By: AUSTIN ECHEREOZO
Imo State Housing Corporation office located on MCC Uratta Road, Owerri is always a beehive of activities.
The corporation is one parastatal of the state whose members of staff are known for excellence and dedication to duty.
The General Manager, Hon. Mbakwe Obi did not waste any time in hitting the ground running as soon as he assumed office.
He has actually set the pace and immensely built a track record that would continue to remain in the sands of time. Obi has stepped up his game to take the corporation to an enviable height.
Obi has proven to be a round peg in a round hole. Imo Housing Corporation under Obi has taken a revolutionary dimension geared towards solving all the housing needs of the teeming Imo populace.
His policies and programmes which are in line with the 3R mantra has boosted the status of its mother ministry, the Ministry of Housing and Urban Development.
The Housing Corporation has recovered and resuscitated all government properties and assets that had been under the control of the private sector.
Government-owned housing estates like Imo Broadcasting Corporation Quarters at Orji, various rubber estates, Standard Shoe Industry and other movable and immovable government assets are now in control of the government. The accolades go to the Housing Corporation and Ministry of Lands.
That is not all, Imo people from different walks of life are now hopeful for affordable housing units. Plans are in top gear to build housing estates in all the three zones of the state and Imo civil servants will the greatest beneficiaries of the housing revolution.
Above all, the internally generated revenue from the Housing Corporation has increased geometrically since Mbakwe Obi’s inception as the GM.
The corporation is rated as one of the highest revenue generating agency at present. Hence, the general manager and his team are eager to do more.
He would always say that the much he has achieved is just a tip of an iceberg. But in spite of these achievements, activities are at a very low ebb at the Housing Corporation at present.
The once busy environment characterized by the staff and GM’s eagerness and drive to do their work has given way for undeserved relaxation.
They are eager to work but their efforts are seriously been hampered by circumstances beyond their control. It is not only the staff that are affected, individuals and corporate bodies that have one or two things to do with the corporation are also caught in the web of this dilemma.
The reasons for this unhealthy situation are not far-fetched. On the 26th of June 2022, the Director General of Imo Data Centre stormed the corporation’s premises and carted away with all the files in the GM’s office.
The reason given was that government gave directive that all documents that have to do with land should undergo automation. There is nothing wrong with that but the exercise has taken too long a time that they are frustrating activities at the Corporation.
Most of thoe files carted away are policy files without which no meaningful work will be done in the place. Imo Data Centre director, Teles Onyejiaka should as a matter of urgency act fast and save Imo Housing Corporation from collapse. The corporation is also calling on the state governor to intervene.
