Okechukwu Ndukwe is the general manager of Abia State Estate Development Agency (ABSEDA) who took over the mantle of leadership six months ago. In this interview with UDOKA AGWU in Umuahia, Ndukwe reels out his achievements within this period, constraints and assessment of Governor Okezie Ikpeazu’s performance in the last three years, among other issues. Excerpts:
Since you assumed office as the General Manager six months ago, how has it been?
You know that we are in a rented accommodation. We are rounding off the permanent office complex of the Agency which has been lying waste many years ago before I came on board. We will be parking into the permanent office by August this year. That is in few months from now. We are maintaining our existing estates like World Bank in Aba.
We are now embarking on the infrastructural development in Amakama Housing Estate and Agbama Estate, all in Umuahia by grading internal roads while other housing estates of the Agency equally benefit from the gesture. Work is in top gear in our newly acquired sites at Amuzukwu, Ojukwu Bunker, Umuchieze, Ossah where the sites are now being portioned into plots by our team of surveyors. The plots would be allocated to intending beneficiaries in the next few weeks.
We have also prioritised staff welfare. Before I came on board on November last year, workers were being owed 18 months’ salary arrears. Since I assumed office six months ago, I have been able to clear 10 months remaining 5 months while arrangement is on to clear the remaining months. We have conducted the 2015/2016 promotion interview and implemented it. We are currently conducting the 2017 promotion interview.
What steps have you taken to shore up the internally generated revenue of you agency?
We have intensified efforts towards improving the IGR of this Agency. Our staff go all out to implement collection of fees in our Estates where beneficiaries pay development fees annually which are in different categories; Bungalow- N10,000; duplex- N15,000, while high rise buildings attract N20,000.
What are some of the challenges you have faced (or facing) since assumption of office?
Fund is our major challenge. We work extra hard to make ends meet. Apart from that we are equally confronted with enormous allocation papers issued by past administrations without corresponding plots to allocate to them. But we are currently retrieving and accommodating by showing them corresponding plots.
Again, most of our host communities occasionally come up with one protest or the other asking for what is necessary or important to their communities. But we normally use diplomacy to settle such cases.
What is your assessment of Okezie Ikpeazu since three years he assumed office as the governor of Abia State?
First of all, he is the person funding our Agency. We are grateful to him for his good works. Governor Ikpeazu has done very well in all the sectors of Abia economy. You can now hear people talk about Made-In-Aba products unlike before Ikpeazu made this feat possible by promoting the products that NYSC, ARMY, NAVY AIRFORCE and other para-military agencies now place orders for the products.
It was in recognition of this that last year in the BusinessDay Media Limited in its States Competitiveness and Good Governance that Governor Ikpeazu emerged as winner of the Best State Promoting Made-in-Nigeria Goods Award category. In fact, he has laid a very solid foundation in Abia State.
In terms of education, he has done creditably in that sector that Abia has maintained first position in WAEC examination for the past three years, consecutively.
In the area of Agriculture, the Abia chief executive has equally done very well. Abia is now one of the largest producers of rice, Mushroom, poultry farms, cassava while other agro farms are equally flourishing in the state, courtesy of the Governor’s incentives to farmers.
In the area of health, he has done so well that a lot of innovations have been introduced in this sector. Take for instance, the introduction home medicare for elderly men in the comfort of their homes and recent Tele-health programme which was launched in the state by Vice President Osibanjo in the state where you will be in the comfort of your home and call designated phone numbers for a doctor to attend to you.
Abia is very peaceful and there is no disturbance from any angle. Everybody is working in harmony. Ikpeazu is the only governor who is still maintaining good relationship with his predecessor unlike his many of his contemporaries.
I implore Abians who have not obtained their PVCs to do so to enable them re-elect Ikpeazu come 2019 so that he will take Abia to greater heights before leaving office in 2023.
