Abia State Governor, Alex Otti, has said Nigeria’s progress depends on building a leadership culture anchored on knowledge, character, and education-driven human development.
Otti stated this during the 60th birthday celebration and book presentation of former World Bank Vice President, Prof. Arunma Oteh, in Abuja.
Describing Oteh as “a revolutionary amazon,” Otti praised her for her “brilliant and peerless contributions to the holistic development of the human community, especially in Nigeria and across Africa.”
He said her new book, All Hands on Deck: Unleash Prosperity through World Class Capital Markets, demonstrates her belief in the power of ideas to rebuild nations.
According to him, Oteh’s leadership philosophy anchored on character, compassion, competence, and courage offers a model for national transformation.
He lamented that the country’s leadership problems are as a result of “a dysfunctional recruitment system that promotes chaos and mediocrity, saying that the setbacks the nation has experienced over the years are the outcome of a system that ignores integrity and rewards the wrong values.
He explained that Nigeria has become a victim of a system that places scant regard on character, treats compassion as evidence of weakness, mistakes arrogance for competence and promotes the noisy over the truly courageous.
He warned that until the country reforms how leaders are chosen and trained, genuine progress will remain out of reach.
Otti said the book’s lessons are timely, coming at a period when millions of people are uncertain about the future, and urged Nigerians to adopt the author’s values as a national standard for leadership.
Furthermore, he stressed that Nigeria’s greatest wealth lies in its people. He described Nigerians as among the most brilliant and innovative in science, technology, and academia, but regretted that many only find opportunities to thrive outside the country.
He said recovery would come from creating an environment that rewards excellence and gives everyone the freedom to fully express their talents.
He also emphasised that sustainable development begins with the mind, and that education remains the foundation for rebuilding the nation, citing Oteh’s life as a proof that quality education, especially at the early stage, can transform destinies.
Calling for urgent restoration of standards and values in the education system, Otti said that reform should go beyond new policies or infrastructure. He urged attention to teacher quality, discipline, and curriculum reform that prepares learners for the future rather than the past.
“The learning process in our schools must be structured to prepare the next generation for the challenges of the environment they are going to live in not tie them to the world of their forefathers except of course as lessons in history,” he said.
He added that the outcome of education should be the production of young people who embody excellence, think independently, and understand that education is only valuable when applied to a higher purpose.
Highlighting Abia’s investment in education, Otti said his administration has devoted 20 percent of its annual budget to the sector for two years.
He noted that the policy of free and compulsory education has doubled enrolment within three months, with over 5,000 teachers employed and another 4,000 to be recruited soon.
He explained that the goal is to raise more exceptional individuals like Oteh and to make education a tool for leadership and innovation.
“In the light of the competitive nature of the 21st century environment, the focus in our tertiary institutions has shifted from producing graduates that will be dependent on the system for survival to building leaders who will shape the future of their industries,” he said.
Otti also linked human capital development to healthcare, saying the state has consistently allocated 15 percent of its annual expenditure to the sector in line with the 2001 Abuja Declaration.
He made a call for Nigerians to rise above mediocrity and embrace excellence saying, “The truth is we have stayed in the difficult place of mediocrity and for too long.
“At 65, we should be able to stand firmly on our feet and march forward in an unyielding resolve to pay whatever price is required to actualise the great destiny that our nation has been called to.”
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