In the few years that I have been around as an Abian and a Nigerian, I have come to terms with the reality that political office holders and their aides would always come and go but the implication of the choices they made while in office would always be with us, years after they have left office.

Just some years back, we once lived on Barr. Onyebuchi Ememanka the then Chief Press Secretary (CPS) to the governor’s social media handles.

There was no other reason for this if not for the fact that being the Chief Press Secretary to the then governor Dr. Okezie Ikpeazu, we were always eager to read the mind of the governor through his communiques.

Interestingly, during the course of the then government some of us also came to the reality that the then CPS had an interesting side which manifested more as a comedian than a lawyer, who routinely offered us contents that distracted us momentarily from the harsh reality of the state through his social media handles.

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While these media handlers of the governor are in office their job descriptions are always clear, defend whatever the Governor does, thinks of doing or had even done in their previous life, the effect of such decisions/ actions on the masses notwithstanding.

Today Dr. Okezie Ikpeazu’s watch as the Chief Executive of Abia State is over and these appointees of the then governor have now assumed the position of citizens where they would face the reality of the Nigerian state just like all of us.

After the 2023 election, Dr. Alex Otti was elected solely to transform the state in ways that are not routine just as he promised during the campaigns.

These promises were made out of the governor’s own volition as nobody ever coerced him into doing such.

Therefore, any attempt to deviate from the known script as presented during the election by the then governorship aspirant and now governor must be responsibly challenged.

As expected, having had you Mr. Ekeoma Ferdinand as one of his reliable foot soldiers of many years and having been rewarded with the appointment as the Special adviser on media and publicity to the governor, you are now in the position to officially speak alongside the Chief Press Secretary to ndi Abia, Nigerians about your Boss and how he is leading the state into an “uncommon future whether real or imagined”.

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Personally, I love the manner in which your team dish out official publications using the 1,2,3 numerical format.

This makes it easy for us to address your team clearly on the numbers we have reservations within such publications.

Mr. Ferdinand Ekeoma our dear brother, we all understand the nature of your job. It is one of the toughest jobs to do in government circles (image making) around here.

You are expected to always defend the action and inactions of the governor else you would be deemed incompetent and replaced swiftly. It does not matter if you are well informed about the details of what is being talked about or not.

Unfortunately, I do not envy you as you don’t seem to be blessed with a Boss who invests without demanding immediate returns on investment which in this case would be measured by very unconventional KPIs.

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The private sector spirit in your Boss makes him almost incapable of tolerating a “non performer”.

A non-performer in the above paragraph is definitely relative but for the lack of vocabulary options permit me to use it here to pass my point.

In this context, a performer must be skilled at hauling abuses and calling people who demand good governance names.

For a Boss who is doing so much to make you his aides comfortable and to discourage all of you from “stealing” as I was told, there is no justification why you would not defend anything the governor does whether good or bad.

With this sort of job Nwanne, “intigrity” quickly takes the exit door the very minute you accepted the appointment. I sincerely feel for you, it is indeed not easy to do the job you have been paid to do.

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Lately, your team have been deliberate to magnanimously confer on any objective critic of your administration and some of your policies, “ndi opposition tag”.

There seems to be a well mapped out intent, why one of the first things your team did on ascension to office was to maintain a sustained demarketing agenda of everything that had to do with the previous administration.

While it is on record that I personally criticized the former administration, I definitely do not need an Afa priest to know that your team’s sustained attack on the previous administration even after being sworn in was just more of an obsession, with a goal that seems to be getting clearer by the day to all.

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Sincerely I am amazed that we still do not have so many members of the past administration in jail yet for stealing more than they needed as alleged by your team.

Could it be that this recent branding of everyone that dares to objectively ask that your Boss does better was a deliberate and strategic tactic deployed to shut objective critics up?

In your ten-paragraph essay where you addressed the purported fake news that was shared some days ago, for which our delectable and ever loved Director of World Trade Organisation Dr. Ngozi Okonjo Iweala threatened to take action, I am still worried that you did not deem it fit in that publication to address the Enyimba Economic City question.

What is happening with that project as we speak and what is the position of the state government on the development of that project, Deede?

While it is beautiful and expedient that you address the fake news component of that conversation, please we need you to use the same energy to please get the necessary information from your Boss if he permits on Enyimba Economic City and state clearly to us what the position of the state government is on that project.

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Our dear accomplished governor knows too well how it feels for businesses that have been consummated to be stalled as a result of politics and change in baton of leadership as is being alleged.

He is a banker and a big player in the financial sector, a reputation he earned through sheer hard work and critical alignments. He definitely knows the demerits of stalling such a project as alleged, more than I may ever know for now.

Barr. Chibuike Amaechi is a known ally and friend of our dear governor, I think it is time we heard from him about how he feels with the abandoning of the Greater Port Harcourt City, the monorail train track and the power station project by Barr. Nyesom Wike’s administration?

Experienced politicians like Barr. Rotimi Amaechi a man I once loved passionately for his boldness and vision for the nation, not before his romance with the outgone President Buhari government, should be in the best position to advice our dear governor on why he must sacrifice his emotions and queue in to support the development of the state irrespective of who brings in the funds even if it has to come from Dr. Okezie Ikpeazu, one of the men that the governor has shown sincere public disaffection for.

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“Deede Ferdie”, as the media fireworks rage always know that the maximum you would be in office is eight years ooo, assuming the Lord ordains it.

Only foolishness would make me suggest that you should tell your Boss what to do on this matter, I don’t think you have “that reach” to advise our dear governor yet.

The much you can do as a disciplined loyalist is to still do your work, come online and brand all of us that ask rational questions, “ndi opposition” which as part of your strategy is fine but please endeavor to look for ways to reach out confidentially to the friends of the governor and raise these issues biko.

They know that your loyalty is not in doubt, they love the governor just as you do.

Express your concerns to them privately and plead with them to speak to your Boss.

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He needs to do better so that at the end of the day, you can brag to have worked with a “Lee Kuan Yew” of Abia State whose achievements are verifiable beyond the media propaganda that we are faced with daily.

Meanwhile we say a big congratulations to Dr. Alex Otti Foundation, for the annual scholarship ceremony that took place last month.

I am passionate about education and hope that under our governor’s watch, hopefully students in our government owned schools can compete comfortably with their counterparts from Anambra State.

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Finally, if Dr. Alex Otti remembers actively how often he cited how the Asian Tigers took over the world in terms of commerce and infrastructural development as a result of purposeful leadership, he should be in the best position to tell if his present actions actually would help him arrive at an Abia State that would be a global destination for commerce, leisure, hospitality, education, healthcare services and export.

Governance is really beyond media propaganda and creating contents, it requires tough work and brutal honesty. This write up is inspired by my conviction that political leaders must be deliberate about continuing with programmes that would be of benefit to the masses even after change of government.

We acknowledge the areas you have done well so far but we need you to do so much more Sir knowing that Rt. Hon. Francis Nwifuru has just directed that Ebonyi State commence the payment of the N70,000 minimum wage without much media razzmatazz.

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