…As Otti pays condolence to family of late Emmanuel Adaelu, former ACCIMA president
Governor Alex Otti of Abia State has reassured that community members that donated lands for the proposed Abia Airport, Nsulu in Isiala Ngwa North Local Government Area (LGA) of the state, would be compensated, as his administration has done in other areas, where people parted with their lands for government projects.
Governor Otti gave the reassurance Friday, December 20, 2024, during a friendly discussion with the family of the late Emmanuel Adaelu, when he, alongside his wife, Priscilla Chidimma Otti, paid the late Adaelu’s family a condolence visit.
The late Adaelu was an accomplished industrialist and former president of the Aba Chamber of Commerce, Industry, Mines and Agriculture (ACCIMA).
One identifiable mark and record of Governor Otti administration is that it does not forcefully take people’s land for any project without engaging the land owners first in discussions to work out compensation and earmarking funds for such before embarking on the intended project.
Despite the information in the public domain about the 36 months targeted completion of the Nsulu Airport Project, Governor Otti, who said he was meticulously in a hurry to spread development and democratic dividends across the state, is already working towards a 24-month completion deadline.
Governor Otti said that he was engaging with notable Airlines in the country for immediate use of the Airport once completed.
He further disclosed that Ururuka Road from Umuahia traversing Nsulu to Aba would be dualised for 15 minutes of easy access to and out of the Airport from Aba and Umuahia.
The governor said that the initial site earmarked for an Airport for the state by the administration of a former Governor Theodore Orji is no longer feasible for an Airport, as the place has become a built-up area. Moreso, that compensation was not paid to the land owners by past administrations that earmarked the area for an airport.
Governor Otti also re-echoed his administration’s mantra that so long as you “live, work and pay your tax in Abia, you are from Abia.”
He reaffirmed his commitment to building an Abia, where people from all works of life will come to live and do their businesses.
Governor Otti thanked God for the life and times of Emmanuel Adaelu and for a successful burial and prayed for his soul to rest in peace.
Uzor Nwachukwu, state’s commissioner for Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs, encouraged the children of the late Adaelu to build on and sustain the good legacies of their father.
He also said that the late Adaelu loved his people and wanted the best for the state, saying that it was quite unfortunate that he passed on when the good things he desired for the state has started manifesting across the state, particularly in Ngwaland, under the people-centered good governance model of Governor Alex Otti.
Solomon Adaelu, the surviving first son of late Emmanuel Adaelu, a former member of the House of Representatives, profoundly expressed the family’s gratitude to the governor for not just paying them a visit, but coming with his wife, the First Lady of the state.
He said that he has been a close associate of Governor Otti even though a lot of people do not know.
Caleb Ajagba, chief of Staff to the Governor and Nwaobilor Nwadimma Ananaba, commissioner for Sports and Youth Development, also accompanied the governor on the visit.
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