By Tony Icheku


Ahead 2023, Abians will go to the polls to elect a new chief executive to steer the ship of State for the next four years. 

And the experiences of past Abia governors shows that for Abia to leap forward to an ideal level of socio-economic development, not just any Dick, Tom or Harry qualifies to govern

Abia State may not belong to the mega wealthy States like Delta or Rivers states, nonetheless, its potentials to become wealthy are enormous if its affairs are managed by a visionary, innovative leader who sees every challenge as an opportunity for growth.

Abians must ignore the mere politicians seeking to become governor and go for the technocrat, who is not only visionary, but equally creative, and pragmatic  if the much desired accelerated socio-economic growth and development of the State can be actualised 

Firstly, to maximise its comparative advantage as the Micro-Small-Medium Enterprises, MSME capital of Nigeria, or West Africa,  Abia needs a wealth creator. A technocrat who is conversant with the dynamics of a fast evolving world  driven by technology

The next Abia governor must  have the capacity to change the narratives by strategising how to make Abia's MSME sector move from its current subsistence  production to  mass production and exporter to the developed nations of the world

No  it is not just a theoretical  man of ideas that will do  but a pragmatic, creative innovator who can out of intangibles create products and services that can generate revenue. When the World was shut down as a result of COVID-19, people did not stop eating, and Abia is a major agricultural region. Just like late Michael Okpara used agriculture to boost the economy of the old Eastern Region, the next governor of Abia must initiate a creative  agricultural revolution in the state, not only for local consumption, but also processing for export

The governor Abia needs must initiate  new ways of using what  we already have to solve human problems and to provide services and products that people would  be ready and comfortable to patronise

 Indeed, the foundation is half laid with Aba's leading role as Nigeria's biggest small-scale industrial centre for leather and garments, agro-processing, and iron works. The next step is to build on this  foundation by attracting the huge capital needed to improve the infrastructure such as roads, power, water supply and others

The funding for such huge capital projects can only be sourced not from dwindling monthly allocations but from big banks and other financial institutions who have confidence in the economy of Abia, and it is an ideas-driven, visionary chief executive who can create this confidence. A neophyte in political economy would not do. A greenhorn in the fast paced affairs of technology and how it is changing lifestyles and businesses would not do.

Abia needs a governor whose name rings a bell in the boardrooms of Nigeria's banking and financial circles because he has a track record as an innovator and creator of revenue generating products and services

Secondly, like the Lagos example has shown, internally generated revenue, IGR  remains a major contributor to government revenue. For some states, collecting such taxes and plugging the leakages remains a major challenge. But recently an innovator, using technology boosted the revenue generated from a sub-sector. Not only was leakages plugged, but the willingness to pay was equally enhanced. This same innovator popularised the use of ATM and other technology driven services in Nigeria. Such creativity, such vision and drive are traits Abians need to look for when searching for  the next  governor


Thirdly, the next governor of Abia must be a change maker who would usher in new thinking and orientation in education and training and retraining.

With the world  getting automated, every single thing we do  being translated into the world of technology, the Abia must be obsessed with acquiring knowledge and adapting to a fast changing world