Give it to some of the elements in the Abia State chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC): they are gifted in the art of the word. They have been creating and constructing beautiful essays as missiles against the pragmatic governor of the state.
The essays come with elevated language, crypt, racy and adorable. They vindicate good learning and scholarship. They stand as authentic witness to sound intellect, flowing in the best finesse of craft but carefully designed to mudsling against the person of Governor Alex Otti.
Strangely enough, remove the beauty of wordsmithing, what you see is a shallow, hollow and soured contraption… like a soured pot of soup. Have you suffered the anger and pain of this well-cooked pot of soup, with all the tasty condiments … assorted meat, assorted fish.. that unfortunately turned sour early in the morning? You painfully throw it away with all its contents.
I have thrown the essays away as I do to the soured pot of soup. Abians have gone further to throw the bath water with the baby away. The essayists and their satanic verses are good riddance to bad rubbish. Why are Abians throwing the verses away? The authors are pensick, the verses are like a flat tyre. The prose cannot drive.
They are making funny, malnourished argument: that Otti is pretending to love President Bola Tinubu while not willing or unable to make up his mind to join APC. Therefore, his ‘seeming’ love for President Tinubu is cosmestic and hypocritical. What a pathetic drift of the mind! What a pitiable flight of illogicality!
Abia is one of the federating units of the federation, one of the states of Nigeria. Otti owns allegiance to Nigeria and her constitution and also allegiance to the President of Nigeria. The governor must honour the President and carry out his orders. He cannot subvert the constitution that he swore to protect to please the Abia APC elements. So his relationship with Mr. President is procedural. While he is the Chief Executive Officer of Abia State, he is subordinate to the President of the Federation. His choice of party affiliation does not interfere with this arrangement.
Besides, Governor Otti as an Executive corporate officer in Lagos has his network of friends. He was the MD of a thriving bank when Tinubu was the Governor of Lagos State. Their paths obviously crossed and so it is with so many close allies, Aides and associates of President Tinubu. So Governor Otti cannot deny his friends just to please the Abia opposition elements.
His choice of party affiliation is a fundamental right. Otti will continue to exercise this right to the best of his convinence. He cannot be harangued into a decision. Decision is his discretion.
For Abians, Otti is the party. What operates in the minds of the Abia masses is the image of a performing governor. That image and the symbol it represents is the people’s party.
Adindu writes from Umuahia, Abia State capital
