BY ANAYO OKOLI

2012 could best be described as the year the foundation for the development of Abia State was laid. Created 21 years ago, the state lacked virtually all needed infrastructures that drive development. Even the present Government House is still on temporary ground, there is no befitting secretariat for the civil servants.

This accounts for why ministries and parastatals are scattered in Umuahia, the state capital, with some located in noisy environments not conducive for concentration to do proper planning and executing development initiatives. Indeed, Umuahia has remained until now a glorified town.

Indeed, the little development Abia has witnessed since creation gave Governor Theodore Orji serious concern upon his re-election hence his desire to effect a serious change. And today, the situation is changing.

Governor Orji is laying a foundation for the development of a viable Abia State. He has embarked on a mission to re-write the socio-economic history of the state.

Conducive work house
To engender efficient service delivery, the governor has started building a multi-million Naira secretariat. That edifice is almost completed and it is hoped that it will be commissioned early this year.

The need for a befitting secretariat for the workers in the state cannot be over emphasized. It is unarguable that with good and conducive office environment, the workers would put in their best thereby contributing effectively towards the development of the state.

Gov Orji

International conference centre
Besides the secretariat and the new government house, Orji’s government has also commenced the building of an international conference centre which is also nearing completion. The centre which will also serve as a tourist centre is expected to attract not only Nigerians from other parts of the country but also foreigners.

Rebuilding Umuahia
Also, Orji recently laid the foundation stone for a new multi-million Naira Government House at Ogube Layout, where modern Umuahia as a capital city is being relocated. According to him, work would commence this month after the State House of Assembly would have passed a law authorizing the relocation.

What is today the Government House of Abia State was said to be a guest house which was expanded and since then no administration had taken it as a priority to build one, yet the state needs it. These are infrastructures that are actually germane to proper foundation for development of a state.

Orji had once said that he values building roads to open up the state but that he values much more, building structures like the new government house, the secretariat and the international conference centre which will forever remain a symbol for the state. And in any case, he has done and is doing a number of roads particularly in Umuahia and Aba, and other parts of the state.

In the health sector, the Government in line with the Millennium Development Goals [MDGs] has built over 200 health centres across the 17 Local Government Councils of the state. Most of the health centres, which are mainly located in the rural areas, have been equipped and health personnel have been posted to those already equipped.

It’s not Uhuru
However, in spite these steps and actions, it is not yet Uhuru for the state in terms of development and the governor knows this much but in all fairness he is successfully laying the genuine foundation for a new Abia.

Aba, the forgotten Enyimba City
For Aba, the commercial city, the story was worse. The governor knows that he has a lot of work to do in Aba. He knows that if Aba works Abia automatically works. With this in mind he has begun to tackle Aba problems, beginning with roads and opening up the blocked drainage which in the main is one of the biggest problems of the commercial city.

Besides the decayed infrastructures, business activities were on the lowest level due largely to insecurity. The city was virtually taken over by criminal elements, especially kidnappers who almost over ran the state, forcing some residents to flee the city. Some relocated to other states. In fact, everybody lived in fear because of the security situation.

For sometime, the state was a no-go area security wise. Kidnappers and other criminal elements almost over ran the state, especially Aba. Indeed, Aba, the commercial city was virtually under their control. Residents fled, visitors shunned the city, business in the city crumbled. Nothing was working there. Literally, there was no life in Aba, the great Enyimba city. Abia state as whole was about turning to a pariah state as people, indigenes and visitors alike, avoided coming home or visiting. The situation was that bad.

Governor Orji was worried. Abia people, particularly Aba people were more worried. Visitors, especially those who do business in the state became confused. The situation seemed insurmountable. Governor Orji took various measures. Ultimately, Abia Government in collaboration with the Federal Government invited the Major General Audu [then a Brigadier General] led troops to the state to flush out the hoodlums.

Since then, Abia has been witnessing high level security with the governor procurring scores of vehicles for the security agencies in the state. And from every indication, it is clear that the investment the Governor made in the provision of security has started paying off. Besides the investors that have come to invest in the state, the people of the state are enjoying good security, as they now go about their business and sleep peacefully at night.

Among the prominent projects that are on-going include the reconstruction of 16 roads in the commercial city and the proper channeling of erosion. Also to restore sanity to the commercial city, the government has built a central motor park at Osisioma, along the Port Harcourt-Enugu Express road. The construction of the central motor park would decongest the city which has numerous chaotic motor parks scattered all over the town with the attendant nuisance.