Obike Ukoh
Political stakeholders in Abia have, on many occasions, called the attention of past leaders in the state to the need for developing infrastructure in Aba, the commercial capital of the state, to restore its past glory.
Identifying the desire of the masses, Gov. Okezie Ikpeazu, therefore, made the development of the state capital a priority in his electioneering.
During the electioneering, the prototypes and billboards depicting the road network and other development programmes of his dream for the state were conspicuous in major corners of the state capital.
Previous visitors to Aba can attest that there were no good roads while the state capital could not boast of a functional water scheme.
The last attempt to construct a regional water scheme in Aba was during the administration of the late Gov. Sam Mbakwe who governed the old Imo from August 1979 to Dec. 31, 1983.
Irrespective of this challenge, water has never been a problem in Abia as private boreholes are visible in many parts of the town.
Mbakwe also constructed the last durable roads with good drainage systems during his administration.[pro_ad_display_adzone id=”70560″]
Mosque road and Faulks road that are presently serving the residents remain the legacy of Mbakwe’s administration.
But Ikpeazu, a former General Manager of Abia State Environmental Protection Agency, says he knows about the infrastructural deficit of Aba and he is ready to tackle it.
He instantly began development programmes by establishing the Office of Aba Urban Renewal to demonstrate the high premium he placed on rebuilding the commercial city.
Mr Godwin Adindu, the governor’s Chief Press Secretary, noted that the office would enhance the rebuilding of roads in Aba and the general renewal of infrastructure in the city as top priorities of Ikpeazu’s administration.
He said the vision of the governor was to bring Aba back to its pride of place to enable it to contribute adequately to the economic development of the state.
Adindu spoke when members of Aba Progressive Youth Movement paid him a courtesy visit.
“The city of Aba is dear to the heart of the governor and this informs the reason he has decided to operate from the city in the meantime to be closer to the people and personally monitor the ongoing projects in the city,’’ he said.
Adindu explained that Aba Urban Renewal Office would serve as a key driving force of the administration.
According to him, the governor will show personal interest and commitment to the activities of the office to ensure it performs to well.
Also in his first 100 days in office, Ikpeazu inaugurated the reconstruction of some key access roads in Aba that are in deplorable conditions.
The roads are in Umuola, Umuocham, Kamalu, Ukaegbu, Ehere, Umule, and Ukwu Mango.
At the inauguration, Ikpeazu advised the contractors to do good job and complete the rehabilitation work on schedule.
He warned that any contractor that did a shoddy job would be blacklisted by the state government.
“These roads are important to enable vehicular movement within the commercial nerve centre of Abia.
“The complete renovation of these seven roads would be achieved within my first 100 days in office and would be installed with street lights,’’ he promised.
Ikpeazu, in his maiden address to Abia people after his inauguration, restated his promise to deliver a befitting state capital (New Abia) and focus on uplifting the lives of the residents of the state.
“This New Abia will be driven by a manufacturing programme that will focus on re-igniting the popular “made in Aba’’ theme among manufacturers and consumers,’’ he said.
He said that the Aba industries would be strengthened by reservoir of skilled manpower to be trained in the technical colleges to further beef-up their capacity.
He said that the Boys Technical College, Aba, would be properly equipped to start the capacity building programme to be known as Education for Employment (E4E), targeted at training 100,000 youths to acquire “fit-for-purpose skills over the next four years.’’
The governor inaugurated the E4E recently at the Boys Technical College, Aba, which had been already renovated and equipped as promised.
Ikpeazu, represented by his deputy, Ude Oko-Chukwu, said that giving Abia youths the necessary skills to fit into the present demands of labour market was a very important component of the plan of his administration.
“It is our estimation that within the next four years, 100,000 unemployed youths will be trained in Abia in various skills which will prepare them for available jobs in and around the state,’’ he said.
Ikpeazu stated that Abia had natural advantage, saying that: “It is, therefore, left to us to utilise the advantage properly and acquire the requisite type of education necessary for development.’’
He also stressed that the major significance of E4E was to give Abia people education that would lead to employment.
The coordinator of E4E, Mr Endi Ezengwa, said that there was no going back in realising the vision of the programme, given the passion the governor had for the project.
He assured the public that everyone that enrolled in the programme would be trained in one skill or the other.
These laudable initiatives notwithstanding, political stakeholders in the state, urged the governor to be very careful in selecting contractors to handle road constructions.
Mr Isaac Egele, a mechanical engineer, said that competent engineering companies, with proven records, should handle Aba roads.
“Ngwa, Ohanku, Omuma roads, among others, should be handled by renowned construction companies that will provide adequate drainage systems; if good drainage systems are provided, roads will last longer, he said.
Sharing other stakeholders’ opinion, Egele noted that Ikpeazu has demonstrated that he is willing and committed to fulfilling his promises within a short time.(NANFeatures)