Abia State salary arrears payment: Matters Arising

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Payment of Outstanding Salary Arrears Owed Abia Workers by Previous Administrations: Things We Learned 

By Dodoh Okafor

Governor Alex Otti is a promise keeper: In politics, promises are empty words most often; nobody cares about them, and even the electorates know that the promises made by politicians often mean nothing. If those promises are to be taken at face value, there will be neither economic nor social problems anywhere in the world because politicians even make a promise to solve problems that don’t yet exist.
“We will fix electricity problems in six months, all roads will be tarred, I will solve insecurity problems in 3 months, I will make the naira equal to the dollar, the crisis in the Middle East will be a thing of the past if we come to power, I will end the problem of homeless, we shall end poverty…”
These are promises we have heard and read about for ages. But what happened? Has any of these problems been solved? No. Why? Nobody is interested. The politicians are only relevant because of those problems, so solve them, and there will be no job for anyone again in Washington or Abuja. But Gov. Alex Otti is entirely different. His word is his bond, and what he says he would do, he does everything possible to fulfill.
The celebrations happening across the State over the payment of part of the over 500 months combined arrears owed employees of the State Government are happening simply because we have a governor that truly “gives a damn” about his promises and the trust of the voting public.
The opposition will have nothing to tell the public in 2027: Well, it is already looking like a foolish adventure to identify as a member of either PDP or APC or any other opposition political party in Abia. The reason is simple: they simply have nothing serious to criticize the Governor for or campaign with.
The worst mistake anyone can make today is to go anywhere in Aba, say Port Harcourt Road, and mention PDP. You are very likely to receive angry stares, if you are lucky, and blows if you meet with an angrier crowd. So with the recent effort to offset arrears accumulated by the PDP administration, what exactly will our friends tell Abia voters in 2027? That they will pay salaries or fix roads? Gov. Alex Otti has tactically ensured that no mediocre issues will be a campaign point in 2027.
Gov. Otti is running on a well-structured governance agenda: It was shameful to hear PDP apparatchiks on radio and social media platforms talk about payment of outstanding salary arrears as if they care about the workers. But we knew they never did because the issue of salary arrears could not have arisen if they did.
Unfortunately for them, Gov. Otti will not be heckled by the loud noise of failures and lunatics on media platforms. The Governor knows what he wants to achieve and when he wants to achieve it, so he takes his time, knowing that there are lots of contending and equally important demands. Yes, he promised to clear outstanding salaries, but he also promised to fix Port Harcourt Road, clear mountains of refuse heaps in our urban centers, restore security in communities like Umunneochi where criminal gangs had set up camps, and chase our people out of their homes and farmlands. So was it wise to have committed nearly 20 billion naira to clear outstanding arrears at once, assuming the money was available, and then neglect other equally important public sector needs areas?
Governor Otti knows Abia State and its problems like the back of his palms: Before he made up his mind to run for governorship about 10 years ago, Gov. Otti and his team went around the entire State discreetly, talking to people, visiting schools, public health facilities, taking note of the state of things and stimulating development path for the new Abia. The Governor did not accidentally elect to run for the governorship. He took time to assess the situation and decided that it would be wrong for him to remain on the sidelines. So when you see some persons talking about the roads in their villages and wanting the Governor to immediately fix a problem that had been there for 30 years or more, I can assure you that the Governor already knew about those roads but will not just jump into them except they are connected to his well developed strategic agenda.
So the Governor knows that State well and understands what needs to be done to drive a holistic programme of aligned development.
Okezie Ikpeazu and the PDP failed every test of governance: How on earth did the State Government allow the salary arrears of workers in a single institution to accumulate to 33 months? The answer is simple: an irresponsible man, surrounded by thieves and very wicked men, was in control of State resources.
Okezie Ikpeazu and his men never cared about workers and their families. They never cared if they died or lived. All they wanted was to steal, and appropriate public resources to themselves. Just think about the number of school lands and other public properties across the State that they cornered to themselves. To this band of vagabonds, nothing was sacred; everything was for stealing, and it does not matter what happens to future generations. Thank God for Governor Alex Otti whom God is using to make things right.
Dodoh Okafor writes from Umuahia

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