“Today, residents, along with visitors and thoroughfarers that stepped into Umuahia, Aba and other major towns and roads in the state can testify that there is enormous physical and aesthetic transformation from what the story was back in the days of OUK, Ochendo and Ikpeazu.”
The massive public outcry that greeted the unpopular outcome of the ill-concieved meeting of former Governors of Abia State, namely Sen. Orji Uzor Kalu, Sen. Theodore Orji, and Dr Okezie Ikpeazu, has continued to rage unabated, more than two weeks after.
The meeting of the three unrepentant predators – who are united by their rapacious tendencies – along with their former aides deliberated on sinister means to unseat and replace Gov. Alex Otti in 2027 with their choice godson.
It was not only laughable that OUK and Ochendo could, once again, sit under one roof to discuss and agree on anything positive about Abia, but also ominous about the danger and doom that their meeting and agreement portend for a state they both took turn to plunder for 16 unbroken years. But God forbid that their odious and ill-motives shall see the light of the day!
It is no surprise that the two supposed political leaders – OUK and Ochendo, in particular, have remained terribly agitated and unsettled since 2023, due to their rapidly diminishing political stature and structure, following Otti’s heartwarming emergence as Abia governor.
Since then, also, the duo have continued to engage in top-secret political conspiracies and consultations, plotting how to wrestle power back from the people and selfishly plant their own stooge, who they hope to remote-control from the comfort of their respective palaces, named as Camp Neya in Igbere and Ochendo Close in Umuahia.
However, the big question is: What will their stooge do differently from the old order than to return to sharing money in the name of “stomach infrastructure”, owe salaries and pensions and allow the rebuilt infrastructure to dilapidate and rot away again?
Ironically, and against their widest expectation, the ridiculous outcome of the Umuahia meeting of January 9, 2026 backfired and only helped to exhume the ugly memories of the atrocities committed against Abia and Abians by the three musketeers, who shortchanged the state and its good people for their self-enrichment, while in the saddle.
Their resolutions at the meeting only served as a sad reminder of the long years of unpaid arrears of salaries, pensions and gratuities of retirees; unprecedented decay in school and hospital infrastructure; the unsalutary lack of modern medical equipment in all the health facilities – from primary to tertiary; dilapidated and impassable road networks across the length and breadth of the state; as well as unhealthy, polluted environment, accentuated by heaps of refuge that dotted every part of the state, especially Umuahia and Aba.
And, above all, the long years of obnoxious policy initiatives of the three successive administrations not only stagnated the Abia economy but also made it unattractive and repulsive to potential local and international investors.
So, angered by the communique that emanated from the meeting, the ordinary, nonpartisan Abia residents took over the battle out of their own volition. They have seized every opportunity available to haul invectives on the personality and political lives of the dramatis personae and former Abia tormentors-in-chief.
The reason for the people’s spontaneous and sustained attacks is not far-fetched: they suffered the direct impact of the 24-long years of bad governance, beginning with OUK’s poor and deceptive showing, succeeded by Ochendo’s mediocre and lack-lustre outing, culminating in a more catastrophic, clueless and scandalous Ikpeazu’s reign that was lacking in both focus and purpose.
A synopsis of their governance history merely unveils a huge systemic decay, particularly in critical sectors, such as health, education, agriculture, environment and infrastructure.
In all, Abia’s socio-economic development was at an incredibly low ebb under the Peoples Democratic Party-led administration. Umuahia, the state capital, remained an apology and a laughing stock, ridiculed by other Nigerians as the most undeveloped, dirtiest capital town, East of the Niger.
Little wonder the Anambra-born billionaire business mogul, Chief Arthur Eze, lost his cool and lampooned Ochendo’s adminstration over Abia’s poor sanitary condition, when he visited Umuahia in 2014 for the celebration of the 23rd anniversary of the state.
He had exclaimed, “Abia is stinking”, after observing the unsightly heaps of decomposed, smelly waste all over the place, on his way from the Abia Tower to Okpara Auditorium, venue of the event.
In a blunt and unpatronising speech before the multitude of guests at the auditorium, he thundered: “Right from the Abia Tower on the expressway, you will see the mess. Abia State is now the dirtiest in the country. Garbage everywhere, along with bad roads.
“The people are really suffering, and you see it in their faces.”
In a similar outburst after looking with pity at the abysmally poor state of infrastructure in Umuahia during OUK’s administration, the late Igbo icon and legendary warlord, Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu, the Ikemba Nnewi, described the town as “a rural capital”.
Ojukwu spoke when he visited Umuahia to inaugurate the three-star Hotel Royal Damgrete in 2000.
It is this disturbing and unpleasant narrative about Abia that Gov. Otti has committed himself and his people-focused administration to permanently reverse.
And, in the last 32 months, he has remained consistent, resilient and amazingly focused towards addressing the huge infrastructure deficit that truly made Umuahia a “rural capital”.
Today, residents, along with visitors and thoroughfarers that stepped into Umuahia, Aba and other major towns and roads in the state can testify that there is enormous physical and aesthetic transformation from what the story was back in the days of OUK, Ochendo and Ikpeazu. And like the popular 7Up advert will proudly say, “the difference is clear”.
Also, those unwholesome refuse spots that littered the nooks and crannies of the state, which provoked Arthur Eze to chastise Ochendo’s adminstration and describe Umuahia as “dirty” and “stinking” have all disappeared and the city has suddenly become attractive, a capital town worth its status, and a beauty to behold! Glory to God!
One particular visually-impaired contributor to a radio phone-in programme once said, “Although I cannot see, I can feel and hear about the great physical and infrastructure development happening currently in Umuahia and Aba, under the able leadership of our amiable Gov. Alex Otti”.
Another unsolicited verdict on Abia under Gov. Otti came from a rights activist, Chinedu Agu,
who visited the state recently for the Quarterly Meeting of the Eastern Bar Forum held in Umuahia. Agu, a non-Abian legal luminary, authored a lengthy and interesting piece on his candid impression about Gov. Otti and his infrastructure development strides.
He wrote: “Governor Alex Otti did not meet a functioning system. He met rot: unpaid salaries, abandoned infrastructure, broken institutions, demoralised civil servants, and shattered public trust.
“He did not spend his time blaming predecessors. He did not govern by press releases. He folded his sleeves and went to work.
“Today, Abia has rebuilt critical road networks across Umuahia and Aba; restored Aba as a commercial, clean, and livable city; paid civil servants promptly; cleared pension arrears and restored dignity to retirees; digitised and functionalised the Ministry of Lands without shutting it down for three years; launched massive judicial infrastructure across all LGAs; digitised court processes and records; reimagined public transportation with electric buses and a world-class terminal; revived abandoned public assets; built synergy across justice sector institutions, instead of rivalry.
“These are not promises.
They are verifiable facts.”
His article, entitled, “Abia, too, has left us behind”, is a must read. It compares his home-state – Imo – with today’s Abia.
No doubt, the foregoing commentaries succintly summerise the people’s overall validation of the emerging New Abia. And as the popular axiom says, “Vox Populi, Vox Dei” (the voice of the people is the voice of God).
Thus, any contrary opinion and sinister actions by those plotting to reverse the current development trajectory of God’s Own State is tantamount to swimming against the tide and working against popular public opinion.
It also amounts to a futile attempt to force the Israelites back to the ungodly era of servitude, hunger and deprivation, and against their ultimate wish after they have tasted freedom and prosperity in a New Abia – our own Promised Land.
Of course, however fierce they may conspire, push and threaten, Abia people have become wiser and resolute in their poise to resist them and their desperation to stage a vicious come back.
Therefore, dreaming to oust Gov. Alex Otti from the Government House, Umuahia in 2027, though their right, will remain what it is, ad infinitum – a dream, a mirage, and a mission impossicant!
To God be the glory!
– Eagle Okoro, a public affairs analyst, writes from Umuahia.
