Governor Alex Otti and the logic of the bad Samaritans: 5 things to know…

Governor Alex Otti is 100% right to offer humanitarian support to a military personnel (Amoke Gunshot Simon) who served in Abia with distinction between 2010 and 2014, helped in neutralising the terror of “Osiskankwu” and his gang of kidnappers, armed robbers and rapists.

It is shameful to see sadist commentators and sore losers criticise a remarkable gesture to a gallant soldier who gave everything to keep the State safe.

It is even more disgusting to suggest that the Governor must solve all the long-standing problems in the State before offering to help a soldier who risked his life for our people, just because he is no longer working here.

We should indeed be grateful to God that we have a Governor who does not suffer the mental and scarcity limitations of his opponents.

For those who really care to know, here are 5 things to know about Governor Otti’s leadership disposition and of course, the unstated frustrations of his opponents…

1. On pensioners: These sadists who have never stopped wishing the administration ill since 2023 have suggested that the Governor should have settled the more than 20 years of accumulated gratuity arrears before offering to help Staff Serg. Amoke who suffered terrible injury in a road accident in the North East. While this may be misconstrued as coming from a place of consideration for the pensioners, the truth however is that many of these critics are simply looking for something to attack Dr. Otti with, whatever that could be, however asinine the logic. Remember when one of them, a medical doctor who actively supported Otti’s opponent in 2023, alleged that the Julius Beger that was reconstructing Port Harcourt Road Aba was not the “real” one. His logic: the blue of their logo is not deep enough. To imagine that an individual with claims of all the degree in the world could convince himself that such empty claims were worth entertaining, much less something to share with the public, points us to how delusionally mischievous some of these individuals can be. Well, the truth is that no Governor in Abia State since 1999 came close to restoring the dignity of pensioners the way Governor Alex Otti has done. Before he assumed office in the middle of 2023, pensioners in the State were only paid 25% of their entitlements by the Okezie Ikpeazu administration. Do not take my word for it, ask any pre-2023 pensioner in your community. Retirees could only get a quarter of their pay and the best they got was once in 3 months. This was why when the administration assumed office, the key demands pensioners made was a restoration of 100% of their earnings. Without much ado, the Governor quickly directed that 100% of whatever was due each pensioner be paid immediately. When the leadership of the pension union offered to forgo every other entitlement once they are able to get 100% of whatever is due them, the Governor said no, he put down N10 billion for the payment of arrears of unearned entitlements over the years, a development that elicited great joy and thanksgiving outing from several pensioners. Yes, the Governor did initially say that in line with the understanding reached with pensioners, all other entitlements would be written off. But as he got the benefit of more informed opinion, he reversed himself in a courageous move and directed senior officials of the administration to engage with the national leadership of the Nigerian Union of Pensioners. Those engagements continued until late last year when the outstanding gratuity outlay since 2002 was presented to the Governor; it was around N60 billion. Now the Governor had since made a commitment that he would pay. He has asked the team to go back and work out a modality for the payment since the State does not have N60 billion to pay in one fell swop. Remember that as at today, the State Government commits something in the region of N10 billion to the payment of salaries and pensions; capital projects commitments are happening in about 700 different sites and there are security and social welfare obligations that must be met every day; would it be responsible for all of these to be abandoned, for say 3 months at a stretch, just to make payments that had been standing for more than 20 years? To the best of my knowledge, 99.9% of genuine pensioners in Abia are happy, they earn 100% of their entitlements by the 28th of every month without fail, something that has never happened in the long history of the State. Now pensioners can plan, meet their obligations to families and then live in dignity, without depending on anyone. Remember also that they will still get their gratuity as soon as a payment modality is worked out and funding plans finalised. Do not forget that these are decades-old challenges that cannot be solved with a fast-food orientation. Oh, but the Governor has been in power for 3 years, why has he not done it? Well, if only those who were in power since 2002 did what was expected of them, we would not be having a N60 billion debt overhang on the State. So rather than attack Governor Otti for showing gratitude to a good soldier and asking questions with a mischievous intent, we the people should really praise this Governor for doing so much for our parents and grandparents in so little time.

2. Governor Otti mostly pays for charity from his private purse, and I know this for a fact. So when he says, “we shall pay,” he could actually be taking about what he intends to do as an individual, especially in matters he can comfortably attend to. Do not forget that for more than 30 years, Dr

Alex Otti commits huge chunk of his personal resources to charity; that was decades before he became Governor. And as Governor, his personal wallet remains open for humanitarian assistance to as many as he may be able to reach. All of these are done in quiet, without noise or fanfare.

3. Governor Otti and former councillors: You may also have read that former councillors, about 1, 000 of them who served between 2002 and 2022, have recently been paid their outstanding entitlements. And a few also ask why pay councillors before pensioners. What is missing in these conversations is the clarity of details: if you have a N100 challenge and a N1 challenge, which are you going to start dealing with first, especially when you have insufficient resources? Jump at the bigger problem and get stuck in the middle of the road? Or deal with the lesser problem and thereafter channel your energy on the bigger, multi billion naira challenge? So you see, it was never about good judgement; is was mainly empty, social media clickbait exercise by persons who mistake sharing flagyl and fensic at campaign grounds for opposition politics.

4. Governor Otti is dealing with problems that does not expressly concern the State: Well, Dr. Alex Otti puts humanity before politics. For him, a human being who needs help anywhere is still a human being that should attract sympathy from anyone who can help, not false logic and political posturing from dangerous men and bad samaritans.

5. The political godfathers are often wiser than their goons, they know when the game is over; they move on fast. Unfortunately, many of their band boys keep playing, believing there is more to come, that the bazaar would go on forever. Think about this, all the direct opponents of Governor Otti in 2023 have since moved on, many are now working directly with him, while others like Okey Ahiwe of the PDP quietly made their exit from the scene, returned to his old gig, whatever that is, Chief Ikechi Emenike of the APC returned to his acclaimed 5G network business and all the others who at least won votes in their wards did what every sensible individual would do, go home, and maybe take a rest. Unfortunately, their boys have been unable to read the signs. They are everywhere on Facebook talking trash, seeking attention and positioning to be noticed by Chief Osisiogu. Unfortunately for them, Osisiogu has so much do deal with on a personal level; at least the question of identity is one that deserves answer, an honest one. So why is anyone hoping that Osisiogu would call them for a plate of ofe egusi any time soon? It is not happening. So go get a break.