He added that by providing the benefits of good governance for the citizenry, he was not doing the people any special favour but simply carrying out the responsibilities of government.
The governor spoke on Sunday during a thanksgiving service organised by the Minister of State for Labour and Employment, Hon. Nkiruka Onyejeocha, at Peace Event Centre, Amuda, Isuochi, Umunneochi LGA, Abia State.
He said, “When we are building roads, it is not a favour, we want to create access so that people can go about their businesses freely because we want to make life better for the people”.
The governor thanked the Umunneochi community, including the Church, for the support they have continued to give to his administration. He urged the Church not to relent but to continue to pray for the administration, saying that Abia State would be better this time around.
He congratulated Onyejeocha for her wisdom and for giving thanks to God for all that she had accomplished in life.
“I want to thank the Minister for remembering to say, ‘Thank You to God’. Like the Bishop said, it’s very easy to run away with your blessing, without acknowledging from where it came. Because you have acknowledged God and you have celebrated God in this way, the celebration will never end in your house,” he prayed.
Also speaking, the Imo State Governor, Senator Hope Uzodimma, congratulated Abia residents on the new lease of life they are enjoying under the capable leadership of Governor Otti.
Uzodimma, who described Governor Otti as “one of the finest and brightest governors in the South East”, said the people of Abia are in for a great deal.
He said, “I want to use this medium to congratulate the people of Abia State for the new lease of life that we are witnessing in the government of Dr. Alex Otti.”
Uzodimma also thanked God for the good things He had done for Hon. Onyejeocha, saying that, though not reelected to the National Assembly where she had served, she was appointed a Minister, describing it as a testimony to her hard work and commitment.
He disclosed that the governors of the southeast are determined to work together to alleviate the sufferings of the people, while calling on the political class, irrespective of their political lines, to join hands with governments at all levels to achieve that.
“I therefore call on the politicians in Abia State, indeed in the South East to join hands together, build a new region for our people, to create an economy for our people, to create a life for our people, to develop our zone for the interest of all of us,” he implored.
Also speaking, the celebrant, Hon. Onyejeocha, said that the thanksgiving service was to prove a point about who God is and His position in her life.
She narrated her life experiences and how God had been her foundation and help over the years. She said that the era of relegating God to the background in Abia was over, as God is taking over the State now. She thanked Governor Otti and all who came to identify with her.
In his sermon titled, “The Power of Thanksgiving,” the Bishop of Methodist Church Nigeria, Diocese of Nsuka/Ehamufu, Enugu State, Dr. John Eze, stressed the need for thanksgiving unto the Lord. He said that thanksgiving provokes the power of God into action, triggers the multiplication of God’s blessings, guarantees the preservation of testimonies, and makes people know that God blesses people.
The event attracted many dignitaries, including the wife of the Governor of Abia State, Mrs. Priscilla Otti; Attorney General and Minister of Justice, Prince Lateef Fagbemi SAN; National Chairman of APC and former governor of Kano State, Abdullahi Ganduje; some members of the National Assembly, some members of the Abia State House of Assembly, some members of the Labour Party, clergymen, traditional rulers, among others.
