Introduction
Consequent upon unwavering globalization and advent of the fourth industrial revolution, societies are enmeshed in series of transformations resulting in convoluted intra and inter societal competitiveness, all in a bid to align with the contemporary existentialities of the 21st century. These processes of transformation and development have spatial impacts in the structure, size and functions of contemporary communities and rural settlements that are changing nature of rural residential buildings, and trends in the development of markets, parks and other public infrastructures. Mabogunje (1980) sees rural development as “essentially a human process”. In this conception, rural development implies a broad-based reorganization and mobilization of the rural masses and resources to enhance the capacity of the rural population to cope effectively with the tasks of their lives and with the consequent societal changes. Extrapolating from the postulations of Mabogunje, rural development is viewed as the process concerned with the improvement and the transformation of the social, mental, economic, institutional and environmental conditions of the low income rural dwellers through the mobilization and rational utilization of their human, material and institutional resources so as to enhance their capacities to cope with the daily tasks of life and the demands of modern times.
In the light of this, Omor town has not been an exception in this process of development which has led to transformation in the size, structure and functions of the town. One visible impact of the on-going process of transformation is the changing structure of rural residential buildings with thatch houses virtually disappearing in the contemporary Omor town. The proliferation of revenue yielding from farms, parks and markets at the wake of massive informal economic activities in the town is also an offshoot of the development process in the town over the years. Small and medium scale industries have not been left out in this process as the town has witnessed the offshoot of small and medium scale industries ranging from sachet/mineral water firms, welding firms, standard rice mills, wood sawing firms and block industries, all of which have engendered massive production of erstwhile imported goods and have also led to massive reduction in the unemployment status of the town with an attendant decline in social and economic crimes. Since rural development is socio-spatial and economic in its operation, the landscape should manifest clearly observable and desirable changes in the spatial, social and economic aspects and this has been the case in the contemporary Omor town.
The economic potentialities of Omor town
Over the years, agriculture has been the mainstay of rural dwellers and other investors in Omor town, accounting for about 90% of the sources of income in the area with rice, maize, cassava, yam, okra, cowpea, pigeon pea, cocoyam, melon, assorted fruits, vegetables and animal production taking the center stage in the farming activities. Contemporarily, rice production has come to be the major farming activity in the area with about 9,270hectares per annum. In addition, rice mill complexes with units for parboiling, milling, de-stoning, and bagging capacity sufficient to produce over 30,000 metric tons of high quality rice annually is enhancing production of the staple food for local consumption and export. As one of the widely grown and consumed cereal crops in Nigeria, with per capita consumption of between 3.5 kg and more than 14 kg per year per household (FAO, 2013),being both a food and a cash crop for farmers,andaccounting for a large part of smallholders revenues in the mainproducing areas of Nigeria with value adding activities ranging from production, harvesting, storage and paddy aggregation at traders’ level, parboiling, milling, wholesaling, to retailing, rice and its production in Omor town if totally galvanized to its installed capacity through the resuscitation of the erstwhile Omor Giant Rice Mill has the tendency of providing about 30% of the entire rice demand in Nigeria thereby bridging the rice demand-supply gap in Nigeria. Given the economic benefits of rice and its by-products such as rice husks, establishment of animal farms would be a viable business in the area given the availability of such raw materials for the production of animal feeds. Furthermore, rice, maize and their by-products are also sources of raw materials for beverage firms and as such, the viability of such firms is guaranteed in such an area as Omor town with the needed raw materials within reach and at lower cost. Again, blessed with unique species of sugarcane, the resuscitation of the erstwhile sugarcane factory in the town would be a viable venture that would further enhance sugarcane production in Nigeria.
The socio-economic strength of Omor town
Made up of 4 villages, 20 sub-villages and 69 kindred, located on the shores of the Omambala River, considered as the geographically largest town in Anambra State, and having a relatively large population (7,196 in 1952/53 Nigerian Census, 17,337 in 1963, and 155,842 in 2019), Omor town has been argued to be one of the most socially and economically viable towns in Anambra State. Again, blessed with a resounding and innovative industrialists and unparalleled cream of professionals, Omor town has the capacity to drive and sustain a socially responsible and economically viable human resource. The abundance of good vegetation, fertile lands for production of food crops such as rice, maize, yam, cassava and assorted fruits have also put the town in the limelight of one of the socially and economically active towns in Nigeria. It was perhaps on this premise that the Federal Government of Nigeria sited and constructed the Anambra Imo River Basin Development Authority in 1982. The Lower Anambra Irrigation Project (LAIP) Rice Farm project no doubt provides special ambience for rice production in the town.
Furthermore, the initial enhancement of transportation system in the town through construction and reconstruction of access roads to and fro the farms and opening up of other roads connecting the town to other places such as Nsukka through Adani, Onitsha through Otuocha, etc have engendered improved diversification in occupational activities. Many people who had hitherto not ventured outside their localities had traveled to distant markets taking their produce to those places for higher prices and bringing “home merchandize implements and farm inputs needed by the locals”. Consequently, about 20-25 percent of the population has engaged in other off-farming activities such as trading, artistry, welding and fabrication, masonry, etc. Moreover, the resuscitation of electricity supply has helped to revolutionize and diversify the economy of the town. Many trades and craftsmen, roadside mechanics, upholstery and cabinet makers, hair dressers and barber shop operators, hoteliers, etc. enjoy greater ease of doing their businesses at several locations in the town. The upshot of all this is that the economic mindset of the Omor man has undergone a tremendous change; he no longer places total premium on toiling on the farm as the only viable means of making money. The Omor man now clearly understands that other less irksome ways of making money exist. These have continued to place Omor town on the right track and have as well made it easier for the indigenes to embrace the economic realities of the contemporary Nigerian society.
Perceived weaknesses/barriers/threats to the development of Omor town
The economic viability of an area can never be complete without the basic necessities that drive such development. Omor town is centrally situated at the heart of Ayamelum Local Government Area of Anambra State, with a diagonal bisector between Onitsha, Nsukka, Kogi and Benue State on about a 56km road connecting the town to Onitsha, the economic and commercial hub of Anambra State. Given this location, one would expect that the basic necessities for speedy development would abound in Omor town but this has been more of a dream than a reality. Though there has been an improvement in the construction and reconstruction of communal access roads as stated in the previous section, the poor state of the access road connecting the town to Onitsha has been a torn in the flesh to farmers, indigenes and residents of Omor and other surrounding towns. This has virtually made vehicular transportation an agony in the area and has affected the exportation of agricultural produce to other viable areas for greater profit. Poor electricity supply constitutes a serious threat to production and other businesses in Omor and other surrounding towns: rice mills, cottage industries, water factories and corn mills all function below their installed capacities. Artistry, welding and fabrication, saw mills, trades and crafts, roadside mechanics, upholstery and cabinet makers, hair dressers and barbers, hoteliers, etc. have been functioning below their respective capacities owing to the high operating cost which draws mostly from the cost of fuelling their generators; a cost which they virtually pass on to the consumers, thereby affecting the disposable income and the general welfare of the citizens.
Unfortunately, despite high volume of business deals and transactions estimated at about N30 million daily (during peak period of harvest ranging from the months of September to March), Omor town is relegated to the status of a rural community thereby necessitating unimaginable amount of unbanked monies in peoples’ homes. Banking and its associated transactions are still left in the hands of agents at the expense of business owners. Dearth of commercial banks in Omor thus poses a great financial inclusion and security threat to businesses in the area. It also exposes the existing businesses to great financial risk with an attendant decline in the sprouting up of new ones.
Inadequate healthcare facilities with modern healthcare technologies has also affected the health status of the residents of Omor town thereby leading to poor human capital formation and decline in the general productivity of the abundant human resources in the town.
Conclusion
As evidenced above, Omor town has many economic potentialities capable of turning it into the next city in Anambra state. It is therefore advised that for a continued development of the town, mechanized rice farming techniques, implements and farm inputs should be provided at subsidized rates for an onward boost in Omor rice production. The federal government in its programme of fostering food security is requested to urgently come to the aid of farmers in Omor by reconstructing the Onitsha-Otuocha-Omor-Adani-Nsukka federal road to facilitate easy movement of Omor rice to other parts of Nigeria. The federal government through the Ministry of Water Resources is also requested to resuscitate the Lower Anambra Imo River Basin Development Authority in Omor and make it functional to guarantee efficiency in rice production. The Anambra state government is also requested to assist the farmers the more by building and equipping a general hospital with resident doctors to safeguard the lives of farmers, natives and other residents of Omor town.
OKAFOR, SAMSON NONSO