Investors are flocking to Aba, says LG Boss

The Mayor of Aba North Local Government Area (LGA), John Udeagbala, has stated that investors are flocking to invest in Aba, a commercial town in Abia State.

Udeagbala made this known yesterday in a media chat with journalists. He attributed the influx of investors into Aba to the new power plant built by Geometrics Power in collaboration with the state government. The mayor explained that the power project had the potential to provide uninterrupted power supply.

Discussing the welfare of local government employees, Udeagbala said the government was committed to providing better welfare packages for workers. However, he lamented the large number of workers, saying that most were redundant as there wasn’t much for them to do.

“About 250 of the workers complained that they have not received their salaries for up to five months. So, I directed the company contracted to verify the workers to hasten the assignment. We have reached out to the governor on the issue, and he has promised that they would be paid in due course.”

The Mayor said more opportunities would be created to utilize redundant staff and generate more revenue.

“I have discovered that due to the redundancy of the workers, some of them have engaged themselves in other economic ventures outside the business of the local government. They come in the morning to sign in attendance and return by 4 pm to sign out. I have also discovered that there are a few of them who are not residing in the state but have been captured biometrically. These are some of the things that have opened my eyes to the happenings in the public sector, but all these too shall be a thing of the past soon,” he said.

Udeagbala added that opportunities in animal husbandry, fishery, and cassava farming would be explored. He said due to insufficient land available for agriculture, he would introduce aquaponics farming into the system.

Regarding the issue of constant harassment by men of the Rapid Response Squad (RRS) of the Nigerian Police, the Mayor said that for over two weeks, a high degree of sanity has returned to the city due to his quick intervention. He had meetings with the RRS Commander and some resident youths in their early 20s who drive flashy Sports Utility Vehicles and who are usually victims of constant harassment by uniformed men.

He also addressed the issue of an illegal task force in the state. According to him, “some of these criminals are local government workers with authentic identity cards who have imposed on themselves the duty of harassing motorists, especially truck drivers who enter the city from other states. Recently, after they carried out their nefarious activities, information got to me. I visited the scene with some armed men and got six of them arrested. These particular ones were not local government workers but state workers. Nobody authorized them to do these things. This is the second time I’m doing this. Their matter is already on the table of the governor, and they are on the verge of being dismissed. We don’t want the state to descend back to the days of all manners of illegalities.”

The Mayor also raised the issue of an influx of destitute people from neighboring states who are usually dumped in Aba late at night. He said it was a very worrisome societal menace that he was already working on how to deal with.