidence in the relative peace and security of the State. Beyond security, the transformation is also…

Federal Funds, Local Results: How Otti Is Turning Special Allocations into Visible Development The growing attempt to diminish Governor Alex Otti’s developmental record by repeatedly shouting that “the Federal Government released the money” rests on a remarkably weak understanding of governance. Federal allocations, special interventions, ecological funds, bailout funds, UBEC grants and other transfers do not transform themselves into roads, schools, hospitals or functioning infrastructure. Money is merely an input. Governance determines the output. Nigeria’s experience since 1999 makes this distinction particularly important. Federal money has reached state governments under virtually every civilian administration since the return to democracy. Yet…