Governor Alex Otti of Abia State evoked some emotion on Friday, 13 February, at Abam, in Abia, as he remembered residents of the state who perished in a local river, apparently because of a dilapidated bridge and a broken road.
“On this day, we remember in a very special way, our dear brother, father and mentor, servant of the Most High God, Rev. Dr. Uma Ukpai whose body would be laid to rest in a few weeks, who lost two of his children at Igwu River more than 40 years ago,” Mr Otti stated at a reception organised in his honour by Abam Onyerubi Community.
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The Abam Onyerubi Community organised the event to thank the governor for the construction of a new Omenuko Bridge to replace the dilapidated 70-year-old bridge, which was built by the British colonial administration.
The old and dilapidated bridge was abandoned by successive administrations in Abia.
In addition to the new bridge, Mr Otti also inaugurated the newly constructed 30-kilometre Ozu Abam Arochukwu Road. Both the bridge and the road were commissioned by the former Chief of Army Staff, Lt. General Onyeabor Azubuike Ihejirika (rtd.).
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Continuing, Mr Otti said at the event, “We also offer our collective condolences to other families whose loved ones perished at different times in the river on account of the dilapidated Omenuko Bridge over it, especially Mr Maxwell Uduma of Ohafia, his dear wife, Victoria, and their driver.
“We also remember and pray for the peaceful repose of the souls of the 17 students who perished on the same river in 2007 on their way to an exam centre.”
In a 2009 interview with Vanguard newspaper, Rev Uma Ukpai narrated how two of his children were drowned in 1985.
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“On our way to a crusade in my village, my driver, carrying my children and a cousin, drove into a river.
“I attempted to bring the children out, not knowing that my wife also jumped into the river behind me and (the) water carried her, threw her up six times. It was the seventh time that somebody called my attention to her. I used one hand to swim and the other to hold her and brought her to shore. I rescued the children later. They had died,” he had said in the interview.
Rev Uma Ukpai said he still preached at the crusade, despite the tragic incident.
No to yesteryears’ deceit and false political promises in Abia
Apparently, angry with the rot and decay he met in Abia when he assumed office as the governor in 2023, Mr Otti vowed that “the deceit and false political promises of yesteryears shall have no place in Abam or anywhere in the state ever again”.
The governor said that the new Omenuko Bridge stands as a testament to the resolute determination of his administration to address decades of neglect and set a new governance standard, one that empowers communities and enables prosperity for all.
“The timely delivery of the 30-kilometre stretch of road traversing several clans in Abam and Arochukwu, points us to what we are truly capable of, when the leadership is fully aligned to the aspirations of the community.
“Beyond the joy of overcoming the limitations of infrastructural dilapidation, this afternoon presents a special opportunity to congratulate ourselves for being resilient in the long-drawn battle for the soul of our dear State and for standing firm until we got what we wanted,” he said.
The governor thanked the people of Abam for their enduring faith in democracy and for their unrelenting commitment to a shared vision of a new Abia.
“In the final analysis, today’s event is about you, the good people of Abam Onyerubi, the men and women, fathers and mothers, young people, students and artisans, professionals and entrepreneurs who gave their all to make a day like this possible. You are, one and all, the true heroes of the transformation we are witnessing today in Abam and beyond.”
Mr Otti reiterated that he was provoked to enter politics by the collapse of public infrastructure in Abia and the frustration people were experiencing in the state.
“We jumped in with the simple conviction that we have what it takes to improve the economic outlook of the State and restore hope to the populace.
“On the strength of the heartfelt testimonies of our brothers and sisters who have taken time to capture the general sentiments, the good people of Ndi Abam Onyerubi, I am glad to say that although it was risky, our decision to step out of our comfort zones to fight for the soul of this great State was indeed the right one.
“I want to thank the Almighty God for the discernment to follow through and not give up along the way, for truly, nothing would have changed, had it not been willed from above.
“We have therefore gathered to return our praise to where it rightly belongs, and then to acknowledge all of us, the patriotic sons and daughters of Abam, who made themselves worthy vessels of honour unto the glory of our God.”
“The biggest burden any community can bear is insensitive leadership, and the proof is the lived experiences of many of us. Think of the year-after-year losses our farmers had to live with owing to the absence of means to move their produce to urban markets; for an agrarian community like Abam, nothing could be more frustrating.
“How about the lost opportunities for many who could not go to school for reasons of poor access roads or maybe the absence of quality teachers in the local schools? It was painful to listen to the experiences of many of us, but what may not have been captured is that the burden of neglect went beyond Abam; from Ohafia to Arochukwu, Ihechiowa, Isu and several other clans in the two local government areas, no one was exempt from the misery of road infrastructure collapse.
“In the end, many of us went through multidimensional losses as the rich agricultural produce from Abam wasted, young people missed the trajectories of their destinies, and our sons and daughters living outside the community were shut out, not by anyone, but for fear of unexpected twists and turns on the road or at the famous bridge. Today, we have turned the page; the nightmare is over, the siege has collapsed, and the jinx is forever broken.
“This State, as we promised in our manifesto, shall be great in our lifetime and on the evidence of what has happened over the last 32 months, we can only hope for the best in the years to come,” Mr Otti stated.
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