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The Struggle To Deliver Abia From Slavery And Perpetual Servitude by cutebright(m): 9:57pm On Apr 04, 2015 |
The journey to Aba from Port Harcourt was a regrettably long one. It was meant to be less than an hour but it had lasted for three hours and we were yet to enter the city. The entry from the Enugu-Port Harcourt-Expressway that cut through Aba has become completely impassable. The commercial-minded citizens had designed all sorts of makeshift exits through which some of the buses carrying commuters diverted to make their journeys faster. Some young men temporarily blocked the exits and demanded money in return for allowing any of the buses access. I saw mountainous heaps of used metals probably from broken down engines and cars. It was getting dark but I managed to figure out that we were in Ala Ojii, a hustling hub that harbours motor mechanics and spare parts dealers a few kilometres to the main city. A sudden heavy odour invaded our nostrils possibly from the garbage dump and the centre of the road. That is the way the city of Aba welcomes her visitors – with a disgusting odour. The second biggest commercial city in the South- East of Nigeria is now a symbol of infrastructural decay. All the major roads in Aba have broken down. In some cases, you will literally swim to move from one side of the city to another. My late arrival into the city exposed to me that more than half of Aba is in darkness. In fact, it was such a harrowing and horrendous experience to realise that I found myself there. With pockets of shanty towns emerging in many parts of the city, to say the town is insecure will be stating the obvious. Drainage systems in the city are probably one of the worst in the country. If it rains, then you either get ready to swim or stay at home. Aba has been abandoned. It is dirty, unhealthy and even deadly. One writer, Henry Umahi, aptly described the city as a gallery of decay and compared those who reside in it to people held in perpetual bondage. A few kilometres from Aba is the state capital, Umuahia, where the state governor, Chief Theodore Ahamefule Orji, known more by his moniker Ochendo is holding sway. It is generally believed that Orji’s leadership is the worst the state has ever experienced since its creation. However, his media aides disagree vehemently. But whatever anyone can say, the state government has invested heavily in propaganda and billboards all over the state praising the governor, ostensibly for presiding over the impoverishment of Abians. Apart from the capital city, there is very little development happening elsewhere in Abia State including Ibeku, the community where the governor hails from. Media reports indicate that the son of the governor is one of the biggest contractors in the state. In addition, the state government reportedly imposed arbitrary levies on the citizens to increase their internally generated revenue without putting anything back in return. On several occasions, residents of Abia State have publicly demonstrated against their governor. At the lying in state of the late Dim Odimegwu Ojukwu, residents booed and jeered at the governor and pelted sachets of water at him. Strikingly, beneath the governance decay is Abia State symbolised by Aba, a bitter war is brewing over who will succeed Orji as the next governor of the state asThe incumbent is bent on imposing his stooge as his successor. ABIANS HAVE DECIDED............APGA WE KNOW.....ALEX OTTI IS OUR MAN 1 Like |
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