Niger Delta crisis triggers Owerri property boom

While the rampant kidnappings, murders and gang wars have turned the core Niger delta states of Rivers, Delta and Bayelsa into a nightmare, it has triggered a boom in the property market of Owerri, the Imo State capital.
Imo governor, Ikedi Ohakim, disclosed this in an interview, while stressing his government’s policy of tying into the economic developments in neighbouring states. Owerri is safe, and near enough to the oil fields.

"The month we came into office, a flat in Owerri was going for a rent of N250,000 per annum. Now it is going for over one million naira. We are cleaning up Owerri, and workers in oil companies in Port Harcourt are bringing their families to live here," the governor said.

But besides the sprucing up of Owerri, the major attraction that has triggered the property upswing within four months is relative security. Ohakim attributes that to his partnership with the Federal Government in checking the spread of militancy.

" Look at security. All those boys that were running away from Port Harcourt, they wanted to cross over to Imo. You know what happened to them? Have you heard of any disturbance in Imo? Has anybody been hijacked in Imo? Do you know Imo would have been the next target where they would go and hit? Do you know what we have done in conjunction with the Federal Government to make sure that that thing does not expand?," he asked rhetorically.

Apart from benefiting from the near-anarchy of the core delta states, Ohakim says he is working on a tourism masterplan that will reap from all the south-east and south-south states.

In the lead is the Wonderlake project, a water-based tourism development with a N70 billion budget, with a capacity to employ 20,000 people over the next three years.

He banks on the location of the state, which is equidistant from all the major cities of the south-south and south-east. These cities will yield the flow of tourists.

The state is also seeking partnerships with the private sector, for the industrial development of the state. "We are talking with some investors to come and set up in the state. We have the largest deposit of gas in West Africa, and we are oil-producing", the governor says.

On the perennial problem of petroleum product availability and pricing, he said that he had fought petroleum profiteers, deploying a taskforce with police and military membership to check the activities of dealers. Those found to be profiteering have had the certificates of occupancy of both their stations and homes revoked.

His philosophy is that they are saboteurs, and he would run them out of town rather than have them grind the state to a halt. Fuel allocations to Imo State are also tracked by the taskforce to check product diversion. Those who hoard products, now have their premises locked up indefinitely, he added.
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