Reclaiming Awka,Restoring Order:ACTDA Intensifies Environmental Enforcement

The management of the Awka Capital Territory Development Authority (ACTDA), under the leadership of its Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer, Dr. Ossy Onuko, should be sincerely commended for taking bold and visible steps towards restoring order, cleanliness, and dignity to Awka, the capital city of Anambra State.

The intervention witnessed today around Aroma Junction and environ is a welcome development that deserves the commendation of every reasonable resident, visitor, and indigene of Awka.

For too long, the city has struggled with the challenges associated with unregulated trading, indiscriminate commercial activities, poor environmental practices, and the gradual encroachment of public spaces.

Awka is not merely another city. It is the capital of Anambra State and, by extension, a reflection of the identity, aspirations, and development consciousness of Ndi Anambra.

A capital city should command order, cleanliness, functionality, beauty, and a sense of pride.

It should be a place where residents and visitors can immediately see evidence of planning and purposeful governance.

For many years, successive administrations and development authorities have expressed the ambition of transforming Awka into a befitting capital and a destination city.

Yet, the reality on the ground has often fallen short of that aspiration. This is why the renewed determination to restore order to the city deserves attention and encouragement.

As a true son of Awka, Dr. Ossy Onuko has an important responsibility to his people and to the wider Anambra public.

His position provides an opportunity to contribute meaningfully to the transformation of the city and to leave behind a capital territory that future generations will be proud to inherit.

The ongoing efforts to sanitize Awka, however, should not stop with roadside traders, point-of-sale operators, vendors, or those selling akara, bread, and other items along major roads.

The original planning vision of Awka must be applied consistently and fairly across the city.

Urban renewal should reach every part of the capital territory , from major commercial corridors to residential neighbourhoods, government quarters, business districts, markets, transport corridors, and other high-profile areas.

If Awka is to truly become a modern capital, compliance with planning regulations and environmental standards must be a citywide responsibility.

This is where the leadership of ACTDA under Dr. Onuko becomes particularly important.

Enforcement should be consistent, lawful, transparent, and sustained, rather than being a one-off exercise that disappears after a few weeks.

The objective should not merely be to displace people from the streets, but to create a properly planned city in which businesses, residents, pedestrians, motorists, and public infrastructure can coexist within an orderly urban framework.

The recent engagement between ACTDA and ACCIONA Group in Madrid, Spain, as part of the African Development Bank’s City Profiling and Workplan Development process for Awka, also points in an encouraging direction.

Exposure to international expertise in water management, integrated waste management, urban infrastructure, mass housing, renewable waste solutions, digital transformation, tourism, and sustainable city development can provide valuable ideas for Awka’s long-term transformation.

What Awka needs now is to move from isolated interventions to a comprehensive and enduring urban-development strategy.

The capital city needs better roads and drainage, effective waste management, controlled development, attractive public spaces, functional transportation systems, modern markets, proper street trading arrangements, improved environmental sanitation, and strict adherence to approved physical-development plans.

Most importantly, there must be continuity.
A clean and orderly Awka should not be something residents experience only when a task force is deployed.

It should become the normal character of the city.
I therefore commend Dr. Ossy Onuko and the ACTDA team for the boldness to confront some of the difficult realities confronting Awka. Such efforts may sometimes generate resistance because urban renewal inevitably affects established habits and commercial practices.

Nevertheless, with fairness, consultation, proper alternatives where necessary, and consistent enforcement, meaningful progress can be achieved.

Awka has the potential to become everything Anambra’s capital should represent,beautiful, orderly, functional, prosperous, environmentally responsible, and worthy of its status as the capital of the Light of the Nation.

The work has begun, but it must be sustained.

For Dr. Ossy Onuko, the task is bigger than enforcement. It is about helping to shape the future identity of Awka. And as a true son of Awka entrusted with this responsibility, he has every reason to ensure that the capital city receives the facelift, planning discipline, infrastructure, and dignity it deserves.

Awka must not merely bear the name of a capital city. It must look, function, and feel like one.

The people are watching. The city is waiting. And history will remember those who played their part in giving Awka the capital-city identity it deserves.