John Nwaigwe
2027: What If Abia Stopped Looking For A Governor, And Started Looking For A Builder?
Maybe we have been asking the wrong question all along. Every four years, we ask who wants to be Governor, who is popular, who has the strongest structure and who can win. But after the election, the real question starts becoming “what is this government actually building?”
A builder will look at a young man who has finished school and ask what can keep him busy and earning. He will look at a farmer and ask how that farmer can make more money from what he produces. He will look at Aba and see more than markets and workshops. He will see businesses that can grow, employ more people and bring more money into Abia.
This is why I keep looking at Chief Eric Opah differently. His background is not just about politics. He has spent over 20 years in shipping, and other business. He is dealing with the kind of business realities government needs to understand if we truly want Abia to produce more, trade more and create more opportunities.
A builder will also look at what we already have and ask why some things stop working after commissioning. Roads need maintenance. Water projects need to keep running. Streetlights need to remain on. Schools and hospitals need attention even when there is no camera around. Government should not only know how to commission projects. It should know how to make them last.
Then there is public money. How much comes into Abia? Where does it go? How much does each project cost? Who got the contract? What exactly did Abia people get in return? These are not questions for opposition alone. They are questions every citizen should be free to ask. Opah has also spoken about making government contracts and their costs more open to the public. That kind of thinking matters.
Beyond posters, structures and political noise, what are we actually building? Because after four years, people will not eat speeches. They will live with the jobs created, businesses supported, food produced, services that work and projects that are still standing.
That is the Abia I want to see. An Abia where government is measured by what is working, what is growing and what is changing in the lives of ordinary people. And if we are looking for a builder, then Chief Eric Opah remains the best choice for 2027.
Vote Chief Eric Opah, let’s Build Abia of our dream. One we can be proud of.
