By ERIC UGBOR
RESIDENTS of Aba, the commercial nerve centre of Abia State, have for long resigned themselves to the daily nightmare caused by the deplorable condition of roads in the town and its environs. This is because the problem is one that has defied whatever panacea applied by successive governments in the state.

Any visitor to Aba, either through Port Harcourt, in Rivers State, Cross River State or Enugu via Umuahia, the Abia State capital will be confronted with an impassable road network that has made movement of people and vehicles difficult.

*One of the roads being rehabilitated in Aba after years of neglect

Through Cross River, the Ikot Ekpene-Ogbor Hill Federal Road is bad, same as the link road to the Port Harcourt Federal express road, while the Enugu Express Road linking Aba through Umuahia has remained a deathtrap. Other major roads within Aba, the ever-busy business city, are nothing to write home about.

Majority of the existing or deplorable roads in Aba were built by the late Chief Sam Mbakwe’s administration which successive administrations merely tried to rehabilite but failed woefully as they hardly survived a rainy season.

Even the markets where revenue that runs into millions of naira  is being generated are not spared from this decay. There is no road to the Ariaria International Market, and you need a “canoe” to visit the Cemetry Market, while the Ngwa Road Market is a no go area. Every visitor to these markets during the rainy season will attest to the level of despair at these places.

Recently traders at Ariaria International Market in collaboration with the state government decided to take up the rehabilitation of various roads within the international market in a bid to alleviate the sufferings encountered by visitors to the market.

Some residents of Aba told Vanguard Metro, VM, that successive governments have been insensitive to the plight of Aba dwellers over the deplorable state of roads and were indifferent at tackling the problem. Dr. Chris Ogbota, a medical doctor with a hospital along the deplorable Faulks Road in Aba described Aba roads as a “nightmare” and posited that “any government that can tackle the infrastructural decay in the city will not only gain the support of the people but will generate more internal revenue in reciprocity”.

Some other residents, however, expressed mixed feelings  about efforts by the present government to arrest the infrastructural decay in Aba and other parts of the state.

Chairman of Motor Parks Dealers Association at Port-Harcourt Road in Aba, Chief Marcos Oduenyi said:  “I have been critical about the ability of the present government to tackle the road problems in Aba, but with what is on ground, this administration looks genuine and may help the people of Aba heave a sigh of relief soon.

“The point remains that previous contractors who handled the deplorable roads are incompetent and lack the capacity to execute durable road projects that can withstand the pressure occasioned by continuous movement of people and vehicles within the city”.

This was also corroborated by the Permanent Secretary, Government House Umuahia,  Nwachukwu Agomuo who in a recent interview with VM noted that “the major problem with Aba roads is the issue of drainage”.

Nwachukwu explained that the State Government has awarded contract to clean up all the drainages in Aba, particularly those built by the late Chief Mbakwe’s administration between1979 and1983.

He said: “Those drainage channels have all been blocked up, abused by people; so, presently the state government has given somebody the job of cleaning and opening them up to allow water take its course. Why these roads have been washed up or eroded is because the normal waterways have been blocked, so these drainage being opened up will give the waterways a line of direction.

“The major problem of Aba roads is bad drainage and the government has taken care of that. Presently if you go to Aba, you will see that the drainage channels are being cleared, and by the time the rain comes, water will take its course and stop flooding the road ways.

And for most of the other artillery roads that were abandoned in the past, like the Ohanku Road, Obohia Road and over 20 other roads within Aba, the government has awarded contracts for them, contractors have been mobilized and work is currently going on, on the roads”.

He said the bypass at Ururuka Road that connects Isiala Ngwa North and Isiala Ngwa South, Obingwa down to Aba South that failed is another artillery road that is being done, with many others, in all the three senatorial zones of the State.

Recently, the Special Adviser to the State Government on Works, Mazi Jude Nwaokoro told VM that all the contractors handling various road projects in the State have been adequately mobilized and that they are all  at sites and have promised to complete many of the projects before the rains set in. Mazi Nwaokoro explained that “competent contractors have been engaged by the State Government to ensure that the roads are durable and stand the test of time”.

The State Government has almost completed the Aba-Owerri Road, Port Harcourt-Faulks Road, all federal roads, which are strategic to the commercial activities in Aba. He said already work is on-going in over 25 roads within Aba, which include the Ohanku Road, Obohia Road, Faulks Road and all adjoining roads.

A transporter and executive member of National Union of Road Transport Workers, NURTW, in Aba, Chief Cosmas Okorie commended the state government for embarking on aggressive roads rehabilitation within Aba and its environs.

Chief Okorie, however, appealed to the state government to ensure strict supervision and monitoring of the contractors and to ensure that they adhere to specification, stressing that “the problem with road rehabilitations in ABA has been that “incompetent contractors are engaged and are easily compromised by some government officials to deliver poor services to the people”.

But the Abia State Government seems to have demonstrated total commitment to ensure that various on-going road projects are completed with specification.

The State Governor, Chief Theodore Orji have been engaged on almost daily inspection and visits to various road sites, while the State Commissioner for Works, Mr. Kingsley Mgbeahuru and the Special Adviser to the Governor on Works, Mazi Nwaokoro both equally embark on daily supervision and monitoring of the road projects to ensure adherence to specification and timely delivery.

The state Commissioner for Works equally went further in compelling the contractors to sign an undertaking that monies released for the road projects are judiciously used on the jobs without diversion.

With the release of over N7 billion by the State Government to the contractors for the completion of the various road projects in Aba, Umuahia and other parts of Abia State, continued monitoring and supervision and completion of clearing of all the drainage channels in Aba, there is growing confidence that the present administration is on course to upturn the infrastructural decay in Aba.