After May 29, President Goodluck Jonathan will leave the Aso Villa.
SIMON UTEBOR of The Punch was at the President's Otuoke, Bayelsa
State-country home where he is expected to retire to.
The air around the sprawling estate is amazingly cool. Looking around,
the answer to this quickly dawns on our correspondent. The estate is
opposite a creek, and the rolling breeze keep coming.
It is Otuoke, the home town of President Goodluck Jonathan. Otuoke is
a small island community in the Ogbia Local Government Area of Bayelsa
State.
And there, the estate sprawls over a large expanse of land contrasting
sharply with its rustic surrounding. It is said to belong to President
Jonathan.
On the long road to the gates, soldiers and members of other security
agencies, apparently on sentry duty, walked on the grounds. The
overall air suggested guarded and protected serenity. No one needs the
gift of clairvoyance to understand they are approaching a restricted
zone.
Behind the gates, shoving their heads above the walls are no fewer
than eight different structures apparently for different purposes:
recreation, security posts and guard quarters. A visitor to Otuoke
will not be penalised for calling the place a fortress.
Activities in this place, a source within said had been at a lull
until a couple of weeks ago. And it is largely believed that come May
29, after the expiration of his tenure, President Jonathan would
relocate to the place.
As if the President had the premonition that he would not live in Aso
Rock beyond 2015, he was reported to have begun acquiring properties
adjacent his sprawling country home by late 2013.
The President, PUNCH reports, acquired properties on an area which
runs to about seven acres of Otuoba which were around his mansion that
had been there earlier.
The place was thereafter expanded to encase the mansion while new
structures were erected round it.
It was also gathered that adequate compensation was paid to the owners
of these properties to enable them relocate elsewhere.
It was learnt that Jonathan after acquiring those buildings in 2013,
engaged the services of a construction company, Jiito, to expand the
estate to accommodate his new acquisition.
Today, Jonathan's mini - estate, which overlooks a creek that links
Otuoke to other coastal communities of Bayelsa, is a cynosure of all
eyes.
A visit to Otuoke on Thursday showed that Jonathan's mansions, which
had been undergoing construction and reconstruction in the last 10
years are now ready for habitation. The area they sit on is best
described as an island.
It was learnt that before now, each time the President visited Otuoke,
he usually slept in his wife's (Patience) castle which is directly
opposite the Federal University, Otuoke.
It was also learnt that the Jonathans own the choicest properties in
Otuoke. The President was said to have built a two-storey building
each for his mother and father opposite his own.
His wife, Dame Patience, asides a hotel, is also said to have numerous
buildings that have been converted into hostels for FUO female
students.
On the readiness of the Jonathans to return to Otuoke, one of the
military personnel guarding his houses said all the mansions in the
estate were ready except one.
The soldier, who declined to give his name, said the contractors were
fixing air conditioners and window blinds on the last mansion.
The security operative said, "I can tell you that the houses are
ready. Everything is in order. It remains only one building where the
contractors are putting window blinds, curtains and air conditioners.
Read more at PUNCH:
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