Arinze is 90…EEDC fast in fleecing customers…European Business Park opens in Enugu…Anambra Airport at 1…Imo is UN, AfDB, IsDB Special Agro-Processing Zone…DaForumites hold 14th Convention…plus South East Digest…
Arinze is 90
One of the most outstanding Beacons of Anambra State, and indeed, the entire Igboland, Francis Cardinal Arinze, marked his 90th birthday last week. One of the highlights of the activities to celebrate this Nigeria’s second cardinal and Ndigbo’s first was a “Holy Mass of Thanksgiving” held at Basilica of the Most Holy Trinity, Onitsha.
Notable personalities at the mass included the former Governor of Anambra State and the Labour Party Presidential candidate, Mr. Peter Obi. The immediate past Governor of Anambra State, Chief Willie Obiano and wife, Ebelechukwu Obiano, APGA Senatorial Candidate for Anambra North. Other dignitaries included the Obi of Onitsha, His Royal Majesty, Igwe Nnaemeka Alfred Achebe (Agbogidi), Senator Victor Umeh (Labour Party Senatorial Candidate, Anambra Central), Hon. Ikenna Iyiegbu (Ike Cubana) APGA Candidate, Idemili North and South Federal Constituency, Cardinals, Bishops, Monsignors, Reverend Fathers, Traditional Rulers, Papal Knights among others.
The event also marked the first public meeting of former Governor Willie Obiano and the incumbent Governor of Anambra State, Professor Chukwuma Soludo. Both leaders engaged in a very warm embrace before entering the church.
Speaking during the holy mass, Professor Soludo stated "we have gathered to celebrate one of the finest gifts God has given to the world. You have been such a great influence and inspiration to the universal world, Anambra State, Nigeria and to me personally. I recount, you had a special mass for me and my predecessor, giving me a message which I will never forget. You told me, that while I am in a haste to change the world, I should always remember that the people I deal with are children of Adam and Eve”.
EEDC fast in fleecing customers
I had long given up on electric power supply in Nigeria by public utilities since the failure of the Chief Olusegun Obasanjo presidency to successfully reform Nigeria’s electric power sector. I enjoy public power supply when I see it and go on with my life when I don’t. With that attitude, I have been immune to the punishment which public power suppliers like EEDC mete out to Nigerians daily. My Awka residence has a pre-paid meter so I hardly have any issues – if the light comes, fine, if it doesn’t, life goes on.
But EEDC decided to visit
me last Thursday! As I returned from
work, I noticed my prepaid meter blinking red.
I decided to quickly recharge via Buy Power, a private intermediary in
the power sector. I usually recharge
N20,000.00. Luckily for me that day, I
made a mistake and punched N2,000.00 instead of N20,000.00. I made to terminate the transaction when I
noticed the error but somehow decided to complete that particular transaction before
deciding whether to load more units. It
turned out to be a very good and lucky decision.
I was surprised to read from Buy Power that of the N2,000.00 I was getting only about N200.00 worth of electric units – see their email below:
I quickly decided to get in touch with EEDC. I was happy to note that they had a WhatsApp chat number and I thought that this would speed up the resolution of the problem. I started the chat with a greeting, only to immediately receive a reply from EEDC that they had noted my complaint (which I was yet to make!) and would resolve it in 24 hours.
Surprise, surprise, the “over prompt” EEDC is yet to acknowledge any of my subsequent messages between last Thursday and Sunday, December 11, 2022. Yesterday, I tried to call the Customer Care on telephone. I spent over 30 minutes waiting on the call queue before a live customer care representative came on. This is despite the fact that I was told by the interactive voice response (IVR) that I had an estimated seven minutes to wait on the queue as I was caller number 4. I ended up waiting for over 30 minutes, wasting more money chasing my N1,799.50 fleeced off me by EEDC (I don’t want to imagine how much they would have deducted if I had tried to purchase my usual N20,000.00 worth of units!). As I write this, my money is yet to be refunded!!!
Anambra Airport at 1
Ndi Anambra were euphoric
around this time last year when the much expected Anambra International Cargo
and Passenger Airport, Umueri commenced commercial flight operations. One year after, Sir Paul Nwosu, Anambra State’s
Commissioner for Information reviews the airport’s first year of operations:
First Anniversary of Anambra International Passenger and Cargo Airport
By Paul Nwosu
The First Anniversary of Anambra International Passenger and Cargo Airport, Umueri is at once a cause for celebration and sober reflection.
It calls for celebration that such a magnificent edifice could be built against all odds, especially as the Covid-19 pandemic raged on and successfully began flight operations on December 7, 2021. The brand new airport built under administration of the immediate past governor of Anambra State, Chief Willie Obiano, remarkably recorded 142 flights carrying 3,865 passengers in its first month of operation. The airport has ever since waxed quite strong by serving as a well-facilitated conduit for ferrying passengers ever since its commencement of flight activities. It especially saved the highly itinerant Anambra commerce-oriented people the trouble of having to travel to Asaba, Enugu or Owerri to catch flights to their business destinations.
The sober reflection on Anambra International Airport is that it is as yet a work in progress. The necessary hope is anchored on the multiform plans Anambra State Governor, Professor Charles Chukwuma Soludo, CFR, has in place of turning the airport into an international showpiece for passengers and cargo haulage. Mr. Governor’s design of an Anambra Emporium for exports bears the imprimatur of the Anambra International Passenger and Cargo Airport. (Continued after the section on Imo State)
DaForumites hold 14th Convention
DaForum Club Worldwide, a leading socio-philanthropic organization drawing its membership from professionals from across Nigeria, held its 14th Annual Convention yesterday. The convention took place simultaneously across Nigeria via Zoom. One of the key decisions taken at the yesterday’s convention, apart from the welfare of members and their families, was the decision to award a primary to secondary school scholarship to the child of a Security Guard who used to man security at the Club’s former Lagos headquarters.
As is customary for the club, members eventually had an evening gala in Lagos and Awka. We bring you some photographs from both parties:
(A digest of latest reports on the Economy, Industry,
Politics, Sports, and developments around the South East of Nigeria)
ABIA STATE
Aba Power embarks on an aggressive Meter providing
programme
Nigeria’s newest electricity distribution company, Aba Power Ltd, has launched an aggressive programme to provide meters to all its customers in nine out of the 17 local government areas in Abia State where it supplies electric power.
“The era of estimated bills given to consumers will soon be a thing of the past in our coverage area”, declared Patrick Umeh, its managing director, in a statement in Aba today, adding” we are going to pursue the programme implementation with all the energy we can muster”.
Umeh, a former commissioner with the Nigeria Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC), said that even though Aba Power was licensed only last February to provide power to the nine LGAs in Abia, it wants to make history by being the first to meter all its customers. “We believe”, he continued, “it is unfair to ask consumers to continue to pay estimated bills which may make them feel shortchanged each month…This practice doesn’t make for probity or transparency, as there is no evidence of what they actually consumed for the period charged…We are a socially responsible firm, so we must be seen as committed to the highest ethical standards of transparency…We regard customers as partners in progress, rather than persons to be exploited for economic or commercial gains”.
Umeh, a former executive with the Los Angeles Water and Power Company in California, revealed that 5000 meters have been procured in the first instance. The meters are in single and three phases, and will be installed in buildings and other structures according to the technical needs of each place. Three-phase meters, he explained, “will be installed in big structures while single-phase meters will be installed in smaller ones.”
ANAMBRA STATE
Anambra State: one huge construction site
The number one talking point in Anambra State today is how the Soludo administration has embarked on its declared policy of a “state of emergency” on roads. The piece below by Anambra State’s Commissioner for Information, Sir Paul Nwosu, gives reasons why, just as it gives latest updates on most of the roads:
Roads and the Politics of Development in Anambra
By Paul Nwosu
The politics of development in Anambra State is anchored on the emplacement of the rule of law. In the field of security, the murderers and kidnappers who were formerly called Unknown Gunmen have been painstakingly smoked out of their idolatrous camps in the bushes. They are now being confronted as known men who have nowhere to hide. A measure of sanity has been established across the state such that Governor Soludo can now pursue his grand plan of turning the entire Anambra State into a vast road construction site.
Anambra people love to move about like the true republicans that they are, and a good road network is sine qua non to their ambitions and needs. As Leo-Stan Ekeh, the Chairman of Zinox Computers, who hails from Imo State, had said, the wealth, energy and knowledge per square meter in Anambra State does not exist in any other part of Africa.
Anambra must continue to shine the light against considerable odds. Governor Soludo has said that oil money is dwindling. In his inaugural speech, Mr. Governor mentioned that the governments of advanced countries use taxes to work in solving public problems. It is incumbent on all responsible citizens therefore to pay their taxes.
Everyone must pay their fair share for Anambra to prosper. It is due to the tax collected that there is the signpost at every construction site: “Your tax is working for you.
Governor Soludo has thus far initiated the construction of 244 kilometres of roads and counting. The flagging-off of this quantum of roads is truly unprecedented and astounding. Now that the rainy season is over, the construction work is moving apace. The ongoing construction of roads in Anambra State has brought so much joy to the diverse communities across the state. Mr. Governor has given the guarantee to construct stone-base roads with cement stabilization and moisture content. It is a quality never seen before in these shores.
It is worthy of celebration that every local government has at least one road under construction. The erstwhile neglected suburb of Okpoko on the fringes of Onitsha has been opened through the road construction drive.
The governor always takes charge of going personally to inspect any road flagged off for construction. The roads are being constructed to satisfy specific needs of the communities and the state. All the food-basket zones of Anambra State are being interlinked with road networks to ensure that the produced foods can be readily brought to the outlying markets.
Some of the roads have been designed to decongest all clogged areas. From Ogidi to Ogbunike, for instance, there is heavy water-logging that is being efficiently addressed. The logjam from Igboukwu down to Isuofia and Ekwulobia will soon be a thing of the past.
Roads in some areas that had not been touched for more than 40 years are witnessing massive construction. Places like Nzam that never had any tarred road to crow about are bearing witness to the asphalting of roads.
Governor Soludo has given the assurance that the roads being built now will last for all of 20 years. The transparency being brought into the process, from bidding to execution, is highly remarkable.
The mantra in Anambra State remains: Roads! Roads! Roads! The state-wide marvels of construction range from Awka to Okpuno, Isuaniocha, Amansea, Awa, Ufuma, Akpulu, Ogbunka, Achina, Enugwu-Umuonia, Onneh, Agbudu and indeed all the LGAs.
The riverine areas of the likes of Mmiata are poised to enjoy tarred roads alongside a splendidly delivered water transportation system. When all the work is done one can traverse around Anambra State in a record time without wasting man-hours as was the case before.
Township roads in Onitsha are being upgraded with gusto. Governor Soludo has been to Fegge, Onitsha to flag-off the network of roads in the densely populated zone of the township.
A hands-on leader, Mr. Governor took personal charge of going to Owelle-Aja, Obosi, where if it rains heavily, water level gets to the necks of the people. It is by directly inspecting the needs of the people that Governor Soludo decides on the type of road to be constructed. He thus fixes the roads according to the needs of the people and communities.
The heavy construction works ongoing all over Anambra State are testaments to promises kept by Mr. Governor in his stated politics of development toward making Anambra State a liveable and prosperous megacity state.
According to Governor Soludo in his interactive session with the media and a cross-section of Ndi-Anambra broadcast by Anambra Broadcasting Service, the timelines of these roads I awarded would be completed before my first year in office. From Mmiata, "the road should be completed before March next year. The one of Amansea should be completed before February next year.”
Many of the roads have timelines of eight months, one year, and 18 months. The first construction cycle is October to March. Mr. Governor stated that the second construction cycle should see us constructing over 100km of roads by the end of next year.”
He explained further that, "Phase One of the roads we are dealing with are roads that are very strategic, that impact on a large number of people and address traffic challenges. The constructed roads should help decongest and ease traffic. We are intervening in places that will become game-changers. In Phase Two, we will build bridges. I understand every village needs roads.”
Sir Paul Nwosu
Anambra State Commissioner for Information
ENUGU STATE
European Business Park opened in Enugu, Nigeria
On 25 November 2022, a vocational training facility, the Centre of Practical Skills, as well as the Godfrey Okoye University European Business Park, were opened in Enugu, Nigeria. This unique combination of private entrepreneur involvement and skilled worker training will enable 100 people per year to undertake dual education and training to learn skilled trades and become plumbers, electricians and construction supervisors.
The companies located in the business park will be responsible for the practical training, while the theory will be taught by the Centre of Practical Skills. The business park was set up by private investors. However, the Centre of Practical Skills is implemented by the International Centre for Migration Policy (ICMPD) in collaboration with private investors as well as the Austrian Development Agency (ADA), while operational support is provided by the GIZ funded by the German government. Godfrey Okoye University is a local partner and provided the land for the site. In addition, the university certifies the education and training and provides opportunities for further professional improvement. As part of this cooperation, the skilled workers are additionally prepared for the labour market/private investors through an entrepreneurship programme (STEP).
IMO STATE
Imo is UN, AfDB, IsDB Special Agro-Processing Zone
As part of efforts to diversify the Nigerian economy from oil and gas dependent, President Muhammadu Buhari, recently launched the Special Agro-Processing Zones Programme (SAPZ), in seven States and the Federal Capital Territory, FCT. President Buhari who was represented by Vice President, Prof Yemi Osinbajo at the event held recently at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs described the SAPZ as game-changer, as it would give a boost to food production, wealth creation, employment generation, and export.
He acknowledged Nigeria’s large arable land, relatively cheap labour should be able to feed herself, which he point-end some challenges facing agriculture recently including inflation, high food prices, high input prices, insecurity, Russia-Ukraine War, drought and flooding caused by climate change.
The Nigeria Special
Agro-Industrial Processing Zones (SAPZ) programme is a government-enabled and
private sector-led initiative that will and mobilise private sector investment
to develop value chains for selected strategic crops and livestock in the
participating States.
Nigeria will implement the first phase of the SAPZ programme with co-financing from the African Development Bank, AfDB, International Fund for Agricultural Development, IFAD, and Islamic Development Bank, IsDB.
The total amount mobilised for Phase 1 is $538.05 mil-lion, which African Development Bank is providing $210 million; the IFAD together with the Green Climate Fund, $160 million; IsDB $150.52 million, while from the Federal Government of Nigeria is $2.01 million, and $16.01 million from the seven participating States.
The participating States under Phase 1 include Kaduna, Kano, Kwara, Oyo, Ogun, Imo, Cross Rivers, and Federal Capital Territory, FCT.
Essence of the launch of SAPZ is to formally announce the Nigeria SAPZ to key stakeholders; national, and international partners, co-financiers, development partners, the private sector, farmers groups, national networks and diaspora population and other actors. Others include to attract private sector investment into the zones; raise public awareness of the SAPZ programme; demonstrate political support at the highest levels of Federal and State governments in Nigeria, and the leadership of key partners.
First Anniversary of Anambra International Passenger
and Cargo Airport (continued)
Anambra State Commissioner for Transport, Mrs. Patricia Igwebuike has given the promise that regular international flights may commence at the turn of the New Year. She disclosed that discussions are ongoing with some airlines in France, Germany and the United States for the commencement of the international flight operations.
In this busy Christmas season, the domestic passenger airlines, Air Peace and United Nigeria Airline, are busy flying full schedules into and out of Anambra State.
On the planned international front, initial studies have shown that from Anambra to Miami in the USA is just about eight hours of flight time. Transport Commissioner Mrs. Patricia Igwebuike said: We are engaging with the airlines to find out ways we can make it possible for airlines to carry passengers from Anambra to Miami directly.”
It is a universally known fact that commerce is the second name of Ndi-Anambra who are always open for business. Through the airport, Anambra businessmen and women are ready to build relationships and interface with their contemporaries around the world.
On the part of the government, Mrs. Igwebuike stressed: We are also looking for partners from airports around the world. We are new, and the advantage of being new is that we get to do things in line with international best practices. We are looking for investors and experts that will assist us in capacity-building. Also, we want to grow our revenue base.”
The Anambra aviation authorities are in advanced discussions with many local and international airlines, and Commissioner Igwebuike assures that “we are doing things systematically and learning from those who are already in the system. We do not believe in reinventing the wheel.” Mrs. Igwebuike further said: We have engaged with some companies in France, Munich, and now we are engaging the Maimi Dade County. We will seek a partnership or some sort of collaboration. We are going to acquire all the necessary footprints to make ourselves known.”
The grand plan is to make the Anambra International Passenger and Cargo Airport commercially viable. Through the Anambra Emporium, export revenue will start flowing into the state through the vast riches of exportation via the airport. Being in its first year, the airport is still in the process of growth. In due course, it will break even.
According to Commissioner Igwebuike, We have generated revenue from the airport for the government of the state. It is very promising from the way we are going and when we grow it the way we want to grow it, the commercial arm and others, it will be self-sustaining. That is where we are going.”
The Anambra International Passenger and Cargo Airport is indeed an idea whose time has come.
SIR PAUL NWOSU
Commissioner for
Information
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