Otti’s Miracle In Abia Continuous, Flags Off Reconstruction Of 67Km Umuahia-Uzuakoli-Abiriba-Ohafia Road
By Uche Onwuchekwa
In Abia State, it has been harvest of dividends of democracy since the emergence of Dr. Alex Otti as the Governor of the State.
From institution of governance with well thought policies that will trickle down to every layer of the economy to the giant strides in infrastructural revolution.
Abia workers who were enveloped in gloom not knowing where the next meal meal will come from have not only been reassured but have been pragmatically restored with not only receiving their remuneration and allowances as at when due but getting the backlog of their years of unpaid salaries.
Caption: Representative of Ferotex Construction Company gives commitment to deliver their company’s portion of the road on schedule as requested by Governor Otti.
Otti did not stop at that, the retiring workers were retrained so as to not to go home to die after meritorious service, but to be empowered to continue to contribute to the economy, remain active, relevant, healthy and happy since retirement and old age should be a blessing and never a curse.
Aba, no doubt, despite its allure of productivity and creativity and prosperity, with enormous privately driven enterprises founded on Small and medium scale approach, was left to rot for many years.
Yes, the years of locust and cankerworm are being rebuked by Otti’s pedestal in changing the narratives. The galloping Aba roads are getting smoother and lorries are no longer losing their cargos on Aba roads. Port-Harcourt Road, after over two decades of abandonment is being recovered with Julius Berger bulldozing away dilapidation, ruins and wickedness from the high places and replacing them with the highest quality road, standard drainages and other facilities.
The wickedness done to Aba resulted in loss of Umuagbai Secondary school as parents could no longer send their children to school because of impassable roads, flooded environment and collapsing buildings. The roads were so eroded that mad pedestrians could not see where to step their feet. Let’s not forget that Umuagbai Secondary school was the Face of Abia in Sports across the globe. Ndukwe Chukwu, Karibe Ojigwe, Promise Nwachukwu among many others all passed through Umuagbai Secondary School, Port-Harcourt Road, Aba.
Caption: Relics of Umuagbai Secondary School, Port-Harcourt Road, Aba, abandoned by former Administrations of T.A Orji and Okezie Ilpeazu before the present performing government of Gov Alex Otti.
Above all, the School can boast of the big players in Transportation, especially in haulage, international businessmen, Lawyers, Politicians among others, including Uche Onwuchekwa, a journalist and former Chief Press Secretary to Imo State Governor, Office of the Deputy Governor.
Today, the school is a ghost of itself and has almost disappeared like the story of the submerged and lost city of Atlantis with acclaimed more advanced technologies than today’s.
National High School, one of the prestigious model schools, was dwarfed because no right thinking resource person would want to go through such horrendous valley of death. Pray, all manner of lunatics made Port-Harcourt their dwelling with dangerous drug addicts who could stop at nothing to snatching away your money to fund their junky life style.
We had a Crystal Park Hotel, which hosted the high and mighty. The hotel was mal-administratively killed with some of the foremost businesses establishment ruined. Of course, the mountains of refuse towers above Kilimanjaro, making making history as the smelliest ever had; while infesting diseases all around.
Caption: Governor extracting commitment from CCECC Managing Director, David Wang, on quality of job and completion time.
Again, God sent Governor of Abia State, Dr. Alex Otti, OFR, on Wednesday flagged off the reconstruction of the Umuahia-Uzuakoli-Abiriba-Ohafia road, a major corridor linking the state capital with some strategic communities in Abia North.
The celebrations shook the gates of heavens from Umuahia to Akara in Isuikwuato down to Abiriba, as Governor Otti and his team made various stops to formally flag off work on the 67.6 kilometres stretch which is being handled by three different reputable construction companies.
Caption: Line-up of trucks and other machines deployed by CCECC for their job between Abiriba and Ohafia.
According to the statement issued by the Chief Press Secretary to the Governor, Kazie Uko, speaking at the various flag-off points, Governor Otti said his government was in a hurry to recover lost grounds, the reason the road is divided among three companies to undertake the reconstruction simultaneously.
The stretch from Umuahia end to Uzuakoli, about 22.6 kilometres, is being handled by Craneburg, while Isuikwuato to Abiriba, 22.5 kilometres, and Abiriba to Ohafia, 22.5 kilometres, are being handled by Ferotex Construction Company and CCECC, respectively.
The Governor said he wanted the project to be completed as quickly as possible and must be delivered to specification within the next 12 months, instead of the 18 months that the contractors had committed to in their contracts with the state’s ministry of works.
According to the Governor, his desire is for the people of Abia to drive on motorable roads, and be able to easily evacuate their farm produce from the hinterland areas to the towns.
“We want our people to move on roads that are motorable. We want people who are doing business in all the nooks and crannies of Abia to be able to evacuate their produce and come to the townships to sell them.
“We want all our leaders to feel free; those who live in Lagos, Port Harcourt, Aba, and all parts of the state to feel free to come back to their villages, spend time, spend money and stimulate the economy in the villages so that our people will also have a good life, that is how economy moves,” Governor Otti said.
The Governor said that the whole idea of embarking on the road project was to strategically open up the communities so that the citizens can begin to enjoy the good life, stressing that all his administration was doing was to make Abia truly number one, not just in alphabetical order but in terms of development.
“How can you be first when your roads from every nook and cranny are in serious dilapidation? How can you be first if your hospitals are now where people go to and don’t come out alive? How can you be first if your schools are in serious state of disrepair? How can you be first if your people cannot sleep with their two eyes closed? How can you be first if the environment is littered with gabage and any time you breathe, you breathe in foul air? So, those are the things we decided to deal with as quickly as we took over office and we are very intentional about them,” Governor noted.
The Governor thanked Abians for their support and implored them to discharge their civic responsibilities to the state by paying their taxes and other legitimate levies to enable government do more for them.
In his remarks, the Commissioner for Works, Engr. Otumchere Oti, disclosed that Section One of the road construction covers Umuahia to Uzuakoli, Section Two covers end of Uzuakoli to Abiriba while Section Three goes from Abiriba to Ohafia. He thanked the Governor for his commitment to ensure that all the nooks and crannies of the state receive government’s attention, with respect to road infrastructure.
The Commissioner said that the 67.6-kilometre road is to be reconstructed into a two-lane road with 1.5 meters concrete base asphaltic shoulders on both sides, adding that the contract includes repair of failed sections, construction of culverts and drainages as well as provision of street lights in built-up areas.
Engr. Oti encouraged the communities to cooperate with the contractors to enable them deliver the job on schedule.
In their speeches, the Mayors of Umuahia North LGA, Chief Victor Ikeji; Isuikwuato, Air Vice Marshall Young Onyeike (Rtd); and that of Ohafia, Chief David Ogba Onuoha, appreciated Governor Otti for being steadfast in his vision and noted that in less than one year the Governor has transformed Abia into a huge construction site.
They said that the flag-off of the road construction is a manifestation of the Governor’s love for the people of Abia and expressed the hope that the project would enhance the economic lives of the people.
The event attracted the presence of notable Abians and government officials including the Secretary to the State Government, Prof Kenneth Kalu; Senator Darlington Nwokocha, the deputy Speaker Abia House of Assembly, Rt. Hon. Austin Okezie Nmeregini; some members of the state Executive Council, traditional rulers from the various communities, among others.
Uche Onwuchekwa, Political Scientist, Journalist And Social Crusader writes from Houston Texas and can be reached vide his email: onwuchekwauche@gmail.com
