Abia at a Crossroads: Why performance, not noise, will decide 2027

ABIANS. NIGERIANS. LEND ME YOUR EARS.

I have come not to trade insults,
but to put truth in order; to name the pattern, expose the method, and defend the future.

They call themselves honourable.

So let us measure honour; not by titles, not by convoy sirens, but by roads that work, schools that teach, hospitals that heal, and a treasury that serves the people, not private appetites.

For years, Abia carried the weight of grand promises and small results.

Projects announced, not completed.
Budgets passed, not felt.

Contracts awarded, not delivered.

Yet those who presided grew louder, larger, and more comfortable;
while our communities grew tired, poorer, and forgotten.

And still they ask to be called honourable men.

Shakespeare warned us: the evil that men do lives after them.

But I say this: in governance, evil does not wait for graves;

it lives in the present, in the potholes, in the darkness, in the unpaid wages,
in the opportunities stolen from a generation.

If any good was done, let it be recorded honestly.

But let the harm be counted too; fully, fearlessly.

Now the noble chorus of yesterday;
and the professional mourners of a fading era;

tell you that Governor Alex Chioma Otti lacks “political ambition.”

If that charge were true, it would be a strange crime: to be ambitious for clean streets,

ambitious for transparent accounts,
ambitious for a government that works.

They call it “no ambition” because he did not arrive to feast.

Because he did not come to negotiate the people’s welfare like a market bargain.

Because he did not come to build a private empire with public funds.

And that, apparently, unsettles those who grew used to the old order.

While the builder labours, the ruiners litigate.

While work is happening in real time,
some prefer courtroom smoke, procedural tricks, and manufactured confusion; not because they love Abia, but because they fear accountability.

Let us speak plainly.

When public funds vanish, it is not poetry that suffers; it is people.

When projects become “paper projects,” it is not grammar that breaks; it is lives.

When governance becomes a private club, it is not politics that dies; it is hope.

We have heard of figures that do not add up.

We have heard of awards and approvals that raise questions.

We have seen investigations, controversies, and public disputes that deserve clarity.

And when citizens ask for answers, they are told to be quiet;
or distracted with noise, alliances, and sudden “friendships” built on convenience.

These men parade titles
but titles are not character.

They wear fine words
but fine words are not results.

They say “honourable” as if the word can erase the record.

Yet Abia remembers.

Abians, look around you.

You have seen Aba stir again.

You have seen signs of order returning where chaos once settled.

You have seen the dignity of work replacing the theatre of propaganda.

You have heard citizens testify; not from paid stages, but from lived experience
that something has changed:
that governance is beginning to look like service.

And that is why they are agitated.
Because if Abia can be governed with discipline, then their excuses collapse.

If progress can be measured,
then their stories cannot survive daylight.

If the people taste what works,
then the era of intimidation and entitlement ends.

So when they say, “He lacks ambition,”
understand the translation:
“He refuses to join our old ways.”
“He will not share the spoils.”

“He insists on performance.”

And for that, they rage.

But I speak not only to critique the past ;
I speak to secure the future.

The mandate of 2023 was not an accident.

It was a verdict.

A declaration that Abia is not for sale.
And if we remain vigilant, if we stay focused ;

2027 will not be a return to ruin.
Let no one mistake silence for acceptance.

Let no one confuse patience with weakness.

Let no one think Abia will trade evidence for slogans.

Abians. Nigerians.
Let us choose governance over gimmicks.

Let us choose results over reputation.

Let us choose builders over performers.

And if anyone still insists on being called honourable, let them prove it; in the light, in the numbers, in the work,
and in the lives of the people.

Emeka Okafor writes from Aba

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