Constructive opposition is a key ingredient for good governance. But when people or institutions begin to question and doubt the existence of what they can see, feel, and touch, all in the name of opposition, there are no better words to describe such than self-inflicted blinded hypocrites. It becomes the height of hypocrisy and audacious shamelessness when you are criticizing the glaring existence of what you failed to do when you had the opportunity to do it because someone else is doing it.
While I agree that there are some genuine opposition leaders who will rather commend and encourage the Governor in the areas that he is doing well, and draw his attention to the areas he should improve on, the shameless opposition, who set Abia 100 years backward in 24 years, have continued to constitute themselves into public nuisance in our media space in their forlorn attempts to distract a highly focused Governor Otti and make Abians forget the 24 years of agonizing pains they inflicted on them.
Each time I see the opposition elements asking questions they already have or know the answers to or churn out figures with confusing graphs questioning Governor Otti’s works, I laugh. Recently, Governor Otti, during his September Media Chat, said that his administration had fixed 108 roads through direct labour. The opposition, in their usual way of doubting themselves and feigning blindness to verifiable works of the Governor, is asking where the roads are, yet, they make use of the same roads they are questioning their existence.
Through the direct labour approach and her Zero Pothole Policy, the administration of Dr. Alex Otti OFR has fixed many bad roads that were not accessible before his emergence and made them motorable with ease. When the policy was newly launched, I went to see things for myself with one of my colleagues, Frank Ugochukwu. We took some pictures as we observed the amazing jobs being done by the Ministry of Works. We started from Ubakala Junction along the Old Aba Road in Umuahia and diverted from Uchenna Junction through Old Timber Road. We visited Item by Niger Road, Abiriba by Niger, Uwalaka Street, Uzuakoli Road, Finbers Road, Isi Gate, etc., all in just a small part of Umahia. I still have the beautiful pictures that I took. What I saw then is what has been replicated across the State. The zero pothole policy is different from the many reconstructed and commissioned roads and those still under construction like the Strategic Port Harcourt Road Aba, Omuma Road, Umuahia-Uzuakoli- Abiriba Road, etc. 108 roads may be a conservative estimate of the roads fixed and made motorable by the present administration. Maybe the problem of the opposition is the grammar “Fixing”. The Governor did not say that his administration has constructed 108 brand-new roads.
Recently, I saw a post from the same opposition hypocrites questioning the reality of the Capacity Building programmes of the Government. I asked myself, do these people understand what capacity building is? Maybe they think that capacity building is a building or structure somewhere like the State Secretariat at Oguruba Layout, Umauhia. According to un.org/en/academ, “Capacity Building is defined as the process of developing and strengthening the skills, instincts, abilities, processes and resources that organizations and communities need to survive, adapt, and thrive in a fast-changing world.” So capacity building is not a building structure inscribed “Capacity Building” as the shameless opposition might have thought it to be.
The administration of Governor Alex Otti OFR, has invested so much and continues to invest much in capacity building. When Gov. Otti appointed his Commissioners, Special Advisers, Special Assistants, Aides, etc, a retreat (Capacity Building) was organized for them where they spent days listening to different highly sought-after resource persons to ensure the effective realization of the Governor’s vision. The same was organized for Commissioners and Permanent Secretaries when the latter were appointed. I’m aware that many Ministries, Departments, and Agencies (MDAs) of the Government have also organized different capacity-building programmes to enhance performance and efficient service delivery. Presently, the State Government, under its education reform transformation programme, is training 2000 teachers tagged ‘Master Trainers,’ who will retrain their colleagues. The Local Government Service Commission is toeing the same line.
Capacity building is not a cheap exercise, especially when you want to make the best out of it. The facilitator/resource persons will be paid; the participants are entitled to training allowances, feeding, accommodation, and other logistics involved. Some of these trainings happen within and outside the State. It is part of human capital development. Governor Otti, who always aims for the best, will not settle for a poorly organized capacity-building programme. For him, if anything must be done, it must be done very well.
Another laughable, shameless and hypocritical question the opposition is asking is the existence of the public buildings the administration of Dr. Alex Otti has holistically renovated, retrofitted and still renovating. My answer to them is to visit the Government House they left in ruins while leaving – the Banquet Hall, the Presidential Lodge, the Deputy Governor’s Office, etc to see things for themselves. The Emeka Omerua’s guest was not left out. A brand new and befitting office is being built for the Office of the Secretary to the State Government. The not-fit-for-purpose Government House clinic has been pulled down; a befitting Government House Clinic is in the making.
They should also visit these Office Buildings – Ministry of Budget and Planning; the Ministry of Agriculture, the State Secretariat now fenced with massive renovation works done on the Secretariat building; the Joint Account Allocation Committee Building (JAAC) which they abandoned; Law reform Office Building along Aba Road Umuahia; Aguiyi Ironsi Conference Center; the abandoned old Nnamdi Azikiwe Secretariat and Michael Opara Auditorium to see and verify for themselves. They should also take a tour of Lokpanta Cattle Market in Umunneochi LGA to verify whether the administration of Governor Otti has fenced and completed the fencing of that large expanse of land. They should also go to the Federal College of Education Ofeme and see how the administration of Governor Otti is helping to raise building structures there to ensure that the Federal Institution kicks off for the benefit of Abians. These are just to mention a few. I’m sure they know that these things are reality.
Truth be told, the Abia opposition believes so much in the capacity of Governor Alex Otti, OFR, to deliver, having seen him done so much of what they could not do in decades in the last 16 months that he had presided over the affairs of the State. They know that the Governor will do whatever he says that he is going to do as he is currently doing. While they shamelessly criticize the Governor openly, in their closet they applaud him amid uneasy calm because it has dawned on them that they cannot stage a comeback in the 2027 ballot or any time soon.
Nwahiwe, Chinonyerem Cleverson
17/9/2024
