By Izunna Okafor, Awka
The Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of the Awka Capital Territory Development Authority (ACTDA), Hon. Dr. Ossy Onuko, has explained that the ongoing demolition and clearance of shanties and illegal structures around Ifite-Awka is part of a broader plan to prevent the student-dominated area from degenerating into a slum.
Onuko gave the explanation in an exclusive interview with this reporter, Izunna Okafor, on Friday, following the commencement of a joint enforcement operation by ACTDA, Nnamdi Azikiwe University (UNIZIK) and the Awka South Local Government Area in the Ifite—UNIZIK axis of Awka.
The operation has seen the removal of shanties, illegal projections and other structures encroaching on roads, walkways and public spaces around the university community, as the concerned authorities move to restore order and improve the general environment.
According to Onuko, the exercise is a continuation of the regeneration process initiated for Ifite, particularly because of its importance as a major student residential and commercial community.
He said ACTDA had earlier constituted a joint taskforce with UNIZIK and Awka South Local Government Area to address the environmental, infrastructural and physical planning challenges confronting the area.
The ACTDA Boss said the joint taskforce and committee had, before the commencement of the demolition, embarked on inspections, enumeration and repeated issuance of notices to owners of illegal projections and structures, giving them the opportunity to voluntarily comply and vacate the shanties and illegal structures.
He explained that the now ongoing enforcement was targeted largely at opening up roads and public spaces that had been progressively encroached upon, while also clearing blocked flood channels and restoring some level of order to the environment.
Reacting to the public concerns over priority of the government between the present condition of Ifite roads and the demolition of the illegal shanties, the ACTDA Boss acknowledged that the condition of roads in Ifite remains a major concern to residents and students, but said urban regeneration goes beyond road construction alone.
According to him, ACTDA is already assessing the roads and drainage infrastructure in the area to determine the extent of intervention required and how government can progressively address the infrastructural deficits, adding that the removal of shanties and illegal structures that encroach on the road should also precede any intervention on the road.
Hon. Onuko said the immediate responsibility of the agency was also to ensure that available public spaces were not continually taken over by private structures, as according to him, the liveable and prosperous megacity envisioned by Governor Chukwuma Soludo cannot be achieved where development is allowed to take place indiscriminately.
“Key part of our mandate and priority as ACTDA is to build a livable and prosperous megacity as envisioned by Governor Chukwuma Charles Soludo, Ọrụatụegwù. And one of the things that’s a key indicator of livability and prosperity of a place is intolerance to anyhowness.
“We must ensure that people don’t build anyhow and anywhere they want, because there’s law and order. So what we are trying to do is to restore the law and order in terms of how our environment is being taken and or how people relate with their immediate environment,” he explained.
He therefore described the Ifite operation as a deliberate attempt to “rescue” the area before its environmental and physical deterioration becomes more difficult to reverse.
Although trailed by mixed reactions, the Dr. Onuko explained that the exercise had already started and continued to attract public commendations from people, especially residents of the area who understand the significance of such strategic moves by the government, including those expressing relief at the new spaces created following the removal of the structures.
While noting that his phone has been inundated with calls and messages of commendations from people, the ACTDA MD read out a message of commendation sent by a resident of Ifite, which reads “Omoh see space! See could breeze! Wow, I couldn’t believe it. My lodge was the worst.”
Onuko further dismissed suggestions that the demolished shanties and illegal projections had received government approval, maintaining that no legitimate approval process could authorise the construction of illegal structures on roads, setbacks or other public spaces.
He noted that many of the encroachments had existed for years, including from the period when he was a student of UNIZIK, but said the long existence of the structures did not make them lawful.
The ACTDA Boss said the present administration had chosen to confront the situation rather than allow the deterioration to continue, in line with Governor Chukwuma Charles Soludo’s vision of building a more liveable, organised and prosperous capital territory.
While acknowledging that such a disruptive approach to development might not go without reactions and counter-reactions, Hon. Onuko recalled that such was also the case with the transformation of Abakaliki Street in Awka.
“Remember when we intervened at Abakaliki Street and the UNIZIK Junction—Okpuno, it was the same thing. But we had to remain focused and clean up all the shanties there. Today, go to Abakaliki Street and that area and see the current look and the massive transformation that has taken place there,” he stated, noting that the Ifite exercise is not just intended as a one-off demolition exercise.
Rather, he said, it was a long-term regeneration program and the beginning of a broader and continuous government intervention aimed at institutionalising order in the relationship between the people, buildings, roads, drainage channels and other public spaces.
“The objective goes beyond pulling down structures. The ultimate goal is to restore the area, open up its roads and drainage channels, improve the environment and progressively create a safer and more organised student community that can support the growing population of UNIZIK students and residents,” he clarified.
He therefore urged residents, landlords, students and business operators to cooperate with the authorities, stressing that the responsibility of rescuing Ifite and creating a functional urban environment could not be left to government alone.
Beyond the Ifite intervention, the ACTDA MD also spoke on the ongoing rehabilitation and reconstruction work by the agency on Geneva Road and its environs in Awka, assuring residents that the exercise also falls part of the broader effort to improve the capital territory.
He disclosed that the drainage channels along the road had been extensively desilted, while sections of the drainage infrastructure that had deteriorated had also been reconstructed.
According to him, ACTDA had also engaged owners and occupants of some of the shanties along the Geneva Road corridor, with many of them voluntarily removing the structures themselves following discussions with the agency.
Onuko expressed satisfaction with the level of cooperation from the affected occupants, noting that the approach had helped the agency to clear the road corridor without unnecessary confrontation.
He further disclosed that the ongoing rehabilitation of Geneva Road was expected to be completed by the following week, adding that the project aligns with the Soludo administration’s broader agenda of improving the appearance, functionality and liveability of Awka.
