I am tied to Article 19, tied to an apron string. My life and career depend on Article 19. The Article protects, shelters and empowers me. I derive my power, courage and vindication from Article 19. It lightens my path as it also provides a refuge.
There are simple virtues that matter. In his almost three years stride in power, Governor Alex Otti of Abia State has distinguished himself as a respecter of the letters of Article 19. And what are the letters?
‘Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression. This right includes freedom to hold opinion without interference and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas’, Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
Article 19 is the bedrock of democracy and the springboard of civilisation. Otti has lived out the tenets of Article 19. He has guaranteed the freedom of everyone and, particularly, the freedom of opinion and expression.
It is on record that Abia State under Otti has maintained a vibrant debate, conversation and exchange of ideas between the supporters of government and the opposition. Though the exchanges, sometimes , drift into an intensity and virulence with parties throwing mud and hauling stones, the governor has consistently guaranteed the freedom of everyone without any form of brutality or intimidation.
No one has been sent to Afara Correctional Centre, arrested and detained by the Police or extra- judicially remanded on account of his or her contrary opinion or criticism against government. The voices of dissent have been allowed to flower and the government has even had cause to reverse itself due to the pressure of the alternative voice. This, to me, is a great signature of a true democrat.
I am rather inspired to remark on this silent virtue because of some commentaries in the week that accused Governor Otti’s government of being an authoritarian regime. Having operated under the ‘guerrilla journalism era’, when writers and progressives were haunted and hunted by the military juntas, and in the civilian rule when some political leaders and their proxies had gone berserk, I quite understand the atmosphere of authoritarian regimes. Then I laugh at these careless and irrational statements by insensitive and ungrateful lots, motived by mischief.
Even in the democratic regimes since 1999, I can point at several incidents of raw executive, high-handedness and draconic deployment of power by many power actors.
But, Otti has stood different and exemplary. Abia State has been marked by a free, unrestrained and ungagged political space. He has shown real commitment to human freedom, extending the progress that humanity has made in the march of freedom since the French Revolution.
This must essentially be recorded for him in the annals of history.
Adindu writes from Umuahia
