CHIDIEBERE IWUOHA gives an update on the crisis over relocation of the Owerri main market in Imo state, even as the state government’s decision is dividing the people along party lines
There have been debates in Imo State on whether the ancestral market of Owerri people, the Owerri Main market otherwise known in local parlance as Eke Ukwu Owere, situated on Douglas Road, should be relocated to a conducive place or left to continue where it is. The state government led by Owelle Rochas Okorocha had made some policy statements about the market which the traders as well as Owerri indigenes felt were capable of putting them in a state of jeopardy. As things stand now, it has degenerated into a political matter. The state is now divided between those who want the market to move and those who think otherwise.
How the idea of relocation was mooted by Governor Okorocha:
The idea of relocating the Eke Ukwu Owere to Egbeada, Ubomiri in Mbaitoli LGA of Imo state was borne out of the desire of the state Governor, Owelle Rochas Okorocha to transform the state capital to a modern state capital in line with his Imo My Pride Beautification project. The governor also discovered that the dehumanizing traffic hold-up on Douglas Road where the market is located is as a result of unorganized trading by mostly, petty-traders, menace of hawkers and commercial vehicle drivers on the road who have made movement difficult.
Again, there have been cases of extortion of traders of the market by indigenes who masquerade as levy collectors to rip them off. The worst is that they come in different groups and at times make traders pay more than once. Also, there have been uncontrollable cases of secret cult activities and even money and mobile phone snatching both at night and evening, in and around the market place. The issue of dumping indiscriminately, refuse generated from the market at the centre of the road by traders is also an issue of great concern to both the government and inhabitants of the state capital as epidemic could easily break out. All these have given Owerri, once regarded as the cleanest state capital in the federation a bad image and have become a threat to the arrival of investors to the state. And the state government, in a bid to reclaim the capital, issued relocation threats to the traders and subsequently, gave them deadlines within which to park out to their new site, just the same way mechanics at the Orji Mechanic Village were relocated to Avu, in Owerri West LGA.
This threat of relocation started in 2015 but in order not to appear like a government without human face, the governor shifted it to this year, precisely August 31,to give traders enough time to leave. But when it appeared as if the August deadline was not going to work out, one more month was added. But up till this moment, it has not worked out as Owerri people have secured an injunction against the relocation.
Reactions of traders and Owerri indigenes:
As the governor and his aides were issuing statements on the planned relocation, threatening to pull down the market any moment, the traders and Owerri indigenes never gave up. There have been demonstrations by traders made up of men and women, that of the youth and concerned citizens to the Government House, State House of Assembly and other important places , urging government to rescind the decision as that could be counter productive, especially in the face of the prevailing economic realities. On such occasions, they also reminded the Governor that Owerri people contributed immensely towards his elections, especially that of 2011 where he ousted the then incumbent, Sir Ikedi Ohakim, and therefore needed to be treated with respect and not to be brought out for sacrifice.
However, some diehard Owerri elders have always believed that they would pursue the matter to its logical conclusion, just the way they did during the battle for the soul of “Area k” which was allocated to them by a previous government as compensation to some pieces of land acquired by government to erect state structures or edifices. Then, they had felt that the governor wanted to take over the area by force by designating the p[ace as a tourism site where one of the tallest hotels in Africa and other tourist attractions as the governor claimed, would be erected. When it became obvious to Owerri people that the governor was not ready to let go, they brought a coffin to the site and wrote his name and R.I.P. on it. In addition to that, the youth, women, and men prepared food, drank, danced, sang and kept vigil there on a daily basis,thereby daring the governor to do his worst. While that was going on, a court case against the governor and the state government was pending. Some months later, the case was decided against the government and the planned takeover was shelved. While the new hotel site was relocated to another nearby local government area in Owerri West, precisely on Portharcourt Road, the Akachi Towers now completed, is standing tall along the new Akachi Road leading to Aba Road.
With the air of victory over the governor on the Area K issue, the elders of Owerri Municipal went back to work to steal yet another victory, this time around over Eke Ukwu Owere. They have already secured an injunction against the planned relocation. In and around Owerri, criticisms of the governor have become a commonplace. You could easily hear people make negative statements against him. The recent death rumour was more in the market than in any other place. That was why the governor had to rush to the market a day after he came back, to physically appear before the traders. Yet, some of them did not believe it was real, but continued with the death rumour.
The governor, in a press conference later, insisted on relocating the market to a befitting place whether the rumour was real or fake. For him, “the state capital belongs to every Imo man and everybody should be concerned about its development, rather than engaging in fetish thoughts.” He told people to tell their friends and relatives in the market that they should start removing their valuables as any moment from then, bulldozers would start bringing down the market structures. He added that when he wanted to pull down the Ahiajoku statues at the Mbari Cultural Centre and construct roads across the dried up Nworie River, the same people wished him bad and came up with different death wishes, saying he had desecrated the land, yet nothing happened. He added that the security operatives had taken note of the names of the elders who wrote a letter and threatened that the Otokoto mayhem of 1996 would be a child’s play if the governor went ahead to demolish the market.
Involvement of the opposition in the matter:
The legal battle against the governor is allegedly led by a former Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice, Barr. Ken Njemanze(SAN), an indigene who contested the 2015 PDP Governorship Primary and a few others. He served under Sir Ohakim and he and his legal team succeeded in securing an injunction against the relocation. Ohakim himself, had a few weeks ago, advised Okorocha not to move the market out of the present location but rather move the shanties at Amawusa to its new site and achieve the desired objective. The injunction secured by the Owerri elders appeared not to have gone down well with the state government. This showed in the way they handled the mountainous refuse dumped at the centre of Douglas Road, a major road in the state capital, just in front of the market, ten days after the last monthly Environmental Exercise.
When the Chief Press Secretary to the Governor, Sam Onwuemeodo was asked to comment on the delay in evacuating the refuse, he simply said it was because of the court injunction. And that as a law abiding government, they were simply obeying the court order to stay action. Imolites were irked by this statement, especially, members of the People’s Democratic Party(PDP), notably, former Deputy Speaker, Chief Emeka Ihedioha, Senator Samuel Anyanwu of Owerri Zone and Reps member, Hon Ezenwa Onyewuchi who aligned with the traders and initiated moves to evacuate the refuse. The first day of evacuation allegedly witnessed a setback as thugs allegedly sent by government, emerged and stopped the workmen from making a progress, claiming that the court injunction secured by Owerri people also affected the refuse evacuation, therefore they should hands off.
