EBERE UZOUKWA, PhD
Public commentary by political leaders carries a responsibility. It must be grounded in facts, context, and historical honesty. When these pillars are absent, statements may ignite partisan passions but will inevitably collapse under scrutiny. This is the fundamental flaw in Senator Orji Uzor Kalu’s recent attacks on Governor Alex Chioma Otti OFR, particularly his reckless attempts to compare governance outcomes between 1999 and 2023 while disregarding context, economic realities, and his own legacy in office.
Kalu’s latest pronouncements reveal a troubling combination of arrogance, historical amnesia, and intellectual superficiality.
The former governor had during his recent but loquacious and contradictory outbursts said:
“I don’t see anything special Alex Otti is doing; he is just repainting the roads I built when I was governor.”
“I have not seen what Otti has done in over two years. The money he receives in four months is the same amount I received in eight years with better results.”
“Otti would not have been declared governor if not for my intervention.”
Kalu’s claims are not only misleading but outrightly reckless. They reflect a man unwilling or unable to engage with the complexities of governance and economic realities. At the core of his argument is a shallow and misleading comparison of financial and infrastructural metrics across eras. He cites the naira exchange rate to the dollar as evidence of his purported superior governance. While superficially correct, the conclusion he draws exposes a profound intellectual deficiency.
Between 1999 and 2007, during Kalu’s eight year tenure as governor, the naira exchanged at roughly 100 to 130 naira to the dollar. Government revenues carried far stronger purchasing power, federal allocations were more valuable, and inflationary pressures, subsidy shocks, insecurity, and structural economic distortions were comparatively mild.
By contrast, Governor Otti assumed office in 2023 amid unprecedented national economic turbulence, including a floated naira, subsidy removals, runaway inflation, and structural economic challenges that have continually eroded public resources.
To measure governance performance by nominal currency values alone, while ignoring inflation, purchasing power, macroeconomic constraints, and broader national policy context, betrays either a lack of basic economic understanding or a deliberate attempt to mislead the public. Governance is not measured by superficial figures. It is assessed by outcomes, efficiency, prudence, and the ability to convert scarce resources into lasting public value.
Even more damning is the burden of Kalu’s own record. Despite governing during a period of relative fiscal advantage, Abia State under his administration failed to deliver sustainable infrastructure or enduring development. Roads he claimed to have constructed collapsed shortly thereafter, and rather than being rebuilt, the state’s infrastructure continued to decay in the years that followed. Kalu, therefore, cannot credibly invoke infrastructure as a benchmark of performance. His era laid a weak foundation, which subsequent administrations merely inherited and managed, leaving Abia in a state of decay by the time Governor Otti assumed office.
Kalu’s tenure also entrenched what many Abians recall as “Mamacracy”, a system in which his mother, Eunice Kalu, allegedly exercised undue influence over state affairs from her residence on Nweke Street Aba. Institutions were weakened, governance was personalized, and professionalism was undermined. Compounding this is the unresolved question of public asset looting under his administration, exemplified by how he sourced the printing machine used to establish The Sun Publishing Company, a lingering symbol of alleged diversion of public resources and property.
Governor Otti’s administration, in contrast, operates under far harsher economic conditions yet emphasizes fiscal discipline, transparency, infrastructural renewal, and institutional reform. Without the luxury of cheap dollars or strong purchasing power, Otti has demonstrated that leadership is measured by competence, integrity, and clear prioritization, not by the nominal strength of the naira.
Kalu’s reckless statements also reveal political desperation. Like a wounded lion, he continues to fight for a return to Umuahia Government House, even projecting younger brother, Mascort Uzor Kalu as vehicle for his comeback. His objective is to return to the old order and and once again enjoy unfettered access to state resources. But Abians have grown wiser. They remember the failures of the past and are determined not to give characters like Kalu any chance again.
Kalu’s recent outbursts grounded in selective memory, misleading comparisons, and personal aggrandizement, have again failed to achieve anything except that they have further exposed the intellectual and ethical shortcomings that marked his tenure. While he attempts to rewrite history, the reality remains that effective governance is defined by results, not rhetoric, and Abia has found competent and visionary leadership in Governor Alex Chioma Otti OFR.
– Dr Ebere Uzoukwa is the Senior Special Assistant to the Governor of Abia State on Public Affairs.