The Day Governor Alex Chioma Otti Mocked Ndi Abia: A Parade of Superficiality Amidst Fiscal Plenty – Meche Oswald
The Day Governor Alex Chioma Otti Mocked Ndi Abia: A Parade of Superficiality Amidst Fiscal Plenty
By Meche Oswald
Last Friday, the usually quiet land of Abia State was practically shut down. Hired hailers, rented crowds, and sponsored banners lined the streets in orchestrated jubilation for the expected arrival of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu. From the airwaves to the newspapers, the noise was deafening. Government media handlers worked overtime to paint the event as a grand presidential visit that would stamp Abia’s place on the national stage.
But when the dust settled, what was all the fanfare about?
A single road, a street road, that led to the governor’s own convenience.
Just days before, President Tinubu had visited Imo State, where he commissioned real projects, long-distance dualized highways, economically strategic roads, and infrastructure that directly benefit the people. Tinubu praised Governor Hope Uzodimma for visible development, for works that spoke for themselves without media noise.
In Abia, however, Governor Alex Chioma Otti invited the President to commission a street road of personal and political convenience. The mockery is not merely in the size of the road but in the symbolism it carries: it exposed the emptiness behind the noise. And Tinubu, perhaps sensing the superficiality of the occasion, quietly distanced himself. He delegated the Hon. Minister for Works, Senator Dave Umahi, to handle the event.
When Umahi’s jet landed at the Sam Mbakwe Cargo Airport in Owerri, his body language told the full story. He was seen trying to run away from Otti, he forced a smile, shook hands dutifully, but there was no warmth, no enthusiasm. Even from afar, it was clear that he approached the event with visible restraint. For a man who had governed Ebonyi State and delivered massive infrastructural transformation, what he saw in Abia was a parody of leadership.
It was supposed to be a moment of pride for Abia, a presidential recognition of progress. Instead, it became a national spectacle of misplaced priorities. The people of Abia were made to dance and cheer for what other states would quietly complete and move on from.
Governor Otti mocked Ndi Abia, not Asians. He mocked their patience, their expectations, and their right to genuine governance.
Abia is not a poor state; it is a state of enormous fiscal potential. The true offense is that this administration has the resources to deliver substantive projects but chooses theater instead. The verifiable figures are undeniable:
Every month, Abia state receives substantial billions of naira from the Federal Government. In the first half of 2024 alone, the state received between ₦8 billion and ₦10 billion monthly from the Federation Account Allocation Committee (FAAC).
Abia closed 2024 with an internally generated revenue (IGR) of about ₦39 billion.
The administration even set an ambitious ₦120 billion IGR target for 2025, with a total ₦750.28 billion budget signed into law for the year.
Governor Otti himself publicly claimed that his administration has paid ₦72 billion out of an inherited ₦138 billion debt profile.
Yet, where are the corresponding visible results from this financial firepower?
The roads remain deplorable. The streets of Aba, once known as the commercial pride of Eastern Nigeria, still suffer from flooding and neglect. Pensioners complain. Civil servants groan. Local governments barely function. Instead of channeling these billions into productive ventures, Otti’s administration appears more focused on political revenge, fighting perceived political enemies, destabilizing structures within his own party, and funding propaganda to drown dissenting voices.
Every administration must be judged not by speeches but by substance. What are the measurable gains in Abia state after more than a year in office? Where are the long-lasting, economically strategic projects that can stand side by side with what governors in Ebonyi, Imo, or even Anambra are doing?
Why the endless borrowing talk when the current ₦750.28 billion budget still includes loan inflows, despite the huge monthly allocations and increasing IGR?
What Abia witnessed last Friday was not governance. It was theater, a political performance meant to impress the cameras, not the people. While other governors quietly transform their states, Otti turns governance into a show, substituting policy with publicity.
But there is a law of nature that never fails, the law of gratitude. Those who rise by collective grace and then turn around to fight the very forces that lifted them often find themselves standing alone when the tide turns. Ingratitude attracts its own punishment, and no amount of media noise can shield anyone from the consequences of arrogance in leadership.
Ndi Abia deserves better. Abians are hardworking, creative, and resilient people who have carried the image of enterprise for decades. They need roads that connect markets, schools that function, hospitals that heal, and policies that empower small businesses. What they don’t need are shows of vanity and superficial street road ceremonies disguised as progress.
The blessed people of Abia are watching. The day will come when the applause of hired hailers will no longer drown the cries of the hungry. No amount of borrowed shine can cover the dimness of failed priorities.
Governor Otti must remember that governance is not theater. It is not about how loud the drums sound but how strong the foundations are. The noise will fade; only the records will remain.
