Business
How Imo state government rendered citizens homeless by demolition + how they disobeyed court order to stop
The Imo State capital, has been in the news lately for diverse reasons bordering on the good and the bad, according to the perceptions of the people. But of all the recent incidents and events recorded in the city, the ongoing demolition of structures has featured more prominently in the news as it continues to draw a lot of tears and scathing criticisms. Indeed, it has been outrage and lamentations galore since the state government commenced the demolition of properties as a prelude to the planned expansion of some roads in the state capital. Section of a school structure affected by the demolition exercise in Owerri The demolition, which started along the Amakohia/Akwakuma axis, saw the destruction of several ancestral homes, residential buildings, business concerns, the desecration of graves, parts of the premises of Sacred Heart Catholic Church, Akwakuma, Immaculate Conception Catholic Church, Amakohia and several others. Within the past week, some bank premises, the state headquarters of the Peoples Democratic Party and the residential home of the gubernatorial candidate of the All Progressives Grand Alliance, Captain Emmanuel Ihenacho have been visited pulled down by bulldozers. Establishments like the Federal Medical Centre, Owerri and the Alvan Ikoku Federal College of Education, AIFCE, also suffered same fate after being marked for demolition. Irked by the planned destruction of their institution’s properties by the Governor Rochas Okorocha administration Students of AIFCE last week stormed the streets of Owerri in protest. Although the students pleaded with Okorocha to drop the idea of destroying any part of the school premises, their pleas obviously fell on deaf ears as parts of the institution were later demolished. The incensed students have, however, vowed to do everything possible to ensure that the state government does not carry out its threat of also destroying the pedestrian bridge, perimeter fence, gate and other parts of the school. Some of the placards carried by the students read: “Okorocha, spare our pedestrian bridge”, “Okorocha cannot destroy the beauty of our College and security of students”, “Okorocha, leave us alone and continue your demolition exercise elsewhere”, and “Okorocha, please don’t provoke us”.
Similarly, economic activities were held up for hours in Owerri, following a massive protest against the proposed plan by Imo State Government to move artisans from the Orji and Nekede Mechanic Villages to Avu in Owerri West local council area of the state. Vanguard Metro reliably gathered that Governor Rochas Okorocha invited the artisans to a meeting but it was not very clear at press time, what went wrong before the aggrieved self-employed workers stormed the streets in a protest march. Some of the protesters expressed regret that the Governor had made up his mind to forcibly move them to a virgin land where no amenity is in existence. “I can tell you that we are not against his (Okorocha’s) government. If he insists that we should move to Avu, he should also do us the favour of putting some social amenities in place,” Mr. Edward Okoli said. “Some of us have built houses and other immovable structures in the Mechanic Villages, which cost us millions of Naira. Today, government wants to move us to a place that has nothing to support us and our jobs,” he added. Another artisan, who simply identified himself as Sylvester, said “there is no access road into the place, no electricity, no potable water and no buildings”. Court issues restraining order Apparently alarmed by the threat of imminent destruction of his personal residence, Captain Ihenacho approached the Federal High Court, Owerri, presided over by Hon. Justice Ambrose Lewis Allagoa. After listening to Ihenacho’s counsel, the court issued a restraining order against the Attorney General of the Federation, the Minister of Works, Power and Housing, the Governor of Imo State, Attorney General of Imo State, Commissioner of Works, Imo State, the Commissioner for Lands, Survey and Urban Planning, Imo State and the Imo State Government. This order of court was disobeyed. Capt. Emmanuel Ihenacho reacts “The signboard of Lamonde Guest House, owned by Rochas Okorocha, is located just one metre from the culvert on Orlu Road. The gate of Lamonde Guest House is located less than 10 metres from the culvert. Neither the signboard nor the gateways was destroyed by Okorocha for road expansion. “The same Okorocha personally came to my residence with armed soldiers and other security officers on Thursday, July 7, 2016, to supervise the demolition of my residence, up to 14 metres from the edge of the culvert, barely three days after a High Court order restraining him from the demolition”. Some affected victims speak Similarly, some residents of Amakohia and Akwakuma communities in Owerri North Local Council Area of the state, have decried the demolition of their homes and business outfits by government. A victim of the demolition, Nze Obinna Emereole, told newsmen that he recently accessed a loan from a micro finance bank, which he used to erect a building at Amakohia. While saying that the Owerri Capital Development Authority, OCDA, approved the building plan before he commenced the construction, Emereole however wondered why the Governor would personally supervise the destruction of his house. “Are we animals? Why must a government and governor we brought on board, treat us like animals? It is indeed most unfortunate. God is watching,” Emereole lamented. Governor’s Chief Press Secretary responds Reacting on behalf of his boss, the Chief Press Secretary to the Governor, Sam Onwuemeodo, had this to say: “Former Minister of Interior and the governorship candidate of the All Progressives Grand Alliance, APGA, in the State, Captain Emmanuel Iheanacho, has been very supportive to the Rescue Mission Government in the State since 2011, and that is why efforts by certain politicians in the State to incite him against the government has failed. “It is also against the backdrop of this development that Captain Iheanacho would see the demolition of the fence of his house that was very close to the main road, and that is Orlu/Amakohia Road, as an action sincerely taken in the overall interest of the State and her people, and not out of malice. “And seeing the good work going on, on Amakohia/Orlu road, Captain Iheanacho would not have gone to Court for an Order to stop the good work; and that is why we had doubted the report on Court Order when we read it on the pages of newspapers; and that could be the reason that, uptill now, nobody has seen a copy of the reported Court Order. “The Governor and indeed the Rescue Mission government will continue to appreciate the support and understanding of Imo people, including Captain Iheanacho, whose fences or kiosks have been touched in the course of the expansion work going on, on some major roads within Owerri and environs in line with the Governor’s determination to make Owerri a model city. “The Governor will continue to work for Imo people with sincerity of purpose until his ambition of building a state of our collective dreams and aspirations is achieved. Imo PDP’s office is intact “The state office of the Imo State Chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, on Okigwe Road, Owerri, is intact and has not been touched or demolished as being falsely claimed by certain elements, especially in the social media, in the course of the expansion work going on, on that road. “But the front fence of the building housing the party’s office was touched because it was built very close to the main road and there was no way it would not have been affected by the on-going expansion work on that road. “It is very unfortunate that few indigenes of the state who have sworn not to appreciate any good thing being done by the government of Rochas Okorocha have been working tirelessly to use the expansion works on some major roads in Owerri and environs to blackmail the Governor vis-à-vis the government. “Most people in the state appreciate what the government is doing at the moment to add a lot of values to Owerri as the state capital and make it a model city. “The Governor has continued to appeal to the people of the state, especially those whose fences, kiosks and other structures have been touched for understanding. The Governor’s ambition is to leave the state better than he met it and all hands must be on deck to encourage him in his effort to achieve that lofty goal.”
NNPCL and Corruption’s Final Throes
By Pius Olasanmi
In the twilight of the Obasanjo administration, when Nigerians were still capable of being outraged, when Turn Around Maintenance (TAM) of refineries was a buzzword that still held some mysticism to bamboozle citizens, during a conversation, a certain man said something profound. The man said, “As a businessman, if I were the owner of these refineries, knowing that they are three decades old, I would take the last money I have, hire bulldozers, raze them to the ground, and obtain loans to build new ones.”
When we pressed him further on why he would engage in such waste, he explained that repairing the refineries is the real waste. He explained that even if the TAM were honestly carried out, a thirty-year-old refinery would never compete favourably with a new one that would integrate contemporary technology. Operating at its best, such a refinery would never be comparatively more efficient. It is therefore pointless to have spent another one naira on the refineries at that point.
A few months later, I had a conversation with a then-lawmaker on an entirely different matter. I mentioned that the National Assembly has failed by not crafting legislation that would criminalise and punish public office holders who foist wrong decisions on the country. The logic: a public office holder need not steal to be punished, wrong decisions should attract penalties for an office holder who opts for the worst of all options when there are less injurious ones.
These established premises speak to the ongoing nauseating efforts at revisionism by those who wrecked the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) and its previous iteration, the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC). Notably, this campaign to rewrite history is traceable to Engineer Mele Kolo Kyari, the disgraced immediate past Chief Executive Officer of NNPCL and his hirelings. They have suffocated the news and the public opinion space with even more lies than they spun while in office.
The Saint Kyari campaign is anchored on convincing Nigerians that the Port Harcourt, Warri and Kaduna Refineries were fully functional when he was booted out of office. So brazen is the campaign that one of its talking heads challenged the group chief executive officer (GCEO), Engr. Bayo Ojulari, to “inform Nigerians categorically what happened to the functioning refineries he inherited from his predecessor, Engr. Mele Kyari.” The effrontery.
We have not forgotten so soon the charade that followed the baffling claim that Nigeria has spent $2.8 billion on the repair of the refineries, while they are not churning out even a single litre of refined product among them. Saint Kyari and his goons played all manner of tricks, all of which embarrassed President Bola Tinubu, who had counted on ticking off the return to productivity of the refineries as part of his achievements, only to realise that he was deceived into celebrating phantoms. Tragic.
Lest we forget, 200 trucks were arranged as props in a well-directed video clip to celebrate the re-streaming of the Port Harcourt Refinery. The disappointment. Nigerians were to learn from several reports that the Port Harcourt refinery was not producing and was instead using old, stored petroleum products to load trucks. Worse still, the Kyari crew was passing off sanction-tainted Russian-sourced crude oil refined in Malta as locally refined products. More insult was piled on the assault on our collective sensibility with the lies that the Port Harcourt Refinery exported semi-finished products. Brazen.
Meanwhile, Kyari and his hirelings called those who pointed out or protested these glaring scams all manner of names. They hid behind industry technicalities and jargon to create the impression that those of us who knew Nigerians were being robbed did not understand what we were saying. The point remains that a $2.8 billion investment can potentially build a refinery with a capacity of around 100,000 barrels per day (bpd). Of course, the actual capacity of such a refinery will depend on various factors, including the complexity of the refinery, the technology used, and the location. That is the amount that Kyari’s regime at the NNPCL took and did not give Nigerians refined products.
Fast forward to Kyari’s sack and the appointment of Engineer Bayo Ojulari, who has demonstrated that things can indeed be done differently. Kyari’s exit was expectedly followed by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) going after him and his associates. The extent of the theft is better understood against the backdrop of N80 billion being found in the bank account of one of his associates. They went on the run.
Perhaps because the EFCC was biding its time on securing international warrants for the arrests of these characters on the lam, they have become emboldened. They have decided to fight back and rewrite the story of their participation in the greatest fraud against Nigerians. Engineer Ojulari’s renewed mindset, which is entrenching a semblance of the transparency Nigerians demand, became their natural target. The demons that once roamed around the corporation came out with malevolence. They started spinning stories of corruption to tarnish the incumbent who refused to hide their crimes. The objective: bring Ojulari down. But alas, he is winning the war as it stands.
His innocence is proven, and it is glaring that those who want him out are mere charlatans who can no longer ply their corrupt wares because of the impact of the new reforms. Corruption in the NNPCL is in its final throes. The fake news being unleashed against the incumbent leadership is akin to corruption’s last kicks as reforms in the sector strangulate it and its practitioners. The reforms must take place in the NNPCL, whether the industry demons like it or not.
As a parting shot, Kyari and his associates would do well to prepare their defence. In addition to accounting for the $2.8 billion they laundered in the name of repairing the moribund refineries, they must also answer for the poor decision to fix that which is irretrievably broken. Awarding contracts for Turn Around Maintenance of 59-year-old refineries that a right-thinking person had suggested should be demolished almost twenty years ago, when they were only 30 years old, is criminal. Trying to deceive Nigerians that the fake repairs worked is treason.
Olasanmi is a public affairs analyst writing from Lagos.
GRANDIS 5STAR LUXURY APARTMENT & SUITES SET TO REDEFINE LIVING IN VICTORIA ISLAND
Set to Rise elegantly against the Lagos skyline, is the Grandis 5Star Luxury Apartment & Suites. According to Adejuwon Ademola, The General Manager of the Development company, it is more than just a residential building
“it’s a lifestyle statement. Standing 17 floors high in the heart of Victoria Island, this revolutionary masterpiece of modern architecture will offer a panoramic 360° view of Eko Atlantic, Victoria Island, and Ikoyi, transforming every apartment into an exclusive penthouse experience for the world’s most discerning elite.”
Developed by Dumarco Construction Limited, a globally acclaimed company with decades of delivering complex, high-value projects in the highly regulated petroleum, oil, and gas industries, Grandis 5Star brings unmatched international safety standards, uncompromising quality, and timeless elegance into Nigeria’s luxury property market.
> “When you live in Grandis, you’re not just buying a home—you’re investing in peace of mind, world-class safety, and an effortless luxury experience that will remain pristine for decades,” says Adejuwon A. Ademola, General Manager of Dumarco Construction Limited.
The Gold Standard in Safety and Quality
Dumarco’s roots in the oil and gas sector mean the company operates to some of the strictest safety protocols in the world. Every stage—from conceptualization, design, construction, to long-term maintenance—follows internationally accepted procedures and quality assurance measures. Cutting corners is simply not in Dumarco’s vocabulary.
> “In the oil and gas industry, there’s no room for compromise. We’ve brought that same discipline and zero-tolerance for mediocrity into property development,” says Ademola. “That’s why Grandis will be one of the safest and most enduring residential developments in Nigeria.”
To ensure transparency and prevent (project complacency), Dumarco deliberately separates the developer, contractor, and consultant roles, engaging only the most competent professionals in each respective field. Dumarco’s project team includes globally recognized contractors such as Julius Berger, Cappa & D’Alberto, and Elalan, Migliore Construczione & Tecniche (MC&T) and their partners VENCO IMTIAZ CONTRACTING COMPANY (VICC) based in Dubai, UAE, Business Contracting Limited, alongside leading consultants like Morgan Omanitan & Abe, LAMBERT, and James Cubitt.
Grandis – Investments, appreciation, returns and profitability
Our selection process for the location of the project alone was pains-taking and completely thorough scientific process. Top professional companies were employed to conduct a scientific data acquisition and analytical survey of the entire Victoria Island, Ikoyi, Lekki and Eko Atlantic before a project site is selected. Analyzing and acquiring areas developmental charts and trends, studying and gathering historical and present sale prices, rental charge and occupancy rates over a 50 year period from every individual street before the selection of the location of any of our developments especially true for the Grandis Project
He adds,
“Our clients and residents can be rest assured that the location of Grandis has been scientifically proven through all existing data to provide our clients with a 100% occupancy rate, highest developmental location, highest rental income and investment returns. ”
The Grandis Experience
Located minutes away from international corporate headquarters, embassies, and landmarks such as Eko Hotel, Radisson Blu, and the Radisson Red, Grandis offers unmatched convenience for professionals, diplomats, and high-net-worth individuals. Every residence is designed for both indulgence and efficiency, with high-grade finishes, smart-home systems, and private amenities that ensure seamless living.
From sunrise over the Atlantic to the glittering Lagos night skyline, residents will enjoy uninterrupted luxury, supported by discreet and highly trained staff, advanced security systems, and a design that prioritizes comfort and privacy.
> “We designed Grandis for people who want everything—security, elegance, convenience, and the assurance that their home will look as spectacular in 20 years as it does on day one,” Ademola notes.
A Legacy That Lasts
With its combination of visionary architecture, peerless safety, and meticulous maintenance planning, Grandis is built to remain iconic for generations. Thanks to Dumarco’s meticulous approach, the building’s service charges are expected to remain low while its value and appeal continue to appreciate over time.
In a market often marred by shortcuts and substandard practices, Mr Ademola says
Grandis stands as a beacon of what luxury living should be—safe, spectacular, and built to last.
“Grandis 5Star Luxury Apartment & Suites — Where safety meets sophistication, and every detail is designed for a life well-lived.”
He added
Website -www.dumarcoltd.com
Project website – www.26idowutaylor.com
Email [email protected]
Tel / WhatsApp +234 9077777883
GM – Adejuwon A. Ademola
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