By Francis Nwaubani
On May 29th 2023, a new dawn was witnessed in Abia, God’s own State with the swearing-in of Dr. Alex Chioma Otti, OFR, as the 5th democratically elected Governor of the State.
Indeed, from the day Dr. Otti ascended the throne of the leadership of the State, Abia has witnessed a new experience in true dividends of democracy in all facets, sections and sectors of the State.
There is no gain-saying the fact that no day passes in the present day Abia without news of the transformative agenda of the Dr. Otti’s administration and this has been made possible with the transparent approach adopted by the government in carrying along the different brands of the media in duly informing, educating and sensitizing the people on the policies and projects of the government.
No sooner was the present administration inaugurated, that the Governor Dr. Otti instituted the monthly media chat with the press tagged “Governor Alex Otti speaks to Abians”.
Characteristic of Dr. Alex Otti and the first of its kind in these parts of the globe, the Governor dedicated the monthly event to interacting openly with not only the media but general public as he entertains questions and suggestions as well as observations relating to the activities of his government and society at large.
One can agree that in this climes where openness and transparency in governance are scarce, it must have taken a lot of courage, honesty and purpose for a Governor to sit and entertain open questions from the press and society while entaining them without any hidden agenda.
It is now a fact that Abians for the very first time are being directly clarified and kept, abreast of the happenings in Government and also have a direct feedback channel to their Governor.
As if that is not enough, the EXCO briefings which comes up at the end of the weekly state executive council meetings have also been a germane platform for engaging the press and projecting the decisions and policies of government to the people through the right channels.
The beautiful thing about this development is that the press are also encouraged to ask questions to aid their official duty of informing the people accurately thereby putting Abians among the top echelon of people who are abreast of the directions, aims and objectives of their government, like in other civilized parts of the world.
Moreso, for the first time since the creation of the State, the State own media outfits including the Broadcasting Corporation of Abia, BCA, Abia Newspapers as well as the Government Printing press are being given adequate attention to bring them up to par with global best practices while competent hands have been appointed on merit to man the affairs of these information dissemination agencies of the government.
Meanwhile, the introduction of viable feedback programmes through the state owned broadcasting outfit, BCA and others across Abia has ensured that government appointees are held accountable to their offices and provide the much needed information on the activities of their MDA’s and offices.
Kudos most also be given the Governor’s media team who in the presence of deliberate misinformation and distortion of facts by some members of the opposition have remained steadfast and objective in clarifying issues and doing due diligence in ensuring the right information gets to Abians at any given time.
Indeed today, Abians are wiser, and have indept knowledge and the truth of most government policies and programmes and the popularity of the Dr. Alex Otti administration has continued to soar to the chagrin of the few so called members of the opposition.
It really behooves on the members of the fourth estate of the realm to make professionalism, objectivity and balanced reportage their watch words as they go about their daily duties in the coverage of the State to ensure the masses are handed the right information at all times.
Like they say, a golden fish has no hiding place as Governor Alex Otti’s revolutionary breakthrough in the areas of infrastructure, education, health, Agriculture, sports, empowerment, digitization among others make Abia a destination for good news.
It is worthy of note to mention that the Governor Dr. Alex Otti has said severally that he is not averse to constructive criticisms as no human is infallible so sensationalism and biased reportage should be jettisoned by the press in passing information not only in Abia but entire nation at large.
As the countdown to 2027 continues, it is the earnest expectations of all that the present day government in Abia will sustain its open, transparent and purposeful engagement with the media for the Abia of everyone’s dream.
FRANCIS NWAUBANI.
