Aba- Ikot-Ekpene Road is unarguably strategic to the economy of<\/p>\n
Abia State. The road links Aba, the economic heartbeat of the state
\nto Akwa Ibom ancd Cross Rivers State and extends to the
\nneighbouring Central African country, Cameroon .<\/p>\n
Traders from these neighbouring states form buck of the businessmen
\nthat patronise various businesses in the commercial city. Also
\nduring the heydays of made-in Aba shoes, markets such as Cameroon
\nand Togo were captured.<\/p>\n
To describe the Aba- Ikot- Ekpene road as the proverbial ” goose that
\nlays the golden egg” may not be out of place. Unfortunately, to say that
\nthe road, especially the Abia axis of the road is in a deplorable
\ncondition is an understatement. The road is a disaster begging for
\nserious attention.<\/p>\n
The road has been roundly neglected by previous administrations of
\nthe federal government. The road project was reportedly awarded
\nin 2009 to Brent Investment Ltd, by the late President Umaru
\nYar\u2019Adua\u2019s administration at the cost of N2.9 billion with a
\ncompletion period of 20 months; the contract was meant to
\nreconstruct the failed section of the highway.<\/p>\n
It has been alleged that inadequate budgetary provisions in the
\npast years has been responsible for the delay and the gradual
\nfailure of the road hampering economic activities in the commercial
\ncity of Aba and other cities in the South-east.<\/p>\n
For example, the federal government did not make budgetary
\nprovisions for Aba-Ikot Ekpene road in 2013 budget, and so the
\ncontractor did not do much in terms of coverage and project
\ncompletion. Also, the 2014 budget which was tagged all inclusive
\nwith a provision of N120 billion for the Federal Ministry of
\nWorks for capital projects could not proffer the solution.<\/p>\n
The deplorable state of the road is exerting serious negative
\nimpact both on the Abia economy and citizens of Aba, especially
\nthose communities located on the fringes of this federal highway
\nsuch as Alaoji, Ntigha, Umuafukwu, Ohanze, Umuokpo, and Onicha
\nNgwa, just to mention but few.<\/p>\n
These communities are mostly agrarian communities and depend,
\nto a greater extent, their farm produce for a living. For these
\ncommunities to access Aba, which is their nearest commercial
\ncity, is akin to the proverbial “camel passing through the eye
\nof the needle”. For them to access the town, they swim like
\namphibians and engage in a more tortuous odyssey than that of
\nthe “Magi” in T.S Elliot’s “The Journey of Magi”.<\/p>\n
To compound the situation, a sister road network, Opobo Road,
\nlinking Aba and some parts of Ukwa with some communities in
\nAkwa Ibom down to Uyo is also in a deplorable state. The road
\nis characterised by some failed portions which are menacingly
\nthreatening to cut off these areas.<\/p>\n
Thank God, all hope is not lost, and despite how dark the
\ncloud is, there is always a “silver linen”.Governor Okezie
\nIkpeazu has on different occasions pronounced some intended
\ninterventions on the road .He said that he has entered into
\ndiscussions with his Akwa Ibom counterpart, Governor Emmanuel
\nUdom for some interventions on the road. The second level of
\nintervention is the proposed by-pass that will cut through
\nUruruka Road and burst at a point around Onicha ngwa, along
\nthe same Aba-Ikot Ekpene Road.<\/p>\n
The AfDB team was accompanied by another team from the
\nFederal Ministry of Works, Abuja and had on the spot
\nassessments of Aba- Port- Harcourt and Ikot- Ekpene roads
\n.The inspection tour offered them the opportunity of first
\nhand information of the level of decay of the roads and the
\ntrauma and suffering of the residents and travelers in and
\naround these two key roads .AfDB is currently doing the
\ntechnical analysis and studies of the roads before releasing
\nfunds for repairs of the roads. The visit has offered new
\nhopes that these roads would be fixed.<\/p>\n
While Gov. Ikpeazu should be commended for his infrastructural
\nrevolution in Aba, there is a passionate appeal to the federal
\ngovernment for urgent intervention on the federal lying on the
\nfringes of Aba.<\/p>\n
Road infrastructure is very important to the people of Aba
\nbecause apart from the fact that the city is the commercial
\nnerve centre of the state, it is fast assuming the hub of Small
\nand Medium Scale Enterprises of the country.<\/p>\n
Ukegbu, a public policy analyst and communication strategist, writes from
\nUmuahia, Abia State.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Aba- Ikot-Ekpene Road is unarguably strategic to the economy of Abia State. The road links Aba, the economic heartbeat of the state to Akwa Ibom ancd Cross Rivers State and…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":51791,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-51790","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-articles-opinions"],"yoast_head":"\n