(continue from part 1 & part 2)
And so, unlike in the beginning of the 4th Republic (1999 to 2023) when the Old Order was in Vogue, when Abia politics and economy went weird, and when the state was in state of comatose, when citizens and residents remained dejected; the scenario for now in this God’s Own State does not show that Dr Alex Chioma Otti, would have this Crown removed from his head until 2031. He stands as the Rock of Kilimanjaro for now.
The metamorphosis in Abia right now is legendary. It shows the quality of the man in power. The direction of the ‘New Abia’ he leads; and explains the quick level of renaissance so far. Good governance has taken precedence over rot, pollution, malady, communicable and fast spreading health threat etc and Abia and its citizens and residents are better for it.
Now on Environment:
Before Alex Otti’s arrival, Abia was at the precepts of an outbreak of an epidemic. Huge, mountainous, hilly, rocky wastes and debris literarily roared forward as the previous governments staged their dance of honey in the moon. The immediate past governor, Dr Okezie Ikeazu lived in his dreamland. He lived in Aba, the same city that was conquered by refuse. He looked the other way.
The cities of Abia, particularly Umuahia, Aba, were smelly, flies-infested and disease-prone, dirty etc. Mosque by Ngwa Road, Opobo Junction axis of Ogbor Hill, Cemetery Market, Ngwa Road Market, Ariaria Market, Ubani Market etc had Kilimanjaro heaps of wastes in them.
The resultant effects of all these were the regrettable drop in value of properties. The big environmental pollution created a condition where real estate in the cities plummeted, tourism suffered huge set back while businessmen and women suffered substantial revenue loss. The ruins and decay on ground were glaring. Wastes, refuse, debris littered everywhere. The repugnant odor from the nastiness was destructive. Otti took the bull by the horn.
Public health institutions recorded large number of patients which they couldn’t manage because of poor facilities and lack of drugs. It was all that bad! Abia was the censure of eyes in the wrong direction. It was shunned, it was dreaded, it was avoided like a leprous, it was given a kick at the rear. The uncollected wastes provided a breeding ground for vectors such as mosquitoes, rats, flies etc leading to spikes like cholera, yellow fever, malaria, respiratory illnesses, waterborne diseases.
Then, Dr Alex Otti came into the ring on May 29, 2023. He chose practical and pragmatic approach that was result oriented. He swiftly declared a state of Emergency on Wastes Management and Environmental Sanitation. Like a jolt from the blues, Abia, a pariah state before his arrival, came back to life; became a darling. The landscape changed. Waste/refuse/debris were separated from the residents. Earthmoving equipment were deployed to clear the mountainous wastes that blocked some streets in Aba and Umuahia. Several sanitary workers that helped to evacuate tons of heaps of refuse in the cities began work.
The army of sanitation workers desilted, scooped and evacuated the debris/wastes that were dumped inside the drainages. To make the work easier, the Abia State Environmental Protection Agency (ASEPA) was equipped to take up the task of keeping the cities clean and tidy. Interestingly, its metamorphoses made it a service oriented agency. Standing on a vantage pedestal, ASEPA under Otti’s administration implemented many initiatives aimed at clearing the state of wastes and debris.
Otti introduced the concept of evacuating wastes with tricycles pickups, under a programme known as ‘door-to-door’ collection and evacuation services. He also brought back the long abandoned refuse disposal bags that made it easier for collectors to pick the debris at the doorsteps of the depositor.
Having seen what he was doing was good and was providing the right result; Otti went back to his cocoon, tinkered out other people oriented programmes; he quickly added 13 more local government areas to join Umuahia and Aba as beneficiaries of the ASEPA evacuation initiative.
And now, many towns and villages in Abia look serene and cherubic than some parts of Europe. He straightened the monthly environmental sanitation exercise and made participation by citizens and residents sacrosanct.
Indeed, it was like an ‘an Alice in the wonderland’. Within weeks, the mountains of refuse gave way to some flashes refuse doted here and there. And as weeks evolved into months, Otti’s magic wand in environmental cleanliness came to physical manifestation. The task force he set up to ‘kill’ wastes led by its henchman, Ogbonnia Okereke aggressively tackled the challenge and in no distance time, the mountainous heaps of wastes/refuse disappeared.
Otti was seen in the streets assessing, supervising; making sure that his approvals for the battle against environmental degradation were being applied to the later. He personally supervised the evacuation operations in the tick of the rains, at times taking over the steering wheels of heavy duty bulldozer machines and tractors to boost morals. Critics accused him of grandstanding, Otti ignored. Cynics said the refuse fight wouldn’t last long, Otti sneered.
Opponents teased him of directing the fight against the poor and vulnerable who were displaced from doing business on top of drainages and in the streets, Otti remained reticent. He continued to roll out the heavy duty machines, sanitary buckets, compactors, receptacles bins the more despite the harsh criticisms.
And at the end, Otti won the battle, Abia rather than gallivanting with the toga of being the dirtiest state in the federation became the cleanest state. The battle soon steered Abia from a state where wastes offer diseases, pollution, despondency and death to a state where waste is bringing in wealth and life.
Otti invited ‘Waste-to-Wealth’ and ‘Waste-to-Energy’ firms to partner with his government under the Public Private Partnership (PPP) arrangement. The companies came in droves; agreements signed and sealed, the process began and currently light is shooting out from the tunnel.
Otti, reintroduced Sanitary Inspectors last heard about during the reign of late Dr Michael Okpara government of defunct Eastern Nigeria. Known as ‘Nwa ole ala’, their assignments are to conduct house-to- house checks across the 17 local government areas and enforce environmental health regulations, promote hygiene and prevent disease outbreak in the rural areas and in the urban areas.
Otti fought gully erosion. The gullies that menacingly drove residents out of Ovom Streets, Aba, Ozuzu Agbama and Umunwanwa in Umuahia South as well as in Amogwu, Isuikwuato and Nigeria Correctional centre, Umuahia etc were all defeated. And the residents were thankful because their properties were saved, streets back to normalcy. He channeled the current of water that creates the gullies to where it should be, the rivers. Today, houses and streets of these areas are beautifully laid.
…and this is the man the new entrants in the Abia governorship contest want to oust in 2027?
To be continued!
Uche Nwosu is an Umuahia, Abia State, based Journalist.
A Shell BP Double Award Winner On Environmental Pollution & On Investigative Journalism – Year 2000
