“If the government in power lacks the prerequisite knowledge to manage or generate wealth or to create opportunities for wealth to spread then Abia state is headed for a very difficult times if they fail to choose the right man for the job and that is why the choice of Alex Otti for the governorship of Abia state has become imperative.”
Among south eastern states in Nigeria, Abia state has faced one of the worst government representations virtually in all human indices, most worrisome is the decline in academic rating which the state used to enjoy among the top 5 in the country. Civil servants are owed over 30 months salaries, pensioners are owed over 40 months, the health sector is abysmally at its lowest ebb with nurses and medics owed over 24 months salaries, the capital city Umuahia appears completely abandoned in its old and wanning infrastructures, schools are shut down at will and their accreditation withdrawn due to gross negligence of people in government, the city of Aba appears decrepit with major business roads impassable – completely frustrating business activities.
This is not a good sign for a commercially viable state as Abia and most troubling is the attitude of stifling the residents economic power that should sustain the cycle of economic development.
Speaking with the Labour Party State Publicity Secretary Mr. Njoku Jerry Ajike in Umuahia, he strongly condemned government lackadaisical attitude to the people’s welfare and failure in building institutions that are economically viable to sustain the region referred to as South East SME hub. He presented a glimpse of the Labour party Alex Otti’s template of the new Abia in focus.
“What you should ask is; among all the people contesting for the governorship positions which among them has such capacity and competence to create wealth and sustain it and give back to people their utmost desire which is enjoying the privilege of fair share of the wealth of Abia state.”
In his statement, he said; “What the government in Abia state has failed to do over the years is the ability to create opportunity for wealth generation and blocking of excess loopholes for graft.
Sometimes I have discovered this attitude as a deliberate attempt to render the people economically vulnerable and dependent on individuals in privileged positions in the government.”
“It is another political campaign season and I have been waiting to hear anyone tell us how they are going to revive the people’s dwindling economic power that has virtually rendered people in Abia miserably poor so that they begin to exhibit abnormal behaviors like waking up in the morning everyday only to go to the radio to sing praises for the governor and people in government in order to earn a living and the government in place has capitalized on that error to impoverish the people the more by withholding their wages virtually in every sector where they have access to earn a living.” This is the sordid situation in Abia State.” He said.
“When people have money and the means to create more money, they will not have the time to be going on radio every morning to sing the Praise of one governor, senator or any member of government, they will be too busy to bring themselves so low to such slavish conditions.” Remember this state was built for commerce and industry and what made that commerce thrive was the SME industry, therefore when the ordinary people cannot sustain the energy and financial capacity to sustain that little business because there is abysmally low patronage, you have killed entire system of productivity in the state”
Wealth generation and citizen’s empowerment to overcome poverty
Responding to the choice of Labour Party gubernatorial candidate in the person of Dr. Alex Otti and what plans has he got to do things differently, Mr. Njoku said; “Alex Otti has one major goal that align with the tenets of Labour Party in Nigeria and that is the building of institution that gives the ordinary people the opportunity to create wealth and the gradual amelioration of poverty and exploitation by the political elites, which previous government of Abia state has weaponized to completely erase the middle class and has destroyed the booming SME industry that made Abia state a headline state for commerce and industry., Tell me what else do Abians want if not to give the people the opportunity to enjoy our collective wealth and boost their purchasing power.”
“When people have money and the means to create more money, they will not have the time to be going on radio every morning to sing the Praise of one governor, senator or any member of government, they will be too busy to bring themselves so low to such slavish conditions.” Remember this state was built for commerce and industry and what made that commerce thrive was the SME industry, therefore when the ordinary people cannot sustain the energy and financial capacity to sustain that little business because there is abysmally low patronage, you have killed entire system of productivity in the state” He said.
“What you should ask is; among all the people contesting for the governorship positions which among them has such capacity and competence to create wealth and sustain it and give back to people their utmost desire which is enjoying the privilege of fair share of the wealth of Abia state.
“I have heard contestants making promises of building new cities, building more healthcare centers, shopping complex, building more schools and ICT centers.” Yea, these are beautiful ideas but what happens if the people have no money to patronize the brand-new hospitals, nobody to buy the houses because people are dirt poor which is a common sight in Abia state today and has resorted to an abused lifestyle of sycophancy to the people in power, what happens if people don’t even have the money to send their children to those new schools and ICT centers or is the government going to run a charity organsations, you should know for a fact that, as well as these are lofty ideas, they are not sustainable. There are chances they will amount to another abandoned projects when they cannot yield any dividend to the government and we will be back to square one.
“More so, going by the campaign promises of other candidates as I have heard them speak, I ask; if you build all the bridges and ICT centers and people are poor, what kind of a situation have you created and that is why the focus of Alex Otti has been to re-empower the ordinary people of this state to rediscover the path to wealth”
Curtail graft by fiscal and administrative discipline
Secondly, Alex Otti and Labour Party is bringing Discipline in the business of government, that is; fiscal and administrative discipline which has been so destroyed and completely ridiculing governance in Abia state.
Take for instance; Abia state is among the 8 states enjoying the 13% derivation from Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) in addition to the ecological funds it received from the Federal Government. Early this year it was announced that the eight oil-producing states has received about N6.589 trillion from the Federation Account under the 13 per cent derivation – divide that among the 8 states and you keep wondering why Abia State government is owing its workers endlessly and leaving the state so impoverished yet with very little to show for all the money they received from the Federal Government as largesse of state apparatus, what happens to the state IGR which is pegged within the range of N3b per month, you will find out that government complain of no money is simply because the people in government lack the fiscal discipline to manage the resources of the state.”
“Alex Otti and Labour Party is bringing Discipline in the business of government, that is; fiscal and administrative discipline which has been so destroyed and completely ridiculing governance in Abia state.”
“If the government in power lacks the prerequisite knowledge to manage or generate wealth or to create opportunities for wealth to spread then Abia state is headed for a very difficult times if they fail to choose the right man for the job and that is why the choice of Alex Otti for the governorship of Abia state has become imperative.
We want to change the leadership narrative in Abia State and Alex Otti is that candidate who have exhibited the pedigree of a man on a mission to change the situation of Abia and her people to enable them enjoy the wealth inherent in this state.
Abia state used to be the hub of professional artisans in Nigeria in virtually all sectors of trade, even China used to envy Aba made products and all of a sudden, all that attributes has been destroyed the moment people who do not understand the business of creating a functional economy and sustaining it barged into the governmental system. This is the problem and that is what Labour Party and Alex Otti has come to address head-on.
“More so, going by the campaign promises of other candidates as I have heard them speak, I ask; if you build all the bridges and ICT centers and people are poor, what kind of a situation have you created and that is why the focus of Alex Otti has been to re-empower the ordinary people of this state to rediscover the path to wealth”
“More so, going by the campaign promises of other candidates as I have heard them speak, I ask; if you build all the bridges and ICT centers and people are poor, what kind of a situation have you created and that is why the focus of Alex Otti has been to re-empower the ordinary people of this state to rediscover the path to wealth, that is what we are known for and Alex Otti has been consistent in his desire to help Abians achieve that feat.
“He has that load of experience garnered from the corporate sector while he held sway in the global banking industry, engaging professionals, technocrats and artisans that fuels the SME industry – If you lack knowledge of this, you will just be making empty campaign promises”
“Now let me ask you, of all the campaign promises PDP and Okezie Ikpeazu made how many have they kept. Have they moved over to the new government house now?”, is the government not still paying rent to an individual – All these have existed because some people are benefiting from the over invoicing to fraudsters who has no business in government other than rob the collective welfare of the people – We are going to run a disciplined administrative system that gives people a sense of dignity at work and that is just a tip of the iceberg.”
Thank you
