Ex Bank Boss – And Guber Hopeful – Alex Otti Reveals The Most Unfortunate Things About Abia State & The People

Labule Thomas

After losing out in the contest to become the Governor of Abia State twice, former Bank Boss Ale Otti believes he has come to grips with his understanding of the politics, state and people of Abia State.

The banker turned politician shares his thoughts about the most unfortunate things about Abia state and the people in an in interview published today, Sunday, September 20, 2020 and monitored by societynow.ng on the nationonline.net.

Reacting to questions about some of the things he observed about the politics of Abia state from interviewer Sam Egburonu, the former Managing Director of the then Diamond Bank stated

‘’I will not say there is anything so unique about the politics of Abia State. Of course, we know that every state is different and the people are different in a way.

‘’You are right, I have contested for the governorship seat twice and I have come to understand a few things about Abia State politics.

‘’One of the most unfortunate things is that a lot of our people are a bit politically naive and will need to be educated about their rights and what they can do.

‘’The people will need to understand that power belongs to them. I think it also has to do with the degree of poverty in the state which made people susceptible to all sorts of manipulations.

‘’ People are hungry and when they are given money, they behave in strange ways sometimes. We need to let the people understand that every society gets the kind of leadership it deserves. The other unfortunate thing is that many of the elites have not shown much interest in what is happening in the state. A few of them that have shown interest have done it in a half-hazard manner.

‘’ In my previous discussions, I called on the elite in the state to begin to show interest in what is going on in the state.

‘’A few of them that participate are also compromised. Some of them yield to what we called the “blood tonic” theory; a situation where some people receive stipends from government functionaries without realising that by collecting such stipends, their silence is being bought.

‘’So, you find a situation where things go wrong; a situation where salaries and pensions are not paid and those who should speak out don’t; those who should cry out don’t cry out. I think this is the time for all of us to show interest. All of us should be interested in what is happening in Abia.

‘’This is the time for all of us to show interest in the leadership of the state. I think it was Charles de Gaulle that said politics is too serious a matter to be left to the politicians alone. We should not allow the so-called professional politicians to dominate the space.

‘’We must realise that a businessman who says he is not interested in politics would be affected by the decisions taken by the politicians. A professional who chooses to be apolitical may have his profession wiped out by a simple stroke of the pen of the politician.

‘’ So, my message is that people should get interested and should participate; even if it is not at a partisan level, people should be involved. People should have a say in how their states are being governed’’.