Landlords and residents of Uratta Road, with a population estimate of over three hundred thousand people, have pleaded with the government of Abia State to at least grade their road and make it motorable as the rainy season is fast approaching.
DrumAfricanews visited the area reports that Uratta Road, said to have over one hundred adjoining streets that have it as their major access road, has been waterlogged and taken over by weeds which have become habitats for toads and frogs.
Known as one of the major roads in Aba township, Uratta Road, which connects the newly constructed Port Harcourt with the Old Express Road as well as the Enugu-Port Harcourt Highway, has been a nightmare to residents and other road users.
“When Hon. Ossy Prestige was alive, he worked on this road from Uratta Junction in Port Harcourt Road, crossed the railway and got to the church towards Amaukwu but could not complete it. Ever since then it has been motorable, although during heavy rain, it is often bad.
“But for the past four years now, the road has been spoilt beyond recognition. We’re like a people living in a different world, while those in Port Harcourt Road and the Express Road are of a different world altogether,” Modestus Okolie, a resident, told our correspondent.
Janet Ikechukwu, a resident and a trader at Ekeoha Shopping Centre, said, “When a road gets so bad that even bicycles and motorcycles cannot play on it, what do you want human beings to do?
Speaking further, Mrs Ikechukwu said, “We’re all here because some of us have properties; if not, I’ve seen enough suffering to even run back to my village. I trek every day between numbers 90 and 95 on Uratta Road to Uratta Junction at Port Harcourt Road before I can get a tricycle to my shop.
“I wish the governor could remember us because if he can remember Port Harcourt Road, why will he not remember Uratta? Nobody will come to Uratta and believe it’s part of Aba.
“I know you can help remind the government about this place. Even if they have been told that all roads in Aba have been reconstructed, help us remind them that Uratta Road has been abandoned.”
Pa Ikenna Okwudili, who said he had lived in the area for over 40 years, described Uratta Road as a road with endless promises, dreams and hopes but one that has ended up getting disappointments, nightmares and hopelessness.
“You see me here; I only hear what’s happening on Port Harcourt Road from these children that still have the strength to go out. If the road here were okay, I could have called a tricycle to take me there to see with my own eyes because they were suffering the same situation with us here.
“In my own opinion, this is the road that’s most widely used for political statements. I’ve lived here for over forty years, and every leader will come, make promises and go.
“It looks like the government now is somehow serious from what I’ve been hearing,” Pa Okwudili said, acknowledging the ongoing efforts of the Abia government on other roads.
Onyekachi Ogbonna, while expressing his view over the situation at Uratta Road, said that criminals, especially bag snatchers, are beginning to occupy the area again, calling on Governor Alex Otti and the Greater Aba Development Authority (GADA) to make Uratta Road a priority.
“2027 is an election year. How will Governor Alex Otti and his team come here to campaign? Will he fly? Well, if he doesn’t want to fly to campaign here with a helicopter, he should do the needful. We’ve been hearing since that the road has been awarded, but we’ve not seen any sign of contractors at the site,” Ogbonna said.
Going further, he queried, “Minus the Ndiegoro axis, I mean from Amammogho across the entire Ohanku, Ngwa Road, and adjoining streets, is there any other place with a higher population in Aba than Uratta/Port Harcourt Road?
“Do you know how many streets we have here? Do you know that if people residing here vote for anybody, he has won? What would motivate a resident of Uratta to participate in the continuous voter registration (CVR) when he has not seen the dividends of the voting he has been doing since 1999?”
He acknowledged that the current government is trying elsewhere but went on to say, “Not in the Uratta axis. They’re not trying here at all. No street is tarred here, not even Uratta and Amaukwu, which are our major roads. Or should I talk about the Old Express Road that looks like Afghanistan after their war there?
“The government has abandoned us just like the previous people did. Our brothers in this government are not talking now; during elections, they’ll be visiting people’s kitchens to beg for votes.
“I am of the opinion that no matter how good you perceive a government to be, always tell them the truth before ego will destroy them.”
