Otti Charges Abia Youths On Excellence, Innovation As Leadership Academy Graduates 1,086

Abia State Governor, Dr. Alex Otti, has charged young Abians to embrace excellence, innovation, hardwork and selfless service as drivers of the New Abia project.

Governor Otti gave the charge on Saturday during the graduation of 1,086 youths from the 2026 Abia State Leadership Academy Youth Leadership Boot Camp held at the International Conference Centre, Umuahia.

The four-week boot camp was organised by the Abia State Leadership Academy in collaboration with the Enterprise Development Centre of Pan-Atlantic University, Lagos.

Congratulating the graduates, Otti said they were no longer ordinary citizens but members of a special community with responsibility to carry the light of excellence to their schools and communities.

“You are not going home as regular people anymore. You now belong to a special community of young minds with a responsibility to act with distinction,” the Governor said.

He commended the transparent selection process that produced the 1,086 graduates from over 7,000 applicants and lauded the Academy President, Prof. Kenneth Kalu, and the EDC team led by Dr. Nneka Okekaru for delivering a world-class programme.

Otti noted that about 10 percent of participants were Abia indigenes living outside the state, including outstanding graduate Ms. Rosely Farida Abdusalam, saying it proves his administration’s policy that “if you live in Abia, you are from Abia” is working.

The Governor urged the graduates to form mentoring clusters, share knowledge acquired and translate their capstone ideas into practical solutions, assuring them of government support.

He directed the Academy to maintain a directory of the graduates and track their progress, describing them as bearers of solutions and agents of transformation.

Earlier, Chairman of the Abia State Civil Service Commission, Pastor Dr. Eno Jerry Eze, said the 2026 theme, “Raising Transformational Leaders, Innovators and Change-Makers,” reflects government’s investment in its greatest asset — youths.

Academy President, Prof. Kalu, thanked Governor Otti for investing in the minds and character of young people, noting that a generation shaped by values would outlast any physical structure.

“Thank you for planting a forest of leadership whose shade will shelter Abia for generations,” he said.

The event featured goodwill messages from the Chief of Staff to the Governor, Pastor Caleb Ajagba, President of the Nigerian Council of Registered Insurance Brokers, Mrs. Ekeoma Ezeibe, among others.