By Okechukwu Keshi Ukegbu
“No man is an island,
Entire of itself.
Each is a piece of the continent,
A part of the main.
If a clod be washed away by the sea,
Europe is the less.
As well as if a promontory were.
As well as if a manor of thine own
Or of thine friend’s were.
Each man’s death diminishes me,
For I am involved in mankind.
Therefore, send not to know
For whom the bell tolls,
It tolls for thee”.- John Donne.
For the umpteenth time, the perennial road mishaps which the Aba River Slope, popular known as ” Waterside” consumed lives. Though the casualty figures have been consistently inconsistent, what bothers humanity is that, like John Donne posited”each man’ s death should diminish us because we belong to humanity, and we should not ask who the Bell has tolled for- it tolls for all of us. This is because those who lost their lives in this unfortunate incident belong to humanity. They have families, most where they are breadwinners; loved ones; friends and well wishers.
The popular account is that a truck lost break or control and rammed into the market, which houses the abattoir, and the popular” Ahia Udele” where diverse items of food stuffs are sold. In the process, some lives were lost. This forced Abia State Government to issue and implement and immediate for the relocation of both the food stuffs market and the abattoir. Long before now, there have been arrangements for the relocation of the abattoir to Omuma Uzo, somewhere in Ukwa West local government area of the state, but what has delayed the implementation of this plan should form an article for another.
Before now, there has mounting public outcry on the location of the abattoir. Indeed, the abattoir was a huge social nuisance in all ramifications. It painted the aesthetic situation of the location in a gross negative.
The river slope should be a cynosure if properly designed and set. Travellers’ attention from Akwa Ibom and Cross Rivers states would be first caught by the slope. This is equally the situation for those exiting the state from that point. Therefore, siting an abattoir there for any reason is a misnomer.
Also, the near dilapidated nature of the bridge should not encourage any commercial activities within that location. The commercial activities within the location makes the location crowded within the useful periods of the day. This makes heavy human and vehicular jam inevitable on daily basis. And as such, road mishaps at the slope, which has consumed lots of lives, is a recurrent decimal.
On the other hand, the butchering activities have rendered the river, which was once a source of drinking water for the neighborhood, unfit for human consumption. The argument put defiantly is that the river is not a good source of washing the meat as there have been recent concerns that forms engaging in heavy industrial activities within the vicinity have heavily polluted the river by emptying their waste on the river.
Well, kudos to the state government for muscling the courage now to relocate the abattoir. Though this should be commended, Alo is equally expected from the government to cap the process.
Actions should be expedited to ensure that construction works at the abattoir are completed. This includes roads leading to the abattoir which the state government has promised to deploy rigid cement technology in its construction. Another bus the adequate provision of other facilities such as water. Also, template for adequate transport arrangement should be drawn to ease the expected transport difficulties to the location.
This is as efforts should be sustained to ensure that traders and butchers alike do not resume trading activities at the location, even after the present government has expired. This is owing to the recalcitrant nature of the Aba trader. Another welcome development is the recent policy by the state government to restrict the movement of heavy trucks into Aba. The new arrangement now is that trucks will come into Aba between the hours of 9pm to 6am.
At this point,this issue brings to fore the comatose state of the popular Enyimba Hotels. The facility located on the bank of Aba River (Waterside) was a dream project of the Ukpabi Asika administration of the defunct East Central State initiated after the civil war. It was supposed to have a standard swimming pool, garden and other recreational facilities. The foundation of the seven-storey edifice was laid by the Sam Mbakwe administration of the old Imo State. The project, which was to cost N56 million, had reached an advanced stage with contracts awarded for procurement of furniture and fittings, utensils, among others when military intervention of December 31, 1983 truncated it. Regime after regime abandoned Enyimba Hotels until 1991 after the creation of Abia State when it was rumoured that the Aba Chamber of Commerce, Industry, Mines and Agriculture (ACCIMA) purchased the facility.
Though the present administration have deployed some efforts to give the facility a facelift which part was the ejection of miscreants from it.
Before now, the facility was converted to the abode of all manner of miscreants who constituted a threat to both the security of the city and the beauty of the neighbourhood. There are strong calls to the government by individuals to revoke the purchase by ACCIMA if the chamber fails to expedite actions on revitalizing the facility.
