Enugu @ 32: Residents Lament Moribund Industries, Abandoned Projects

Civilian administrations that governed Enugu State since its creation thirty-two years ago failed by allowing state-owned industries to die, thus creating unemployment among the youths.

Some residents that spoke with THE WHISTLER also berated the administrations for failing to continue some projects started by their predecessors.

They spoke in commemoration of the state’s thirty years’ anniversary. Enugu State, our correspondent gathered, was created by the administration of former Military President Ibrahim Babangida on 27th August, 1991.

Chief Ray Nnaji, former national auditor of the Peoples’ Democratic Party, said the past thirty-two years of civilian administrations has been that of mixed blessings.

He said, “It is a mixed feeling. We had the military to the civilians. We are happy because we have democracy, but the democratic dispensations did not give us what we wanted.

“None of the industries are working. We have a cashew processing factory at Oghe. It is both moribund and vandalised. And there was no attempt to see if more industries are to be built. Aside the cashew industry, the state Sunrise Flour Mills, Niger Steel, NigerCem, mention them, died under civilian regimes.

“The government of Chief Jim Nwobodo initiated some, but successive administrations lacked the capacity to make them functions. We have killed all the industries we used to have because of greed and politics.”

On project abandonment, Nnaji, a lawyer, said, “The International Conference Centre, which would have been yielding revenue to the state, is now a big waste. It was started by former governor Chimaroke Nnamani. The same thing goes to the Hotel Presidential, Enugu. It was leased out.

“The state secretariat that was started by ex-Gov Sullivan Chime remains incomplete. The old one would have been left as a monument. The amount of money used in destroying the old structures would have been utilised for better things. The subsequent government did not attempt to make it better.”

Gabriel Eze, an economist, said the state still lacks a purposeful leadership. He said, “Projects are started, and not completed, and subsequent governments will abandon them.

“Our problem is leadership. We say that government is a continuum, but it is not so here. Let those abandoned industries be renovated to engage our youths meaningfully.”