Beyond The Hype Of Tinubu’s Visit To Aba
As President Bola Tinubu visits Abia to commission the new Geometric Power plant built to provide 24/7 electricity to Aba and its environs, it has become compelling to highlight what, in my mind, should be a major take-away for the President as he embarks on this exercise.
It is noteworthy to mention that Mr. President’s visit to Aba is coming at a time when the electricity supply in most parts of the country (especially since the inception of his regime) has gone from being bad to becoming notoriously ridiculous with its attendant paralyzing effect on business activities and the daily livelihood of Nigerians.
The successful completion and takeoff of the Aba power project symbolizes an oasis of achievement in a country where electricity famine and perennial darkness loom large like the proverbial sword of Damocles. Unarguably, the launch of this well-founded project offers a glimmer of hope that things can work in Nigeria if the needed supportive environment is assured and enabled by the presence of leaders who have a good head on their shoulders.
Beyond the hype and razzle-dazzle of President Tinubu’s visit to Aba, Nigerians expect that Mr. President will draw valuable inspiration from the leadership orientation of Abia State Governor – Dr. Alex Otti who has demystified the concept of political governance, demonstrating in concrete terms that it is the process of managing a State (or any other defined political entity), establishing transparency and accountability to the people, prioritizing the attainment of their welfare and promoting a sense of oneness or nationhood.
For Dr. Alex Otti, governance is not about spending the entire tenure in blaming your predecessor for destroying the country and bequeathing a dead economy to you. It is not about criminalizing the opposition as unpatriotic saboteurs who are unwilling to volunteer ideas on how to move the country forward. Real governance is not about accusing your “imaginary” political enemies of being responsible for instigating public protests by impoverished Nigerians who have become disgruntled by the illusion of a “renewed hope” promise that has delivered pain, misery and bondage.
In the past 24 years, Abia State has become notorious as a perfect metaphor of bankrupt leadership from past Governors who presided over the affairs of the State. For a State that is baptized with the slogan: “God’s own State”, the misrule from these Governors became so acute that such a slogan was now considered as blasphemy. Going by the established tradition of governance in Nigeria, Alex Otti could easily assemble a rich, ready-made catalogue of excuses and blame-games which he would deploy as a justification for leadership failure during his tenure. On the contrary, he understood that leadership is about taking charge and being accountable for the outcome of your actions or inactions. For him, there is no time to look for who to blame!
Today, any keen observer of Otti’s governance trajectory in the last 8 months will attest that he has become a trail blazer that is worthy of emulation especially by other governors whose record or achievement so far is disoriented at best and ignoble at worst. Let’s hope that the President’s visit to Aba will provide a rare opportunity for him and the pollical leadership across all spectrums to reappraise their notion of governance and to realize that the primary goal of governance is the guarantee of security of citizens’ lives, and the promotion of both material and psychological wellbeing of Nigerians. Anything short of this is political witchcraft.