- By Agency Report
Aba, the commercial hub of Abia State, South Eastern Nigeria has an estimated population of 2,534,265 as at 2016.
The commercial city known as Enyimba City (The Elephant City), is gradually turning into a forgotten city with zero government attention.
Aba used to be the manufacturing capital of the Old Eastern Nigeria. In fact, it is still the SMEs capital of the current Nigeria.
However, several years of lackadaisical leadership has thrown Aba into an economic coma, as administrative recklessness has brought about environmental and infrastructural decay.
The once glorious economic powerhouse of Nigeria is gradually going into oblivion, abandoned by her supposed leaders who have made the city now looking like IDP camps.
The Dr. Okezie Ikpeazu led administration in Abia state has tried to fix some decayed infrastructure, but the lack of seriousness and focus in the activities of the administration has made many believe that it is still business as usual.
Few days ago, Ikpeazu shifted the blame of the road infrastructural decay in Abia, especially Aba to the Federal Government of Nigeria when he lamented the poor state of Federal roads in the state.
Ikpeazu went on to appeal for immediate Federal Government intervention on the dilapidated Federal roads in the state.
He said that the poor conditions of the Federal roads have led his administration to build alternative roads to other states to reduce the negative effects.
Ikpeazu however expressed fear that despite his efforts, the state might be landlocked if nothing is done to salvage the situation of the Federal roads urgently.
He revealed that his efforts on the Osisioma-Owerrinta Highway (Old Aba-Owerri road) suffered a setback recently when the state got a letter from the Federal Ministry of Works to discontinue with an ongoing construction.
“We therefore appeal for immediate FGN intervention on these roads including Osisioma Owerrinta through the NNPC Depot in Osisioma where we have been stopped from continuing our work by the Federal Ministry of Works through a letter we received just yesterday,” he said.
Ikpeazu expressed his deep concern for business owners in Abia stressing that urgent interventions are needed on all the dilapidated Federal roads as they affecting the economy of the state as well as causing untold hardship on users and business owners in the state.
“Given that our people have trade and commerce as their main source of livelihood, land locking Abia will amount to asphyxiation of our citizens.
“Save for the alternative new road we did between Akwa-Ibom and Aba through Ekwereazu, the plight of our traders would have been unimaginable,” he lamented.
He noted that Abia as a State bordered by seven other States is replete with a number of federal roads cutting across the State into other States.
However, almost all of such roads are in a state of total disrepair, causing untold hardship to road users from across the country.
“I call for the urgent intervention of @NigeriaGov in revamping these roads which include: Aba-PH segment of Enugu-PH Highway, Aba-Ikot Ekpene & Umuahia-Ikot Ekpene Roads linking Abia to Akwa-Ibom and Cross River States, and Umuahia-Ohafia-Arochukwu Rd among others.”
However, many Aba residents believe that Governor Okezie Ikpeazu is not helping matters. They said that it is unfortunate that Ikpeazu, an Aba boy, an Ngwa man, and a true son of the soil is watching the great Enyimba city, the home of made in Nigeria wear becoming a laughing stock in the league of cities in Nigeria.
So many questions are begging for answers on Aba: Can a city be called a commercial city without good roads? Does commerce thrive without good transportation system? And what is Ikpeazu doing about the so called state roads even if the Federal ones are bad?
Ezeh Emeka, a commercial bus driver who said he has been in Aba for the past 30 years described the situation of the city as pathetic.
In his words: “I don’t like talking about things like this because before you know it some persons will start abusing you or threatening you.
“But what can I do? I’m getting seriously old already and as an Igbo man you know our people believe that once you’re getting old and keep speaking the truth, God will elongate your life span.
“Aba that you see today is nothing compared to the proud Aba we all used to know. This city is gone. I did business here before I had problem and moved into bus driving.
“As a bus driver, I’ve never had it so bad in Aba like what I’ve seen in the past ten years which is gradually getting worst.
“A growing city should be developing new routes, new settlements for emerging population where vehicles should be plying and as well maintaining old ones.
“But in this current Aba, many old transportation routes are now unpassable while no new ones are being created to ease movement of goods in the ever busy city.”
Emeka said that from the early 1990s down to 2005 and even as early as 2008, there were multiple routes vehicles can ply in Aba when conveying both visitors and residents to various business centres.
According to him, it is regrettable that today, some of those routes are not only closed for vehicular movement, but totally dangerous for vehicles and even pedestrians.
“Can a human being passed through the middle of Port Harcourt road, Ngwa road and Omuma road right now? If someone cannot see were to pass is it vehicles that will play such roads? Aba is gone my brother,” he lamented.
Dennis Nnajiofor, a business man at the Eziukwu Market described the situation of Aba roads as horrific. He lambasted Ikpeazu for speaking against Federal roads.
He said, “What’s the Governor talking about Federal roads? Why is cattle calling pot black? The Ekwereazu Akwa-Ibom road he said he constructed as alternative to Ikot-Ekpene Highway is already gone within just a year.
“The Osisioma-Owerrinta Highway (Old Aba-Owerri road) he said that Federal Ministry Works stopped him from continuing with the project, my opinions that he is not working according to Federal standard.
“I remember that when they flagged off that road, they used a Chinese Company, but before you know it, the Chinese disappeared and everything is looking funny. So, before we claim Federal Government is disturbing us, we must ask the Government of Abia State if they’re really doing the right thing on that road.
“Go to Ebonyi State and Rivers State, they’re working of Federal roads. So, why will Federal Government ask Abia not to work theirs,” he said
Nnajiofor said that most times when he visits other states and return to Aba, he feels bad. “I must tell you that what is still keeping Aba alive today is the inability of the neighbouring states to capture the secrets of what’s happening here.”
Nnajiofor said that as a trader with so many years of experience, he is currently losing more in Aba nowadays than he is gaining, as the city is not expanding commercial wise, but rather shrinking on daily basis.
He said that Aba is only expanding by the number of new buildings which are constructed by bringing down old existing structure and not moving into virgin areas to build.
“There are five local government areas in Aba: Aba North, Aba South, Osisioma, Ugwunagbo and Obingwa LGA. Now, tell me, out of all these LGAs how many motorable routes do we have?
“The four major roads in Osisioma LGA are: Ekeakpara road, Aba-Owerri road, ABSUTH/Udeagbala road and of course the Aba-Port Harcourt Highway are all in deplorable conditions.
“If you come to Aba South; almost all the major roads there are gone and taken over by water frogs. Ngwa road, Obohia road, Ohanku road, Port Harcourt road and Eziukwu road that’s under construction are all dead.
“These roads connect buyers to three major important business hubs like Ahia-Ohuru, Cemetery Market and Alaoji spare parts market have become swamps.
“In Aba North, Osusu road, Omuma road, Old-Express road and other adjoining room so like Nwamkpa, Saint Eugene road, Adindu road, Power Line and Cemetery road are death traps.
“Ugwunagbo is in a hopeless situation and when you talk about Obingwa you look at the Aba-Ikot Ekpene road and Ururuka road. Although there are still other terrible roads, but what I gave you are the major ones.
“Even Faulks road that this current administration finished working on not up to two years now is dead and gone. So, what makes Aba a commercial city?
Nnajiofor said that insecurity is one of the reasons why Aba is not growing, adding that security agencies cannot penetrate through some terrible areas.
This situation he said has residents at the mercy of hoodlums who are aware that no help will come the way of the residents whenever they attack them.
“Have you not noticed that some people prefer to spend huge money to buy old buildings in the metropolis and rebuild than going into some of these area where lands are cheap to develop them?
“How can you go there when your property is not safe neither are you too safe? A place like Ugwunagbo and Obingwa should have benefited from Aba main town just like Idemili North LGA, Oyi LGA and Anambra East LGA have benefited from Onitsha main town.
“If you go to Nkpor, Nkwelle-Ezunaka, Ogidi, Nsugbe and even some parts of Obosi you will not differentiate between them and Onitsha. Good roads bring development.
“In Imo State, Owerri main town has swallowed parts of Mbaitoli and Ikeduru. You can hardly know the difference, but in Abia everything is just stagnant.
“The only thing that’s still keeping Aba alive is its strategic location which nobody can take away. A city that lies in between Rivers State, Akwa-Ibom State and Imo State is strategically located to have visitors no matter what anyone does wrong or right.”
He added that the inability of neighbouring states like Akwa-Ibom, Rivers, Enugu and Imo State to take advantage of poor governance in Abia is helping to keep Aba remain alive.
“Take for instance Enugu State. If Enugu is a state with leaders that have business brain, they can practically shutdown all customers suffering to enter into Aba from the Northern Nigeria because Abia State Government is not ready to help.
“If Enugu government can utilize the strategic location of Nsukka perfectly, they’ll cut off some percentage of buyers suffering to come into this place.
“I do my business here, but I don’t mind relocating to another viable place within Igbo land or neighbouring Ibibio land where I’ll not be losing my goods to flood and terrible roads while government do nothing but collect taxes and levies.”
Igboebuka Obinali said that Aba’s situation lingers because almost all those who should speak out against bad governance in Abia are eating from government table, therefore they have decided to apply table manners ignoring the misgovernance.
“In Abia State we’ve lost our core Igbo Republican nature just because of politics. A state where elders and major stakeholders cannot correct government over their neglect on the people is a state in deep trouble.
“The poor masses are voiceless and too poor to talk. All we do is to complain in our heart or at least use Facebook to say our minds, but do they care? Just take a look at how the rain of Tuesday-10-08-2019 destroyed Aba like the days of Noah?
“There’s no single good road in Aba and all we hear everyday is what sycophants talk about how Abia is moving to next level. It’s a pity that some persons have not realized that any leader in the government house is a tenant.
“A tenant must leave the house one day and goes to meet the landlord for something one day. My only problem is that in Abia, politicians can mess up and still work their way to political positions because the electorates aren’t helping themselves.”
Obinali lambasted the citizenry for worshipping politicians who lack integrity, stressing that if the citizens can eschew themselves from sycophancy, misgovernance will stop.
“Everybody they see in government vehicle is ‘Onye-Isi'(leader). They don’t know how to say no to a little peanuts. Can you remember what Aba was like when this administration came? Who left Aba that way? It was Theodore Orji.
“Now, see what this administration is trying to leave again to these same electorates who will stand and call some of them ‘Ndi-Isi’ (our leaders). I don’t know the state I can use to compare to the backwardness in Abia State,” he said.
Obinali said that the 2020 dry season which may likely start from November will mark the fifth dry season under Ikpeazu’s administration but whenever issues concerning roads are brought up, the government will use rain as an excuse.
He challenged the Ikpeazu administration to show Abia people what they have done with the previous four dry seasons they witnessed since 2016?
“Does rain only in Abia without touching states like Ebonyi and Akwa-Ibom? Let them take journalists round Aba and show their works for the whole world to see their shamelessness.
“Until we break this chain of cowardice and change these class of rogues we call political leaders, it may likely get to a stage where people from Abia will be ashamed to say their state of origin except if it’ll fetch them a good job.”
Obinali expressed shock that a core Igbo state like Abia will be so docile and watch politicians mess up everything. He wondered what the government is doing with money considering the fact that it is owing salaries, not paying pensioners and not constructing any serious road on its own.
“They’ve been getting allocations and IGR, so, what are they doing with money? Of course Abia people do not care to ask because in our political parlance, they’re ‘Ndi-Isi’ and their boys are always loyal following them and inflicting injury of perennial underdevelopment on the state with every word of their vain praises,” he said.
Henry Echerue, a fashion designer at Ama-mmogho Garment Cluster said he is frustrated at conditions of roads leading to the cluster, but cannot help the situation.
He expressed profound sadness, adding that most people do not talk because they fear what may happen to them because the ruling class is desperate to silent people from speaking the truth.
“I do my business here, but tell me one good road that can lead customers to this cluster? Ama-Mmogho is arguably the largest and busiest garment making cluster you can find anywhere in West Africa, but there’s no road leading to it.”
He said that inasmuch as one can move easily within the cluster, because the connecting intra-cluster roads were touched some years back when Ikpeazu came in.
Echerue wondered if their numerous customers can fly through the air to come into the Ama-Mmogho too buy any anything.
“We have three major entrances into this cluster; Ngwa road, Ohanku road, Obohia road and Ohazu/Ibere road and none of them is motorable not minding the fact that they all lead to where the best of clothes are made in Aba.
“Ibadan street which is a little bit motorable cannot help matters because you must come through the deplorable Obohia or swampy Ohanku road before you can access Ibadan streets.
“I’m sure you came through Ngwa road and you see how it currently looks? Honestly, people are frustrated. Abia State is developmentally stagnant. The level of Infrastructural decay here is unbelievable.”
Echerue blamed government as well as Abia citizens and other residents whom he said derive joy in celebrating failure.
Gerald Udemba said that the infrastructural decay in Abia State has gotten to a level where every citizen of the state need to be bold enough to ask government what is going on.
“They don’t only neglect the roads leading to the SMEs centres or the markets, they have also left important road like ABSUTH/Udeagbala road which leads to the biggest Hospital in the state (Abia State University Teaching Hospital) in total disarray.
“If patient is being rushed down to ABSUTH for emergency care, the person should be counted as dead because, the stress they’ll go through before accessing the hospital will be enough to kill someone.
“Abia State doesn’t need prayers. It needs open rebuking of our leaders who think that they don’t owe us anything. When they get into power, everything about conscience disappear from the lexicons. Honestly, we are in a very deep mess.”
Meanwhile residents of Eziukwu and Asaokpuja communities, in Aba South local government have pleaded with Ikpeazu to reduce their sufferings by reconstructing their closed, deplorable roads.
They named the roads to include Omuma road, Saint Eugene road, Cemetery road, Power-Line, New Market road, Amaukwu road and the Old Express.
Kelechi Ositadinma, a resident and a patent medicine dealer lamented that all the roads connecting the two important communities were all in deplorable situation and was increasing their hardship.
Ositadinma said that the environment of Eziukwu community especially Omuma road and the Old Express had become too dangerous for everyone especially children.
He said dirty, stagnant water that usually submerge the streets which children, nursing mothers and pregnant women dip their foot into daily fall sick because the water bear worms causing diseases.
“We’re suffering from all kinds of diseases both internal and external but most painful is that our children and adults suffer many diseases from diarrhea to measles, typhoid and malaria.”
Some of the residents said that they last had motorable roads pass their abodes as far back as 1979-1983, when Sam Mbakwe was the Governor of old Imo State.
Okoronkwo Agwu, a resident of 207 Omuma road, off Ama-Pope said all corners of the popular Omuma road has been transformed to emergency farmland for Cocoyam and bitter leaf plant.
Agwu said that the centre of the road which turns swampy during rains provide an aquatic habitat where residents alleged that they now fish from when it rains.
“From the time of Orji Uzor Kalu we could at least access Omuma to Samek Junction and move from there to Uratta although it was much better under late Governor Samuel Mbakwe of Old Imo State. You know Abia was once a part of Imo State until 1991 when it was carved out.
“From T A Orji to this time under Ikpeazu, to access from No. 1, Omuma to Ama-Pope with a vehicle will only take a miracle because it’s now impossible.
“They usually come to Saint Peter Catholic Church Eziukwu, Aba that’s right behind you there at 208 Omuma road to make us promises every election year and here is their promises.
“Whenever the rain comes, my family and our neighboours will become fishermen. We catch fish around the entire submerged environment. I don’t know where they usually come from, but it’s now our life here. We’re not asking for too much. We only want this road fixed.
“Today government is loosing huge money from the neglect of this place because the revenue they collect from here several years back, they cannot come here again because nobody will pay and they do not have road to come for it.”
Abia State Ministry of Works have been saying that the government had commenced plans to reconstruct Omuma and other roads in Aba South LGA to ease their suffering, but have done absolutely nothing.
Since 2019 the government have been giving assurance in response to the call by residents of Eziukwu and Asa-Okpuaja communities hosting Omuma, Old Express, Cemetery road, New Market road and Power-Line Street about the nature of their roads.
Some time last year, the government said that Governor Okezie Ikpeazu led an Abia delegation to African Development Bank (AFDB) to seek assistance to enable it carry out some of projects, but up till today, it has been festival of bad roads all over Aba.
One thing is clear, Aba is dying. Another thing is obvious, there is nobody to rescue the city. The state government is not sincere, the Federal Government may not even care as well. The city is about to go oblivion.
