CHIMA NWAFO
The emergence of Dr Alex Chioma Otti as Rescue-Governor of Abia State was a future foretold.
Although the above headline derived from
one’s analysis in the News Express Online, and Daily Sun Newspaper of March 11, 2015 captures the essence, details follow presently as the text unfolds. It was a predictive piece, sort of and entitled: Praise God, Abia will Rise Again.
To God’s glory, Abia has risen from the ashes of insecurity, infrastructural decay, and administrative ineptitude. At present, the state comfortably adorns a premier rating in the revised 2026 States’ Performance Index, with a superlative momentum gain in its docket. As contained in Philips Consulting’s latest report, Abia rose from 36th position in 2024 to 10th place in 2025, and currently second in 2026. Philips is a reputable scientifically-equipped management consulting firm with global outreach.
Failed assassination attempt
In three short but eventful years, Abia has been lifted out of its 23-year shithole status to an investment-friendly Beulah land. This is reminiscent of Dee Sam Mbakwe’s unimpeachable impetus in the Second Republic.
Interestingly, Otti identifies with the administration of the people’s governor. So, our servant-leader has every reason to look back on events retrospectively. And that’s precisely what he did during the Abia Solemn Assembly and Covenant Renewal Service, in Umuahia, themed: Remembering the Covenant. Otti used the opportunity to recall his journey in politics, and the assassination attempt that almost claimed his life in July 2015.
This dastardly deed took place at his Maitama-Abuja residence.
He recalled: “I wanted to return to Abia (that eventful day) after an umpteenth time disappointment by a man with whom I was scheduled to have a meeting. A sort of serial re-scheduler of events/meetings. I wanted to leave. All my friends objected…
I said, well, I have received a message that I must leave Abuja…. I wanted to be at the Tribunal Friday…”
After they noticed he was determined to leave, the following dialogue ensued:
‘You must belong…’
Friends: “If you decide to do this thing (contesting for the governorship), you can’t go in there empty-handed. You can’t go there without belonging to some societies. You can’t go there without going to some native doctors for protection…”
Otti summarised: “You’ll be shocked at the kind of people making these suggestions. Some of them are leaders in churches.
“That night, assassins attacked my residence in Maitama; shot two policemen dead. And began to search for me. I learnt they were up to 12. Of course, God had taken me away.”
Ponder over the sequence of events: An umpteenth time disappointment.
Personalities involved – friends insisting that he spends the night at Abuja. Timing of the attack and number of attackers. Taken together, it portrays a signature setting of an assassination plot. Reminds you of the owl that hooted at night in the morning a child died.
Saved to serve
However, the Omniscient God – Oma taa, mara echi; Onye-ndu onwu nagbara oso – knew their intention and took the wind out of their sail. That evil scheme by political merchants of fortune was the surest way to assassinate hope and enthrone mediocrity in Abia.
But Almighty God – whom pioneer civilian governor, Dr Ogbonnaya Onu (of blessed memory), dedicated the state to – nullified the diabolical agenda.
Predictably, Jehovah has found a man He could trust to deliver the state from the cesspit of corruption and cluelessness.
Given his growing fame, at home and abroad, it is important to point out other positive interventions and projections that pointed to Otti’s date with destiny. But most readers may not recall that business men were exiting Abia, especially Aba, in droves at the time under the incumbent governor’s watch.
There was an unprecedented rate of insecurity created by a notorious criminal, Osisikankwu.
Ironically, it was later reported that he enjoyed state government’s protection.
Media intervention
Earlier in the year, yours truly had crafted an epic: ‘How PDP campaigns for APGA candidate’ – Feb 28, 2015 (Daily Sun), and Guardian-on-Sunday.
According to a Facebook review, “This (the headline) is the central theme of a widely circulated political analysis written by journalist/production editor,
Chima Nwafo, during the high-stakes 2015 Abia State gubernatorial election.
“The phrase serves as a paradoxical critique of the Peoples Democratic Party’s (PDP) communication strategy at the time.
Nwafo argued that the PDP’s poorly executed media campaign inadvertently ended up driving support and ‘campaigning’ for the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) candidate, Dr. Alex Otti, giving the opposition a clear messaging edge.”
At the time one had neither met him in person nor by proxy (met him only once till date). Ditto his friend and political ally, Barr Ken Ahia (now a SAN), who drew his attention to the referenced article. That critique eventually turned out to be my debut on media dialectics of Abia State politics.
Being cultured professionals, they sought my permission to use it in Otti’s Campaign Literature, after securing my contact from Onuoha Ukeh, Daily Sun editor (Currently managing director/CEO).
Until then one’s earlier commentaries in the Network News and Current Affairs Unit of the Federal Radio Corporation of Nigeria (FRCN), defunct Moment Newspapers, and News Express were majorly on policies and public affairs issues relating to Federal Government and its agencies.
Gripping commitment
Reactions to that spontaneous critique of a two-page advertorial in The Guardian, by the Oke Zuo Abia Campaign organization of the PDP governorship hopeful, got me hooked, and more committed to the battle. And the rhythm went on, non-stop even after Otti was forced to surrender his mandate based on the Supreme Court’s infamous verdict.
Along the line, a background check on the ex-banker – and findings and brief comparative analysis of his predecessors – revealed beyond an iota of doubt that Otti has an exquisite edge over the duo. He obviously the man for the job: A technocrat, first class economist and thoroughbred banker. His expansive operational exposure includes valuable stint as executive director in the highbrow First Bank of Nigeria. From there he clinched the managing director/chief executive position of then new generation and tech-driven Diamond Bank.
Having identified a man one believed could be God’s choice to redeem Abia from the claws of diabolical and self-serving adventurers, my commitment became so gripping. Assuredly, there was no back-sliding till the terminal point of the controversial poll.
Thinking ahead
In the predictive article of March 2015, yours truly stated inter alia: “Abia needs, in the people’s own words, a rescuer, restorer, a visionary; that is, a thinker. From expert political views, commentaries of unbiased analysts, media reports – from the grassroots and campaign venues – Dr Alex Otti, the APGA standard-bearer, leads the pack. He has a vision and mission statement, a vivid template and clear articulation of issues pertinent to reconstruction of the state and reawakening of the depressed and de-motivated polity.
As a matter of fact, the current leadership in the state has failed Abians.
Pointer to Divine intervention
“Against the foregoing backdrop, Otti’s inauguration of ‘Night of Praise’ as a means of restoring Abia to the essence of its appellation, God’s Own State, could be a pointer to divine intervention. There is power in praise, which is a form of thanksgiving, adoration, exultation, etc. King Jehoshephat proved this when three nations surrounded the tiny state of Judah. (2 Chronicles 20:20 -25).
Having been inspired to initiate such a policy of praise, irrespective of the prevailing circumstances, Otti may have unwittingly provoked Heaven’s support in his pursuit. Such a spiritual engagement is particularly commendable because it was independent of extant merchandising clerics who, for cash, pray for continuation of evil regimes. That is not all. Other remarkable things happened that night that have prophetic connotation.
From Sun Reporter’s diary
“In Daily Sun (February 25, 2015), the reporter who covered the Night of Praise noted: ‘God must have chosen Otti, as Christ chose Peter, as the rock on which Abia would be rebuilt.’
‘Abia will rise again’
“And when the APGA standard-bearer mounted the dais, he was equally prophetic in his pronouncement: ‘Dry bones rose in the Bible, Abia will rise again’ (Ezekiel 37:3-10). The crowd also reacted excitedly in like manner at various segments of his speech, chanting: ‘Alex our prophet has come…; our rescuer is here; our incoming governor ….’
‘Otti’s transparent, accomplished’
“These are not typical reactions at political campaign venues.
Similar sentiments were also recorded when he campaigned at the Old Cemetery Road Market/Port Harcourt Road, Aba.
He pledged to restore the glory of the cosmopolitan city. Were the traders cynical? The answer is no! Instead, they chorused: ‘Otti is a transparent and accomplished man…. This is the quality of people we want to govern Abia.’”
The foregoing expressions snugly fit into the trajectory of socio-political events in ancient Rome that gave birth to the saying, Vox populi vox Dei! Indeed, the voice of the people, in this case, is the voice of God.
So, what happened during the Abia State gubernatorial election in 2023 was the restoration of a misappropriated mandate.
Ahia zuwa!
Nwafo, Copy Editor/Writer, Public Affairs /Policy Analyst, and Environmental Enthusiast, writes from Abakaliki, Ebonyi State.
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