Being the text of a keynote address by Governor Alex C. Otti, OFR, on Wednesday, August 5, 2026, at the 60th Birthday Celebration of Citizen Bolaji Oluwayanmife Akinyemi
Protocol
The destiny of a nation is shaped by the philosophy and moral ethos of its citizens. Greatness does not merely happen because it is desired; it is the outcome of the consistent efforts of the citizens to make demands on themselves and those at the helm of affairs.
Moving from the nadir to a place of comfort on any development frontline invites continuous engagement by ordinary men and women — traders, artisans, housewives and bus drivers — asking questions, demanding accountability and insisting on a better deal for themselves and their children.
However, while the voices of everyday people remain critical in determining the fate of a community, whether it becomes prosperous or remain in a place of reproach, it is ultimately the men and women of influence, in and out of positions of privilege, that eventually give the final seal on what becomes the most enduring identity of a society.
Privileges are therefore not trophies to be displayed for applause but a call to be attentive to the burdens of the society — an obligation to challenge events that take away from the dignity of fellow citizens. In the end, it is the awareness that personal accomplishments do not exempt one from the responsibility of empathy.
Distinguished ladies and gentlemen, we have gathered this afternoon to celebrate a man who clearly understands the place of empathy when building the foundational structures of a society. Let me on this note, join everyone in this auditorium to welcome Apostle Bolaji Oluwayanmife Akinyemi to the 6th floor of life.
Congratulations are in order especially in the light of the fact that his life has been modelled on the values of courage and honesty; firmed on the philosophy of stewardship — the understanding that we are merely caretakers, not owners of the privileges that the benevolence of the Creator has bestowed on us. Happy birthday, dear apostle of the Gospel of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ — a conscious citizen of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
The joy, enthusiasm and general atmosphere of gratitude around this venue bear eloquent testimonies to how lives and expectations have been shaped by the work that you do for the kingdom of God and through your advocacy as a civic leader in the wider national space.
May I, once again, congratulate our dear brother for his years of steadfast service to humanity and for finding the right channels of expressions for his calling. Like every family member, friend and well-wisher here in this room and across the globe, I pray God to continue to bless, strengthen and expand your span of influence in the years ahead. Happy birthday, dear Citizen.
Milestone birthdays like Diamond Jubilee, present occasions for varying expressions; for some, it is a time of loud celebrations and everything in-between. For our dear Citizen Akinyemi, however, this special anniversary is best dedicated to holding a pointed conversation on national renewal, citizenship and of course, leadership. Let me thank the celebrant specially for the humility of making this remarkable event less about himself and more about the country and the generations after.
For our country to make genuine progress, we need to rebuild the education and socio-cultural systems that produced patriots and selfless visionaries like Citizen Akinyemi. We remain infinitely grateful to the Almighty God for the gift of quality and thoughtful minds — individuals like the man we have gathered to celebrate the 60th anniversary of his birth.
In appreciation of the enduring mission of the apostle’s life, we shall use the remainder of the time available to share a few thoughts on the dynamics of social accountability and the imperative of building a Nigeria that works for every citizen. I would like to begin on a note of sincere gratitude to our dear apostle for his kind commentaries and public endorsement of the modest progress happening in Abia under our watch; thank you for keeping track of events in our dear State and for letting the world know that development only happens when those who hold public trust align their policy outlooks to reflect the expectations of the people. Abia has not suddenly been transformed to El Dorado but then, it is now beyond dispute that things are beginning to look up after the paradox of the past decades.
Beyond the beautiful commentaries written by conscious citizens like Apostle Akinyemi, the regular people can see for themselves that a lot is changing around them; they now commute more seamlessly as the quality of roads to their places of business continues to improve, life has returned to several communities once held hostage by criminals and for thousands of civil servants and pensioners, the humiliation of serial indebtedness and anxiety arising from unpaid entitlements now belong to a better-forgotten era.
While it is fair to say that we are doing the much that we can as leaders, the real credit for the visible changes happening in Abia belongs to the people; their resilience and sense of mission spurred our campaign, sustained it and stopped us from giving up until victory was achieved. How can any human ever fail the people who fought night and day for the emergence of a new order? Clearly, we understand the burden of public expectations and of course, the central role that Abia students, teachers, hawkers, artisans and professionals played in our eventual victory in 2023.
Of a truth, without their never-say-never disposition to life and business, we could have remained in our places of comfort; we got involved because we said to ourselves, if these people are able to achieve significant entrepreneurial success, not minding the multiple limitations on their path, what could possibly happen when the government deliberately moves in to fix infrastructure or perhaps just keep the streets clean, pay salaries and make sure the hospitals are open and equipped to attend to basic medical issues?
Our political journey began from a point of wishing to help on a social scale, leveraging our training and experience and bringing the same disposition that brought us success in the private sector to public sector responsibilities. Again, may I reiterate that we have not hit the perfect score on any of the development frontlines but with the little that have been done, the can-do spirit of our people is returning; the abandoned dreams of the years past are gradually being rekindled.
The Abia story
The Abia story points us to one reality we need to appreciate in our quest for progress in our different communities: firstly, the citizens must reject mediocrity and refuse to accept whatever leadership outlook that betrays their aspirations. It begins with proper awareness of self, and then action — asking questions, studying public sector expenditures, probing outcomes and refusing to accept excuses for subpar deliveries.
At any rate, permit me to also note that active citizenship must never be mistaken for mindless resort to cynicism. Yes, it helps to be critical but such disposition must be firmed on the understanding that there are no ideal situations. The next important lesson from our experience in Abia is the place of resilience; whoever desires change must be prepared to deal with the inevitable resistance from the forces of opposition.
Every bad system is someone’s cash-cow so whoever talks about changing the status quo becomes a prime target that must be shut down. We must therefore bear no illusion about what comes after the moment you begin to make the establishment uncomfortable. The third insight has to do with the optimisation of lean resources. It has to be understood that fighting for the emergence of a new order is costly because the old order has a near-inexhaustible resource pool to draw from so whether it is money or other establishment assets, those on the periphery would struggle to match the powers that be. It then follows that whatever is available must be applied in ways that guarantee optimal results. In Abia, the secret of our success in the years leading to 2023 was firstly, the sincerity of our intention; we were driven by genuine hunger to serve the people, not to enrich ourselves.
Secondly, our movement was people-driven; young persons, as well as the elderly, were as interested in what we had to say as the motor mechanics and the university professors. The movement grew with each passing day as we engaged more people and eloquently shared our vision. The next success factor was our refusal to be bullied, intimidated or made to cower in submission. In the final analysis, we did our part and God did the rest.
Returning to the subject of our conversation and in recognition of the fact that our chief celebrant has now joined the club of senior citizens, I would like to begin by acknowledging the immense role members of the senior citizens community played in our emergence; they in fact championed the course of a new Abia, long before others came onboard.
They vehemently rejected the deceit of the old order, insisted that the State deserved better. While others dawdled between indifference and tame support for all the parties, our parents and grandparents rose in unison to take a firm position. They openly denounced a system that made them beggars, turned their children to idlers and vaporised their hopes of happy retirement.
The courage shown by the seniors in their confrontations with the authorities kept us going because like them, we did appreciate that we must give everything to save our children from a governance structure that only served betrayal as a staple. Just like we did with several other conscientious formal and informal groups, our movement prudently aligned itself with the elderly in the push for a new Abia, one that is built on the principle of faithful stewardship.
I am immensely proud of what our alliance with the seniors have yielded and as many of them have said to me in public and private conversations, they are also proud of the modest gains that have been made in the efforts to reposition the State as a new development frontier. Our overarching governance agenda is to build a State where the productive systems are sufficiently active to create meaningful jobs for our young people, opportunities for dreamers and a safe place for investors.
This is why we are investing generously in education, healthcare and road infrastructure. These 3 sectors received more than 51% of our entire budgetary outlay for the current fiscal year. The goal is to equip our population with the skills to function in the new age economy and then build supporting infrastructure to attract genuine investors. Again, the hour of excitement has not yet arrived but at the moment, the seniors are happy that their children and grandchildren can now get decent jobs or open their own businesses to support themselves and plan for the future.
For the seniors, and of course you know that I am a member of this community, a functional framework has been set up to support and insulate them from much of the limitations of aging. The revitalisation of the health system, especially primary healthcare and the health insurance programme, guarantees that their basic medical concerns are promptly attended to, right in their communities.
Our philosophy of respect, care and compassion for the elderly is adequately articulated and codified in Law No. 4 of 2025 known widely as the Abia State Senior Citizens Centre Law. We do not want to treat the welfare of the seniors in our midst as discretionary charity commitment but as a core component of law.
The legislation established a rounded framework for care, protection and social inclusion for every resident of Abia aged 60 and above. In alignment with the National Senior Citizens Centre Act of 2017, the Abia State Senior Citizens Centre Law provides access to quality healthcare for the seniors and their inclusion in the State’s welfare programmes, including cash grants and food aid, especially in moments of emergencies.
Supervised by the State Ministry of Poverty Alleviation and Social Protection, the law is structured to improve quality of life and provide the elderly with the essential support system they need to enjoy their retirement, particularly the vulnerable amongst them. I am glad to report that the mechanism of implementation has been put in place; the database of vulnerable seniors is updated regularly through the agencies and organs of the supervising ministry and most fundamentally, a vigorous media campaign has been launched to stop all forms of abuse of the elderly and accord our seniors, the respect and dignity they deserve in family and community settings.
Let me reiterate that being sensitive to the needs of the senior citizens is not an act of charity, it is an obligation the society owes the elders for their immense contributions to the community in their active years. The family of seniors is a major asset whose wisdom, experience and foresight can provide clarity in moments of uncertainty and ultimately cut down the cost of exuberance sailing on the wings of inexperience.
I am actually of the view that we should do more to encourage the seniors to remain active, write books, start a podcast or create platforms to share their life experiences to further enrich our reservoir of knowledge as a society. As we say in this part of the world, what an elder sees sitting down, a child cannot see even if he climbs an Iroko tree.
Unfortunately, we may be handicapped and cut out of the rich blessings of the elders’ wisdom when they are not given the respect they deserve or made to still bear the burden of providing for their adult children in old age. Evidently, the elders are happier when their children and grandchildren don’t have to run to them every now and again for economic support.
For us in Abia, in addition to what we do to directly support our population of elderly persons, we also believe that one of the best ways of expressing gratitude to the seniors for their service to the community is to create opportunities for their children and children’s children to also contribute to the evolution of our civilisation.
We return again to the celebrant as we begin to conclude. May I begin this round by congratulating Apostle Akinyemi on the publication of his new book, Global Leadership Code: Donald J. Trump As A Case Study; thank you for articulating your thoughts and sharing them in a book. I will encourage everyone to get copies and actually read them to learn a thing or two. I know for a fact that many will disagree fiercely with the author owing to the polarising nature of the subject of his new book but again, the distinction of intellectualism is to disagree without being dismissive. We should not be afraid of interrogating our ideas and listening to positions that challenge our own beliefs.
I bring it back to all of us, fellow Nigerians, and my charge is simple and direct: we have a country to build. We have consistently failed ourselves as leaders and citizens, betrayed sacred trust and made multiple wrong choices on key development parameters, especially the choice of those who hold public positions.
This may be a good time to change course, eschew greed and challenge ourselves to do more, at least for the generation coming after. Running away, finger-pointing and procrastination will do us no good. Let us face our challenges, resolve them and effectively take our destiny in our hands for that would be the smartest and most enduring way of honouring the contributions of our senior citizens, especially the newest entrant to our club, Pastor Akinyemi, for their long years of labour and faithful devotion to this great land.
Thank you for listening and may God bless all of you.