As long as the Labour Party led government of Alex Otti is open to criticism, it will amount to most unpatriotic and unjust thing to do to your people and homeland when you choose to resort to lies and blackmail
If there is any party that in practice suits the definition of Democracy, it is Labour party. As a social democratic party, the welfare and economic situation of the people that made up the society and the participation of the people in government is a priority.
Participating in governance is the duty of every citizen and this was the first request of the leadership of the party when on the 29th May inauguration of the Alex Otti government he made a public declaration that this government is open to criticism as it provides a system of checks and balances for every responsible government.
The citizen has the right to voice out his concern in the activities of government especially where it bothers on his welfare and economic situation or the activities of those he has elected into power, however wisdom entails the ability to ask the right question for the right purpose and you will certainly get a proper answer.
Unfortunately, this kind of wisdom is not evenly shared and may never be adequate, especially where individuals by reason of self delusion chose not to apply common sense in every matters of public interest otherwise Labour Party is open to the ordinary people to join in governance and this is what the government of Alex Otti has demonstrated from the onset.
Of recent, few selected individuals of Abia state origin had gone on national TV and the social media to declare that there is nothing on ground to assess the Alex Otti led Labour Party government including the recently awarded long abandoned Aba-Port Harcourt road.
A road purportedly destroyed and abandoned by the Okezie Ikpeazu led PDP government that left entire economic region devastated. The individual, perhaps, acting as a member of the opposition had declared that the previous government had completed 40% of the said road including a total of 13.5km of drains. I almost screamed in disbelief on hearing this kind of opinion and I asked if it’s the same road that remains impassable as I write this day, with every signs of complete abandonment and fraud visibly portrayed at every corner. Tell me, If this is not a bare face lie of self delusion and mischief, I wonder what else such individual was struggling to portray to the public
After Governor Otti’s monthly media briefing, some selected members of the opposition including the Abia State PDP Publicity secretary ran to the social media platform, issuing Press Release condemning the presentation of the Q3 Budget Performance as “Wasteful Expenses and Propaganda of a New Abia” by the Labour Party government.
The great teacher in the book of Ecclesiastes 4:7, counsels; “Wisdom is the principal thing; therefore get wisdom: and with all your getting get understanding.”
Unfortunately, understanding is a virtue not commonly prized, and there is a very bad habit common among those that lack it and that is ‘ignorance and arrogance.’
For those who have resorted to self mockery of the concept of the New Abia, What is the situation of Abia today compared to previous administration.
If there is no difference then your bashing of the Labour Party government of Alex Otti may be tolerated and corrections implemented.
However, if the welfare and economic condition of the average residents and indigenes of Abia State especially the civil servants, has improved from the era of debts, abuse and outright neglect to regular income paid as at when due and other social infrastructures then you will only be advertising your level of ignorance and abysmal low education on the reality on ground
Simply put; Is Abia today better than the previous or is it worse?
More so, Those running their mouth on national TV, all in a bid to destroy the hardworking effort of the Labour party government to rebuild this collapsed region that was deliberately destroyed by individuals I refer to as political rogue elements, will they be sincere to themselves to declare that Abia of yesterday is better than what it is today.
Taking a tour of Abia today beginning from the state capital Umuahia to the center of commerce, the city of Aba, it will only amount to a deliberate act of ignorance to deny the concept of the New Abia prior to the emergence of Alex Otti labour party government.
And most importantly is the welfare of the workforce, the civil servants, the economic engine of the government, is it better today compared to the era of Abraham Ama’s PDP or worse off. What about the pensioners who were dying in bits with their money out rightly stolen by agents of previous government, Has relief and rescue came to the way of the pensioners and Abia workers today or not.
What about the infrastructure situation that left entire capital city in total darkness, grinding businesses and lifestyle to a halt and the menace of filth from Umuahia to Aba.
Has these anomalies been fixed in this administration or not, Is there any existence of a new Abia compared to the old sights of darkness, filth and fraud at every corner.
It may suffice here to state that the administrative mess left by those that managed the former Abia who have found pastime to engage in distractive criticism of an administrative system they lacked the wisdom and capacity to manage when it was under their care was not only mind boggling but dumbfounding to imagine that individuals who brandished Phd’s and other professional knowledge will allow their own homeland to degenerate to such a level Abia State was subjected to including the infusion of over 10,000 acclaimed workers with the sole intent of using them as baits for large scale fraud and stealing of government resources.
More so, you do not compare Abia with Ebonyi or any south eastern states because it never existed as a reference for any kind of credibility in governance prior to the emergence of Otti’s Labour party government. The extent of administrative and physical damage left by the previous PDP administration is simply unjustifiable and worth every expenses put forward to bring back the state to sanity and progress.
The government cannot be right at all matters, the governor certainly is not perfect in all his decisions, More so, it is the hallmark of Labour Party to give rooms to the people to air their views and contribute to the government they played active role in building.
No godfather instituted any aspect of Labour Party, from the governor down to the council Wards, this is a government of the people and by the people and as long as the ordinary people are comfortable with the government of the New Abia
It will be self indicting for anyone among the former oppressors to come out and begin to pick faults when the actual recipient of the blessings of the People’s Party has never complained but happy with the works Otti’s government is doing.
As long as the Labour Party led government of Alex Otti is open to criticism, it will amount to most unpatriotic and unjust thing to do to your people and homeland when you choose to resort to lies and blackmail from the realities on ground.
Njoku SaintJerry A is the Abia State Publicity Secretary of Labour Party, He writes from Umuahia
