Abia State Governor, Dr. Alex Otti, says no sacrifice is too big to improve the lives of the people, insisting that even in the quest to build an economically vibrant state, the welfare of the citizens is topmost. The Governor, in his Easter message to the people of Abia, released Sunday morning, said if Jesus could sacrifice His life to save mankind from eternal death, then “no sacrifice can be too big to improve the life of the very people for whom the Saviour paid the ultimate price”.
Governor Otti in the message titled, “To live the ideals of the risen Christ”, said his administration was very much interested in the welfare of the people, and this had been the principal motivation for all government’s programmes and projects.
“Whether it is in the rehabilitation and reconstruction of long-abandoned roads; reset of the healthcare delivery system; improved security of life and property in our various communities; or in keeping to our promise of prompt and regular payment of salaries and pensions; our objective is always clear: to improve the lot of the average person who lives or does business in Abia,” he emphasized.
To further buttress his position, Otti said: “Just three days ago, we fulfilled a very important promise made to our senior citizens at various campaign stops and repeated with firm assurance in the early days of this administration.
“Our initial plan was to offset the pension arrears accumulated since 2014 by the end of 2023, but reconciliation and verification issues made us set the end of the first quarter of 2024 as the new deadline. We duly communicated the situation in our New Year message, and pleaded for the kind understanding of our pensioners.
“I am glad that we have fulfilled that solemn promise; making it possible for thousands of pensioners and their families to celebrate this year’s Easter in joy, satisfied that what they worked for, their genuine entitlements, which had been delayed for years through no fault of theirs, has finally been offset.”
According to the Governor, paying people their entitlements ordinarily should not be the subject of excitement, “but considering that this most basic of obligations was neglected for years, the palpable joy on the faces of our senior citizens is understandable”.
No Sacrifice Is Too Big To Improve Lives Of Abia People — Otti
