The Southeast region is grappling with a growing number of abandoned mega projects, leaving billions of naira wasted and deepening concerns among residents and stakeholders.
The lack of progress is being attributed to the short-sighted and self-serving motives of politicians who initiate these projects without proper execution.
According to the guardian.ng, they regret that several projects that should have boosted the economy of the region, or radically improved the lives of their constituents have been abandoned by successive governments, despite being conceived years ago. More heart-wrenching is the fact that tonnes of taxpayers’ money that should have been used for other life-changing initiatives have either been frittered away, or siphoned through these poorly conceptualised, or politically-motivated projects.
How do members of the political class abandon Primary Health Care (PHC) projects for years after spending millions of naira on them, especially knowing their importance to the electorate, including women and children?
How do they come up with otherwise lofty water projects that should have a direct impact on the well-being of the governed, only to leave them midway after millions, and in some cases, billions of naira had been paid out to contractors?
Just how do they initiate projects that are not need-driven simply because they want to use them as conduits to siphon scarce resources?
As a legion of questions continue to pop up regarding project abandonment by the political class, nothing mirrors this bizarre practice like the step taken by the first civilian governor of Ebonyi State, Dr Sam Omiyi Egwu, who 21 years ago, had a tall dream, which culminated in the birth of the tallest building in the state – a 10-storey building, that was to serve as the World Trade Centre (WTC).
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At an elaborate ceremony at the behest of the state government, the governor, in unfurling his vision, regaled his audience that the initiative would be a one-stop centre, where various economic activities would be consummated, just as it would offer various world-class services, boost commerce, trade, investment, as well as promote tours.
Of course, Egwu an educationist, could not get the project to work before exiting office in 2007, despite raising the building to the tenth floor and getting it roofed.
Over 17 years after Egwu left office, two decades after it was initiated, and in sharp contrast with such projects in other parts of the world, the imposing edifice which has gulped billions of taxpayers’ money remains a monument of shame.
Rather than offer one of the most luxurious destinations for global commerce, luxury living, and premium entertainment, the one in Ebonyi State lies in ruins, a typical white elephant project and an embarrassment to visitors to the state. Till today, enough has not been said about how a functional WTC would have added value to the lives of indigenes of the state directly and indirectly.
“Desirous” of improving the health of the residents of Imo State, former governor, Rochas Okorocha in 2017, set sail on a mission to enhance their access to quality healthcare services.
He consequently awarded contracts for the construction of 27 general hospitals in all 27 local councils across the state at the cost of N1 billion naira each. Although some of the buildings were completed and roofed, the administration, which executed the jobs through direct labour failed to provide facilities that would make the place fit for purpose. The Senator Hope Uzodimma-led administration that succeeded Okorocha has done nothing to get the facilities operational.
Now, some of them are simply empty shells having been vandalised by criminal elements while some others are providing cover for all manner of criminals in the state.
Moved by what it described as the “need to improve efficiency and provide a conducive work environment for workers,” the administration of Governor Sullivan Chime, in 2012, began the construction of a N13.6 billion secretariat complex for workers.
The secretariat complex, which covers 6.7 hectares of land, also became necessary since structures at the old site were dilapidated with old and leaky roofs, poor conveniences, and accommodation spaces. To date, that project is still partly uncompleted.
The brief narrative above paints a picture of what is replicated across the length and breadth of the South East where thousands of multi-million naira worth of poorly conceptualised, or politically motivated projects tie down scarce resources or are used to siphon money from states’ coffers.
A visit to some of these projects that litter the region confirmed that some of them constitute an albatross on present governments, in addition to being an economic waste, as present officeholders have no plans for most of them.
The ones located in city centres have not only taken over scarce land spaces that could have been used for other meaningful ventures, they have also become eyesores and derelict.
For years, people of the South-East have been agitating to sever links with the rest of the country while adopting both orthodox and unorthodox modus operandi. One of the major reasons that many have lost faith in democracy, and its ability to positively affect the well-being of Nigerians is the mounting number of projects abandoned by previous and present governments and political officeholders.
Until a deep dive is done, the sheer magnitude of the menace may not be fathomed. This perhaps explained why the Nigerian Institute of Quality Surveyors (NIQS), only recently, stated that no fewer than 15,000 government projects have been abandoned in the South-East. These government-initiated projects targeted at public good could have turned the bleeding economy of the region around and improved its aesthetics if they had been completed and made functional.
By LAWRENCE NJOKU, CHARLES OGUGBUAJA, UZOMA NZEAGWU, GORDI UDEAJA, and NNAMDI AKPA
