At a recent social function in Owerri, I ran into a bossom pal who happens to be a fellow old boy of my alma mater. In the course of our group discussion with other contemporaries who graced the event, I congratulated my fellow in advance about the gubernatorial ambition of one of his elder brothers who commenced consultation ahead 2015. I informed him that if plans work out for his brother as planned, they will be in Government House, Owerri in 2015 and the position of Chief of Staff to the Governor, may be allocated to him.
While everybody laughed and joked about my postulations, “My guy” responded that he would want to be incharge of OCDA instead of Chief of Staff if his brother scales through to become Governor in 2015. His comments elicited reactions from the gathering that was astonished by his desires. When I probed further on reasons behind the OCDA job as an exalted COS or Commissioner position would have been preferable, he came up again with this “my brother, OCDA wu kwa ebe ano now. They are the people everybody is afraid off, only that their bad (X) mark in any wall or building is money. Hmm, na there something de, I de tell u”
I took my friend’s reaction with a pinch of salt but would not want to dismiss his views since he is a civil servant and may be aware of the workings of Owerri Capital Development Authority, OCDA, may be in the past or in recent times.
Another scenario that attracted me to OCDA was the insipid action the government agency did in my residential area. My Owerri home is located at a Federal Housing Estate in The State Capital. Following unprecedented security threats heightened by occasional criminal activities like armed robbery and kidnapping, residents of the Estate raised a Neighbourhood Association who through communal efforts erected and installed iron security gates at various entry and exit points to complement the services of private security guards employed to keep watch over life and property within. The residents however woke up one morning to discover the gate-wall demolished and Iron Gate carted away by OCDA men who adopted a Mafioso-like approach in executing the dastardly act. There were no notifications or official gestures to the residents of the estate that belongs to the Federal Housing Authority, FHA, where a letter emanating from the Federal Ministry of Housing had instructed that OCDA has no jurisdiction within the boundaries of the Estate. To the chagrin of the residents, OCDA men undertook the action with impunity behaving as if the government agency is above the law.
One pathetic incident however prompted me to discuss the OCDA matter this week. I visited the home of the family of a late brother-in-Christ at Irete, in Owerri West LGA of the state. The jobless widow who caters for the welfare of the six children was in tears when she narrated her experience in the hands of rampaging OCDA operatives. In apparent bid to engage in petty-trading to eke a living, the widow formed a container she stationed on a bush part of an insignificant road in Irete. Since the structure was movable and posses no obstacle or obstruction to either road users or residents, OCDA has however earmarked it for demolition. According to the widow, her pleadings and that of passers-by saved the day but not without parting with N5,000, the OCDA men allegedly demanded as “drink money”. The routine procedure of the OCDA operatives coming to take “drink money” has continued and I am aware that it is not only the poor widow residing at Irete that is undergoing this alarming exploitation. The story is same everywhere as victims for fear of demolition part with various amounts of money to OCDA.
However, OCDA stirred the hornet’s nest last week when it disclosed plans to demolish popular and the only privately-owned radio station in Imo State called Hot FM owed by Spectrum Media that has linkage to Senator Chris Anyanwu. Hot FM which came into existence in Imo three years ago is located on Yar’Adua Road, Owerri. According to OCDA letter issued to the Radio Station dated 17/9/2013, and signed by one Chief Amadi, the media house is requested to Remove/Pull Down the illegal/defective structure within 7 days from the date of issuance of this violation form or face bulldozers. Despite reactions trailing the OCDA threat to Hot FM Radio, the government agency still insist that the electronic media outfit owned by Senator Chris Anyanwu must pay certain charges said to be above N.5m before it will be left off the agency’s hook.
It seems that the activities of the rampaging OCDA have become a subject of discussion in the state. While taking my time at a car-wash in New Owerri, a government vehicle with OCDA inscription passed. The few persons waiting for their vehicles to be cleaned discussed the inglorious activities of the establishment armed with the powers to regulate structural development in Owerri.
No doubts, OCDA is not the creation of Owelle Rochas Okorocha. The establishment has a date with Imo history having by the exclusive right of permitting structures to be erected within the marked areas captured in Owerri Capital territory development enclave. In doing so, most of the towns and communities within Owerri Municipal, Owerri West and Owerri North LGA’s, are involved and no structural development would occur without OCDA permission.
Even before the advent of Okorocha government, OCDA existed and undertook these functions. For anybody erecting structures within the aforementioned catchment areas, the fear of OCDA is the beginning of wisdom. I would say that for certain unknown reasons, OCDA in the past years operated like a toothless bulldog as buildings and physical structures perceived to be illegal and unapproved were marked for removal and demolition. The OCDA bold and dreaded ‘X’ sign tormented property developers in Owerri who have no regard for due process and laid down procedures necessary for building purposes. Suffice it to note that but for the activities of OCDA, the capital city would have been witnessing uncoordinated structural development.
However, the coming of Okorocha has arguably changed the face of OCDA with the Government agency adopting a combative posture to enforce strict adherence to stipulated regulations. A sign that OCDA has changed gear in the past two years emerged when the agency was renamed Rescue Mission OCDA. It began by changing the existing sign posts indicating the agency’s boundaries, from “welcome to Owerri Capital Development Authority” to different signals. Instead of the usual OCDA area demarcation, the new administration started with other slogans to indicate change of guard. Again, core civil servants and administrators who rose from the ranks were shunned from taking charge of the agency, while political appointees are now at the helm of affairs. A pattern believed to be a far departure from the past.
The new Internal Generated Revenue (IGR) drive of the Okorocha Government may have forced OCDA to adopt stringent measures at not only re-discovering Owerri Capital territory master plan, but also generating income for the state government under the privatization and commercialization agenda. This agenda prompted OCDA to embark on “Operation Show Your Building Approval” where defaulters are made to pay a stipulated amount for the purpose.
In this new arrangement, all property owners are expected to produce their building approval plan and all payment appendages. Defaulters stand the risk of losing their property to the bulldozers of OCDA. A friend disclosed at the car-wash mart during the chat how he has paid not less than N300,000 to OCDA for a land he bought several years ago and developed. According to him, OCDA marked X, an inscription that bulldozers are on their way to his choice property. Alarmed over the impeding doom, the fellow reported that he rushed to OCDA office on Owerri-PorHarcourt Road, where he met other victims of OCDA threat battling to save their property by parting with reasonable amount of money.
With veritable outfits like Adapalm oil plantation, Concorde Hotel, ITC and other government establishments falling into the hands of private operators under Okorocha’s Rescue Mission administration, OCDA no doubt remains the new money-making machine of the state government.
What is however disturbing in Rescue Mission OCDA is their modus operadi and alleged defrauding helpless citizens of the state in the name of revalidating “Certificate of Occupancy” as well as the monstrous “Operation Show You Building Plan Approval”. Moreso, OCDA’s penchant for going after properties of suspected opposition forces calls for concern. Apart from the “Hot FM” radio case where the frosty relationship between the proprietor, Senator Anyanwu and Okorocha may have incensed their action, the recent revocation of the property belonging to the anti-abortion law chief campaigner, Dr Philip Njemanze is a case in point.
The worrisome development posited by OCDA gives rise to several questions which borders on its recent activities. One ponders if those in charge of the present OCDA arrived from the moon or are born again staffers of the agency who have suddenly rediscovered their responsibilities in the course of discharging their duties. If some of the affected buildings and property were developed several years ago and had OCDA approval, what went wrong now for the same OCDA to declare those structures illegal and unfit to exist?
Authorities of OCDA should not only be held responsible but also prosecuted for the anomalies noticed by the Rescue Mission OCDA in terms of faulty and illegal approval. The full weight of the law should be visited on the perpetrators. A walk around Owerri Municipality and environs would attest to the fact the several buildings marked with OCDA X sign at stages will be completed without the agency taking appropriate measures to ensure that the structure was not raised until proper formalities are observed. Those incharge at the organization in the past should be blamed for building approval default since OCDA could not properly discharge its duties in line with regulations erecting of structures in the capital territory.
Except proper measures are taking to guide against these absurdities, successive governments may use OCDA as a tool for witch-hunt and political vendetta against perceived opponents and act as another avenue to exploit unsuspecting citizens of the state. I can now understand why OCDA has turned to a hot cake and my friend prefers it.
