The magnitude of our Projections for 2013 has been securely held to our chest, awaiting a dedicated and religious implementation when we were prevailed upon to publicly flaunt them for the appreciation of Abians.
Agreed, but not before we reiterate our well wishes to Abians and the generality of Nigerians especially as we look forward to a more prosperous and secured life in the Nigerian project, come 2013.
Abia and the huge construction site of what it has become is a healthy development for which we owe God a thousand and one gratitude.
The torrents of felicitations, trailing our sincerity of purpose at leaving incontrovertible foot prints in the body polity of Abia State will always spur us to improve on every mile-stone we have attained. In the light of this, we have therefore raised the stakes in the attainment of a better Abia, come 2013.
2013 shall be comparatively better than other years following from our articulated strategy to extensively improve on the State internally generated revenue. A far reaching improvement in that regard will bolster and give bite to practical implementation of every programme captured in the drawing board. The revenue effort of Abia State has suffered stunted growth following from the unpatriotic attitude of some Civil and Public office holders in the state, whose stock in trade is to sabotage the good intentions of government. A case in point bothers on the recent preliminary discovery of over 1727 ghost workers in our Local Government System. Government will beam its search light on other sectors with a view to replicating this cleansing.
Regardless of the fact that Golden Guinea Breweries was mindlessly abandoned before we came on board, we have been on top of the initiative to bring it back to life. It’s mass employing capacity, will positively impact on the state labour market;
Plans are at advanced stage to re-engineer the State Transport Sector in association with the Federal Government Sure P Programme. We will leverage on that window, to introduce brand new buses on the fleet of Abia State Transport Corporation. This projection has given rise to the re-organization taking place in the Corporation at the end of which spacious and more modern loading bays would have emerged.
The State Ministry of Transport will in 2013 assidiciously expedite action in streamlining the operations of Tri-cycle operators and encourage investors to develop Taxi Cabs for orderly movement of goods and persons. The proposed Mono-rail for Aba and Umuahia will hopefully move to site in 2013. Same is our expectation on the Alkamali powered Private refinery endorsed for Location at Oil producing neighbourhood of Owaza in Ukwa West Local Government Area.
The on-slaught against poverty will become fiercer in 2013 through a significantly improved youth empowerment programme and coming on stream of Liberation farms designed for location in all the 17 Local Government Areas of the State. Agriculture undoubtedly remains the Pivot of Nigeria’s economic Eldorado. Our machinery for its attainment includes the extension of a gate-way to a Malaysian firm in replacement of lack luster El-friel to revive the Moribund Abia Palm at Ohambele in Ukwa East Local Government Area. Their professional input will positively manifest in 2013. The state will strive to improve on her cocoa production status in the New Year. Introduction of improved seedlings and asphalting of roads leading to our Cocoa farms will be of immense benefit in our Cocoa Production effort.
Three General Hospitals; Okikpe in Ukwa East of Abia South, Arochukwu of Abia North and Amachara representing Abia Central have been selected for a comprehensive up-grading through our sure-P project. It is intended to power Government holistic health-care programme in all our major geo-political enclaves for the maintenance of our people’s clean bill of health. Governments desire to construct one major road in each of the 17 Local Government Areas, will hopefully come on stream in 2013 but with particular emphasis on Aba. This approach is a deliberate design aimed at enhancing the economic potentials of our commercial nerve center. It is a calculated follow up to the rehabilitation of roads in Aba, in excess of 16 numbers. The Power road Map in Abia State has recorded substantial improvement given the Jinx breaking Ohiya Power Station. Precisely in the month of February 2013, Government – Geometric Synergy will put paid to the frustrating black-out plaguing the commercial City of Aba. This illumination will hopefully inject life into every small and medium enterprise and consequently reestablish Aba in the global commercial Map as a destination of note.
Our “one stop shop” designed to weed investment hiccups and bureaucratic bottle-necks shave been yielding the desired result. Genuine investors are cashing in on this gate-way to display their wares in the state. Shop rite; a deserving beneficiary of the above module, has deployed men and machinery to their government approved site for the construction of a state of the art shopping mall in the capital city of Umuahia. Our confident expectation is that Abia will in the coming year; join in the league of world class shopping States. This exhilarating development is equally taking place in the hospitality industry under the auspices of Protea Hotels limited which is driving the vision of re-engineering Abia Hotels Umuahia into a luxurious three star hotel.
Love Frequency Modulated Station (103:9) has stimulated a healthy competition in the air-waves since opening their shop in the state. It is our firm belief that fellow players in the industry who have also hugged and accepted our hand of friendship will live up to expectation. Knowing that security is an indispensable factor in the attainment of every set objective, we will continually encourage the beautiful combination of all the security formations in the state with a view to forestalling any untoward activity or relapse to what became the ugly Somali past of Abia state. Security is hugely capital intensive but we do not intend to undermine it, because it is the signal that influences the determination of investors to explore further or otherwise.
Timber market hitherto situated at the neighbourhood of World Bank Housing Estate provided the opportunity for us to taste the relocation waters. Now at the expansive land scape of Umudike, we are going to ride on that success to smoothly relocate the Umuahia main market to Ubani on or before the expiration of April 2013. Over 5000 lock up shops have been built, awaiting the asphalting of network of roads and energizing the market which in our estimation will not encroach on our deadline.
The delivery of Umuahia Modern Market will herald our season of harvest in project celebrations as the following giant leaps would have been qued for public presentation; New Workers Secretariat Umuahia, New International Conference Center, New High Court Complex at Umuahia and Aba, New kidney Dialysis and Ophthalmology Center at the Specialist Hospital Umuahia, New Children Centre and Doctors residence at Amachara Annex of Abia Specialist Hospital et al.
Never again will it be said that the Godly State of Abia is lacking in structural identity.
T.A. Orji, Governor of Abia State wrote from Umuahia
