NOT ALEX OTTI’S CROSS, By Chuks Akamadu

Since the days of Dr. Orji Uzor Kalu as governor, all has not been well with Abia. A generous euphemist would say Dr. Kalu wasn’t quite the best of us, but the truth is that Abia had much finer minds and deserved much better. His eight years in office was a record low. There was nothing remarkable about his administration except for the transformation that was witnessed in Enyimba Football Club, Aba, which even his worst critics cannot deny.
In fairness to him though, he wasn’t entirely different from his peers. If anything, he and his brother-governors in the south-east in particular shared a whole lot in common. But for Dr. Sam Egwu of Ebonyi who was strikingly of a different mould, Abia’s immediate neighbours had variants of same leadership disaster that was her lot.
Dr. Chimaroke Nnamani who held sway in Enugu was famous for unending self-inflicted battles that placed governance at the bottom of his priority list. Governor Achike Udenwa of Imo State wasn’t any different really except that he was not exactly as brazen as the Agbani-born medical doctor-turned politician. Dr. Chinwoke Mbadinuju’s dismal performance in office as governor of Anambra State is well documented and doesn’t deserve to be repeated here.
In his book, My Vision: Challenges in the Race for Excellence, Muhammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum posited that “the tasks of a successful leader include searching for competent managers and administrators to fulfil his vision and goals”. I agree with him, more so when the United Arab Emirates (UAE) story emphatically validates his assertion. Of all leadership qualities and attributes, I believe strongly in the primacy of vision. In my view, vision should precede all leadership aspirations. Thankfully, I am not alone on this. Earlier, late Chief Odumegwu Ojukwu had argued in his book, Because I am Involved, that “every leader must have a dream and be steadfast in his efforts to fulfil that dream (meaning vision in this context)”.
Furthermore, after reading The Singapore Story (memoirs of Lee Kuan Yew), erstwhile prime minister of Thailand, Prem Tinsulanonda, had to remark that Yew’s “actions have shaped the course of events in the region. His vision and ideas continue to enrich intellectual debate and influence policy makers worldwide”. Here again, the elevated place of vision in leadership is accentuated by a highly esteemed world leader.
My point really is that, mathematically speaking, the lowest common multiple (LCM) that applied to Governor Kalu and his brother-governors in the class of 1999-2007 was the absence of vision – which explains, in large parts, why they failed. And woefully, too! “Nemo dat quod non habet” says a Latin maxim and, truly, no man can give what he does not have. It thus becomes understandable why Dr. Kalu could not give Abia purposeful leadership in his two (2) terms of office. Ditto the above-named.
Here is how the foundation of Abia State was laid in this fourth republic. So, by the time the curtain was about being dropped on the Kalu era, he sought, perhaps inadvertently, to preserve the same template of no-vision by foisting Chief Theodore Orji on his party and subsequently seeing him through the gubernatorial poll in 2007. And because Chief Orji, like his predecessor and godfather, had no vision, he spent 8 wasted years in office. He raised the bar of corruption (for which he and his son are still answering questions at EFCC), nourished mediocrity in governance by surrounding himself with iron benders and praise-singers and erected billboards with his image all over Abia State for the base purpose of self-glorification. Go and verify!
And by the time Chief T.A had to leave office, he predictably stood on existing protocol by sponsoring another of their ilk who also had no vision. Otherwise, why would Governor T.A Orji pick a successor whose most amazing record in public service was that he served as deputy general manager of Abia State Environmental Protection Agency (ASEPA) at a time World Health Organization (WHO) rated Aba and Umuahia as being among the 20 most polluted cities in the world? Once again, go and verify.
So, in the absence of vision, Abia and Abians had to endure the pains and spasms of underdevelopment, deprivation, collapse of values and state capture by a coterie of jobbers who fed fat off Abia’s treasury without adding value. Persons who were not qualified to be described as “Abia’s third eleven” have most regrettably dominated the state’s leadership space for almost two and half decades to the detriment of Abians. This is Abia story on the canvass!
The good news however is that we have, once again, approached that cyclical juncture where Abians would have an opportunity to choose between preserving the status quo and departing from it. The sustained affliction of the past 24 years of course makes the latter option an obvious choice. And as God would have it, this has found eloquent expression in the outcome of February 25 national assembly polls, where the people, resoundingly rejected the status quo. Tsunami it was. Governor Okezie Ikpeazu lost his senatorial bid. Son of the immediate past governor and incumbent speaker, Abia House of Assembly, Engr. Chinedum Orji and erstwhile chief of staff to the governor, Prof ACB Agbazuere, who ran for federal house of representatives seats were loudly rejected by the electorate at the said elections. Without mincing words, the four pillars of a vile empire came crumbling!
That was a good start and well—meaning Abians have since commended it. The real task before the Abia electorate at this point is how to ensure that they do not unwittingly replace six with half a dozen – so to speak. Change in government house Umuahia is both desirable and critically important, many would agree, but the trillion-naira question is: what sort of change?
Of all the gubernatorial candidates, one man without disputation stands out: Dr. ALEX OTTI. He embodies the dream state Abians deservedly yearn for. A man of clear vision, Dr. Otti is an egghead with the requisite administrative and technocratic skills to transform Abia within reasonable time and make her the envy of her peers. This attribute he shares with sages from afar like Lee Kuan Yew of Singapore and, coming nearer home, legends like Dr. Michael Okpara of defunct Easter Region.
With his rare accomplishments in career as an astute banker, as a scholar and distinctive manager of men and resources, Dr. Otti is prepared for the job he seeks and does approximate the “God’s Own State” Abians see in their mind’s eye. Dr. Otti’s track record, both private and public – with its strong integrity accent, does not leave anyone in doubt as to what to expect in the likely event the Abia electorate give him victory at the poll. Given both our Egypt and wilderness experiences as well as the obvious choice staring Abia in the face, one can only wish and hope that Abians would realize ahead of the governorship polls that choosing the fittest candidate to replace soon-to-go Governor Ikpeazu is not Alex Otti’s cross. This is Abia’s opportunity to be free – free at last, free indeed! Ozoemela!!
Chuks Akamadu, M.IoD
Umuahia, Abia State