Emmanuel Ifeanyi 
…assures that Otti has come to rebuild, not to destroy
The Government of Abia State under the leadership of Governor Alex Otti has said that its plans to recover and transform Aba, the commercial hub of the state into a modern city will not be an irrational exercise, but will be done with due process.
New Telegraph reports that the Five Local Governments Town Planning Authorities, which make up the larger Aba City; comprising Aba North, Aba South, Obingwa, Osisioma and Ugwunagbo, intensified their exercise in the move to ensure that due process is followed in existing and future developmental exercises in Aba.
The Town Planners moved around the city and visited problematic sites, including but not limited to the All Saints Secondary School, Ehere, Ogbor-Hill Aba, the defective buildings at the Ekeoha Market (Shopping Centre) and unapproved shops at Samek Market near Ariaria International Market.
In a keen observation, the New Telegraph reports that multiple residential buildings are currently standing at the premises of the All Saints Secondary School, while other ongoing private homes are seriously been constructed inside the school premises.
Addressing newsmen after the exercise, the Senior Special Assistant to Governor Alex Otti on Aba Rejuvenation, Mr Uche Ukeje said that the Governor in keeping with his promise of restoring the glory of Aba, has decided that the era of doing things outside what was originally meant to be are over.
Ukeje said that some years back, the government of Abia State decided to borrow a leaf from what happened in a neighbouring state to hand over schools to missionaries or those it referred to as the original owners, but in the process, did things inappropriately and did not complete that process of handover.
“The Government of Peter Obi handed schools over to the missionaries because the Government lacked the capacity to fund education then and they’ve all become sound citadels of learning.
“The then Government of Abia State decided to follow suit with that and handed some schools over to those they referred to as the original owners of the schools.
“When the Government of Okezie Ikpeazu came in, leaning on previous experience, continued with it, but there was a problem. Instead of handing over the schools to established institutions, and established churches that have both the capacity and the Goodwill and the experience to manage the schools, they handed them over to their friends.
“On the other hand, some of these schools were handed over to the people that never really owned them. The process of handover based on some understanding that those people were supposed to run the schools better, shows that they were issued with provisional certificates of handover.
“The final certificate was not issued to them. They were supposed to run it for one year which the Ministry of Education will come in, look at how they are running those schools and now recommend to the Government to issue the final certificate of handover.
“However, those people did not go in there to run schools. They went in there and started selling land. The final certificate of handover was never issued as the process was never concluded.”
Ukeje said that with the situation at hand, the government cannot just go into the affected schools and do anything until it gets recommendation from the Ministry of Education, which is the appropriate authority that should know more about schools.
“So now, the Government is going to be led by due process and what the law that set up those processes say and what the condition of handover says. The government is not going to act irrationally outside the due process.
“So the ministry of education that the law recognises is supposed to show how these schools have been performing, they’ll turn in their recommendations and the Government will now act on the recommendations. What you saw during your visit was housing estate springing up in place of school.”
Speaking on defective buildings at the Ekeoha Market, Ukeje said that what the Government has started in the market is solely on the health and safety of everybody doing business there.
He said that when engineering options were exhausted on the suitability of some defective structures that cannot continue to serve the purpose for which they were designed, it became clear that for safety and health purposes, removal of the buildings that can no longer serve the purpose by which they were designed is the best.
“So the process that began today is the Government’s way of removing those defective structures. When they’re removed Government will now know how to treat issues around the market going forward.
“Aba is a commercial city and a very important city to this Government. Every decision taken will be for good. We’ll not destroy anything we’d rather build. People must be safe. We don’t want market structures to collapse and kill our people so what we’re doing now is based on safety and health.
“Recall that recently, a defective building was brought down in Umuahia, it is in line with the policy of this Government to protect our people. What we’re doing does not include rebuilding or determining who will build. We’re not there yet. We’re after safety. The Governor will direct on the way forward.”
Ukeje while answering questions from newsmen on why there are no plans given to developers in suburbs springing up around Aba lamented that for the past 24 years, no government in Abia has been able to update the master plan of the city.
He said that the right thing is for the Government to plan before people start developing, but due to failure in government and lack of political will, the move that would have ensured that development is controlled in the right direction was never made.
“What has happened is that we now have urban slums, as the city has grown without control. People do whatever they like and the authorities are not empowered to enforce the rules.
“Residential houses have been turned into warehouses. Residential flats have been turned into offices and it has become a problem. However, that was why the Governor was elected because he has the goodwill, experience, exposure and network to change it.
“What’s ongoing now is that we’re both communicating and enforcing at the same time. Based on that, a new master plan, an updated master plan will be issued to Aba and based on that master plan, those areas where authorized development can happen will be opened up to the people, infrastructure will be put in place and that kind of urban slum we see today will not be tolerated in the city.”
Ukeje however said that it is the responsibility of the present government to align what has already been developed to a structured form, where infrastructure, roads, and water can be extended to those areas without necessarily destroying the entire environment.
