INDEED, even after obtaining the Council’s approval, the Governor in some cases was able to prevail on some contractors to further reduce the cost of projects before the contract documents were signed.

On the particular case of the Hotel and Convention Centre project at Onitsha, I will demonstrate that Mr. Offodile again failed to verify the story he heard regarding the project.

The contract was awarded to Constain (WA) Plc for the sum of N5,599,625,670.12. At the time the contract award was approved, the State Executive Council directed that the project be scaled down by removing one floor in the hotel and reducing sitting capacity of the convention centre from 800 to 700 so as to further reduce the cost of the project.

After the project had been downsized as directed by Council, Constain (WA) Plc for inexplicable reason and contrary to government expectation submitted a fresh bid of N8,063,282,213.87 as its new cost for the project. The company was invited to a meeting at which it insisted that its final tender figure for the project was N8 billion. This, of course, amounted to a fresh offer which government rejected.

Following the above development, the tender process for the project was started afresh and this time, the project was phased, starting with the hotel and external works only. Four companies tendered, namely: Interkel Nigeria Limited, Brunnel Limited, Akiota, Works Limited and Formwork Limited.

At the end of the tender process, the contract for the hotel and external works was awarded to Akiota Works Limited at the contract sum of N1,980,000,000 and work is presently progressing satisfactorily. Mr. Offodile asserted that due to lack of due process, serious companies avoid working in Anambra State, but nothing can be further from the truth than that.

To mention just a few, R.C.C. Ltd, CCC Ltd, Nigercat Ltd which are very reputable companies are engaged in various projects in Anambra State today.

Akiota Works Ltd now doing the Hotel project is a first class indigenous company that has done and is still doing several projects for the Federal Government and its agencies.

Some of these projects include the Federal Ministry of Works, Mabuchi, Abuja, for N360 million; Nnamdi Azikiwe University Library, Awka for N1 billion; Centre for Environmental Studies at University of Nigeria Nsukka, sponsored by Shell Company Ltd for N350 million; Flood and Erosion control at Itigidi, Cross River State, by Ecological Fund Office, Abuja; New Administrative Block at University of Nigeria, Enugu Campus for N700 million; Centre of Excellence sponsored by Central Bank of Nigeria at University of Nigeria, Enugu Campus, for N6.5 billion; ICT Centre at University of Nigeria, Nsukka for N540 million. I wonder what else a company needs to do to qualify as serious, by Mr. Offodile’s standard.

Finally regarding the structure plans for Awka, Onitsha and Nnewi produced with the technical support of UN-HABITAT, it is clear that Mr. Offodile never made any effort to read the documents despite the fact that they have been available for sale to the public for over two years.

Let me first correct Mr. Offodile’s erroneous assertion that UN-HABITAT produced base maps for the three cities of Awka, Onitsha and Nnewi. What the international agency helped us to produce were structure plans and not base maps.

Secondly, if Mr. Offodile had read the structure plans, he would have realised that these plans are policy documents containing proposals for the holistic development of those cities and programmed to be implemented over a period of 28 years. Not having read the structure plans, it does not surprise me that Mr. Offodile failed to appreciate that the Government of Anambra State had since commenced with the implementation of the plan.

Let me demonstrate my point with the following illustrations: The Structure Plan for Awka prescribes the removal of Awka Industrial Layout from Awka as heavy industries should not be located in the heart of the state capital. In compliance with this prescription, government de-zoned the industrial layout into a residential/commercial layout now named Greenwood City, Awka.

The new Government House, new Legislative Complex and the new Judiciary Headquarters are all provided for in the master plan for Greenwood City. Ironically, while complaining that nothing is being done regarding the structure plans, Mr. Offodile is at the same time asking the Governor not to proceed with the building of these projects.

Again at Onitsha, the structure plan makes provision for the slum upgrading of Onitsha. The State Government had since engaged a consultant who has completed the generation of adequate current and reliable baseline survey of the socio-economic characteristics of Okpoko slum residents and submitted the report in two volumes. Proposals have also been received for the development of an implementable and sustainable action plan for the slum area. This is being processed.

These are just a few illustrations. I have written this piece in order to put in proper perspective a few of the numerous misleading and unfounded statements contained in Mr. Offodile’s write-up.

Mr. PETER AFUBA is a former Commissioner for Lands, Survey and Town Planning in Anambra State.