Roads are Abia's Recipe For Industrial, Agricultural Development

27 May 2009

Lagos — Realising the importance of roads in socio-economic development, the Abia State Government is embarking on a state-wide construction and rehabilitation of roads on an unprecedented scale. ,Kunle Akogun who recently toured the road projects, reports that apart from opening up the vast rural areas, the move will also serve as an impetus for industrialisation and agricultural development of the state

Project of Focus

With perhaps the exception of Lagos, no other state in the country is embarking on rural transformation on the scale being witnessed in Abia State. Such is the seriousness of the silent roads revolution in the state that a member of the team of journalists that recently undertook a two-day exploratory tour of the project sites ruminated aloud and declared, "this state is simply a giant construction site".

He was right. For, in every part of the three senatorial zones of the state there is one form of road construction or the other going on.

In all, there are more than 50 of such roads in both rural and urban centres undergoing either fresh construction or comprehensive repairs. And significantly, it does not matter whether these roads are federal roads or state roads, every dilapidated road in the state now has the stamp of the Theodore Orji administration's presence.

Construction List

Among these roads are: the Aba - Owerri road, Port Harcourt road, Ossah - Umuahia road and the Ozuabam - Ndiokereke - Arochukwu road that have been abandoned in an appalling state of disrepair for several years by the Federal Government.

Others are the Uratta road, Faulks - Brass road, Okwu Avenue, Ikonne Street, Nwala street, Mount Zion road, Ezeogu street, Unity Garden - Osisioma ring road, Umugo-Ugwunabo council headquarters road, Mporobe - Ohauku road, all in Abia South Senatorial district.

In Abia Central, there are the Bank Housing Estate and Aba road, Umuahia, Ahi - Isiama Afara road, Cyril Ibeto street, Nkata Alike - Umukabia road, Amaogwugwu - Umuekwule road, Umueze - Agbo - Ubani Ibeku Market road, Abam road extension, Obowo street, Udi street, Ozuitem street.

There are also Nkata - Amaeke road, Udenkwu/Achara street, Isieke - Okwuta - Ahiaeke road, Ibeku street extension, Okigwe Park Ubakala street, Uwalaka - Orie Ugba Market road, House of Assembly - Nkata road, as well as Umuovon - Nkata road, among others.

In the North senatorial district, the Ozuabam - Ndiokereke - Arochukwu road, Eunice Kalu road, Igbere, Amankalu Alayi - Akoli Imenyi road, Amaekpu - Ohafia road and Amangwu - Achara - Ihechiowa road are undergoing massive construction and rehabilitation.

Official Explanation

Explaining the philosophical underpinning of his massive road construction efforts, most of which are targeted at opening up the rural areas, Governor Orji said he is building roads because they are very essential and fundamental to rapid industrialisation, tourism and agricultural development.

"It is through roads that everything will come in: equipment, investors, everything. They have to come in through the roads and the farmers will also evacuate their farm produce through the roads to the markets", he said, adding "all the rural roads we are constructing are in food producing areas".

The governor pointed said, "if you don't have roads nothing would come in, the people won't be seen, investors won't come, equipment won't be brought in. But when you have a wonderful network of roads, then all these things will flow into the state. I have seen that good road is very basic to development and that is why I'm tackling road construction with all vigour".

The rest can be read here: http://allafrica.com/stories/200905280096.html

well i have friend living in aba, they will tell u that their state is the worse and most useless state , very dirty, smelly, their gov is useless

aba smells and stinks worse than onitsha

Abia State Government is a joke. No amount of propaganda can change that.