Abia State Governor, Dr Alex Otti has reaffirmed his administration’s anti corruption stance and commitment to responsible management of the state’s resources vowing that no single kobo of the state’s resources would be misappropriated under his leadership.
Governor Otti who stated this at the 4th edition of the Pastors’ Kids Association Convention 2024, of the Seventh Day Adventist Church with the theme “Advancing the Gospel in a Digital Era”, underscored his administrations commitment to transparency and integrity in governance.
He emphasized that the noise often heard in the media is a reaction from those who can no longer exploit the state’s resources and pointed out that his administration is on course despite criticisms by the opposition.
“In our administration, corruption and stealing are forbidden so when you see or hear people making noise in the media, it’s because they are unable to continue to feed fat on resources that belong to all of us.
“I can assure you that under my watch, Abia resources, not even one kobo of it will be stolen”, the Gov stated.
Governor Otti challenged Christians to embrace leadership by example and stressed the need for leaders to embody the values they preach.
“I’d written an article one time, I believe it’s a long time ago where I said that the fish gets rotten from the head. Leadership is what people follow, alot of people don’t listen to what you say, they watch what you do.
“You can preach from now till thy Kingdom come, they are not interested. That are following what you’re doing. So if you tell somebody don’t steal and you’re stealing, the person would steal.
“I challenge all of you in your own little corner to lead by example”, he admonished the congregation.
The Governor while reflecting on his upbringing as a child of a pastor, noted that his background shaped his decision-making and commitment to public service and encouraged the congregation to remain steadfast in their identity and values instilled by their parents.
“Somebody called me yesterday from the US and he was trying to advice me. He felt that I wasn’t prepared for the rainy days and my response to him was; do you know whose son I am?
“So I charge all of you to remember the sacrifice that your parents made and when confronted with questions like the one that I faced yesterday, be bold to ask the person, do you know whose son or whose daughter i am?.That defines virtually everything we are doing here.
The Governor who also spoke on the theme of the convention, called on the attendees to engage in discussions on how to repel the mindset that modern technological advancements diminish the need for divine guidance.
Earlier while officially declaring the Conference open, President of the Eastern Nigerian Conference of the Seventh-Day Adventist Church, Pastor Bassey Udoh, emphasized the importance of total member involvement in spreading the Gospel of Christ in the digital age.
Pastor Udoh acknowledged that while many Christians may lack the resources to travel and preach globally, digital evangelism offers a powerful alternative which enables them to reach vast audiences simultaneously.
He encouraged the congregation to actively utilize all available social media platforms to advance the message of Christ.
