Please note that this interview was conducted before May 29, 2023 Inauguration.

Tell us about P.A.Y. and its role in the 2023 general elections, especially in Abia State.

Progressive Abia Youths as it’s called is a non-governmental organisation that is run by the brightest minds in the state. We saw the need to participate in the process because it’s in line with our mission and vision which is to make Abia State the most beautiful state in Nigeria and that cannot happen if we don’t participate in the process of realising that vision. Our mission involves development of programmes and designing policies and partnering with relevant government authorities to design youth-centred policies that would ensure a progressive society. With that understanding, we started this awareness programme–calling on the young people to participate in the election process because we have been able to discover that as a democratic nation, the most vital means of instituting democratic change is through the ballot. The ballot is the greatest weapon in the hands of every citizen against misgovernance, and because of that, we had to mobilize the youths of Abia in their numbers. Some other organisations saw our direction and that we represent that youth movement that is non-partisan but well-grounded and has a very clear mission. These organisations came in the likes of African Primary Health Foundation, Organisation for Reform and Impact, 100 Igbos Incorporated, Ready to Lead AFRICA; and came together to drive this initiative. We started formulating the project ‘Voters Registration Exercise’ tagged “Sorom Tuo” an Igbo phrase that literally means ‘Vote with me’. The concept was designed as a call to action for everybody to come out and vote. We mobilized about 170 young people, going to communities in all the Local Government Areas of Abia State telling people to come out and vote with us and this happened for a period of 90 days –from February to May 2022. We also had some of these organisations coming to provide incentives in form of medical outreach so that when people come to register, they get their blood pressure and blood sugar levels checked and then get professional advice. We believe that if we all come out to play a role and participate in the process, we should be able to engineer an election in Abia that would be free, fair and credible and will be a true reflection of the will of Abia people. That was the message we were sending across. That effort yielded tremendous results. In the course of that 90-day intervention programme in partnership with INEC, we were able to register about 74, 299 new voters in Abia State. The total number of registered voters in the state according to INEC’s data was over one hundred and thirty thousand, and that shows that through our intervention we were able to capture more than 60% of the total number of registered voters in Abia in the course of the last registration phase.

We also went on to partner with INEC to ensure that these people get their PVCs and we started PVC distribution and voter education programme using the same model that we used in engaging the young people . We distributed about 150,000 old and new PVCs in Abia alone.

All of this was geared towards activating the office of the citizens to make Abians understand the powers they have; the power of the Permanent Voters Card and the power of a single vote.

How would you assess the 2023 general elections in abia state?

I am proud to say that Abia State had the best election in the whole of the federation citing the fact that for the first time since Abia was created, the votes of Abians counted and INEC can have a pat on their back for doing a very good job in Abia. Despite the issues of logistics during the presidential election, the outcome of the presidential election also reflected the will of the people of Abia state same with the National Assembly election. It was a very wonderful exercise. For me, the election conducted by INEC in Abia State on 25th of February, and 18th of March 2023 remains the best election that has ever been conducted in this state. It was absolutely free and fair. You could see from the jubilation on the street and how people went on to celebrate the work that INEC did here.

What are the expectations of Abia youths from Dr Alex Otti?

Inclusion, we have had a whole lot of divisive politics in this state where a certain quarter believes that when they get into power that it is their turn and time and they want to get all the juicy appointments, and they want to get all the allocation. We want to see a deviation from the norm.

We paid the price for this to happen. We don’t see this victory as an Alex Otti victory we see it as a victory for Abia Youths and Abians in general.

We have 12 pillars of expectations from Alex Otti; they include; infrastructure, security, welfare, education, health care, agriculture, sports (including persons with disability), youth development and sustainable empowerment, transportation, technology, government revenue as well as environmental sustainability.

In the area of infrastructure, we expect a total transformation of the infrastructural sector of Abia State; and we expect that some of these projects that have been executed on paper are revisited and properly scrutinized and executed where necessary. We don’t want to see abandoned government projects again. He has a very big job to do in the area of revisiting abandoned projects. There are so many abandoned projects in Abia.

In the area of electricity, we also expect that this government will take advantage of the recent bill signed recently by the president that allows states generate power. We have different platforms here that can generate power; so we expect this government to take advantage of that, maybe to establish a PPP strategy that will allow investors to come in that area thereby creating jobs for a lot of young people.

We are also expecting the government to work on pipe borne water. Overtime you find out that in areas like Aba, we don’t have good water in most places. We expect this incoming administration to work on revitalising that sector to make water available for the people because in developed cities, these are not privileges, they are norms people should enjoy.

On the part of security, we feel that the current administration did some good work at least Abia remains the safest state in the whole of the South East.

There are some things to be learnt; we envisage some level of partnership in that regard to find out what this administration did in that sector.

The incoming administration should also strengthen local security at community levels. Each community has a vigilante, so there’s the need to form a state wide network that incorporates all these singular units available in the local communities to form this very solid security network that would help compliment the police.

Putting up lights on the streets because if you have a security situation and the whole place is lightened up, you’ll be able to see who is coming and then you can take proper security measures.

We are not happy with the fact that once its 7-8pm, Umuahia becomes a ghost town.

We’ve identified the need to properly do an assessment in all the sectors of Abia and identify those who are genuine workers; even those genuine workers, put them through training to improve their performance level to produce better results, such that the state gets to benefit, and those who are getting services from the state will get good services for their money.

There is need for him to do proper assessment of those that are supposed to be receiving gratuity; pensioners, workers – all those agencies of governments that are over staffed should be downsized and those affected should be paid severance packages so that the culture of owing salaries is not continued.

If he pays them off won’t that add to the unemployment rate we already have in the state?

I had talked about constituting a PPP arrangement that allows for investors to come in and create some of these industries that will in turn create employment opportunities, I believe that if some of these things are harnessed; some of these agencies of government that are moribund are activated, that can also add value to take these people in but people should only be employed by competence and character. Government should not be a dumping ground for people of low capacity and intellectual quotient.

Government is a serious business, and anybody that wants to serve in that capacity  must be able to pay the price of improving themselves with the necessary intellectual, social and whatever skills necessary to serve the public.

We know that it is not going to be easy for Dr Alex Otti but if we want to move this state from where it is to where we want it to be, the incoming administration must be able to take some very strong decisions that may not favour everybody. We expect him to adopt a new methodology in the assemblage of the civil service work force that will be able to deliver on the mandate.

The persons who we think should be relieved of their duties if they fail to exhibit a certain level of responsibility expected from a public official can also take up other advantages that the government should put in place in terms of entrepreneurship because we believe strongly that this government should pay attention to agriculture by reactivating all the farm settlements that we have across the state. The outgoing administration was not able to harness the potentials of the agricultural sector.

Looking at the area of infrastructure, we also feel that the era of government talking about building schools should be over. We want this administration to focus on renovating already existing structures. If you go to every community in this state, you will find dilapidated primary or secondary school structures. In renovating these structures, they would spend less and achieve better results.

We also want the government to invest heavily on sports, encourage young people who are passionate about sports to advance their career and also consider those with special disability because we observed that these people do us proud at the Olympics and other world games.

Youth development and sustainable empowerment are paramount for the youths of Abia. We don’t want this emergency empowerment, we want the opportunities that will be coming from the government to be well thought out and designed with a sustainability plan so that the youths can be well empowered.

We talked about introduction of industries in the state, creating opportunities for employment that will make these young people useful. Progressive Abia Youths has very vibrant youths that are tech savvy and we will be willing to have these guys work with the government in areas that need automation. Introducing technology in some of these sectors will help reduce waste in different sectors of leadership and governance in the state.

Bringing technology into play in our education sector; engage the tech savvy youths as teachers to teach technology in the basic centre such that the young people are able to learn these skills and compete with their mates.

A full automation of the transportation sector to raise revenue, train agents in the transport sector to be able to be accountable and not harass people is equally needed.

In all of these, we feel that an inclusive approach that will bring all the resources of Abia both human, natural and others together to design that prosperous state that we all want should be in place.

The governor, Dr Alex Otti, must not play into the hands of divisive elements that are always quick to degrade people or make little of people’s efforts. The governor must be able to open his doors to Abians to be able to contribute their quota to the development of the state.

What’s your advice to Abia youths?

Invest in yourself. You can never be the best if you don’t invest in yourself. Whatever skill you have, develop on it; opportunities will come. We believe that this government will create opportunities for the youths. We preach competence and capability; so it will be a misnomer if an opportunity comes up and the youths do not have the requisite capability to handle such responsibilities. My message to the young people is to keep faith, believe in the process and invest in self-development.