For more than fifty years and counting Arochukwu Community has patiently waited on government at all levels to address her very deplorable infrastructural conditions to no luck. Several conspiracy theories were advanced for the total neglect of Aro Kingdom, ranging from bad politics to challenging geophysical location. For bad politics, they pontificate about our inability to play less of opposition politics; ‘’join the same political party at both the Local, State and Federal levels and everything about infrastructural deficits   shall become history’’ would be their admonition to us. With hindsight the experience had become what the German playwright and dramatist, Betholt Bretch would call ‘Waiting for Godot’’(waiting in vain)  

Notwithstanding, in deference to the above obvious political blackmail, Arochukwu community voted a particular party from the ward to the local government, from State Assembly to the National Assembly and from the State Governor to the President. Twenty years after, we seem to get worse than better. Predictably, this conspiracy theory routinely collapsed in the face of their most vociferous apologists. For those who point fingers at our poor geophysical location, they argue that our almost land and sea locked location had made Aro a destination rather than a transit to any other community, a situation considered deleveraging to the economic advantages that come with transit labour mobility and immigration. They, also, missed the point. How you would ask?  During Dr. Michael Okpara’s regime in the 50’and early 60’s, roads were constructed to Aro, electricity, post office, prisons, water projects, general hospital and even a palm processing plant were some infrastructural, economic and   social projects attracted to Aro despite our supposedly poor geophysical location.  

 Basically, the truth remains that the algorithm for solving Aro infrastructural deficits and developmental challenges can neither come single handedly from government, individuals   nor the community effort alone. We need to explore a developmental strategy that brings the three options together into harmony and then leverage on their strengths while mitigating their weaknesses. This is the philosophy behind the dream about a long term development strategy to be known as Arochukwu Development Plan (AroDep 2030). The motivation behind AroDep, 2030 was the growing consciousness on the part of Aro elite to play active roles in driving the development of the Kingdom in recent times.  In fact, this growing army of patriots and philanthropists coupled with a willing middle class that are determined to crowd– fund basic infrastructural needs of the community while engaging governments at all levels to do the needful provided the impetus for Nzuko Aro to dream about developing a vision that will birth a Kingdom City in ten years from last year. 

 Though, the challenges are quite enormous; prospects for achieving it looks difficult but not impossible. The main challenge is how to articulate community- driven development strategy that will harness the energy and resources of Aro elite to sustainably embark on self-help projects and consequently use it as a bargaining chip to motivate government to fill the gaps in areas beyond the community’s fiscal capacity. On the surface, the task seems simple, but development experts know that it is not as easy, especially when the economic conditions in the country is getting worse and the struggle for survival becoming a suicide gamble across all strata of society. In Nigeria today, given the near total collapse of governance at all levels of government, citizens no longer care about the consequences of unlawful actions they take to survive on daily basis. Notwithstanding, hope, dreams, perseverance, patriotism and hard work are some of the arrows in our community development quiver that can be deployed for growth and development in the medium to long term. And this is what AroDep 2030 seek to deploy in arresting the poor state of Aro Kingdom infrastructure and total neglect by government for over half century today.   

In 2019, Nzuko Aro Central Working Committee ( CWEC)  empanelled a group of in-house experts to begin to put together a community- led development plan to be known as AroDep 2030. In the team were sociologists, lawyers, public administrators, financial experts, development communication experts and development economists with varied background experiences in public and private sector to articulate a Community-driven 10–year development Strategy for Aro from 2020-2030. The team submitted their draft implementation framework to the Patrons of Nzuko Aro to make their inputs and thereafter shared it in Aro Development Platform for a broader stakeholder review and validation.

Arochukwu Development Plan (AroDep,2030) has four main pillars, namely, Social development (education, health, youth empowerment through sports, social reorientation (reduction in teenage pregnancy, reduction in drug abuse and halt to school drop outs), women empowerment ( Skill acquisition for widows,  care of the aged and the handicapped, and halt to cultural and  domestic violence against women), cultural revival ( transforming Aro into a global tourist destination through culture and entertainment and using it to drive the Aro economy sustainably, sustainable environment, peace and security). The second pillar is Infrastructural Development (Roads rehabilitation, water supply, Bridges and culverts, Civic centre maintenance, Urban renewal, electricity and industrialisation). The third pillar is Traditional institutional reforms and good governance (Eze Aros palace, Okpankpo, Eze Ogos, Nzuko Aro, Village unions, local government cohesion in shard development projects and programmes, Clubs, Political and civic mobilisation to be engaged in political activities), and lastly Diaspora Relations (Aro  Diaspora communities, Aro Overseas Diaspora ( AAUSA) and All Aro National Conference to keep articulating policies and programmes to bind the bond of relation between the Home Aro and their Diasporan kit and kin). I am the first to admit that these developmental issues are not exhaustive by themselves, suggestions are welcome and can still be accommodated in the plan.

In terms of implementation, AroDep envisages that specific projects and programmes will be articulated by the Sub-Committees set up for each pillar. These projects and programmes will be  fairly  distributed,  village by village and  common projects and programmes that will be implemented at the Aro level will be identified and articulated into the plan. Identified projects and programmes will be classified into four project and programme classes; the first are projects that can be funded by Village philanthropists; second are projects and programmes that can be funded by Nzuko Aro through crowd-funding (Aro Development Fund, ADF); the third are projects and programmes that can be funded jointly by Nzuko Aro and community Philanthropists while the fifth are projects and programmes that only government at all levels can fund them given their huge cost implications. In respect of the last class of projects, there will in place a Community lobby committee that will vigorously engage with our politicians at all levels through robust citizenship mobilisation and group pressure to constantly nudge government at all levels to deliver on their responsibility to Arochukwu community in this regard.

The fiscal and financing framework for AroDep 2030 is premised on five strategies; first, the annual development levy which is graduated into Platinum, Gold, Silver, Bronze and Nickel classes according to income levels. The second is the annual Aro Day developmental Project launching which will be anchored by Aro Development Fund. The third is through crowd- funding (targeted at the middle and lower income class) that will be open to everyone in the community to make a voluntary donation towards the implementation of identified project and programmes. The fift is to use community-driven projects to source for International development partners and philanthropic organisations who are keen on addressing rural poverty and socio-economic deprivation at the rural level. The last and perhaps the most consequential is to use our political representatives to ensure that Arochukwu projects and programmes are accommodated in Local, State and National Budgets for funding. Projects and programmes will be fairly distributed among the villages and based on strict criteria that will emphasize urgency, need, impact, sustainability, functionality and relevance in addressing identified immediate challenges facing either a particular village or community at large. Community funded projects and programmes will be identified and accommodated in Nzuko Aro Budgeted Annual Work plan which will be widely circulated, debated and adopted for implementation on yearly basis through the life span of AroDeP 2030.

Nzuko Aro in their proactive wisdom is not waiting until AroDep 2030 document is ready before its implementation starts. The Central Working Committee of Nzuko Aro starting from 2018 has identified projects and programmes in some sectors which has either been delivered or on going. For instance, through Crowd-Funding financing strategy Amoba primary school was rehabilitated, a brand new Aro Mortuary is being constructed by All Aro USA,  Palliatives for Covid-19 were implemented, Aro General Hospital rehabilitation is currently on going; women and children hospital ward is currently being constructed in Aro,  there is effort to sign an MOU with State government on effective management of Aro General hospital after rehabilitation; and All Aro USA Clinic was encouraged recently to embark on medical mission to provide health care services to our citizens. There are many more on-going projects and programmes that are not mentioned here.

Clearly, the medium to long term vision of AroDep 2030 was to deliver on a Kingdom City that will be a reference point in Igbo land and beyond as a true testimony of what community self-help effort can deliver if well-articulated and implemented.  Aro Kingdom City will be secure, industrialized with employment opportunities for the youths, and provide leisure and entertainment that will encourage our people to return home and settle after retirement or even during active work life. AroDep 2030 industrialisation strategy is to ensure that opportunities are created for investors to relocate their wealth home ( Aku ruo ulor)  through taking advantage of infrastructural development and  the Urban Renewal projects of Nzuko Aro  as will be captured in AroDep 2030  on completion. The Urban renewal strategy is to create at least another three Urban settlements replicating Ugwu Avor  current example to provide land for industrialisation and habitation in a well-planned layout. Already some villages with such undeveloped land spaces are making contact with some Nzuko Aro officials to explore the possibility of including their villages in the Urban Renewal project. For higher education, a prominent Aro entrepreneur is already considering siting a University of Science and Technology in Aro to boost higher education in the community and continue the legacies pioneered by late Mazi ( Dr.) Alvan Ikoku and late Mazi ( Dr.)  T. K Utchay did in the early 20^th century.  

 There is no doubt AroDep2030 may sound ambitious, but it is one ambition that is made of Sterner Stuff according to the Oratorial Mark Anthony in Shakespeare’s Macbeth. Dreams shape the future and if we cannot dream it, we cannot achieve it. Most scientific breakthroughs in the world today are off-shoots of science fictions- wild dreams of scientific ideas, on the surface looks improbable and near impossible, but with time and perseverance and innovation had become reality.  Keep in mind that it was the dream of Dr. Alvan Ikoku and Dr. T. k Utchay in establishing Aggrey Memorial Collage and Jubilee primary school in the 1930s respectively that revolutionised education in Aro today and kept us ahead of our peer communities in educational prowess. Who will dream for the next Aro generation today if we continue to dismiss the possibility of AroDep 2030 to become a reality?   

 A NOTE OF CAUTION! AroDep 2030 dream can either live or die depending on the type of Nzuko Aro leadership that Aros elect to succeed this current executive committee in  the next election  in April, 2022. If we vote in power predators who obviously lack capacity and experience to lead and who for reasons best known to them seek power to pursue settlement of personal scores or those who target the revenues Umu Aro are contributing based on the integrity of current regime, our dream of a Kingdom City would have been dead on arrival. A word, they say, is enough for the wise! Ndewo nu.