By Okechukwu Keshi Ukegbu
The past few weeks have been beehive of activities in Abia for the positive reasons. There have been commissioning of projects by Gov. Okezie Ikpeazu. And the projects are kinetic in nature as they are christened “Kinetic Abia”.They are vital and critical.
The state radio house’ Broadcasting Corporation of Abia, have been rescued from the clutches of running their operations with diesel. The governor recently procured and installed a 1.5 MVA injection power sub station to boost operations of the corporation.
This development is cheering because in the days ahead, the services of the corporation will not interrupted in the bid to cut down the toll the cost of procuring diesel was taking on it. Its operations will now run full swing to accommodate late hours of the day.
Abians are now excited and they are rejoicing that their darling BCA will now come full swing on air. Even those who missed interesting programmes of the station during the day, due to busy schedule, will now have the opportunity to enjoy the programmes during the night.
The world all over, it is indisputable that power is to radio stations what water is to fish. Like the governor aptly captured it” power as the live wire of a broadcast station. It was for the reason his administration thought it necessary to provide the station with the sub station to boost its operations”.
The power station has come, and we know that the able management of BCA and other relevant institutions will strive, as charged by the governor to ensure that the facility is protected.
Now attention has shifted to Agalaba, a section of Obingwa local government area, in political parlance known as” Obingwa East”. The first phase of the widely celebrated “Agalaba Ring Road” has been actualised and commissioned.
This project is strategic because it cuts across the five wards in Agalaba. From Umuobe which is in ward 7 to Umudosi in ward 9. From umudosi to Ntighauzo in ward 10. From Ntighauzo to Ibeme in ward 11. And from Ibeme the road empties, God willing to Akpaa Mbato in ward 9.
When the equipment were deployed in January this year and the buzzing of these equipment was vibrating across the communities, some people, like they will always be, were sceptical that the project will not be realised. But today, a “Daniel has come to judgment”, and their scepticism is no where to be found.
Like the biblical injunction that pronounces that every mountain would be brought low, the project has reduced two mighty hills to an abysmal low, and their valleys are now made smooth. The rough ways that characterized the terrain are not only smooth, but the crooked are now made straight.
The valleys at Umudosi and Ntighauzo were more recalcitrant than “Abiku”, the Ogbanje girl in Sole Soyinka’s poem “Abiku”. They were defying the incursions of graders and made the terrains very impassable. But today the story is different. It is not out of place for Abians to spare some time to behold this lovely site.
The agrarian communities lying on the fringes of this road will now heave a sigh of relief as moving their produce to the urban centres will no longer experience difficulty. Our earnest prayers at this point is that the federal government will be dedicated and committed to its ambition to fix the Aba- Ikot-Ekpene Road which is a major artery linking these communities to Aba, the nearest major town.
The contributions of the rural communities to the economic progress of a place cannot be overemphasized as, in the developing economies setting, over 70 percent of the population is concentrated in the rural dwellings.
Before, the popular Obikabia junction in the New Umuahia Road axis of Aba was a mad house. Most of the major roads in the state emptied there. And it served as the exit point for Obikabia, Ururuka, Ukegbu, Umuene, the Obingwa local government Secretariat at Mgboko, among others.But the place has now assumed a new look. Henceforth, the traffic challenges experienced before now is a thing of the past. This is because a befitting roundabout has been constructed at the junction to check traffic inconveniences.
There could mass testimony to testify to the fact that the place was terrible in terms of traffic,especially during torrential rains.
Mass testimonies can equally testify that the place is a beauty to behold as a fountain has been constructed to beautify the place, which has in turn not only improved the beauty of the place in particular, but Aba, the commercial nerve of the state in general.
It will be recalled that before now, due to the collapse of Aba-Ikot-Ekpene Road, the Achor bypass, which the Ururuka links, has served a strong relief for people from the neighbouring Akwa Ibom and Cross River states, even from far beyond who patronise businesses at Aba. So, the transformation of Obikabia junction is strategic, and constitutes a major input in the “Kinetic Abia Project”.
Also, speculations were laid to rest as the statute that adorned the junction was unveiled.The question that has engaged discourse at high and low quarters within and outside the state was”who is the man behind the veil”.
Like the bride behind the veil who is unveiled on the wedding day, those speculations were led to rest as the former Minister of Works in the defunct Eastern Region, Paul Omerenvia Ururuka, was unveiled.
Like Martin Luther opined”If a man is called to be a street sweeper, he should sweep streets even as Michaelangelo painted, or Beethoven composed music or Shakespeare wrote poetry. He should sweep streets so well that all the hosts of heaven and earth will pause to say,Here lived a great street sweeper who did his job well”Ururuka swept the streets well, and composed music even better than Michaelangelo. He deserved to be honoured. But unfortunately, in our clime people are not honoured posthumously. But Gov. Ikpeazu has broken the biblical jinx that” a prophet is not honoured in his home town”.
Gov. Ikpeazu has honoured one of his own, his kinsman, whose strides transformed the defunct Eastern Region, spanning the present SouthEast and some of the present SouthSouth states.
Let’s join hands in giving kudos to Gov. Ikpeazu, his kinetic Abia is performing the magic.
