Being the Text of an Address Presented by Governor Alex C. Otti, OFR, at the formal launch of the EU-Funded Supporting Sustainable Social Protection System in Nigeria (SUSI) Project in Abia State on Wednesday, September 24, 2025 at the Banquet Hall, Government House, Umuahia
Protocols
1. Human beings are created to live in dignity, pursue their life-tasks with vigour and become all they can be. We have been called to a great destiny but for years, mankind has lived under the perennial assault of poverty and varying expressions of social and economic vulnerabilities. Poverty has done more to blight the human experience across generations than the combined effects of several other social evils. Our specie becomes miserable when exposed to the brute force of man and nature and in the desperation that ensues, the human ingenuity takes a backseat as a fierce struggle for survival follows. Poverty and the agony that arises from social and economic vulnerabilities present what is arguably the greatest threat to the attainment of our highest ideals as members of the human community.
2. Wide-ranging individual and institutional efforts have been made over the last 50 years to address the challenge of social vulnerabilities and the ills they engender in different parts of the world with varying success. In the several Western societies and across Asia, multiple policy instruments have been deployed to improve the experience of the human community within the period. The result, by most accounts, has been fair. On the other hand, not much has changed for hundreds of millions of individuals and households in Africa, even as budgetary provisions and donor support continue to rise. It is beyond dispute that we are seeing more and more people fall below the poverty line and into social and economic misery every now and again. Unfortunately, these setbacks are hardly the fault of the victims, who are mostly young people, women and persons living with physical disabilities.
3. On account of the rising menace of poverty and material destitution in this part of the world and the mixed results of past efforts, I am specially delighted with the tone and character of today’s event which would see the launchin
highest ideals as members of the human community.
2. Wide-ranging individual and institutional efforts have been made over the last 50 years to address the challenge of social vulnerabilities and the ills they engender in different parts of the world with varying success. In the several Western societies and across Asia, multiple policy instruments have been deployed to improve the experience of the human community within the period. The result, by most accounts, has been fair. On the other hand, not much has changed for hundreds of millions of individuals and households in Africa, even as budgetary provisions and donor support continue to rise. It is beyond dispute that we are seeing more and more people fall below the poverty line and into social and economic misery every now and again. Unfortunately, these setbacks are hardly the fault of the victims, who are mostly young people, women and persons living with physical disabilities.
3. On account of the rising menace of poverty and material destitution in this part of the world and the mixed results of past efforts, I am specially delighted with the tone and character of today’s event which would see the launching of the EU-funded Supporting Sustainable Social Protection System in Nigeria (SUSI) Project in the State as well as the formal inauguration of the Abia State Social Protection Council. It is gratifying to see that we are now focusing on strengthening institutions and building resilient systems to drive social protection programmes in this part of the world. May I use this auspicious occasion to express the collective gratitude of the Government and people of Abia State to the European Union (EU) for its committed support to the social and economic development of the State and other parts of Nigeria. EU’s interventions in health, education, environment, energy and large-scale support for vulnerable populations have greatly improved the social and economic experiences of tens of thousands of individuals and families.
4. I want to thank in a very special way, the EU Ambassador to Nigeria and ECOWAS, His Excellency, Mr Gautier Mignot, and his predecessors for believing in the boundless prospect that this country holds, even amidst its current struggles. I also would like to appreciate the Ambassador and his team for their generous interest in the development and prosperity of our State as expressed through the priority attention they customarily give to matters of importance to Abia. I want to graciously thank Your Excellency for the choice of Abia as one of the pilot states for the SUSI Project. We count this thoughtful consideration as another proof of your goodwill to the people of Abia whose gratitude we may not be able to fully convey here. You can, however, take it for granted that we shall never forget this and other opportunities the EU have generously availed us.
5. I would also like to heartily welcome the leadership and representatives of the International Labour Organisation (ILO) and the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) to this landmark event. Your presence has not only given an important sheen to a colourful ceremony, it has sent an unambiguous message to the world that Abia is seriously committed to partnering with multilateral development institutions to achieve aspirations that protect and restore the dignity of the human person. I am also glad that the ILO and UNICEF will be partnering with the State Government towards the successful delivery of the SUSI Project. Your partnership will certainly boost stakeholders’ confidence in the Project and offer our people the platform to learn and grow their capacities by interacting and working closely with your respective teams. This collaboration, I envisage, would provide immense benefits to the State beyond just developing the structural and institutional capacity for social protection, and we look forward to the great things that would happen over the 36 months lifecycle of the project.
6. As we step into a new chapter in the continuing war against social vulnerabilities and material destitution, it would be good to share the philosophical underpinning of our governance template in the effort to improve the living conditions of our populace. One, we do not treat poverty and social deprivation as isolated events; it is the combination of several factors, many of which are beyond the control and remediation of the average person. These include the difficulties that arise from adverse economic developments nationally or globally such as spiralling inflation and similar events that deplete the purchasing power of the common man, unprecedented public health crises like the COVID-19 pandemic and of course, the failure of critical institutions as we saw during the subprime crisis of 2008. Other drivers of poverty and material destitution arise from the challenge of poor public policy choices, government-wide corruption, incompetence and political sabotage from within, as we find in several developing economies. Lastly, certain life circumstances and inevitable realities of our existence would occasionally place individuals, old and young, in very difficult conditions where they would require certain level of social support to live decently.
7. Building an effective system of social protection as we now seek to do would require a thorough understanding of the drivers of the conditions we seek to ameliorate, holistically addressing the identified challenges and instituting a system of accountability that keeps stakeholders vigilant and proactive. For us as a State, we are particular about data for that is the only guide to effective policy making. We are also mindful of the peculiar needs of each demographic as that helps in curating a structured support system using existing institutional mechanisms. The institutional approach to problem solving explains why we set up well-structured platforms like the State Ministry of Poverty Alleviation and Social Protection, Abia State Commission for the Welfare of Disabled Persons, and Abia State Senior Citizens’ Centre to drive our social protection programmes. Beyond setting up institutional structures through executive and legislative frameworks to cater for the welfare of the socially and economically vulnerable groups, we were also painstaking in the recruitment of personnel to lead these bodies. I am sure that before now, many of those running the aforementioned agencies are well-known to our friends from the EU, ILO and UNICEF. The choice of the leadership teams in the MDAs involved in social protection programmes points to how seriously we take these matters as a government. The target is to build a state where the basic welfare of every individual is catered for, no matter their life-circumstances.
8. Beyond what we are doing to support the vulnerable population directly, we are also attentive to initiatives and programmes that enhance the wellbeing of everyone functioning within the boundaries of Abia. Our free and compulsory basic education policy, the health insurance programme that caters for the elderly population as well as our extensive investments in public infrastructure are all engineered to free up resources and open the doors to lifelong fulfilment for everyone. We have also raised the bar through our cooperative support scheme which funds nano and micro-businesses in all parts of the State, especially those in agriculture. Across the State, multiple intervention programmes are happening in communities facing threats of public health emergencies, gully erosions and other environmental or social hazards. These intervention programmes in the form of cash transfers, medical provisions and food supplies are set up to alleviate the suffering of individuals and families.
9. Beyond what we are doing at the moment, we are also creating robust systems to insulate those coming after us from the storms of an unpredictable world. We appreciate that by preparing our young ones to take advantage of the opportunities of the new world, there will be fewer persons needing social support in the future and in this regard, we have taken the bull by the horn. By the end of August 2025, more than 5,000 young men and women in rural and urban communities have successfully participated in one or a few of our multiple capacity development and empowerment programmes in ICT, fashion and creative craft, sports and similar initiatives that unleash and hone the creative genius of the young people. The vision is to empower the next generation to solve problems, create wealth and become excellent embodiments of the highest ideals of the human experience. Education is at the heart of everything we do and for that reason, our highest budgetary allocation in the last 2 years has gone to the education sector. This approach is central to the modest improvements that have been recorded in the sector including the recruitment of over 5, 000 new teachers for our primary and secondary schools, infrastructure upgrade in our institutions of learning including all the tertiary institutions owned by the State, and improved welfare packages for our teaching staff.
10. The introduction of the EU-funded SUSI initiative would greatly enhance our capacity to build on the gains that have been made on the social protection front in the last 28 months. I am particularly glad that the programme is designed to function in ways that expand our reach by bringing more people into the social safety net. The State, I am happy to announce, is prepared to offer every required support to make this programme successful. May I quickly inform the project team that they are always welcome to discuss any concerns with me as quickly and as often as possible.
11. Let me, as I conclude, congratulate the Honourable Commissioner for Poverty Alleviation and Social protection, Mrs Ngozi Blessing Felix, and members of the planning committee for the excellent job they have done in putting this event together. I would also like to appreciate our team for the technical competence they have demonstrated in the management of the social protection initiatives. The ministry and the departments and agencies under it have shown a balanced understanding of our policy direction and I am quite satisfied with their output. I am also optimistic that the recently inaugurated Social Protection Council will further broaden the scope and reach of our efforts to cater for vulnerable groups across communities within the State. Even then, as I have said on few occasions, nothing is so good that it cannot be improved upon. We are all encouraged to keep our eyes on the ball at all times, refuse the temptation to be distracted and constantly remind ourselves that we are not working for ourselves but for the men and women who have trusted us with the privilege of leadership.
12. When making decisions, we must think, not of ourselves but of that poor widow who in her poverty, refused to sell her vote, the young man who stood up to the bullies at the polling station because he believed in this project wholeheartedly, and the septuagenarian who, not minding the limitations of advanced age, came out to cast their ballot, sat back and insisted that votes must be counted, recorded and announced in line with the relevant provisions of the law. We are encouraged to think of our children and the world we want to bequeath to them. Individually and collectively, we are called to remember that every decision counts, that we do not own anything but are merely custodians who would one day be required to look back, either in regret or fulfilment. In the light of what we have seen over the past 28 months, I have no doubt that if we stay the course, future generations will thank us for the sacrifices and nothing can be more fulfilling. Again, I say to you, stay the course.
13. Thank you for listening and may God bless Abia State.
Dr Alex C. Otti, OFR,