ALEX OTTI AND THE CHOICE BEFORE ABIA VOTERS

Twenty years ago when Abia state was first created, many thought it was a divine answer to their cries for the economic development of that part of the old Imo state. For a vast majority of the citizenry they will finally be seeing a light at the end of the tunnel, but regrettably after 16 years of misrule by two governors called Orji, the light they had hoped to see turned out to be that of a wrecking train hurtling down the tracks leaving behind on its path a carnage of dilapidated roads, falling educational standards, nonpayment of teacher's salaries, a broken healthcare, system, deteriorating infrastructures, economic stagnation and of course a looted treasury , just to mention a few. The sad but unassailable truth is that the outgoing administration has been a colossal failure. When recently the soon to be ex-governor listed his so-called accomplishments, he displayed a touching faith in the power of hypocrisy and falsehood. The irony of it all was that it was coming from a man who never made any promise he intended to keep.

After 8 years in office as governor, T.A Orji has qualified to be the poster boy of administrative incompetence and ineptitude. I bet if a poll is taken today of all the state governors he will definitely emerge as the worst. Even though his short-comings, his egotism and his penchant for graft is well known, he has exhibited in office, a level of dishonesty exceeding the norm of even his profession of politics. This is a man who came into office certain of two things he wanted to do, namely, loot the treasury and pick his successor to cover his misdeeds. Now the same guy wants to go the senate where he seems less certain of what he will do, except probably to get paid for every vote he casts on the senate floor.

With the outgoing administration, there was no compelling narrative, no over aching themes, no sense of purpose and desire for meaningful accomplishment. They seemed not to have been under any kind of pressure to accomplish anything. I guess the reason being that the electorate did not expect much from them. You see in the real world, expectation creates pressure. Watching the governor and the PDP run Abia state to the ground even from afar here in the United States is like watching a car crash in slow motion. It keeps happening before your eyes to the point where you can't believe what you are seeing, but it is happening nonetheless and there is nothing you can do to stop it. With regards to the city of Aba. That 44 years since the end of the civil war ,Aba is in such a sorry state of disrepair, despite Mbakwe's best efforts is not only a tragedy but a monumental failure of the most basic political fact of life. I will not feel so angry if Ochendo 's administrative inaction with regards to the roads in Aba was due to ignorance or bureaucratic ineptitude. But the fact that the neglect was deliberate is repugnant and a crime against every principle of good governance and moral reasoning.

In the outgoing governor I see nothing but the flipside of so much possibilities and potential. How can anyone with a chance to do good and make a difference in the lives of his subjects squander the opportunity all in the name of greed. At the end he has become the victim of so much hubris, leaving behind a legacy destroyed if he ever had any. As Mark Twain once wrote about a Montana senator who bought his way to the United States senate. He said and I quote “he has sweetened corruption so much that it does no longer have an offensive smell.” That is exactly what Ochendo has done in Abia ,so much so that even members of the public find the level of corruption not only tolerable but acceptable. Before Adam Smith wrote the book “The Wealth Of Nations” he wrote “Moral Virtues” in which he argued that there has to first be a virtues society before there can be a capitalist society. If he was right , then we are going about our quest for capitalism the wrong way . It makes one to wonder how we as a society have become so lacking in virtue that we continue to tolerate and glamourize corruption , in addition to voting for people over and over again who lack morals or virtues of any kind.

There is a saying that “whosoever controls the past, controls the future, and whosoever controls the present, controls the past.” This in a nutshell explains why both the outgoing governor and his predecessor have handpicked their replacements. The reason is simple. This way they can control the crimes of their past while at the same time control the present is by making their successors beholden to them. Yet it is mind boggling to know that there are people in Abia state who intend to vote for another handpicked candidate , in the person of Ikpeazu of the PDP, knowing that doing so will be a third term for Ochendo. It is a fact of life that nothing exists in a vacuum. We the people of Abia state either voted for these people in the past or stood aside silently as we watched them steal the election. In this forth-coming election there is need for political dynamism in Abia state. The electorate must stand up and say 'Enough is Enough”. They must demand and vote for change. As Wole Soyinka recently opined “History matters and records are not kept simply to assist the weakness of memory, but to operate as guide to the future” .In Ikpeazu of the PDP, we are not being offered any evidence of a prospect of a better government. Rather on the contrary. But let us not despair. We should be angry and we have every right to be angry , but we must not let that anger turn into despair . That's why we must vote for Dr Alex Otti and in so doing ,vote for change.

We have before us this time around an opportunity to make amends from our past voting mistakes. There should be no hesitance as to who is our choice to be the next governor of Abia state. Let us not be like the individual who heard opportunity knocking on his door. But by the time he pushed back the bolt, turn the key, and turn off the burglar alarm, opportunity was gone. This is one opportunity we must not miss. We need new leaders like Dr Otti. A man with impeccable academic and administrative credentials. He is a new kind of politician, that is if we can rightly categorize him as a politician, since he is new to the profession of politics. Some have criticized him for not being a true politician. It may well be that is what we really need . Someone who is new to the game of politics, yet to learn all the bad habits of the profession. He, Dr Otti in my opinion and I suppose the opinion of a majority of Abians here in the United States, especially in the tri-state area of New York, New Jersey and Connecticut where support for his candidacy is growing by leaps and bounds, has the assurance of an astute leader who has a clear vision of what he wants to do, how he is going to do it and who sees himself as being on the vanguard of a critically important mission. A mission to rehabilitate and transform Abia state. He is like a freedom fighter , who is forgoing the comfort of the banking profession to liberate his home state from further destruction.

The ultimate measure of a man, is not where he stands in moments of comfort , but where he stands in moments of crisis and challenges. Abia state is in crisis and we need new leaders who are willing to face those crisis and the challenges ahead. For too long our Abia elite have left the governance of the state to political charlatans. Its time for change. Dr Otti's candidacy should be able to hue out of the mountain of despair, a stream of hope. Hope for change, for better roads, school system, healthcare and above all prudence in managing the state's economy and financial resources. It is a fact that APGA as a party have lost their leader with the passing of the Ikemba and as such the journey without him is like driving a car at night without headlights .I am however hopeful that Dr Otti will be guided by the principles and leadership style of the party's founder , hence he, the Ikemba epitomized the word “leadership”. His ambition were far reaching but he never believed he had to abandon the Ibo people or mortgage his principles or sell out in any way for financial gain to achieve it. As a young college graduate, I had the privilege to work for him as his assistant and I found him to be a transformative figure, whose leadership and influence was both laudable and lasting. To the end, he remained a constant star and a steady compass to the Ibo nation, and in death as in life, he remains a paragon of virtue and probity. There may not be another like him, maybe not in our lifetime, but I am sure a majority of Abia voters will stand with anyone who flies his banner and who advocates for the principles he stood for , which was putting the welfare of the Ibo people first. I believe in Dr Alex Otti , we have that chance

With Dr Otti's victory , I will expect his administration to be one that crossed the line, blazed the trail and challenged the tide. I will expect him to make bold choices, bearing in mind that all choices lead you somewhere ,but bold choices get you where you want to be. Like Churchill once wrote ,”there are two kinds of successes, namely ,initial and ultimate success. I expect Dr Otti to achieve both. To the Abia people, I want them to imagine the change they are hoping for and which will come true with Dr Otti's victory. But come election day , they must make a choice. A choice between the future and the past, between reason and ignorance and between failure and progress. It is my expectation that they will vote for Hope and Change. It is true that those of us living in diaspora cannot come home to vote but we want our folks back home to know that by voting for Dr Otti they will be voting for a majority of us also. Even though we are far away from home, we desire the same things. We want to feel safe when we visit , find jobs if we get the opportunity to offer our expertise, have the basic infrastructure in place to enable us invest etc. It is true that many of us have not shown much interest in past elections in the state, but it is different this time. Dr Otti's visit here recently in which he addressed cross sections of Abians has no doubt awakened us from our political slumber and we want to be in the vanguard for change in Abia.

For the outgoing administration and their candidate Ikpeazu, the fact that they have refused to look at the scoreboard does not mean the game is not over. They must be voted out, like the saying goes “some politicians are like soiled diapers. They should be changed frequently and for the same reason”. Their's have been soiled beyond disinfecting and they must go. VOTE ALEX OTTI.VOTE FOR CHANGE.

Wriiten by
NNANNA IJOMAH BSc, MA (International Relations)
Mr Ijomah , a former Assistant to Chief EMeka Ojukwu

Teaches Political Science in New York