“…Labour party do not see the need to celebrate any early achievement for our presence in government as the ruling party rather the leadership of the party consider it an honor to serve the hardworking people of Abia state whom have been subjected to years of neglect” – Njoku Jerry A.
Commemorating 100 days in office, the Alex Otti Labour Party led administration appears to have begun on a sure footing enjoying the goodwill of the people including support from international community and the grassroots.
Ordinarily Labour party do not see the need to celebrate any early achievement for our presence in government as the ruling party rather the leadership of the party consider it an honor to serve the hardworking people of Abia state whom have been subjected to years of neglect and administrative rascality by previous administrations that virtually held the entire region hostage for over 2 decades culminating in a very dysfunctional administrative system, infrastructure decay, neglect and abuse of office that merely served the people on screaming bill boards and social media platforms while actual governance was left in the care of palace jesters and errand boys in adult frame.
Buoyed by the massive support of the ordinary people of Abia state including members of the former ruling party whom were genuinely frustrated by the level of deception, fraud and official stealing of public welfare by their own political party, Labour party emerged from a relatively unknown space to occupy mainstream position as the only genuine alternative departure from the locust years of PDP in Abia State.
Has the emergence of Labour Party and Alex Otti brought any sense of belonging and a relief to Abians – the answer is not far-fetched, The executive governor commenced work immediately he stepped down from the podium at the Umuahia Township stadium, venue of the inauguration by declaring emergency in all 5 major sectors of the economy namely Healthcare, Waste management, Infrastructure, Education and Security.
One of the remarkable mark of bravery and sincerity of the governor was his outright pronouncement of the ban on any form of unsolicited ceremonial award titles either to himself or any member of his cabinet until he has completed the task of rebuilding Abia to a home of peace and prosperity where the system works for all
In the absence of that statement, the city by now would have been lit with media fanfare and garlands of celebration of a certain achievement that is naturally a call to duty and not a privilege nor favour to the citizenry.
Governor Alex Otti led Labour Party administration has put a stop to that fanfare of mockery and deception by people elected into office to serve and not to entertain.
Till date about 11 domestic roads has undergone total reconstruction or receiving upgrade, a security operative codenamed ‘Operation Crush’ set up by this administration has brought relief to hot spots of crime and normal businesses resuming in these areas.
Prior to the victorious emergence of Labour party and Alex Otti as the leader of the new Abia virtually every critical sector of the state was on life support and requires a surgical operation that is void of the usual fanfare and if there is any reason why this administration has insisted on low key celebration of any event involving the government it is for the sake of its passionate commitment to rescue Abia from the deep rot it met the state.
Beginning from the shameful mountain of garbage dumps to the completely collapsed healthcare and crass neglect of the seat of government in Umuahia that has reduced the quiet city to a rural-urban region.
The Alex Otti administration braced the challenge headlong and within the first 100 days in office, Umuahia was lit up, the street lights shining and the heaps of garbage across the city cleared up.
It is not enough to embark on momentary clean up exercise of garbage dumps, the government also set up a process to ensure the sustainability of a hygienic culture among the citizenry.
Only a people driven government will come so close to the realities of lack and frustrations the citizenry has been exposed to over the years and that is what Labour party represents, therefore the Alex Otti led Labour party government did not leave any stone unturned as it decided to put into action its declaration of emergency of those critical sectors like Health and Education.
Today, in addition to occasional medical outreaches that has taken medicare directly to the ordinary people of the state, the government has embarked on a programme of reconstructing and equipping all three general hospitals in each of the three senatorial zones of the state. The same applies to the educational sector where virtually both teachers and students were summarily abandoned and school premises sold to private individuals. Today the government had concluded plans on an educational policy that will set up 17 model public schools, across the 17 LGAs.
The Igbos has an adage that says; the first step of a dance is enough to tell spectators if this is a good dancer or another bungler and Abia state certainly, has had too many bunglers that ends up in disappointment until the spectators, the citizenry, earnestly began to seek for a rescue from the sordid past.
This is the future and Abians are celebrating, if not for anything but for its large number of civil servants that has been rescued from the hostage of slave masters that once paraded as political rulers, who held up the wages of the hardworking people of this state for years until rescue came their way through the emergence of the people’s party, Labour party and the wise leadership of the people’s servants Dr. Alex Otti
Congratulations Abians for a future so bright that we owe every thanksgiving to God Almighty for the Help that has come at last!
Njoku Jerry A. is the State Publicity Secretary of Labour Party, Abia and a member of the Strategic Writers Group (SWG)
