By Uche Aguoru
Governor Alex Otti must understand that not every public platform is an opportunity for propaganda and self glorification.
The SEDC Vision 2050 Regional Stakeholders Forum held at International Conference Center Enugu, was an event meant to shape the economic and infrastructural future of the Southeast.
Rather than present vision and strategy it was reduced, in Abia’s case, to a disappointing display of rhetoric without substance, vision, or strategic depth.
While Governors Charles Soludo and Peter Mbah spoke with clarity, offering structured ideas on policy direction, regional coordination, industrialisation, and economic expansion, and Governor Francis Nwifuru laid out a focused agricultural roadmap positioning Ebonyi as a food and agro-industrial hub, their interventions reflected preparation, seriousness, and a firm grasp of the region’s developmental priorities.
Governor Otti, unfortunately, came unprepared for the moment.
As the first speaker, he had the opportunity to set the tone for Abia’s economic direction and articulate clear proposals to support the commission’s mandate. Instead, he delivered what has now become a predictable pattern, “self-praise, exaggerated performance claims, and recycled propaganda” Rather than speak to regional economic strategy or infrastructural coordination, he turned the forum into a personal public relations exercise.
He was evidently disconnected from reality. He spoke of an “influx of businesses” into Abia that exists largely only in Otti’s imagination and pushed through paid skit makers and social media narratives rather than in measurable economic indicators on ground.
If he had been allowed to speak longer, one could easily predict the usual script, boasting about Port Harcourt Road, salary payments, and water fountains at major junctions presented as though they represent comprehensive economic transformation.
His reference to inter-state competition was particularly revealing. Competition requires measurable productivity, industrial output, and economic strength. Enugu pointed to revived industries and job creation. Ebonyi demonstrated agricultural productivity as a foundation for internally generated revenue. Abia, by contrast, is yet to present a single flagship industrial revival or new manufacturing base capable of signaling real economic repositioning.
On electricity and industrialisation, the contrast was even more glaring. Enugu’s reforms have translated into visible industrial recovery and employment. In Abia, however, the much publicised improvements in power supply have not produced any corresponding industrial rebirth. A state that once prided itself as the SME capital of Nigeria is still waiting for evidence of a serious industrial turnaround under the current administration.
Governor Peter Mbah has revived multiple moribund industries, like Niger gas Ememe, Sunflower flour mill, Car assembly plant at Owo,Stallion Motors, Hotel Presidential and Nike Lake Resort, thereby restoring economic activity and creating thousands of jobs. Governor Otti, on the other hand, cannot point to a single newly established factory or successfully revived industry despite repeated claims tied to improved electricity in Aba, an initiative that began under the Orji Kalu administration and completed under Okezie Ikpeazu regime.
Governor Otti’s outing at the SEDC Vision 2050 stakeholders forum was not merely underwhelming it was a missed strategic opportunity for Abia State.
At a moment that demanded intellectual clarity, economic depth, and visionary leadership, what was presented was rhetoric without substance and praise singers armed with Vuvuzella trumpets imported from South Africa to cheer him.
Leadership is tested not on social media applause but on measurable outcomes. Governance is not about propaganda, curated praise, or sponsored narratives it is about productivity, industry, jobs, and real economic progress that citizens can see and feel.
Once again, Abia lost a vital opportunity to clearly present its economic and infrastructural challenges before a regional development body established precisely to address them. That opportunity was sacrificed on the altar of self-promotion, propaganda, and media validation.
History will not remember press statements. It will remember results.
Aguoru Is A Public Affairs Analyst
