Should we be inviting Mr. President to Abia state now? By Prof. Moses A. Orji

President Tinubu is not just the President of Nigeria, he is the leader of the black world. He is therefore a very busy man whose scheduled priorities and scales of preferences are determined by their hierarchy of importance towards the attainment of goals of national, regional and global dimensions and significance.

It is against this background that I would like to examine the appropriateness or propriety of dragging the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria to Abia state at this time just to inaugurate a single project: a 6-km rehabilitated road and nothing more.

This growing tendency of trying to glamorize non-performance by glossing it over with the beseeched presence of high profile personalities has become the trademark of Governor Alex Otti-led administration in Abia state. And it tends to pull a wool of deception over the eyes’ of the people as the governor thereafter begins to prance around to celebrate and publicize the “endorsement of those who matter”.

And with the induced ubiquity of ‘the gullible and the hungry’ in our societies nowadays, a dishonest and propaganda-based government could spin the impression that all is well after all.

I am therefore of the opinion that this make-believe approach to scoring dubious political points by an administration that is grossly underperforming should be exposed and discouraged.

Recall that Governor Otti, about a year ago, nearly pulled off a similar stunt when he tried to drag Governor Sanwo-Olu of Lagos state to Abia state.
Our Governor wanted his colleague from Lagos state to come and commission a 200 metre track road (Yellow Avenue) on the outskirts of Aba, a street leading to the private residence of one of his business friends. Of course his intended guest caught wind of it, and refused to show up.

It is not enough to be dragging the President of the Federal Republic about just because the governor’s cousin is a Federal Minister, and ‘one of those who has the ear of Mr. President’.

There are questions which our governor and those fronting for him should answer:

In which state in the Federal Republic of Nigeria has the president gone to commission just a single completed project, and nothing more?

Why would Mr. President go to Enugu state to inaugurate seven (7) different key projects completed (by a fellow first termer with Otti), and then feel the same sense of duty to be called upon to inaugurate just one in Abia?

Why would the President go to commission the dazzling wonderland called Funcity built by Governor Soludo of Anambra state, and not ask us questions about the whereabouts of Abia’s “Recreational Facilities” which was completed last year at the cost of over N7 billions but is nowhere to be found? Or do we think the presidency is not aware?

Why would we want to drag the President into our numerous cases of “flag-offs” when work has not commenced on any of the previous flag-offs?

What about our flagged-off Seaport, Fertilizer Plants, Refineries etc at the proposed Owazza Integrated Industrial Park? Has anybody seen the feasibility study report, or the Environmental Impact Assessment Report of any of them? But they have been flagged-off.

What about the Pensioners who are proposing to come out in their numbers to make their case before the President? What are we going to tell Mr President? That we are the only state in the South East still owing Pensioners their arrears. What would be our governor’s excuse for wanting Abia pensioners to forfeit their earned pensions when our monthly inflows has quadrupled?

The questions are legion but let me pause here.

But all things considered, it could even be in the personal interest of Governor Otti that the President doesn’t come now. Perhaps Otti needs time to put his house in order.

For example, what if the President decides to have a breather at the Government House, Umuahia which has a Presidential Lounge? Would Mr Otti tell the President to follow him to his private residence at Isiala Ngwa? Remember the President is not coming on a social visit? Or would our Governor tell his august guest that tortoise, vulture and other animals were used to lay the foundation of our Government House?

Again the Abia “Medical City” at Owerrinta is within the precincts of our Owerrinta Rice Complex.

What if the President decides to have a glimpse of the ‘Owerrinta Rice Mill. The proximity of the “two projects” could tempt the President to kill two birds with one stone.

So, what would our governor tell his guest?

Or, do we think the president has not heard about our Owerrinta Rice and it’s associated brouhaha?

Also our Governor has of late been having series of nocturnal meetings with the likes of Mallam El-Rufai, Mr. Chibuike Amaechi & co.

What if the President decides to inquire about the subject matter of these meetings that do not produce communiques. What would our governor tell his guest? Still more questions than answers.

In conclusion, let me admit that it is not out of place to invite the President for an occasion like this. But occasions like the proposed Presidential Visit is calculated and geared towards showcasing an array of milestones achieved. A single drumbeat does not make a festival.

We must not abuse a presidential indulgence simply because we have proxies at the corridors of power.

What we saw at Enugu and Anambra states were awesome, and worthy to receive Presidential presence. I don’t think Abia’s case falls within this purview. Frankly speaking, what we see in Abia state is a far cry from the audacious transformations brewing around us.

When some careful observers opine that Abia is being run aground with propaganda and make-believe, social media warriors are quickly unleashed on them.

Fortunately for Otti, he is the net recipient of the stranded Obedient social media bulwark, and he deploys it effectively to create a false impression.

But a day of reckoning will always arrive, no matter how late. Propaganda may temporarily sway the narrative to your favor but it can never take the place of performance, a simple truth everybody knows.

When the truth is revealed, propaganda becomes a despicable object to look at. And this is the reality of Abia state today.

We have been wallowing in the morass of propaganda and brinkmanship while states like Enugu and Anambra states have taken a quantum leap forward.

Yet we may not have learnt our lessons as our governor continues to fire broadsides at his predecessors, and as he continues to blame the rate of the Dollar to the Naira for the inflated value of his contracts.

Signed:

Citizen Moses A ORJI
is a Nigerian from Abia state.