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Otti Calls For Responsible Citizenship, National Development
Otti Calls For Responsible Citizenship, National Development
Abia State Governor, Dr Alex Otti, has urged Nigerians to embrace the responsibilities of citizenship and remain vigilant in protecting the freedom secured at independence.
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Governor Otti stated this on Thursday at the Micheal Okpara Auditorium, during the 2026 commemoration of Nigeria’s 66th Independence Anniversary,
The Governor who titled his speech, “Citizenship, Freedom and Vigilance”, stressed that Nigeria’s future depends largely on the choices and actions of her citizens.
Governor Otti acknowledged country’s challenges, including poverty, unemployment, insecurity and inadequate infrastructure, but urged Nigerians not to despair.
He said Nigerians must recognise themselves as stakeholders in the country’s development rather than leaving the responsibility for national progress solely to government.
“If then we wish to see a different outcome, the first order of duty would be to accept that we are all stakeholders in the Nigerian project.
“It does not matter what you do, your nativity, political affiliation or religious profession; everyone of us has a role to play in the reset of our national trajectory”, Governor Otti said.
The Governor identified voting, participating in social and political conversations, paying taxes, obeying laws among others as some of the ways citizens could contribute to nation-building.
He also urged Nigerians to reject dishonesty, mediocrity, greed, nepotism and clannishness which he identified as impediments to national development.
Governor Otti noted that democracy offered citizens the opportunity to influence who governs them and urged them to reject political apathy, vote-selling and primordial considerations during elections.
The Governor maintained that Nigeria’s potential could only be translated into meaningful progress through collective effort and perseverance, urging citizens not to surrender to the country’s difficulties.
“The message that I leave you with remains what it has always been: do not give up; keep pushing and never surrender to the vicissitudes of the time; it is in staying firm and unyielding that we win”, he said.
Governor Otti also called for vigilance in protecting the gains of independence and democracy, warning that complacency could expose the country’s freedoms to threats.
He reaffirmed his administration’s commitment to the security and socioeconomic transformation of Abia State and ppledged to build systems and institutions that respond to the state’s development aspirations. Mm
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