Commercial motorbike (Okada)
operators in Onitsha and Awka, the capital city of Anambra State have been
given until July 1, 2018 to change to another trade or vacate the two cities
for good.
This is one of the many resolutions
from the meeting of the Anambra State Executive Council today, Tuesday, May 22,
2018. The ultimatum given to Okada operators in the two cities is part of the
overall strategy adopted by the state government to deepen its crackdown on
crime and restore sanity to Onitsha and Awka.
Similarly, residents of some
make-shift structures on the banks of the River Niger stretching from Onitsha
to Ogbaru have also been given until August 1, 2018 to relocate from those
places along the waterfront as they have been marked for demolition. This is
also a part of the campaign against the men of the underworld in the state.
The deadlines given to Okada
operators and the shanty-dwellers are intended to offer them enough time to
make the necessary adjustments in order to fit into the emerging socio-cultural
scenario in the state.
Other far ranging resolutions of the
Council include the establishment of a Committee on Environment with a mandate
to clean up Anambra State, clearing out garbage dumps and overflowing drainages
and demolishing illegal structures that are either obstructing the way or
ruining the aesthetics of the Anambra environment. The committee is expected to
sustain the on-going campaign to put an end to roadside trading that often
leads to avoidable traffic congestion and return sanity to the roads and
highways of Anambra State.
Re-inforcing the hard line posture
of his administration against street-trading and erection of illegal structures
across the state, Governor Willie Obiano specifically commended the agencies
behind the on-going demolition exercise in the state, urging them to sustain
the momentum until the state begins to wear a better look. He also sent a note
of warning to owners of illegal structures along the famous Awka Road in
Onitsha, saying that very soon the demolition team would sweep through the
area.
He frowned at the current practice
by Awka residents who sometimes dump their waste bins right in the middle of
Zik Avenue and warned that anyone caught doing that would pay a heavy penalty.
The governor further announced that
important public places like the Prof Dora Akunyili Women Development Centre,
Alex Ekwueme Square and the vast premises of the Anambra Broadcasting Service
(ABS) would soon be given a facelift and properly remodelled to fit into the
dynamics of the day.
According to him, the Amphitheatre
of the Dora Akunyili Women Development Centre would be redesigned to serve as a
stadium and completed as soon as possible.
The governor also frowned at the spate
of daring encroachment on government land in the state by speculators and
warned that there would be severe consequences for anyone who wanted to
flagrantly break the law and order
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