Governor Alex Otti of Abia State is offering Nigerians a simple but increasingly forgotten definition of leadership:
Leadership is service.
It is not about jumping from one political party to another whenever elections approach. It is not about calculating which ruling party offers the safest route back to office. It is not about political godfathers, electoral intimidation or hoping that institutions will somehow substitute political influence for the freely expressed will of the people.
Leadership is about performance.
It is about roads people can drive on, hospitals where the sick can receive treatment, schools where children can learn, clean water, functioning cities, jobs, security and responsible management of public resources.
That is what government is supposed to mean.
Alex Otti’s record deserves attention precisely because it reminds us that governors can actually govern.
By May 2026, Otti reported that his administration had completed 414 road projects covering more than 864 kilometres in three years. Major projects include Port Harcourt Road and Ohanku Road in Aba, the six-lane Aguiyi Ironsi Boulevard in Umuahia and other strategic routes across the state. (Premium Times Nigeria)
His administration has also reported recruiting nearly 1,000 healthcare workers, devoting about 15 percent of the state budget to health, rehabilitating health facilities, and recruiting 5,394 teachers, while maintaining education allocations of at least 20 percent in recent budgets. (Vanguard News)
In May 2026, the state also launched rehabilitation of the Ubakala and Ariaria water schemes, valued at about ₦1.3 billion, as part of efforts to expand access to potable water. (Vanguard News)
These figures should, like every government’s claims, remain open to public scrutiny and independent verification. That is democracy.
But roads can be inspected.
Hospitals can be visited.
Schools can be examined.
Water either flows or it does not.
Performance leaves evidence.
That is the difference.
Nigeria has endured too much politics in which governance virtually stops while politicians spend years preparing for the next election.
Too many citizens watch elected officials devote extraordinary energy to political calculations while roads collapse, hospitals deteriorate, schools decay and communities remain without basic utilities.
Then elections approach.
Suddenly there are defections.
Endorsements.
Rallies.
Posters.
Rice.
Cash gifts.
Political alliances.
And desperate attempts to stand close to whoever controls power at the centre.
This creates a dangerous public perception: that some politicians believe proximity to federal power matters more than performance before their own people.
That mentality must end.
A governor should not need Abuja to manufacture popularity that he failed to earn at home.
If you governed well, let the roads campaign for you.
Let the hospitals campaign for you.
Let the teachers speak.
Let pensioners speak.
Let traders speak.
Let farmers speak.
Let ordinary citizens decide whether their lives improved.
Otti remains a Labour Party governor and, as of 2026, has emerged as the party’s governorship candidate for 2027. He has also publicly said that the ultimate decision about electoral victory belongs to the electorate. (The Guardian Nigeria)
That is how democracy should work.
Not through the fantasy that changing political parties automatically changes a record of failure.
A failed governor does not suddenly become successful because he acquires a new party card.
Defection cannot repair a road.
It cannot equip a hospital.
It cannot put water in a village.
It cannot educate a child.
It cannot erase years of poor governance.
Nigeria must also confront the deeper evil of electoral manipulation.
When politicians believe elections can be influenced through money, intimidation, institutional compromise or political connections, the incentive to perform weakens.
Why serve citizens if citizens do not ultimately determine your political survival?
That is why credible elections are not merely a political issue.
They are a development issue.
A governor who knows that only performance can earn another four years has reason to work.
A governor who believes the electorate can be bypassed has far less reason to fear failure.
And weaponized poverty makes the system even more dangerous.
Impoverish citizens long enough and a bag of rice begins to look like generosity.
A few thousand naira begins to compete with four years of suffering.
The politician then returns during elections to temporarily relieve some of the poverty that bad governance helped create—and demands votes in return.
That is not democracy.
That is exploitation.
Nigerians must begin insisting that public office is not an inheritance, a family business or a reward distributed among brothers, sisters, children and political associates.
Public office is a trust.
Those who steal public funds should be investigated and, where evidence establishes criminal wrongdoing, prosecuted according to law. Electoral offences should likewise attract serious and credible consequences.
But the greater revolution must begin with citizens themselves.
Stop worshipping politicians.
Stop selling tomorrow for today’s token.
Stop celebrating unexplained wealth.
Demand roads.
Demand schools.
Demand healthcare.
Demand water.
Demand accounts.
Demand results.
Alex Otti does not have to be perfect for Abia to teach Nigeria something important.
The lesson is simple:
Govern first. Campaign later.
Serve the people.
Deliver results.
Then stand before them and ask for another mandate.
If they believe you have earned it, they will decide.
That is leadership.
That is democracy.
And that is how Nigeria must finally begin separating public servants from political opportunists.
Leadership is not changing parties to survive an election.
Leadership is changing the lives of the people who elected you.
Chris Okobah PhD
Award Wining author
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