Abia State governor, Alex Otti said Nigeria has potential to be a great nation if the citizens resolve to make it so by imbibing good values and rejecting negative tendencies.
Otti stated this in his 2026 Independence Day Anniversary broadcast to the people of the state which was entitled: ‘Citizenship, Freedom, and Vigilance.”
“We are therefore invited to take advantage of the multitude of rights that the democratic system of government confers on us to lead a direct push for accelerated national development.
”Our primary responsibility in this regard is to shake off the empty comfort of political lethargy by insisting that only the best amongst us shall lead us for you cannot get it right on development when you compromise on leadership,” he said.
According to the governor, the philosophy of hiring the best hands for the job should apply to every public position in contest, if the citizens intends to have the best in all spheres of life.
”May I remind us that the pursuit of progress shall remain an illusion if majority of us continue to stay away from the ballots, sell our votes or vote on primordial sentiments.
”Ultimately, what becomes of Nigeria in the next 66 years will be up to us as expressed in the decisions we make every day and periodically when we vote to elect leaders,” he added.
He expressed worry over some of the challenges facing the country which include insecurity, struggles with basic infrastructure, poverty, unemployment, low factor utilisation, limited access to education and healthcare.
Otti, who noted that the situation had become more prominent in the last two decades of the 66 years of the country’s independence described it as a source of concern for every patriotic citizen.
”The agony of seeing millions of young people helplessly abandon the homeland in pursuit of opportunities for self-fulfilment in remote corners of the earth does not tell a good story of our progress since independence,” he said.
Nevertheless, the governor expressed “profound gratitude to the Almighty God for the privilege of witnessing another significant day in the annals of our history.
” I congratulate all of us for the joy that comes with freedom which the first day of October represents for millions of Nigerians, since 1960.
”We take great pride in our rich history on this blessed morning when we pay homage to the men and women who championed the course of our independence.
”The demand for self-governance from the colonial authorities was driven by the political elites of the day but it was the support and commitment of the ordinary people that gave the struggle its truest legitimacy.
” It is therefore fitting that we spare a moment in reflection for the dreams and expectations that inspired the push for self-rule by our founding fathers and their compatriots,” he concluded.
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