The New Face of Aba

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After being away for a long period of time from this populous city,i came in just some days ago,only to see the deplorable situation of things.I have been away from Aba for nearly 9weeks. After the inception of the protracted Asuu strike on June 22,i stayed back in school for some weeks. I was unable to continue the stay because everywhere was becoming deserted and i was loosing my enthusiasm for studying. I returned to Aba to be with my family once again. I stayed there for about 16days and returned to school. There i stayed for weeks.From there i made trips to Akokwa(the hometown of one of my friends),Onitsha(Okpoko to be precise),Okigwe(for SU Okigwe Regional Conference) and Abuja(for a youth empowerment conference). I was born and raised in Aba but i have not seen it in its present state before.It was on Saturday last week that i came into Aba at about 10.30pm directly from Abuja. As the Chisco bus i went with stopped at 'Brass Junction',i alighted. I walked down home. There was no cab nor bus to convey me. Moreover,the commercial motorcyclists have been completely banned from operating. The next day was Sunday and I was to go to church. Everyone told of that there are on longer good roads in Aba and that almost all roads are bad. I had to walk extra kilometres because I needed to avoid the 'artificial lakes' created on our roads. Just two days ago,i tried going to Ariaria(probably the biggest and international market in the state) but had to trek because there was no buses or taxis to take me to the market due to bad roads. Looking at the commercial city which is a bee- hive of activities,many things including infrastructure are in a very bad shape. Amenities especially roads are very bad to the extent that their is no road that we can boast of.Along the popular 'Faulks Road' are two 'mighty lakes' with both infront of the palaces of 'highly respected kings' in the state. I may take time later to x-ray the one located infront of Eze Ikonne's Palace. Faulks road is the main road that leads to Ariaria International market but has been deserted by motorists due to its bad state. Some young boys have gotten self-employed. They carry people on their backs across the 'lakes' for some reasonable amount of money. One may need to be carried twice before he/she reaches the other side of the 'lake'. Some wait to push out cars that will be caught up in the 'lake' for some reasonable amount of money. Many commercial motorists have parked their cars at home and that has resulted to the scarcity of the cabs and buses for free movement. Those who eventually come out raise the fare to up to 100naira for a short distance. People now prefer drought by crying to God to stop rain from falling because it worsens the situation by increasing the size of the lakes. It is like the insulting axiom which says that 'there is no gentleman in Aba' just became a reality as people now prepare to walk pass those 'lakes'.They go with out with bathroom slippers or are ready to remove their shoes as soon as they get there. People even check what they wear because of what they will face on their way. Infact,many things have gone wrong that i may have to continue with this story later. Wait for it.

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