Otti, Chidioka Advocate Ethical Leadership for Good Governance

The Abia State Leadership Academy has hosted an Executive Education Series for political appointees of the state government, as part of activities marking the 35th anniversary of the creation of Abia State.

The programme, held on Tuesday at the Micheal Okpara Auditorium, Umuahia, focused on strengthening governance, ethical leadership and public service delivery, with emphasis on competent leadership, institutional capacity and effective policy implementation.

With the theme, “Strengthening Governance, Ethical Leadership and Public Service Delivery”, the executive education series provided a platform for political appointees to examine how public institutions could be strengthened to deliver sustainable development beyond individual administrations.

The programme is part of the Leadership Academy’s mandate to build leadership capacity, promote ethical standards and cultivate a pipeline of competent leaders committed to public service.

Speaking at the event, Governor Alex Otti, said his administration has made merit, competence and integrity central to the recruitment and appointment of public officials, stressing that political connections should no longer determine access to positions in the state’s civil service.

Governor Otti said his administration has introduced a competitive process for appointing Permanent Secretaries, thereby replacing a system in which personal relationships could influence appointments.

The governor recalled that in 2023, the state advertised vacant Permanent Secretary positions, attracting 425 qualified directors who underwent computer-based tests and oral interviews.

He said that candidates were subsequently ranked according to their performance, with the best-performing candidate appointed Head of Service and other successful candidates appointed Permanent Secretaries.

He also cited the appointment of the state Head of Service, Mr Benson Ojeikere, an indigene of Edo State who had spent several years working in Abia, as further evidence of his administration’s commitment to merit and inclusiveness.

Governor Otti said Mr Ojeikere joined the Abia civil service after his National Youth Service Corps programme and rose through the ranks, arguing that residency, contribution and commitment to the development of the state should be considered in defining who belongs to its community.

The governor stressed that sustainable development required a public service built around competence, integrity and proven capacity, adding that the quality of people entrusted with public responsibilities would ultimately determine the effectiveness of government.

Earlier, the guest speaker, former Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development and former Corps Marshal of the Federal Road Safety Corps, Osita Chidioka, highlighted key lessons from the governance experiences of China, Britain, Singapore, Rwanda and Nigeria.

Chidioka argued that political vision alone could not deliver development without a public administration capable of translating policies into measurable results.

Using China as an example, he highlighted the country’s long history of merit-based selection for public service and linked its development achievements to the strength of its administrative and institutional capacity.

He also cited Singapore’s investment in human capital, strategic planning, performance management and integrity as evidence that effective institutions, rather than natural advantages alone, were central to sustainable development.

“Policy without execution just becomes a paper,” Chidioka said.

He warned that Nigeria’s development challenges can not be addressed solely through the announcement of ambitious policies or construction of physical infrastructure, stressing the need to rebuild the technical and professional capacity of the public service.

According to him, the weakening of government institutions has resulted in excessive reliance on contractors and consultants for functions that should ordinarily be performed by competent public officials.

“Behind every visible achievement of government lies an invisible chain of competence,” he said.

Chidioka also challenged political appointees to look beyond their tenure by creating systems, procedures and standards that could survive their departure from office.

He warned that reforms that depended entirely on individual office holders risked being abandoned whenever leadership changed, describing such a pattern as “a succession of personal projects” rather than genuine institutional reform.

Chidioka therefore urged public officials to embed successful reforms in government rules, procedures, performance systems and conditions of service so that they could endure beyond the tenure of their initiators.

He also emphasised the importance of recurrent expenditure in making public infrastructure functional, arguing that overhead costs should not automatically be viewed as wasteful spending.

The former minister further stressed the importance of technology in reducing bureaucratic delays and improving public-sector efficiency and urged officials to view government from the perspective of citizens rather than through the narrow boundaries of individual ministries and agencies.

He commended the Abia Leadership Academy for its efforts to identify and prepare young people across the state’s 17 local government areas for future leadership responsibilities, but said the academy’s ultimate success should be measured by the quality of leaders and institutions it produces over time.

Chidioka urged the participants to see public office as an opportunity to build lasting institutions rather than personal legacies, stressing that governors, commissioners, special advisers and permanent secretaries would eventually leave office.

He called for the development of institutional and human capital alongside physical infrastructure, with the ultimate objective of creating systems that function without requiring constant intervention by political leaders.

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