With the joy and jubilation over Governor Otti’s magnanimity of car gift to Permanent Secretaries in the state civil service and the 100 percent increament of salaries of councillors in the local government arm of the state, has come a very sad wave of misrepresentation and misinterpretation of the Governor’s intent and purposes.
Gov Otti
Let me first congratulate the college of Permsecs for being the lattest beneficiaries of the Governor’s magnanimity. The Governor’s car gift to you is part of the fulfilment of his campaign promises to restore the dignity of the workforce and the dignity of the civil service. You remember the bill-board messages: “Weep No More”, “A Labourer Deserves His Wages” and many more? Governor Otti, true to his vision, is now keeping his promises and this is one outstanding gesture. Congratulations, also, to the body of Councillors, the legislative arm of the local government system, for your own upgrade.
Sadly enough, the PDP/APC gang-up is misframing these kind gestures and policy actions as being a fallout of the speeches by Mr. Ben Kalu, the Deputy Speaker of the Federal House of Representatives. I consider this notion as preposterous, almost foolhardy, and as an illusion of very biased minds. It is rather ridiculous for anybody to associate the Executive Governor’s action as having been precepitated by a careless and unguarded statement that falls short of any logical or economic apprasial.
What actually did Ben Kalu say? Ben Kalu expressed his inherent and inalienable freedom of speech and opinion. But, his was a partisan and doctored voice that lacked the force of objectivity; for he made unfounded comparison of the past and present allocations to state without recourse to the time value of money. His statement failed to factor the indices of today’s purchasing power of naira as against yesterday, the variables of the exchange rate and the quality of work being delivered by Governor Otti.
His statements didn’t also take into cognisance the encumbrances of such intractable projects like the Port Harcourt Road and inner-city areas of Aba like Omuma Road, Omoba Road, Obohia Road, Ohanku Road, etc, that have now been conquered by Governor Otti. Or the long stretch of Umuahia-Ohafia Road, the Bende-Arochukwu Road and the many long stretches of rural roads being opened to link the heatherlands to the cities and to civilization.
Truth is that Governor Otti is acting out of his own volition to serve Abians. He is keeping his promises and not looking back at any careless talk by any disgruntled element.
… Adindu is a journalist based in Lagos
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