Otti Makes U-Turn, Set to Implement 30-year Abia Devt Plan

•Enforcement of out-of-school policy commences

Emmanuel Ugwu-Nwogo in Umuahia

Barely a month after he jettisoned the 30-year development plan inherited from his predecessor, Abia State Governor, Alex Otti has made a u-turn to implement the plan.

Otti had last month rejected the 30-year development plan initiated by Okezie Ikpeazu, saying that “it is unrealistic” and could not implemented based on current economic realities.

He specifically stated that, “what we are doing is short-term (development plan) of three years”.

But all that has changed as the Commissioner for Information, Prince Okey Kanu, yesterday announced the government was now set to rebase and update the 30 -year development plan of the state.

He made this known while briefing journalists on the outcome of the first meeting of the State Executive Council in year 2025, saying that re-basing has become necessary given the prevailing economic headwinds.

According to him, the vagaries of the Nigerian economy as typified by the headline inflation being experienced in the country today was taken into consideration.

He stated the government has decided to implement the long-term development plan in a way that “reflects the real position of the state’s economy”.

Kanu said the state economic team has been charged with the task of rebasing the development plan, adding that the team “is already at work to ensure the success of the exercise”.

Abia’s 30-year development plan which runs from 2020 to 2050 was launched and formally adopted on April 7, 2021 by the immediate past government in collaboration with the PIND Foundation with support from the European Union.

Meanwhile, the policy of criminalising out-of-school syndrome adopted by the Otti administration has commenced with the resumption of schools on Monday January 13, 2025.

Abia State Government decided to make it a criminal offence for parents or guardians to deny their ward formal education after Governor Otti announced free and compulsory basic education beginning from primary to Junior Secondary Three(JSS 3).

The Information Commissioner said that a taskforce on compliance has been set up which “will enforce government’s zero tolerance to out-of-school syndrome”.

He also stated that government has taken decision to start full enforcement of all extant traffic laws in the state in order to sanitise the transport sector.

Kanu said that, “government is poised to ensure that there is full compliance” with traffic rules across the state with emphasis on Aba and Umuahia where violations have become commonplace.

“Going forward , it will be a serious offence  to drive against traffic no matter the distance. You see a lot of people within the town drive against the traffic for one reason or the other.

“It is now a very serious offence and the harmonized taskforce has been rejigged to ensure full compliance to that policy,” Kanu said.