Sowore’s rough tackle on Gov. Otti, by Ochereome Nnanna

Some weeks ago, activist Omoyele Sowore, joined a group of protesters in Aba, the commercial heart of Abia State, to call for the release of Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB, leader, Mazi Nnamdi Kanu. His presence and those of other non-Igbo elements were highly appreciated. But he threw that visit into a cloud with the tag of “failure” he capriciously put on the State Governor, Dr Alex Otti.

Specifically, he said: “After visiting Abia State, I can confirm that Alex Otti is a failure because I don’t believe in half transformation…I went to Aba, some transformed, partly not transformed. I don’t believe in half transformation. Mine is total”. He singled out Ariaria Market. “When you enter Ariaria Market, which is the biggest economic hub there, the place looks like Jurassic Park. But when you go to the main road, of course, there is some transformation”. The undertones of this statement were meant to reinforce the narrative in some quarters that the favourable media attention that the Otti administration has been getting is a mere hype being spun to deceive the gullible.

Let’s first look at Sowore’s assertion of “failure” based merely on his observations of Ariaria Market during a street procession. How can you look at the completed phase one of a project and the yet-to-be-started phase two and pronounce “failure”? Unless you are daft, you cannot call an ongoing project a “failure”. The completed phase of Ariaria International Market and the Ekeoha Shopping Complex in Aba are the best and most beautiful markets in Nigeria today. No other markets come close in standard and facilities.

The old section of the Ariaria Market, which is the next phase of the reconstruction, is indeed a “Jurassic Park” of sorts. Just like Alaba International Market in Ojo, Lagos, these structures were constructed by the traders themselves decades ago with little regard to standards. Because of that, the area is often subsumed by floods during the rains, a problem that has been solved in the recently-reconstructed phase one.

Besides the fact that Sowore’s “failure” grading is not based on tangible criteria, one ongoing project alone cannot be used to judge a governor’s performance over three years. To understand what has happened in the past three years, one must first of all know the condition that Abia State was in the preceding 24 years. Trunk roads like Port Harcourt Road, had been overcome with mountains of refuse heaps and overgrown with tall trees. Nobody would look at Port Harcourt Road then and believe that it had been tarred ever before. But today, this main artery and others throughout the commercial city literally shine both day and night, what Orji Kalu calls “painting”.

It is not only about roads in Aba, it is also about all-round development throughout the state, especially in the infrastructure, education, health and reindustrialisation sectors.

Abia people know where the heavy rain stopped beating them. That is why they cannot hide their joy. What is happening in Abia will happen anywhere there is good governance and the people’s lives are being positively impacted. It will happen in the whole of Nigeria if and when good leaders and good governance come. The Bible affirms that people rejoice when the righteous is on the throne. They also groan when the wicked is in power. Nobody has the financial capacity to pay content creators and respected social media influencers to go on the web and hype nonexistent performance. For every paid jobber, there will be a thousand others out to confront them.

Young people have voluntarily taken to creating content on good governance in today’s Abia State, not only in appreciation of the good work of Governor Otti, but also because people, especially Abians all over the world, want to watch. Where else, apart from Abia State, is this happening?

Let me iterate, once again, that the joy in Abia State is not because Otti is doing what has not been done in other states, or that Abia has become the most developed state in Nigeria. The joy is that many Abia indigenes are seeing in their state what they had thought impossible because of the type of political leaders they were saddled with before Otti came. I saw smart schools in Maiduguri, Borno State under Kashim Shettima as Governor back in 2018. Now, smart schools are also springing up in Abia and Enugu states.

In addition, Abia can now boast of what many other states can’t. Which other state governor can affirm: “we are negotiating to pull out of the national grid”, as Governor said recently? How many governors have abolished the indigene/settler dichotomy and appointed non-indigenes to some of the highest offices in their states? I know that many states are offering free basic education to their indigenes, but is this also extended to non-indigenes as in Governor Otti’s Abia State? How many states are offering monthly allowances to senior citizens aged 60 and above? We are not talking about pension for retired civil servants!

We know Sowore as the celebrated publisher of SaharaReporters online newspaper. We knew him as a fearless student union leader. We also know him as a civil society activist and budding politician. You can call him a man of many parts, but how many of these is he a master of? Perhaps, it is time that Sowore decided, between active party politics and social activism which to face squarely. As an opposition figure, Sowore’s queer attitude of launching sudden, unprovoked and baseless attacks on other opposition party leaders like Peter Obi, and now Alex Otti, gets people wondering if he is a real politician, an agent or a mere clout-chasing content creator.

Governor Alex Otti is definitely not beyond criticism, this being a democracy. But it must be genuine. Good leaders are scarce in Nigeria. Abians are happy. Anything else is sideshow.

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