FOR THE RECORD: Text of Gov Otti’s broadcast marking 35th anniversary of Abia creation on 27 August

Umunnem ndi Abia, I come to you this morning with an elation of gratitude, thankful, firstly, to the Almighty God for His blessings upon our land in the last 35 years. May I also congratulate you, dear brothers and sisters, as we relish the joy of this remarkable anniversary in our evolution as a people bound by a common heritage, defined by the resilience of our spirit and hope in the promises that tomorrow holds. Individually and collectively, each of us has contributed to shaping the character of our State, defining its identity and charting its future. Fellow Abians, you owe it to yourself to be proud of the contributions you have made to building this community of abilities. Our joy on this momentous occasion does not come from a place of vanity; it is founded on the conviction that a security is upon us, our moment has arrived, and with gratitude, we shall seize the opportunities of our day to create a better world for those coming after us. Our race is never about outrunning others; it is about pushing ourselves, staying committed, asking tough questions, and refusing to settle for less than we deserve.

The radiance of our dear State draws from the light lit by the brilliance of foresight and the prodigious intellect of our father, Dr Ogbonnaya Onu, CON, who served as our first democratically elected Governor; over the last 27 years, my predecessors, Dr Okezie Ikpeazu, MON, have exerted themselves in the service of our people, contributing to its socio-economic and political evolution. We owe them a debt of gratitude for their contribution to our development. On a day of immense historical significance like this, we are also obliged to remember the efforts and commitments of the military administrators whose steady leadership helped maintain peace and social stability in the early years. The foundations laid by Air Vice Marshal Frank Ajobena, CON; Brigadier General Chinyere Ike Nwosu; Commander Temi Ejoor; Colonel Moses Fasanya; and Lieutenant Colonel Anthony Obi offered great hope for the immense potential of our young State. Their investments in infrastructure and commitment to public order greatly shaped the construct of our economic and social experiences as our identity began to emerge. Like all of us, our past leaders may not have been perfect, but we must never lose sight of their efforts at building a political entity that answers to the aspirations of all who share in its heritage.

Abia, it must be noted on this auspicious occasion, did not emerge from mere wishes; the State was created by the Military Administration of General Ibrahim Babangida, GCFR, following years of intense agitations and convergence of wits by a constellation of political, traditional and religious leaders, scholars, captains of industry and thought leaders from all walks of life. Coincidentally, IBB spoke with me yesterday and asked me to convey his best wishes to Ndi Abia. The visionaries who led the agitation for the creation of our State were driven entirely by the conviction that we have been called to a great destiny that can only find expression in a distinct political entity within a defined geographical boundary. Leading the patriotic push for the creation of Abia were political giants and titans such as Dr Michael Iheonukara Okpara, who led the Abia State Movement from the early 1980s, along with his deputy, Chief Benjamin Nwachukwu. Also worthy of due recognition are leaders such as Dr Moses A. O. Agbara, Pharmacist Rufus Obi, Barrister Vincent Uwanna, Dr Nwakama Okoro, Barrister Igwe Ugwumba, Honourable Chief Eme Udeoji, Eze Dr Feyi Waboso, Chief O. C. Ememe, and Ezeji Joseph Madumere Nwamgburuka. Working closely with other prominent leaders who shared in the dream of a new State for our people, our fathers offered their all so that the state we know today as Abia might be actualised. As we mark the 35th anniversary of the realisation of what was once a dream, it is required that we restate our debt of gratitude to the pathfinders for envisioning the future and using everything at their disposal, including their prodigious intellect, financial resources and political reach, to make it happen. Our job in this age is to rededicate ourselves to the values that inspired leaders from the constituent communities to work in unity to create the State.

The political and intellectual elites may have led the struggle to create our State. Still, its enduring identity has been carved over the last three and a half decades by the resilience of its entrepreneurs, artisans and all those whose ingenuity and innovative products and solutions dominate markets and trading posts across West Africa. The greatness of the State, beyond the bold footprints of its giants, is expressed in the outputs of the creative minds who operate in the fashion ecosystem, producing fabrics and leatherworks that define industry benchmarks in Nigeria and beyond; the architectural masterpieces that dot our landscape would not exist without the diligence of the bricklayers, plumbers, electricians, carpenters and the body of workers who have carried forth our philosophy of work and value creation through generations. Today, we also remember our teachers, past and present. These dedicated instructors poured their lives into ours so that the light of knowledge would continue to shine brighter into the future. The civil servants, medical experts, security agents, sanitation workers, traders and the countless body of professionals and self-employed individuals in our communities deserve generous words of commendation for shaping our daily experiences with their skills and commitment. Abia, like every society through time, embodies the energy and the optimism of the people who live in it; we do not give up, whatever the odds are, we fight, exhaust ourselves and return at dawn the next day until the outcome that we seek is attained. This anniversary morning presents us with a special opportunity to celebrate the resilient spirit that has carried us through thick and thin, especially remembering the ordinary men and women who express their faith in the founding ideals of our State through the passion they bring to their daily endeavours. The whole credit for the achievements of the last 35 years belongs to all of us who refused to be held back by the cynicism that greeted our first steps as we set out on this journey; our children have a brighter future because you stayed courageous, especially when our path looked bleak, and the reward of our labour was uncertain.

While it is only decent to congratulate ourselves on the blessings of the last 35 years, it is also prudent to remind ourselves that we are only just beginning. The road ahead is still long, and the only guarantee of success is focus — a constant reminder that we have barely scratched the surface, that our fathers had big dreams when they mapped the economic and social outline of the State more than 40 years ago. Yes, our road network is expanding, more public and private buildings are being built, and technological marvels have enabled the democratisation of opportunities. Still, there is more to ask for, much more work to be done. To become better, we need to be constantly mindful that we are still far from the destination that stirred the dream of Abia in the hearts of the early visionaries. We cannot afford the lethargy of complacency nor accept the limitations that mediocrity imposes on great aspirations. The Abia project found its wings through the foresight and doggedness of its founding visionaries; our generation, not minding its acute limitations, has continued the race, and in time, the baton shall be passed to our children. What we must now do is make the community better for those who come after us. We are confronted with challenges on every side, but we must agree together, over a broken society, for our children. As parents, we are duty-bound to prepare them to function and thrive in the new age where value creation, and not what is buried beneath the earth, is the ultimate ticket to sustained relevance.

To prepare our young ones for the demands of the future, we shall continue to expand our investments in education and health. Our generous investments over the last 3 years have enabled the recruitment and training of thousands of teachers and health workers, enhanced salary packages, smooth execution of capital projects, especially the building and equipping of smart schools, primary, post-primary and tertiary healthcare facilities, payment of counterpart funding for development projects, effective supervision and other initiatives that are designed to guarantee improved service delivery. Our overarching strategy is to create systems that enhance the overall competitiveness of every child raised in Abia. We have made a commitment that no child in Abia shall be disadvantaged on account of the economic or social background of their parents, and this is expressed through our free and compulsory basic education programme, through efforts to increase the quality of learning in schools, nd the spread of our smart schools. Beyond the gains made in the restoration of our public primary, post-primary and tertiary institutions as centres of learning and development, we have specially tied our health sector investments into the overall programme of development for our children, because for us, you cannot separate the health and wellbeing of the parents from the growth trajectory of the child. This philosophy explains our substantial investments in developing primary healthcare facilities across all 184 wards in the State to improve access to healthcare for families. We have specifically reinvigorated the health insurance programme to reduce the scale of difficulties arising from out-of-pocket costs when accessing healthcare services at our partner facilities.

May I reiterate that the State’s entire economic and social development programmes are carefully structured to expand opportunities for our hardworking population, as our founding fathers envisioned. Over the last 3 years, more than a thousand kilometres of roads across urban and rural communities have been fixed to open up the economy, improve factor productivity, and attract investment, which would ultimately create job opportunities for our teeming youth population. We are also keen on the agricultural sector’s potential; beyond the promise of food security, we are ramping up investments in agriculture to create real jobs, expand household incomes, and attract foreign capital, as we have recently begun to witness. In the same vein, the State is steadily laying solid groundwork to accelerate the development of the housing sector by adopting transparency in the land administration process. Our focus in this regard is to increase public confidence and multiply the value of our real estate as a legitimate channel of wealth creation. The government, in the last 3 years, has demonstrated a definite resolve to mine the opportunities that are developing in the information and communication technology space through structured training programmes that have benefitted thousands of young men and women; recall also that we are investing in ICT infrastructure to increase access, especially for rural dwellers, so they can also benefit from and leverage the opportunities offered by technology. Evidently, we are keeping our eyes on the promises of the future in the continuing pursuit of the aspirations that informed the demand for the creation of Abia 35 years ago. Permit me once again to return credit to where it rightly belongs: to you, umunne m ndi Abia. Thank you for the sacrifices of the past 35 years; the credit for the success of the past and present belongs to you. Thank you for not giving up on this land and for remaining unyielding in your conviction that the soul of this great State is worth fighting for.

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While we have carefully kept our eyes on the future, efforts have also been made to address the injustice of the past; nothing demonstrates this better than the recent commencement of the payment of accumulated gratuity arrears, starting from 2001. We shall, as promised, continue to make these payments as resources become available. You can, however, take it for granted that henceforth, no senior citizen shall be denied what is due to them. Beyond the decision to clear debts accumulated from more than two decades ago, I have also directed that, going forward, anyone leaving the service should be paid their gratuity as soon as the necessary documentation is completed. The old practice of denying retirees what is due to them will no longer obtain. This administration shall continue to honour our senior citizens for the crucial roles they played in the evolution of our State since 1991.

The future, as I had earlier hinted, is promising, but we must rise to the demands that it makes of us. The responsibility of building a state worthy of the dreams of our parents is on all of us; today’s anniversary invites us to embrace our duties as citizens and stakeholders in the long-term development of the State; pay your taxes and other statutory fees as often and quickly as they fall due, support the security agents to keep crime out of our State and refuse the temptation to be a tool in the shenanigans of unscrupulous elements. Abia is ours to build, and thankfully, we are on the right track. As we march into the future with a new sense of mission, let us take confidence in the knowledge that our destiny is written by the very hands that carved the marvel of the universe.

Thank you for listening, and may God bless Abia State.