There have been reactions from various quarters following the Enugu state government ‘s demolition of Mbu Smart School in Isi-Uzo Local government area, recently.
In this write-up tagged, “Mbu Smart School demolition: Much ado about nothing”,
the Senior Special Assistant to the Governor on New Media, Dr Reuben Onyishi clarified issues surrounding the demolition. He said the Contractor of the Smart School.project did not adhere to quality specifications and the building failed integrity test .
He writes:
The report of the Mbah administration’s demolition of a smart school at Mbu Ward 11 on account of a shoddy job done by the contractor has generated much fuss, especially from the opposition, which is looking for every slight opportunity to cut its pound of flesh and impugn the Mbah Administration. As a matter of fact, the Enugu opposition has sought to malign the Mbah Administration in any possible way, but has been beaten to it on all fours, as the performance of the administration remains unblemished.
The said smart school had been found wanting as a result of the contractor failing to adhere to quality specifications. The Inspectorate Team led by the Secretary to the State Government, Prof. Chidiebere Onyia, has, since the inception of the various projects Mbah unleashed on the state, transversed the length and breath of the entire wards, 260, supervising the projects. Onyia, who seems to possess this prodigious strength, and energy to visit the 260 wards, not just once but many times, has taken no rest. He is like the police of the contractors as every contractor dreads his visit, especially when such contractors would not comply with the project specifications.
Many contractors had been asked to pull down shoddy jobs at their own costs. There were cases of outright termination of the contracts and the reawarding them to other contractors who had demonstrated capacity in term of quality assurance.
It was on such a visit to Mbu that the Onyia-led Inspectorate Team ordered that a section of the smart school at Mbu be pulled down as a result of the contractor lowering standards. A situation where 16mm rods were required to be used and the contractor used 12mm is fraught with danger. Such cases abound as some of the contractors with insatiable craving for much profit compromise standards. That, of course, is the reason why the Inspectorate Team is up and about. The team is constituted by such uncompromising and dedicated state officials like the Commissioner for Works, Engr Gerald Otiji, Mabel Agbo, Adenike Okebu, Sandra George, Francis Anioke, Engr Emehelu, Ben Collin Ndu Jnr, Winnie Ilo, a crack team from Ministry of Works, and other official of the state whose names may not be mentioned for want of space.
Pox: Demolished Smart school,Mbu, Isi-Uzo Local Government Area
So, it became quite appalling that a section of the opposition would go singing with the news that the smart school collapsed. The cookoo birds attempted to make spurious narratives with the incidence. The news was all over social media. What they wanted to achieve with that was best known to them. When the Special Assistant to the Governor on Research and Publication, Hon. Ejeh Josh, in a video, tried to show that the smart school was demolished by the state government on account of poor execution, they said the video was AI-generated. They would wish it collapsed that they might advance the narrative that the Mbah Administration was constructing the smart schools with substandard material. For a project that costs N1.2 billion to execute from start to finish, there is no way the Mbah Adminstration would compromise quality. That was actually why the Inspectorate Team was set up. All those advancing this narrative did not ask Mbah to build the smart schools. The smart schools, the type 2 hospitals, and others are legacy projects of the Mbah Adminstration billed for construction to good taste without compromising quality. So, such narratives as the opposition attempted to raise are otoise and wanting in validity. Mbah would not lower the standard of the smart schools, and that was why Mbu, in its shoddiness, was pulled down.
However, assuming without conceding that a section of the smart school at Mbu collapsed, does that vitiate the fact that the contractor did a shoddy job and would bear the brunt? Does that show lack of supervision? Of course, no. Some contractors would do the right thing while the Inspectorate Team is there, but would, as soon as the team leaves, resort to the use of substandard material. And the team would not be there at all time, no matter how they tried, even if they didn’t get to do anything else. Supervising the 260 smart school, 260 PHCs, all the over 300 roads being done by the Mbah Administration, and others is no mean a task. But the SSG is able and does it with copious energy and uncompromised commitment.
There need not be much fuss over Mbu. The structure was pulled down by the state government following the report of the Inspectorate Team. This is just a warning to the contractors. The state would demolish any of its projects found to be compromised with substandard material. The Mbah Adminstration is committed to quality assurance. So, let the so-called opposition seek something else to hallucinate about. This one and the foolish narratives woven around it failed on arrival.