Anambra State governor, Prof Chukwuma Soludo, has promised to clean up Onitsha, and transform the commercial city to the shopping hub of the South-east.
The governor made the promise on Thursday during an interaction with landlords, which took place at Sharon House, near All Saints Cathedral.
He enunciated his vision for Onitsha as a Greater City, saying it would be clear, clean and sparkling.
“We will collectively make shopping and living in Onitsha pleasurable,” the governor promised, saying: “That is the ultimate goal of this administration.”
He reckoned that the economy of Anambra will grow proportionally to the number of people coming to shop in the State.
With time, he further said, “we will modernize warehousing with technology, as well as our parks and malls.”
And to achieve the goal, Soludo said his administration will follow up on the cleaning process, which started at Okpoko.
Given the vigor in the new government, the participants at the parley agreed that clearing of sewage and drainage will henceforth be the collective responsibility of the residents.
They agreed to key into the government’s commitment to make Onitsha in particular, and indeed Anambra State an envy of all, where living and shopping will be pleasurable; living outside of which will be a matter of personal choice.
The governor also touched on an area that seems to be a sore thumb – touting – vowing that touts will be sent out of markets and roads in the State.
Already, Sakamori, the drainage line that empties flood water into the River Niger, is being cleared and de-silted. It had largely been blocked by illegal structures.
In all of that, the governor was particular about payment of taxes by the residents, over which the Inland Revenue Services Chairman Richard Madiebo and his team have begun to modernize and digitalize the payment platforms.
On security, Soludo declared that henceforth, there will be no hiding place for all criminal elements in the State.
Some of the key decision, which the gathering arrived at included: Clearing of sewage and drainage as responsibility of all residents; landlords rquested to paint their buildings; street naming and house numbering to be revisited; Greater Onitsha Water Scheme underway; land documentation to be streamlined by adopting a digital allocation template.
Present at the forum were, the deputy governor, Onyeka Ibezim; Chief of Staff, Ernest Ezejughi; the Commissioner for Housing, Paulinus Onyeaka; Commissioner for Homeland Affairs, Chikaodi Anara; Commissioner for Chieftaincy Affairs, Collins Nwabunne; Commissioner for Lands, Offornze Amucheazi, and the member representing Onitsha North in the State House of Assembly, Hon. Ibuzor Edward.