•We’ll resettle 21 urban slums, shut noisy nightclubs, lounges-Anya, Chairman, Enugu Capital Territory
Uche Anya, a lawyer and former member of Enugu State House of Assembly has the herculean task of restoring the Enugu Master Plan that has been distorted over the years.
The Chairman of Enugu Capital Territory Development Authority (ECTDA) has continued to engage various stakeholders in town halls in the agency’s bid to get public buy-in. He disclosed that his recent dialogue with members of New Artisan Cattle Dealers Union was successful.
Anya revealed that Government would relocate residents of no fewer that 21 urban slums in Enugu capital territory. He also spoke on other issues in this interview with Magnus Eze
How has it been controlling development in Enugu and what should the people expect?
There are some people that want to make the residential life of Enugu miserable. Please help us appeal to all the people building illegal nightclubs in residential areas, open air nude clubs in Enugu, open air live band in Enugu. Help appeal to them to cooperate with Enugu Capital Territory Authority. Blackmail will not work. We want people to go home in the residential neighbourhoods and have a good night sleep.
In fact, I will share a touching story with you and quote me. The Catholic Bishop of Enugu informed us that he cannot sleep again in his residence. So, if the government cannot enforce the law and ensure that people can sleep in their residential neighbourhoods, what is then the essence? We have children that must do their homework and go to bed between 9 and 10 pm. I imagine that a lot of you here have children in primary schools. So, what do you make of it that they cannot do their homework, go to bed and sleep. You look through your window and you see a nude club with an open-air live band. It cannot happen. And when we tell them you cannot do this, we get phone calls from everybody. I’m sure if they have access to Joe Biden and Vladimir Putin, we will also get phone calls. Enugu will not brook that nonsense. We welcome nightlife and we will do everything to promote nightlife but the nightclubs must embrace the culture of acoustics. We will support the nightclubs but they must adopt acoustic technology. You cannot make your blood money by destroying our children. They start this thing from 5pm and they never stop till 3am. That has a negative impact on the mental health of residents, especially children and retired people. If they embrace acoustic technology, nobody will know; nobody will bother them, provided they do not constitute a nuisance by way of parking and parking carelessly in residential neighbourhoods. So, the current leadership of the Capital Territory will ensure that all night clubs especially those in residential neighbourhoods embrace acoustic technology. That way, I will support them. Anything short of that, we will not allow it.
We have seen some beautification close to Okpara Square. What other plans do you have?
My target is to make Enugu so workable that for every two-kilometre radius, you can walk with your family. You can have a morning stroll; you can have an evening stroll. You don’t need a car. The first time I stepped into Manhattan in New York, Times Square, I saw a sea of heads but no vehicle. People walking, of course visitors and other people in the vehicle. Somebody will not tell you that you don’t need a vehicle because you spend one hour doing two kilometres in some parts of Times Square in a vehicle. But when you walk, you see yourself getting it fine in ten minutes. And you can see the advantages of walking.
It gives us a better lifestyle. It is an exercise; our health is intact and you are able to appreciate the environment more. So, we want to replicate that pilot stuff we did at the back of the Government House, everywhere. In fact, the name of that place is Capital Territory Garden 001, so, we hope that by the end of the first tenure of this administration that Enugu may have capital territory garden 100 and beyond. You can imagine doing that in Uwani, replicating it in Achara Layout and right now we are working on that bridge, that tunnel coming from airport at New Haven. We are going to replicate similar things. If we have your support, we will do a lot. Let me restate that in the Enugu master plan, we have dedicated markets for virtually almost everything.
So, in our urban renewal drive, we do not want street trading. How do we achieve it? We will achieve it by creating conducive markets where every need will be taken care of. And the governor is very concerned about the issue of street trading. Who are the people indulging in street trading? They are our children. And the governor is specific on this. Every child should be in school. Not in the street. Every child in Enugu State must be in school. After school, they go home and have their siesta. We are not oblivious that some of them must have to help their parents in their parents’ business. But we will not allow anything that has the semblance of child abuse. We don’t want to see any child on the streets of Enugu doing street trading. Their place is in school. In the evening, they can help their parents in their designated place of business.
Some structures are springing up in areas that the development control calls wrong places. Does Enugu really have a master plan?
Enugu was the capital of the old Eastern Region that stretches into Southern Cameroon. At a point in the history of Nigeria, Enugu was the second most important city after Lagos. Our fathers and even the colonial masters that ran Enugu gave us a comprehensive plan. They covered every imaginable thing. They gave us a master plan that is still valid, subject to amendment here and will still be valid for the next 200 years. The problem is that along the road, people started distorting this plan. Governor Peter Mbah is emphatic that the restoration of Enugu master plan is not negotiable. You can take that to the bank. To that extent, he is concerned with massive urban renewal. He is building new cities. You were with him a few weeks ago when he launched the smart city in the Emene axis. He is relocating all the slums in Enugu. He has identified 21 of such urban slums.
We are removing all of them and we are doing it with a human face. He is building new cities that will decongest the city centre. In Enugu South, the Akwuke area, a lot is going on. So, our plan is to build some low-cost houses and allocate it free of charge to the authentic owners of the place that have now been turned into slums so that they can buy into the state government plan of relocating them.
So, they will have proper electricity, proper drainage, football pitches for children to go and play, schools, hospitals, health centres, shopping malls, that is our plan. That is what is ongoing. It has gone through the planning phase. This coming 2024 is going to be an exciting time to live in Enugu because as we get a place, we move them, then we clear the slum. Some of them will be beautified in such a way that people will like the go there to hang out. Others will be developed into beautiful markets, shopping malls, city centres and things like that. The governor is also passionate about greening and tree planting. That’s why I want you people to see what we’ve done at Ezilo Street. I’m sure if you wake up the governor and ask him what is his thought about the urban renewal of Enugu, by the time you talk with him for two minutes, you will hear something about greening, greening, tree planting, tree planting. I am also inviting all of you and your colleagues to Uwani. We are having a town hall meeting in Uwani. Uwani used to be the centre of Enugu. But today when it rains, everywhere is flooded. I’m sure you are aware. We have discovered that people have built on sanitary drain channels. We formally invite you so that you can tell the world that we want to do this job and we want to do it with a human face and we want to make a difference.