By Okechukwu Keshi Ukegbu
When Gov. Okezie Ikpeazu’s second term winds up on May 2023, his Agalaba (Obingwa East) kinsmen will not be in a hurry to forget his reign for multiple reasons.
One of the reasons is that he has brought low to precarious valleys that were tormenting his Agalaba kinsmen, courtesy of his Agalaba Ring Road.
The Umuibe and Ntighauzo valleys more recalcitrant than “Abiku”, the Ogbanje girl in Wole Soyinka’s poem”Abiku”.
The valleys even defied high rise vehicles, making the spots impassable and forcing road users to take detours, and prolonging their journeys.
But with the Agalaba Ring Roads, the challenges associated with these spots have been contained and motorists can now drive through these spots which were albatross with both eyes closed.
The Ring Road has become one of the “wonders” of Ikpeazu’s administration. With the Ring Road in place, residents of the five wards constituting Agalaba bloc of Obingwa local government area would now have no obstacles accessing their nearest town, Aba , even in the deadliest hours of the night.
This apart, they will have unfettered access to the town to sell their agricultural produce. This is because these communities are agrarian communities that rely mostly on their agricultural produce to make a living.
Indeed, Ikpeazu’s Agalaba Ring Road is a wonder.
The gist that occupied time in most drinking joints in one of the communities constituting Agalaba during the Yuletide was one of the returnee youths which have not visited home for the past two years drove past his compound because some of the features with which his locality were identified have been altered.
Indeed, in Abia, Ikpeazu is filling the mountains, bringing valleys low, and making rough terrains smooth.