Soludo’s urban renewal masterplan is on course

Despite the fact that the pass-through effects, in terms of changes in exchange rate and prices of gasoline, are having a severe impact on the cost of mega projects in Nigeria, the government of Anambra State is aggressively carrying out an urban regeneration agenda in Anambra’s four (4) main cities: Awka, Ekwulobia, Nnewi and Onitsha.

In October 2022, six months after Governor Chukwuma Soludo was sworn in as the governor of Anambra, he inaugurated Anambra’s Urban Regeneration Council in order to birth a new Anambra and address Anambra’s urban decay challenges. This is similar to the strategy adopted in England in reaction to the unsanitary conditions of the urban poor in its rapidly industrializing cities between 1970 to the early 90’s.

Soludo’s urban renewal plan has a few goals, namely to have: economic renewal, social/cultural renewal, infrastructural renewal and environmental renewal.

As far back as in 2006,  the United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-Habitat) reported that Anambra was the second most urbanized state in Nigeria with 62% of its population living in urban areas. [Anambra has 4 big cities and its biggest city is not its capital]. The UN-Habitat further reported that the effect of this was the enormous pressure on public infrastructure which resulted in ‘’decayed inner and suburban sprawling slums, inadequate sanitation, uncontrolled street trading, mountains of uncollected wastes, overcrowded and congested transport systems and roads with poor drainages, noise and air pollution’’.

To address this, in 2007, Anambra State Government had a technical cooperation agreement with the UN-HABITAT in order to provide technical assistance in the preparation of structure plans for three cities, namely Awka Capital Territory, Nnewi and Onitsha. But this agreement did not seem to achieve the desired result.

Today, there is a political will and administrative commitment to regenerate Anambra and this is clear to every resident of Anambra.

We start with Awka. For those not familiar with Awka, the city is somewhat divided into two halves by the Enugu- Onitsha Expressway and these two halves have limited linkages. Today, the construction of Aroma overpass bridge that will link Ifite Awka and Zik’s avenue is in top gear. And in a few weeks, the two halves of Awka will be effectively linked with a flyover, by the Soludo-led administration. There has been a massive construction of new roads in Awka in order to give the city a facelift, in the last 2 years. For instance, roads leading to the biggest shopping malls in Awka, which were in bad conditions, are now wearing a new look. Erosion ravished communities have been regenerated.

That is not all for Awka. The rapid population growth of Awka and the lack of a strict adherence to a masterplan have made the city not to have tourist sites, parks, green areas and other public facilities that one would see in developed countries. Fortunately, the design for a new city that would be built beside the old Awka City is almost complete. [5,000 hectares of land for the new city have been acquired by the state government and this new city will be known as Awka 2.0 and the current Awka, as you know it today, will be referred to as Awka 1.0].  But Awka 1.0 is not left out in Soludo’s urban renewal plan as massive developments are currently going on in order to regenerate the city. Construction has started on Anambra’s equivalent of the Eiffel Tower in front of the 23-hectares new government house being constructed in Awka, which would be commissioned in the coming months. One of the biggest amusement and water parks in the south east will be unveiled in Awka in a few months. Construction is ongoing in the Awka Innovation District, which is Anambra’s equivalent of Silicon Valley.

The case of Onitsha is not different. Today, roads leading to West Africa’s biggest market – the Onitsha Main Market – are now wearing a new look. This has impacted the economy of the city. Decayed urban areas in Onitsha now have water fountains. In the coming months, the famous Upper Iweka will wear a new look, as well. Street traders and motor parks are being relocated to decent environments. Provision has been made for street cameras and road signs to adorn Upper Iweka – a business district that was fast turning into a slum. And of course, criminals who took advantage of the chaotic nature of Upper Iweka in the past no longer have hiding spaces. What used to be the biggest urban slum in Africa – Okpoko Community in the outskirts of Onitsha – has been regenerated.  But the ancient city of Onitsha as you have it today needs to expand and there is a bigger plan for Onitsha: the design of Onitsha 2.0 – a new city on the banks of the River Niger – is almost complete.

The story is the same in Ekwulobia and Nnewi. The only prestressed long span concrete bridge built by a state government in the south east will be commissioned in Ekwulobia later in the year. With the dual carriage superhighway between Awka and Imo State being constructed by the Soludo-led administration, the economy of Ekwulobia would be permanently linked to that of Imo State.  And, of course, major roads in Nnewi are being constructed. The commencement of a host of other roads is in the pipeline. In fact, a few weeks ago, the chairman of Anambra’s Urban Regeneration Council presented a list of major roads slated for dualization in Anambra.

The urban regeneration trajectory for Anambra has changed and fit for purpose masterplans are being developed for major urban areas in Anambra. Currently, CPCS – a company that played pivotal roles in Lagos States’ Blue Line Rail Project – is putting finishing touches on the design of Anambra’s rail master plan. The plan is to improve passenger mobility and freight transport in Anambra. Also, there are concerted efforts by the Soludo-led administration to keep Anambra clean.

Soludo’s plan to regenerate Anambra is on course. The state is currently a massive construction site. The nexus between these projects and the economic wellbeing of residents of Anambra cannot be overemphasized. The future of Anambra is bright!

Nwankwo is the special adviser on special projects to Soludo