Before and up to 1981, five years after its creation, Owerri metropolis used to be a glorified state capital.
It wan common sight to see the carcasses of abandoned vehicles in what used to be known as Mechanic Shades. They were just all over the city.
The existence of mechanic shades then was very common and necessary because there were healthy vehicles which were mainly owned by the government.
More than 80% of vehicles available were very old and rickety, primarily because most of them were parked for nearly 3 yrs as a result of the civil war before they were resuscitated.
The preponderance of these help-me-push vehicles which easily and usually brake down after a few kilometers journey justified the ubiquitous presence of the mechanic shades. Their presence and services were none the less most needful and helpful. Streets in Owerri were littered by their sights to such an extent that it became a menace.
Quintessential Governor, Sam Mbakwe had allowed them primarily because his dream capital city, the new Owerri was fast in the making, a few kilometers away with the elegant Concorde hotel pretty sitting in the middle.
Then came 1983, the days of Ike Nwachukwu as military governor of old Imo State and the idea of a full blown mechanic village was born. It is difficult now to conjecture whether the idea behind the mechanic village was to get rid of the ugly sights of these carcasses of abandoned vehicles by sort of quarantining them away of the city. No one will argue that the present sites of the mechanic villages in Nekede and Orji were well out of the city of Owerri at that time.
In that year, there was a meeting of the Federation of African Public Relations Association FAPRA hosted at Concord Hotel and a courtesy visit to the government house brought the issue of the mechanic villages to the discussion table.
A senior government official had tried to explain the idea of a mechanic village as according to him, is obtainable in civilized and advanced countries. Some Public Relations practitioners had complained on behalf of the mechanics that pushing them away out of the vicinity would affect their services and consequently means of livelihood because the so called mechanic villages as then created were not accessible due to absence of good roads.
The government official rather wanted the PR practitioners to help government explain the ideas of the mechanic villages to the mechanics and the general public so that they would understand and appreciate the good intention of a government that was thinking about them and for them in their own interest.
The whole idea was to have that area properly mapped out and planned with roads, market, water and electricity supplies to mention a few in addition to churches and schools.
The beauty of that was the owner occupier condition which allows for the accommodation of the entire family. Inside the village setting, one mechanic workshop was to house a Peugeot mechanize or France as was popular then, then Japanese for the Toyota and Mitsubishi vehicles and the Volkswagen and Benz or Germany as popularly said. In that environment there will be either an auto electrician or rewire as popularly called, or any of the welders, upholstery, panel beater or painter together with small traders on accessories all interspersed.
It was an exciting novelty as the area would be adequately planned and all operators of whatever trade would live in the place now known as Mechanic Village. They would be automatically and permanently entitled to all the rights and privileges of any citizen of any other community.
The most immediate benefit was that your mechanic or whatever allied ancillary occupation would always be available on site, rain or sunshine which meant that he could be reached even at half past naught o’clock.
I remember task forces were created and datelines given to facilitate the quick execution of the laudable project. Before we knew it, all the mechanics scattered within Owerri Metropolis were pushed from wherever into Nekede and Orji just like that.
Till this day we have remained expectant of the model mechanic village as explained and promised to no avail.
I remember I wrote a proposal to government at that time for a government cum private partnership in the running of the mechanic village. I had suggested based on what I read and heard about India on their practice of when any piece of metal can no longer service the original use for which it was meant. For example a bolt that gets worn out, it could be converted or at best thrown into a furnace and melted to begin another journey in the hands of blacksmiths and welders. Call is recycling or wastage control.
The government was to establish and run the blast furnace then costing only N25million (twenty five) Naira in India. The government was also to install some lathe turning machines which the mechanics on their own cannot afford to buy and then hire them out to these mechanics for some fees, in that symbiotic relationship the government would help the crafts men overcome some major obstacles to their trades while making money for government. The mechanic village was to form the basis for a technological renaissance.
The availability of good roads was to ensure accessibility to the whole markets and schools would same the needs of their women and children and complete the village nature where nothing essential would be lacking, because with the entire infrastructure, potable water would not be left out. With government interest small health centres for first aid and minor treatment would have been included.
30 years after, the dreamers have long woken from sleep and the dream forgotten or forgone. The mechanic villages are still so addressed but no longer in government priority project list.
Had the villages been properly established, it would have been easy for agents of government to collect taxes and rates because all the workmen are easily identifiable. Perhaps it would have been possible by now to organize night schools where some interested workmen could better their educational deficits.
After clear 30 years, good access roads are still a luxury in the mechanic villages. The mechanics in the glorified mechanic villages of today are only remembered by politicians during electioneering campaigns because of either their block votes or more for the supply of things. They are always fed with promises in wards that will never be marched with actions.
The other day while I was repairing my car and wondering why the environment was worse than what it was 30 years ago, I got a big shocker. The government of the day has just remembered them and has infact instituted a football competition to be competed among the artisans, craftsmen and traders. According to my informant, the government has pledged the sum of N5m (five million) naira to the overall winners of the tournament. Now guess what? The mechanics themselves are not the ones playing. Professional soccer mechanics are having a field day. They would benefit of the competition which would have been to help identify a good footballer wasting away in the workshop and help him discover his talent is already lost.
Inspite of the death of dreamers, can we have the next dream please!!!
