May-Roses Hotel Amawbia: Hotel business and Infrastructural deficit in Anambra state by Polycarp Onwubiko

Anambra state is one of the states in the federation where hotel business or hospitality industry flourishes. This explains the sporadic sprouting of magnificent hotels especially in the state capital, Awka. However, for this employment generating subsector to bring satisfactory returns to the proprietors, the operating environments have to be upgraded.
Proprietors of hospitality industry in Anambra state have been expressing utter disgust over their business due to marginal returns on investment as a result of infrastructure deficit in the urban and semi-urban towns especially Awka capital territory. May-Roses hotel in Amawbia is one of the hotels with international standard but the road leading there down to KABE secondary school. The proprietor, Chief Ifeanyi Nwokoye lamented that the multi-million investment was to create employments and has been spending a lot to make motor-able. He appealed to the Governor to reconstruct the vital road to lessen the traffic miasma at the round-about near Amawbia market.
Five-star hotels sprang up in Agu-Ovu quarters Amawbia and Amikwo village Awka, but the access roads are deplorable. Passengers see hell when buses who dodge men of FRSC at Paul University ply the road.
The establishment of Awka Capital Territory Development [ACTD] raised false hope of the people in addressing the huge infrastructural deficit of the state capital. If the statutory allocations of local governments were left to them, Awka south local government would have rehabilitated over 50 percent of the streets in the capital territory.
The infrastructure deficit in Awka capital territory was due flagrant violation of the constitution by the former governor, who hijacked the monthly statutory allocations and viable sources of internally generated revenues [IGR] of the 21 local government councils. The fact remains that if the local governments system was not killed in Anambra state due to deliberate failure to conduct the election, over 60 percent of inter-connecting roads and streets in the urban and semi-urban towns and rural communities would have been tarred with drainages to check the menace of erosion. Functional local government councils would have created direct and indirect employments and revived the rural economy.
Urban towns in Anambra state lack good roads; hence the lamentations of the operators of hotel business. It is agonizing that in all the roads in the 177 communities are decrepit; some have been cut off. Bad roads have been worsening unemployment as farm produce cannot be evacuated to urban towns for sale to earn income.
The tenure of the elected chairmen of the local governments will end in January but there is no sign that government will conduct the election. Consequently, it is likely that the unconstitutional arrangement called “care-taker committee is in the offing. The lethargic opposing political parties will as usual make noise and go to bed. Since impunity reins in Nigeria, nothing will prevent the Governor from continuing to hijack the monthly statutory allocations which ought to be managed by elected by properly elected chairmen to provide basic amenities and infrastructures to the communities.
During the past local government election APGA government did not allow the Labour Party who won in Nnewi north to take the seat which led to stalled court case as the party leaders were allegedly settled by the presidency to reward the former governor who brokered the deal. The subterfuge was that the elected chairman would not have allowed the present Governor to hijack the statutory allocations of the local government; hence the appointment of sole administrator.
Anambra people expect other political parties to insist on the conduct of local government election in January so that political parties who will win will not allow the continued hijacking of the monthly statutory allocations and confiscation of sources of the IGR. It is timely to exhort Governor Willy Obiano to respect the constitution in his interest and work with the state monthly statutory allocations; as he would be judged on that score, leaving the elected chairmen to prove their mettle in the art and craft of governance. He should disregard the supposed “superlative developmental accomplishments” of his predecessor which verged on monstrous illegalities like hijacking the local government allocations. In a bid to save money, he destroyed the rational salary chart which rendered the salaries and pensions regrettable. Governor Willy Obiano should avoid the shameful scenario surrounding theN75 allegedly left by the former governor. There was no amount of the development of the state by the former governor that would have compensated for the basic amenities and infrastructures in the 177 communities if the 21 local government councils were operated by elected chairmen.
There would not have been the illegal dishing out of N1million to the presidents general [PG’s] of town unions for the so-called palliative on community roads; and N500,000 to the traditional rulers every December for the supposed security [even when government pays the communities vigilantes] since 2007.
Governor Obiano, without reflection on the outcome of previous illegal disbursements increased it to a whopping N1.5milion; and the PG’s are expectant this December as it is a Christmas gift. The case would have been different if the local government system has been functional; but not the type of the present chairmen who are on mere posting as they do not award contracts; they write applications to the Governor through the commissioner for local government to effect minor repairs in the offices in addition to paltry releases for settlement of claims. The November release was not made to settle outstanding bills of petty suppliers who have been frequenting the offices and lamenting. These are local governments that are allocated not less than N120 millions every month from the federation account. This explains while the Chairmen and the councils are hardly seen their offices which look like secondary schools on vacation.   The sad fact is that there is nothing to show for the hijacked local government allocations meant to alleviate the drudgery in the rural communities. President Buhari should demonstrate the APC change agenda with immediate sanction of Governors who ignored his stern warning on the diversion of local government council monthly allocations.
Mr. Onwubiko wrote via [email protected], Awka Anambra state.