Goodluck Ebele Jonathan, a former president of Nigeria, has charged leaders across the country to emulate Governor Alex Otti’s style of administration in Abia State.
Jonathan, an alumnus of the University of Port Harcourt, gave the charge in Umuahia during the University Alumni’s 80s Reunion Dinner and Award ceremony with the theme: ‘Celebrating Excellence & Service to Humanity.’
The former president, who was the Special Guest of Honour at the occasion, was represented by Godknows Boladei Igali, as chairman.
He said: “The presence of Alex Otti in Abia State shows intentionality in leadership. He came prepared. Before, in Abia State, once they say Aba made, people would laugh, but today, people are scrambling for Aba made.
“Let governance in Nigeria take a cue from what you are doing in Abia State; the intentionality of leadership – the leadership that was voted to make a change.”
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He further said that Nigerian leaders should strive to make a change as Governor Alex Otti is making in Abia State.
Igali in his opening remarks commended the Alumni of UNIPORT for their impact on the political and socio-economic development of Nigeria, stating that the University was the only institution in Nigeria that had produced six governors, a vice president in the person of Goodluck Ebele Jonathan, who later became the president of Nigeria.
The recognition and applause for the good works of Governor Otti in Abia State is coming a day after ex-President Olusegun Obasanjo did the same.
Obasanjo had, during the commissioning of the 46.36-kilometer, Umuahia–Uzuakoli–Akara–Alayi–Abiriba Road reconstructed by Governor Otti, described him as an example of a good leader.
Governor Otti thanked the members of the UNIPORT 80s alumni for choosing Umuahia for the reunion after 12 years that they had their first meeting, which was held in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, during the tenure of Rotimi Chibuike Amaechi as the executive governor of Rivers State.
He said that they should not wait that long again to meet, noting that the Governor of Bayelsa State, Douye Diri, would be willing to receive them next year, being also one of them.
Otti encouraged his fellow alumni to join the political space, saying that it is not as bad as they thought, which has discouraged many of them from joining.
He noted that the political space allows people to impact the larger society positively than the corporate world.
He informed his guests that when next they visit, they would have the time to visit some of the 200 Primary Health Centres and 221 schools, selected across the 184 wards of the state, currently under reconstruction, renovation, upgrading, remodeling, and retrofitting.
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Governor Otti declared that the allocation of 20% and 15% of the annual budget of his administration to the education and health sectors respectively, totalling 35%, was non-negotiable.
Onwunari Georgewill, professor and vice chancellor, University of Port Harcourt, in his speech, commended Otti for his giant strides in the areas of Power, Road infrastructure, waste management among others.
He equally commended Otti for his interventions in UNIPORT which included: building the faculty of Social Sciences among others.
The reunion programme featured the tour of some of the ongoing projects being executed by the administration of Governor Otti.
