“Those who plundered Abia for two decades must understand: their time has passed. They cannot hold the future hostage because they are uncomfortable with a leader who has chosen a higher road”
By Njoku SaintJerry A.
Astute businessman and politician, former Mayor of Ohafia Local Government, and hopeful incoming Senator of the Federal Republic of Nigeria to represent the hardworking people of Abia North beginning from the next electoral year, Chief Dr. David Ogba Onuoha Bourdex (MFR,OON) has warned critics and oppositional elements in Abia State to be cautious in the manner they are going about criticizing every work of the Labour Party led Governor Alex Otti.
Chief Ogba maintained that since the creation of the State, Abia has had Governors — men who carried the sacred mandate of leadership but left behind records that today weigh on the conscience of our people.
In recent times, certain individuals including a former notorious Commissioner of information named Eze Chikamnayo, known for his regular use of blackmail to manipulate his way into every political administration since the days of Gov Orji Uzor Kalu, has joined forces to trash talk the Otti’s government, looking for every loopholes to fan embers of hatred and distract the people from the good works of the Governor.
Chief Ogba briefly took his audience down the memorial lane narrating the part every actor who has once held the ship of the state had played.
He stated that; “We had Orji Uzor Kalu, who came into power with youthful energy and political charm, but quickly abandoned the greater good for personal empire-building. The state stagnated under the burden of patronage and self-interest.
We had T.A. Orji, who promised liberation but ended up chaining Abia with policies that favored cronies over citizens, leaving roads broken, institutions hollow, and morale at its lowest.
We had Okezie Ikpeazu, whose era was drowned in rhetoric, endless excuses, and cosmetic projects that never touched the true suffering of the people.
I knew these men. I watched them closely. None of them can honestly be said to have governed with purpose. They pale in comparison to what we are witnessing in Abia State today. They only succeeded in enriching themselves, their families, and their loyalists — while the masses remained trapped in poverty, watching the rest of Nigeria march forward. They were clueless in the art of governance.
So I ask again: Can we just allow this Governor to breathe?
Irrespective of the spate of growing criticism by these individuals whom it is alleged has vowed never to allow a representative governance of the state once it is not in their personal interest, Governor Otti has remained resolute and maintained focus on the work of governance and reconstruction of the State he met almost in total disarray as a result of the deliberate mismanagement of the peoples resources by these same characters whom are now desperately seeking for every loophole to crawl back into the government of Abia.
However, Chief Ogba in defense of the new government of Abia State under the leadership of Gov Alex Otti, which he has equally served as a Transitional Mayor of Ohafia, where he left an indelible legacy of development in the manner of Gov Otti has made it clear to those he described as ‘mere distracters’ that, this is a new government and a different kind of leadership alien to the likes of Eze Chikamnayo and his group whom continue to mount every rostrum, seeking for validation in their ignorance.
“Today, under His Excellency Dr. Alex Chioma Otti, OFR, we have a different kind of Leadership; we are witnessing something radically different. For the first time since 1999, Abia has a Governor who came prepared, who understands governance not as a stage for personal drama but as a mission for collective upliftment., He said.
Reading from a letter he delivered to the press, Chief Ogba stated in part that;
“Dr. Otti has shown intentional leadership — purposeful, thoughtful, and focused. He is repairing not just our roads but our dignity. He is rebuilding not just infrastructure but hope. He is redefining governance as service, not as an industry of plunder.
Yet, instead of rallying behind this new dawn, opposition voices — the very architects of yesterday’s ruin — are howling from every corner, desperate to distract him, to derail him, to suffocate progress.
And so I ask again: Can we just allow this Governor to breathe?
The framers of our Constitution, imperfect as it may be, understood the need to shield the Chief Executive from incessant distractions. That is why they enshrined Immunity — not as a license for impunity, but as a breathing space for governance.
The idea, the constitutional wisdom is simple: give the Governor the room to work. Let oversight institutions record, track, and investigate as they must. But let the man elected by the people focus on the task of rebuilding. Opposition is healthy for democracy, but when it crosses the line into nuisance, it is no longer patriotism — it is sabotage.
And so we must ask again: Can we just allow this Governor to breathe?
Under Dr. Otti, Abia has a track Record that Speaks, Abia State is already repositioning itself:
* Roads that had become metaphors for abandonment are being reconstructed with quality never before seen in the state.
* Salaries and pensions, once a nightmare for civil servants, are now prioritized and paid promptly.
* Education and healthcare are no longer back-burner issues but front-burner priorities.
*. Transparency and accountability are not empty slogans but visible practices.
* Investors, once fleeing Abia, are beginning to look our way again.
*. And the long-dreamed Abia Airport project — which his predecessor Ikpeazu could not build — has now been brought back to life under Governor Otti, proving that where there is vision and will, there will always be a way.
The difference is stark. The nation sees it. The diaspora celebrates it. Even those who opposed him during the elections cannot deny that something new is unfolding in Abia.
So the question remains: Can we just allow this Governor to breathe?
Those who plundered Abia for two decades must understand: their time has passed. They cannot hold the future hostage because they are uncomfortable with a leader who has chosen a higher road. The attacks, the noise, the campaigns of calumny — they do not weaken Dr. Alex Otti; they only reveal the desperation of men who fear irrelevance.
Abia deserves peace. Abia deserves focus. Abia deserves transformation without distraction.
And so, with all the weight of history, with the voice of a people who have suffered enough and as a plea to Conscience, I ask one last time:
Can we just allow this Governor to breathe?
Yours Faithfully,
Chief Dr. David Ogba Onuoha Bourdex MFR,OON
—Ugo’Ena” Nde Abiriba…Far from home.
