Making Imo State Viable for Investors

Imo State can be viable again if it is investors friendly. Through this document curled from Ehime Development Agenda Forum as published by Barr. Emeka has the prayer of the citizens. 

Following the stunning victory of Owelle Rochas Okorocha the former Governor of Imo state in 2011,many had expected a more progressive way of encouraging businesses and investments as the former Governor was a reputed businessman who was also reputed to have investments all over the country, in particular heavy investments with the capacity of creating meaningful jobs badly needed then in the state. 

Those optimistic sentiments were soon dispelled as land grabs,discouragement of investors and investments,meaningless non durable projects and mindless victimization of those who disagreed with the government,especially business and commercial disagreements began to filter out to the general disappointment and amazement of everyone. 

Eleven years after construction on it was maliciously halted by the Okorocha administration, the graceful shell of the Gee Plaza Hotel still overlooks the old ama JK park,a gracious luxurious piece of greenery, distastfully destroyed by Rochas Okorocha to make way for an ill conceived multi storey car park,which has become another Siamese elephant,abandoned and ugly to sight.

Gee plaza hotel is owned by billionaire businessman Senator Athan achonu and is built around the old Imo hotels complex which is owned by Senator Athan achonu and the Imo state government in a 60-40 % share ratio, meaning that Senator achonu is the majority shareholder in the arrangement. 

Interestingly the conception of the Gee plaza hotel was that of a five star hotel with conference halls ,malls and relaxation/games arcade. Apart from the plans to turn it into a tourist hot spot,additional subsidiary industries such as water bottling and Tissue paper factories were to be appended to the investment to service the hotel and relaxation area thereby creating hundreds of jobs.

Owerri by its nature is a tourism town and like Las Vegas Nevada in the united states of America, the hospitality industry thrives and provides jobs for not only the employees of hotels but suppliers,technicians,car hire services,decorators etc . The presence of quality hotels such as Gee plaza would have added value to industry in the state with little or no heavy industries.

The forced stoppage of work at Gee plaza hotel by agents of state such as the Owerri capital development authority (OCDA ) at the supposed behest of then Governor Okorocha shows how greed,arrogance, mismanagement and vindictiveness can affect the development of an area. The malice driven crusade by Rochas against the Gee plaza hotel resulted in the seizure of part of Imo hotels owned by Senator Athan achonu where Rochas and his government not only built such shoddy structures such as White house,treasury building ,bongo center but also the Imo international conference center which has all but collapsed literally. 

The Sad tale of the Gee plaza hotel is a strong reminder that there saboteurs of the development of Igbo land still in power and who would put their selfish retrogressive desires above the collective development of the state and southeast.

It is conceivable that had the construction of the Gee plaza hotel been allowed to PROGRESS,over 600 imolites would have been gainfully employed in both the hotel complex and subsidiary feeder industries, but the desires of Rochas Okorocha must override that of Imo people everytime even when detrimental to the overall collective development,no wonder the state heaved a sigh of relief when Okorocha and his clan and cronies were thrown out in 2019.

Though the courts have reversed the Okorocha lawless acts against Gee Plaza hotels and Senator achonu in two (Imo state and Federal high court) landmark judgments and restored PARTS of Imo hotels to its rightful owner Senator Athan Achonu,the present Government should ensure that such injustice never happened again and the decisionof the courts are respected and individual commercial rights restored. 

The mistreatment given to Senator achonu and the Gee plaza hotel was the greatest INJUSTICE of the Rochas administration. Such grave injustice must never allowed to happen in the state again.

The constant calls for investments both local and foreign cannot materialize without the recourse to rule of law. Investors can never put their money in a place where rulers like Rochas can maliciously seize private investments and allow invested billions to rot. Investors are sensitive they dont just throw away money,they do diligent investigation before committing their cash to investments.

All illegal and anti development policies of Rochas Okorocha should be reversed and with great haste. Businessmen like Senator achonu who lost billions through the malicious acts of a crude lawless government should be reassured and further encouraged.

Gee plaza hotel is a symbolic reminder of the anti investment policies of a bad government. It is incumbent on the present administration to ensure that all help is extended for the completion of this project whose abandonment is a symbolic stain on the investment report sheet of the state,this would send the right signals to the investment community that a fresh page has been turned from the lawless egocentric and caligulan era of Rochas Okorocha.