How Otti’s blueprint is rebuilding trust and attracting investment to Abia state.

By Kalu Okoronkwo

In Abia State, the ruins of squandered opportunities and crumbling infrastructure once haunted the people like shadows that refused to fade. For decades, a state with boundless potential was left staggering under the weight of missteps, lethargy and inertia from successive administrations.

The craters on its roads mirrored the gaps in governance; the abandoned projects symbolized broken trust; and the shrinking confidence of its people reflected a once promising economy brought to its knees.

However, in 2023, Abia took a bold turn with a new Sheriff in town who gripped the wheel of destiny and from the ashes of despair, a new chapter is being written. The implementation of Governor Alex Otti’s economic blueprint in about two years of his administration has rekindled hope, rebuilt trust, and positioned Abia state as Nigeria’s model in urban renewal and economic development.

Otti understands a truth that great leaders across the world have proven: trust is the foundation of prosperity. A leader who will champion great transformation must first instill confidence in governance and institutions.

Also read: 100 Days as Governor: For Otti, the Morning shows the Day

By deploying a clear and disciplined blueprint anchored on infrastructure, transparency, and people oriented development, Otti has erased the scars of the past and lay a fresh foundation for progress and prosperity.

In the new Abia state under Otti, roads are no longer death traps but lifelines of commerce and communication among communities hitherto cut off from one another. The initiative is opening up rural communities to markets, and enabling investors to see a state ready for business.

Otti’s bold urban renewal strategy also includes ambitious housing schemes across the state reshaping the skyline, improving quality of life, and creating real estate opportunities that attract both local entrepreneurs and the Diaspora investors.

One of Otti’s bold strokes has been the massive road network programme. For a state long crippled by potholes and impassable routes that strangled commerce, these roads are not just asphalt, they are arteries of life. With each newly paved highway linking the major cities such as Aba, Umuahia, and the hinterlands, Governor Otti is dismantling decades of economic isolation and opening corridors for trade, logistics, and industrial expansion.

Roads, in Otti’s vision, are not mere infrastructure, there are investment multipliers. “We have gathered together in celebration, not of roads, but of a new epoch. While we rejoice at what we have been able to accomplish in the last two years in the area of road infrastructure and the opportunities that have been created, the real accomplishments should be seen in terms of the hopes that have been restored, dreams we have revived, and the collective stories we have created for our children and children’s children” said the Governor while speaking at St. Joseph’s College (CKC), Asa Triangle, Aba, after commissioning some of the projects within the vicinity.

Leadership is not measured by the promises made on campaign podiums but by the tangible legacies that redefine lives and societies. In one single day, Otti ambitiously commissioned 14 road networks in Abia state, a feat that has not been attempted by any previous administrations. These include; Umuode road, Bakassi road, Isu Ihiteukwa street, Asa Road, Enyimba junction, Ariraria gate, rehabilitated Market Road from Asa to Eziukwu Road, Aba, Tenant Road from Asa Road to Eziukwu Road, Cameroun Road from Asa Road to Eziukwu Road, Ehi Road from Queens Road to Eziukwu Road, Clifford Road, Aba from Asa Road to Eziukwu Road, School Road from Asa to the Railway Crossing, Afikpo Road from Eziukwu Road to School Road, Afikpo Road to School Road, and Asa Triangle Bypass.

There are also ongoing construction and reconstruction of road networks across the state both rural and urban numerous to mention.  But worthy of note is the Umuafai-Lodu road linking to Okwuta/Bende Road axis, the New Heritage City which the governor is trying to connect through the old Aba, Amakama/Ubakala. There is another construction of road from Tower/ Okpara Square to Bank Road while there is another from the Express Tower to Onuimo, Umuakaa to Imo River through the Port Harcourt Express Road, Owerri-Aba along Iheorji-Ngwa Road, Ohanku road going through Ihe-orji and Owerri-Aba. There is also Avom street, the collapsed road condemned by erosion but was rebuilt by removing   three buildings to make way.

It should be recalled that Aba, the commercial nerve centre of Abia State, has witnessed significant improvements under Governor Otti’s administration. The maintenance and asphalt overlay of major roads such as Jubilee Road, Queen’s Street, Bata to Salad Market Junction, and Ehi road and many more others have restored Aba’s lost glory as a bustling trade hub. Traders and commuters now experience reduced travel time and improved access to markets, boosting economic activities.

In addition to construction, several roads have undergone full maintenance. This underscores the Otti’s administration’s commitment to delivering quality infrastructure in every part of the state. These are notable road infrastructural projects of Otti within two years of his administration.

Given the overall urban renewal strategy, other previously neglected sectors in the state are now massively receiving government attention thus making them viable areas of opportunity for investment both for local and the Diaspora investors.

In the area of housing development, the administration of Alex Otti is ambitiously given that unit attention. Unlike previous administrations that lacked transparency and favoured friends and cronies, Governor Otti has created opportunity for public private partnership in housing development schemes across the state and its rapidly receiving desired responses.

Currently and as part of the Governor’s urban development strategies, several housing estates under the public-private sector initiative have been earmarked for development. These include; the Mbara-Akuma Housing Estate, Ubakala, Amakama Housing Estate which is a 145 hectares of land to be developed under the scheme. There is also the Obehia (Ikpokwu) Asa Housing Estate at the Ukwa West Local Government axis and the Obingwa-Mbaisi Housing Estate (a property formerly owned by the federal government but was acquired for estate development by the administration of Dr. Alex Otti) among others.

Over the years, it has been on the public sphere that the Abia State Government House on Bank Road was rented. It was recently reported that the state Commissioner for Lands, Hon. Chika Chukwumerije, as part of efforts of the Ministry’s urban development drive, has undertaken audit of all the properties on the Bank Road axis and till date, no one has showed up to owning the property said to be rented as government house for years. This suggests that it was another drain pipe of the successive administrations in the state.

The Commissioner is also said to have undertaken a tour of several other key locations in the state up to Ohafia Local Government Area signaling that more housing schemes will possibly be announced under the public-private partnership in the coming months.

Also as part of the administration’s drive to recover properties of the state handed over to cronies and political associates of former Chief Executives of the state, the Ministry of Lands has undertaken survey and realization of such properties in private hands including schools and hotels. These include Abia Hotels in Aba, Arochukwu and Umuahia respectively. This points to a possibility that those massive facilities previously dilapidated and handed over to cronies will soon be put into serious commercial use.

Also there have been acquisition of land by the government for the development of public utilities including the Smart City at Osisioma, Aba, Stadium at Ajala-Ibeku Umuahia, Trailer Park at Aro-Ngwa and the Abia Medical City, respectively.

A tour of the Abia State Secretariat, Umuahia which has been in very bad shape since after its construction due to lack of maintenance reveals massive renovations and reconstruction works has been carried out and given the hitherto archaic structure a facelift. Old furniture and moribund appliances has been replaced with standard ones, thus making the gigantic building befitting to carry out government functions.

Governor Alex Otti has proven himself as a leader who understands that trust, capital, and prosperity are built on a foundation of infrastructure and vision, hence his massive urban renewal drive which has brought prosperity to the people of Abia and its environs.

Governor Otti has also vowed to lead the charge in qualitative education delivery, assuring that the Government would no longer be paying lip service with the education sector. The launch of AbiaFIRST Transformation Education programme focused on strategic initiatives aimed at transforming the education sector in the State through sustained investments in the development of school infrastructure, training and retraining of teachers on new trends, and recruitment of quality teachers to cater for the rise in enrollment figures in public schools, lends credence to the educational transformation initiative of the state.

And as the governor noted during the launch of AbiaFirst “Investing in education, as we have learnt from the development strides of other nations, is no longer optional but a consistently general outlay and has become a prerequisite for the achievement of the aspirations of any society,”. This points to Otti’s vision in transforming the education sector in the state through sustained investments.

This strategic vision for schools could foster proficiency and collaboratively address the challenges facing Nigeria’s educational sector where of the about 40 million students in schools in Nigeria, 80% of them are in private schools. Public schools will again find its pride of place in the education of the children by reversing the trend.

While Otti has touched almost every sector of the abandoned aspects of the state, he did not forget the cultural heritage of the people with the securing of UNESCO Heritage Status of the Ikeji Arochukwu as one of the high points of his administration.

To this end, the government of Abia State during the grand finale of the Ikeji Aro held on the 26^th of September 2025 and working closely with the National Commission for Monuments signed an MoU that will revive heritage sites across Abia State such as; Ulochukwu Cave in Alayi, Isiuzu Waterfall, Oloko Magistrate Court, Isikwuato Waterfall, Umunneochi Cave, Azummili Blue River, Akwaete Beach, Obeaku City Lake and Amaukwu Ekeobasi in Osisioma.

It is often said that the ghosts of bad governance linger long after the men who presided over them have left office. However, the reverse is the case in Abia State with the coming of Dr. Alex Otti’s administration.

Otti’s approach mirrors the pathways of transformative leaders across the world. Lee Kuan Yew rebuilt Singapore on the strength of infrastructure and investor confidence; Paul Kagame turned Rwanda into a reference point of renewal through disciplined urban reforms. By applying the same principles of accountability, vision, and execution, Governor Otti is not only solving old problems but laying down structures that will serve generations.

What emerges from this blueprint is clear: Abia is being rebranded as a hub for investment opportunities as roads are being built, cities are being renewed, and trust in governance is being restored.

The message is clear: Abia is open for business. What investors long feared is now what excites them: a government that delivers, a system that works, and a leader who listens. For local entrepreneurs, the Diaspora investors, and international capital players, the time to engage with Abia is now. The ghosts of the past have been exorcised; in their place stands a clear opportunity.

Governor Alex Otti is not merely rebuilding roads, he is rebuilding trust. And in the marketplace of global capital, trust is the road that always leads to prosperity.

Kalu Okoronkwo is a communications strategist, a leadership and good governance advocate dedicated to impactful societal development and can be reached via kalu.okoronkwo@gmail.com