Ohafia Stakeholders Move to Quicken Development of Abia’s Third Largest City

Emmanuel Ugwu-Nwogo in Umuahia

Major stakeholders of Ohafia at the weekend agreed on the need to harness available economic, political and private participation to speed up the development of the third largest city in Abia State.
The present government of Governor Alex Otti had as part of its holistic development agenda designated Ohafia as the state’s third largest city which would be developed as Aba and Umuahia, the commercial and capital cities, respectively.
Buoyed by government’s expressed commitment to develop their town, the Ohafia stakeholders at the weekend held the Ohafia Development Dialogue 2024 to brainstorm on practicable means of making Ohafia attain the envisaged city status.

The event organised by the Mben Political Assembly(MPA), a political think-tank of Ohafia indigenes, brought  together various stakeholders, home and abroad to bring ideas on how “to build the Ohafia of Our Dreams”.
Speaking at the event, the Deputy Governor of Abia State, Engr Ikechukwu Emetu, said that Ohafia could be developed and made great through “progressive mindset” and collective efforts of the people in collaboration with government.
He stated that the Alex Otti administration shares the aspiration and values of Ohafia people on the developmental needs of the area, which informed the establishment of the Greater Ohafia Development Authority (GADA).

Emetu, who is an indigene of Ohafia, explained that GADA would formulate and implement policies and appropriate framework to engender the realisation of  the plan to make the headquarters of Abia North zone a big city.
He said that government has set out plans to  create industrial clusters for which Ohafia is a designated beneficiary, adding that it has been approved that Ohafia would host cocoa estate in which a million tree would be planted.
The deputy governor assured his people that the lingering problem of power outage in the community was being addressed by government with the relevant authorities, especially the Enugu Electricity Distribution Company (EEDC).
“Let us be united to build the future for our children so they can be proud of us,” he said.

A state legislator, Hon. Kalu Mba Nwoke, who represents Ohafia South state constituency in the Abia State House of Assembly, said that he has remained committed in bringing issues concerning the welfare and development of Ohafia to the front burner.
He stated that it was through a motion he moved on the floor of Abia House that the  power outage was being addressed, adding that though the problem has not been resolved, government is doing its best to restore electricity to Ohafia.
In his remarks the traditional ruler of Ohafia  Udumeze, His Regency, Prince Uma Agbai Olugu, decried “sibling rivalry” which he said was working against the development of the area.

Prince Agbai, who is the Chairman, Council of Ohafia Monarchs, called for mutual respect among the people of Ohafia so that those in a position to attract development to the area would be motivated to render selfless service.
A World Bank Consultant and President of  Ohafia Chamber of Commerce, Industry,  Mines and Agriculture (OCCIMA), Mr. Nkem Joseph-Palmer, in the lead paper he presented, outlined what needed to be done to turn Ohafia into a big city.
He stressed the need for Ohafia to have a masterplan which must be religiously implemented, adding that sustainable development must be incorporated into the Ohafia development agenda.

The President of Mben Political Assembly, Dr. Michael Kalu Mba, had in his welcome address underscored the need for Ohafia to leverage its success in the 2023 general election to attract development.

He explained that it was the need to explore the available political opportunities that the MPA leadership thought it needful to initiate interactions with a broad spectrum of Ohafia stakeholders to foster “a deeper collaboration with the government at all levels”.

According to him, it has become imperative to find a way to “explore the recent political wins by Nde Ohafia to steer development to our communities and bring home the dividends of democracy to our people”.

“We must take maximum advantage of the current wins to emancipate our people and build a sustainable society for generations unborn.

“Every community in Ohafia is in dire need of various developmental projects including standard working basic educational institutions and health facilities as well as network of good roads”.