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