Governor Alex Otti shared five transformative insights at Yale University, emphasizing resilience, transparency, and progress in Abia State. Highlighting his administration’s impact on governance, infrastructure, and economic development, Otti inspired audiences with a vision for Nigeria’s future.
Abia State Governor, Dr Alex C. Otti, OFR was at Yale University this Friday for an event in honour of the great Chinua Achebe whose life and legacy are becoming objects of great intellectual interests around the world. Here are 5 quick takeaways from Governor Otti’s outing:
- Abia State has become an oasis in a very large desert: These are very difficult times to be a Nigerian with a near interminable flow of very disturbing reports —inflation is officially at nearly 40% but many informed commentators put the real inflation figures at about 110% – 150% if one uses November 2023 as a base and about 400% – 600% if one uses November 2022 as a base and around 800% to 1000% if one stretches things further to November 2014. In very practical terms, the standard of living of the average Nigerian has catastrophically plummeted in the last decade and there can be no reasonable dispute against what is clearly a straightforward statement of fact. Beyond the seemingly endless streams of bad news on the economic front which has dealt very harsh blows to tens of millions of families, including those who hitherto were middle-income earners, you daily get news report that make you wonder what could be going on because none of it makes sense.
While these are certainly very rough times for millions of people outside the State, for those of us living or doing business of any sort here, our case is entirely different. We have never had it this good as a people — we are blessed with, as we observed today at the very prestigious Yale University, a Governor with commanding presence on some of the most important global platforms for canvassing and sharing ideas, a leader many other important leaders listen to, one who understands the urgency and enormity of his assignment to his people and has remained focused in following his developmental agenda not minding series of malicious attempts to distract him. For the first time since the creation of the State, civil servants and other employees of the State can generally say with certainty when their monthly entitlements will be paid, ditto for retirees. The consistency in meeting the obligation of the State Government to its workers is coming at a time when many bigger Governments with larger vaults are struggling, and finding excuses not to pay. God has indeed set Abia apart for blessings in what has been a season of anomie in the land.
- Never give up, you can still win, even after failing a thousand times: I have woken up everyday in the last 17 months with songs of gratitude on my lips for the gift of Governor Alex Otti. I mean, what would have been our story if the empty vessels and puppets had managed to succeed in stealing our votes again after the heist of 2015? Beyond what God is using Governor Otti to do for the common men and women across the State, Governor Otti’s life, and story on his way to the Governorship position offer very important lesson to anyone facing disappointments in their pursuits. Imagine if Dr Otti had given up in 2015? In 2019? What would have been our lot? Slump dwellers? Neighbours to mountains of waste? A community of hostages to criminals? May Governor Otti’s resilience and ultimate success inspire all of us to dream and fight on till we win.
- Abians can now walk with their shoulders held very high: “Yes, I graduated from there.” That was one of the commentators interrupting the Governor as he was speaking. He was very proud and bold to announce to the world that he is a proud alumnus of the great ABSU. The Professor was very happy that the Governor was able to work closely with relevant stakeholders to restore accreditation to the College of Medicine after it was lost when the pretenders to leadership were in power. Add this very happy Professor to the number of individuals who travelled from different parts of the US and beyond just to pose for photographs with Governor Otti, share an idea with him and discuss potential partnerships between their organisations and the State Government and you will have a very large community of Ndi Abia whose sense of identity have been burnished by the gift of a Governor who appreciates that his singular most important mission is to serve the people, wherever they may be .
- If Nigeria will change, we may need to take a second look at our patterns of interactions with the State and its agencies as citizens: Governor Otti in 17 months has proven that a leader who came prepared, and is committed to the ethos of transparency and accountability to the public, can make all the difference. So how did Otti happen? God, the people and a returning officer who simply refused to be bribed. How can an Otti-like leader become a reality in Nigeria? The people must get involved. Democracy of Ndi Agbero and the uninformed “masses” explain in large part, why we have mysterious characters and over-hyped pretenders holding an entire nation hostage. The elites, the educated middle-class at home and in the diaspora, and all of us who believe that we deserve better, no matter where we live, how much we have or how little we feel we can contribute, simply have to get involved. Vote, hold your leaders and institutions accountable and never be afraid to insist that the right to be led only by those chosen by the electorates must be respected. Democracy is in great peril, not in the way you hear about it on TV, but in the way we practise it here. It is the most absurd variety in several instances. How do we return elections into being a decent contest of ideas? By having men and women of ideas defining and setting the standards.
- People watch what you do, and ignore what you say: Foreign investors don’t care how many times you jump into a plane in the search for investments. A million billboards at the community market square or at the airports means nothing to them. A trillion advertorials on CNN, Fox News, MSNBC, BBC calling on investors to step in and invest and other such gimmicks would mean nothing if the fundamentals are not in place and these include basic transport infrastructure, security, improved urban sanitation, and access to basic services. The only reason Abia is now fighting for the #1 spot along with Lagos and the FCT in the push for foreign investments is simply because there is a clear signal that this is a State on the ascent and it can only get better. I am also sure that across the world today, many followed the Governor’s engagement with their chequebooks very handy because there is no better place to invest than where Governor Otti is calling the shots.
