President Olusgun Obasanjo paid a two-day working visit to Enugu state recently.
At the end of the tour, Governor Chimaroke Nnamani fielded questions from journalists,
including UBA AHAM of our Enugu bureau.
Question: What is your impression on the just concluded visit of Mr. President
to your state?
Answer: It was precise. It was, also eventful. It was a successful visit.
Question: What is the possibility of completing this projects before you leave
office?
Answer: Most of these projects were actually started from March last year,
the conference centre was about November, underground tunnel crossing road
about January, and we are only in February. The Chime Avenue road dualisation
project took about three to four months. So all the projects are going on at
the same time. If you notice in all the sites, all the buildings are out of
foundation level.
Question: When will the projects be completed?
Answer: By the grace of God, by November or December this year, all our projects
will be completed. The tunnel will be completed before the rainy season.
The students are moving into the teaching hospital by the end of this month.
So by April, it will be fully functional. The conference centre is out of
foundation level and is going on. Those buildings are just pillars, and once
you do the pillars, it is a question of roofing and block work. The judiciary
is out of foundation level as well. The Loma Linda housing estate is made
up of similar structures. So, the contractors are just replicating it. The
university is out of foundation level. Either November or December this year,
these projects of ours should have been completed. By the grace of God, in
March 2006, a special convocation is going to hold for the commencement of
education activities at the permanent site of the university. The Nyaba bridge
is already done.
Question: the Oji River water project is a collaborative effort between your
state and the federal government. What is the percentage of your contribution
in the project?
Answer: The Enugu water augmentation project,
which gulped almost N2 billion, is a federal government project. But there
is a state component. The water
production is fully federal government’s. the state government is only
contributing in getting it and distributing it in Enugu.
Question: What other assistance do you expect from the federal government?
Answer: the president is still committed to the internationalization of Enugu
Airport. We just have to work and see whether we can get carriers who would
agree to come to Enugu. It is a question of providing customs and immigration.
Further, because of general ecological challenges in the state, we hope to
make a request to the president over ecological funds to combat the menace.