By Uche Aguoru
Let me congratulate Gov. Alex Otti on his successful inauguration as the 5th democratically elected governor of Abia state even as the election is still being contested in the tribunal and the outcome is yet to be concluded.
I am not one given to undue criticism of leaders, I give newly elected governments ample time to settle down to work before scrutinizing their actions and inactions as democracy demands.
Dear Governor Otti, let me remind you that you are expected to come out as one of the most prepared for this job having relentlessly aspired to govern Abia for 8 years and within that period you actively criticized and disagreed with every action of the government and also moved against all of the policies of the Okezie Ikpeazu administration even where it appears unnecessary, you never at any point attributed any positives to the Ikpeazu administration even where renown organizations, national and international bodies give him accolades for such policy initiatives and interventions, but to me that is the beauty of democracy and Ikpeazu in his peaceful nature allowed free press and criticism even where it is uncomfortable to his person, family and government, let me hope and pray that your regime will also accommodate criticism the way your predecessor did.
Former Governor Ikpeazu has done his bit, he met challenges and inherited liabilities which he took on without complaints, and within his time achieved verifiable results, he may not have done everything because no governor or government can solve all the problems of its citizens, he also had his visible failures as much as he recorded acknowledgeable successes.
But let the truth be told the Ikpeazu administration should be scored high in the area of infrastructure, economy, and security.
For you my Governor, this is a lifetime ambition achieved and I want to believe that you are prepared and well aware of the huge task ahead of you because the ordinary Abian did not vote for you to come and narrate how PDP destroyed the economy, you didn’t promise the civil servant excuses but hopes of meeting up with their salary obligations, you told us that you know all the challenges and you are coming to fix them, we are expecting a lot of visible transformation and not blame games, excuses or long grammar.
I want you to realize that politics is over and this is time for governance, going to the refuse dump for a photo shoot without safety garb is needless grandstanding.
Blaming the past administrations without delivering on your own promises will place you in the same ranking as former President Buhari and define you as a bad workman that will always quarrel with his tools.
The ordinary Abian believes that you have all the answers to his/her needs, having positioned yourself as one who knows all their needs and is ready to meet them, you also made several documented and undocumented promises during the campaigns, and in all these times all you promised them was greater democratic deliverables, better living standards and the hopes of a brighter future under your care and not excuses or blames.
Remember, that you are in court is not an excuse, because the FAAC and IGR will keep dropping as and when due, and the judicial processes will not in anywhere interfere with your work schedule.
History has shown that leaders who engage in blame games rather than solutions are doomed to fail before they even start because they are hired to correct the mistakes of the past and not live with them.
Dear Governor, Abians are in a hurry and the time is ticking.
Aguoru
Writes From Umuahia