On assumption of office as the Executive Governor of Abia State on the 29th of May, 2023, Dr. Alex Chioma Otti, OFR, met a State in ruins and decay, littered with refuse and debris especially across the 2 major cities of Aba and Umuahia. The whole place was dirty and stinking, exposing the citizens to airborne diseases and possible epidemics.

Governor Otti declared a state of emergency on Waste Management and Environmental Sanitation. Earth moving equipment and tipper trucks were deployed to evacuate the tons of heaps of refuse and debris littered and blocking major roads and streets across Aba and Umuahia. On a daily basis, over 500 tons of debris was evacuated in the first few months of the administration.

The new Government unleashed machines and an army of labourers to desilt and clean the drainages across the 2 cities of Aba and Umuahia. Any desilted debris blocking drainages and causing perennial flooding in the 2 major cities were evacuated within 24 hours. A breath of fresh air enveloped Aba and Umuahia with few months of Governor Otti’s intervention.

Within a few months in Office, Abia State made significant progress and strides in Waste Management and Environmental Sanitation. Under Governor Otti, the State joined the league of Nigeria’s cleanest States unlike the locust years when Abia State’s ranking became a source of mockery in the comity of States. Today, Waste Management and Environmental Sanitation activities have been extended beyond the 2 major cities of Aba and Umuahia to the remaining 13 Local Governments and Communities across the State. For the first time in Abia State, ASEPA waste collection receptacles are deployed not only to the Local Governments but communities and trucks provided for regular Waste Collection services.

The Abia State Environmental Protection Agency has been transformed into a service oriented agency. The Agency under the intentional leadership of Governor Otti has implemented various initiatives to manage waste and maintain cleanliness across the State. The efforts include but not limited to; waste evacuation and collection services, door-to-door collection using tricycle pickups, introduction of waste disposal bags to encourage proper waste disposal, sensitization campaigns to educate residents on proper waste disposal practices and the importance of maintaining a clean environment, prosecution of sanitation offenders and community engagement to promote environmental responsibility and sustainability. In the new Abia, citizens now police their environment against littering. In the coming months, the Waste to Wealth Initiatives will be launched for the conversion of waste materials into value.

In the early days of Governor Alex Chioma Otti, OFR, when he was busy confronting the heaps of refuse to restore sanity on our Roads, Environment, and Cities, the desperate Abia opposition who could not accept that they have been weeded out of power were busy running from Abuja to Kano looking for a judgement to procure, and made every attempt to stoke division and create disagreement between the Federal Government and Abia State Government in a bid turn President Tinubu against Governor Otti by falsely portraying Governor Alex Otti as anti President Tinubu who refused to recognize President Tinubu as the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. These slippery characters who are all over the media space denying the exposed plot, spearheaded the fabricated falsehoods, concoctions and fake narratives that Governor Otti refused to hang President Tinubu’s portrait in Government Offices in Abia State. In their hazy memories, they think that Abians have forgotten their roles in that drama to turn the Federal Government against Abia State Government.

THE QUESTION TO ABIANS:

1. Do you think Governor Otti has done well in Waste Management and Environmental Sanitation, given the state and condition he inherited it on assumption of office in May 2023?
2. If the election is to hold today in Abia, who would you vote for?

Ctz. UKOHA, NJOKU UKOHA
October 28th, 2025.