Twenty-four years after Abia State was created, many Nigerians say more should be done to match the vision of Abia State’s founding fathers, SUNNY NWANKWO reports
It has not been 24 wasted years after its creation, but there is this predominant feeling that Abia State deserves more.
Mr. Ofor Ikechukwu, a businessman in Aba, said the commercial city and other towns which give a lot to the state have been neglected for years on end.
Ikechukwu said that kidnapping which blighted the state in 2010, resulted from the inability of government to properly take care of the youth.
“Go to Ukwa East and West,” he said, “and see for yourself what neglect and abandonment of the people can cause. They are the goose that lays the golden egg for the state. The state could not have been among states in Niger Delta Development Commission today if not for the fact that oil was discovered in their land. But go there, the people are really suffering.
“Farmers in those areas including Ugwunagbo have been recording economic wastages because of the nature of their roads; they are impassible. They work hard in their various farms but taking the harvested crops which we know are perishable goods to the market or even people coming from the urban areas to the place, is a story for another day because of the poor road network. Most of the oil companies have failed to gainfully employ the youths and that is why it seems like oil bunkering business is thriving. But I think that the better the government of the day realises the importance of these areas and other areas they need to explore in order to boost the economy of the state, the better for them.
“Presently, government is focusing more in Aba as a place to generate much income for the state. It might be true, but they should also look at other areas of interest such as agriculture and others. Go to Obingwa, they have virgin lands. Government after tackling insecurity should go into negotiation and partnership with the various communities for them to lease their lands to it where the government in turn will subsidise the land and other farm inputs such as fertiliser among others for interested people. By the end of the planting season, if the roads were in good shape, there will be plenty for people to eat in the state and over dependency on imported foods reduced drastically.”
“Apart from the fact that the President Buhari-led government has made all and sundry to be alive in their responsibilities, supply of power has been at its lowest ebb. Look at the way the Geometric Power project which I understand was meant to serve the interest of the Aba business community has been sidelined for some years now. The dream of the founding fathers to make Aba truly the economic hub of the state, southeast and the country at large for me, is still far away to be met.
Hon. Donatus Nwankpa, Abia State chair of All Progressives Congress (APC), said, “The foundation of Abia laid by Navy Capt. Frank Ajobeina, was that the state will be one of the fastest growing new states and at the creation of Abia, she inherited a university. Today in Abia, we have two universities; a federal (Michael Okpara University of Agriculture, Umudike) and state (Abia State University, Uturu) universities. Abia has a College of Education (Arochukwu College of Education Technical), a polytechnic (Abia State Polytechnic) in Aba.
“And in terms of infrastructural development,…the past eight years was a period of backwardness; it was characterised by lack of maintenance culture. Besides that, I think that we have really done well.
“In terms of sports, Abia State is the first state that produced the first club (Enyimba) that won an African Cup Championship that eluded Nigeria since the creation of this country as a nation and the state has produced so many sports men and women; Kanu Nwankwo, Chukwumerije Jnr among others.
“If you look at the media aspect of Abia, the Broadcasting Corporation of Abia State (BCA) has one of the best voices east of the Niger. Our cultural segment is also doing well as Abia parades one of the best cultural troupes in this country. But I know that we are lacking basically in the area of infrastructure.
“If you talk about the human personnel, Abia has produced great people in our time like Okonjo-Iweala, Chief Vincent Ogbulafor; former Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) chairman, Dr. Chinenye Nyerere Anyim and amongst other business gurus that the state has produced so far.
“When you talk about business, industries, it still retains its pride of place among the states that rely on individual and human resources. The state enterprise of an Igbo man is purely epitomised with the Abia character. So, as such we are not doing badly. The only area that we have problems is the governmental negligence in infrastructural development.
“The major area that I want a change in is infrastructure; road network. Power is not a state but a national affair…here and there kidnap doesn’t make any sense.
“The government in Abia should make life better for the people. There are so many taxations in Abia and the double taxation is affecting business, especially the individual enterprise.
“There should be more reliable and responsible and conscientious leaders in Abia; Abia leadership has been characterised by selfishness. Abia leadership has not taken into cognizance, the collective interest of the people.
“We want a leadership that should derive its power from the collective Abia. That collective Abia can include the traditional, religious, the political class, among other interest groups that would rise up to the challenge to say that the right thing must be done.”
On legislation, he said that “the most important thing that we are aspiring is a self-accounting legislation at all levels that will give the legislators some level of independence, some level of integrity, some level of will and the audacity to legislate on certain issues.”
Mr. Ray Njoku, a lecturer in Public Administration at Abia State Polytechnic, Aba, said,
“I cannot say that Abia has come first, second or third when compared with states that were created alongside it, but all I know is that Abia has done well as long as peace has prevailed in Abia. The essence of government is the welfare and wellbeing of the people and in the 24 years of its existence I can tell you that Abia has survived.
“I think I can give Abia and Abians a pass mark. When you talk about infrastructure people tend to look at just the road network and they use it as the only variable to assess the government. But Abia has achieved a lot in the health sector. The immediate past regime achieved a lot in the health care sector”.
“On education, the past administration did marvelously well there too. Go to the Abia State University, Abia Polytechnic, School of Health and some of the secondary schools you can attest to the fact that they did well. Most of the road networks in Abia State are done by the federal government.
“Much of the blame on the deplorable nature of roads especially in Aba and its environs should go to the federal government, not the state government.
“We want to see an improved infrastructure in energy; we expect entrepreneurial-minded Abians and indeed Nigerians to be provided with the necessary infrastructure to enable them to be self sufficient and entrepreneurial as they have always been.
“As the state marks 24 years, we ask Abians to assist the government by rallying round the government to enable the government realise their objectives towards the people.”
Chief Nyerere Ayim, the All Progressives Congress governorship candidate in the general elections, said “On whether our expectations of what we expect Abia to be at 24 is being realised, I will say No. No in the sense that before Abia State was created out of the present day Imo State, there was already laid foundation of a great state by having a cosmopolitan city like Aba being in present-day Abia State which is regarded as the economic hub east of the Niger. But for you to have Aba and a state is created and Aba happens to be one of the major cities in that state and yet still crippling economically, socially amongst others is something not to be too happy about. But the Bible said that in everything we should give God the glory. We equally have to thank God.
“The problem is that various military administrations in the state did nothing in the state. They failed to build on what the civilian government, particularly of the late Sam Mbakwe did in the state; Aba and Umuahia in particular and that is where the problem started.
“In 1999, we inherited a civilian administration and for 16 good years, the story, the success and achievement is what we are seeing today. They said that you can only tell a blind man that there is no oil in the soup, but not that there is no salt in the soup. What we have in the entire Abia State today is not a reflection of the hope and aspiration of a better Abia by the founding fathers and by all of us who are in the present day Abia State.
“When we are talking about Abia State, it is not only Aba. Go to Arochukwu, Ohafia; Nkporo, you will wonder if it is a place where people live. We have some many areas in Arochukwu and Ohafia that are yet to have a feel of government and governance. Go to Ikwuano; Oboro, Ariam etc, you hardly can see any passable or motorable roads and we are talking about democracy where people are supposed to reap the dividend of democracy, but the reverse is the case in our own situation.
“You have a state where people from nowhere are so wealthy while the state is impoverished politically, socially and economically. Go to Umunneochi, Ukwa East and West where God endowed us with both mineral and natural resources that made Abia State to be an oil producing state, they have nothing to show for is.
“As I am talking to you today, there is no commercial bank in Ukwa East and West and these people don’t know anything about ATM (Automated Teller Machine).
