Port Harcourt Road, Aba: Between illusion of flag-off and reality of execution, By Ferdinand Ekeoma

In May 2017, the then Governor of Ebonyi State, Dave Umahi, was in Aba at the invitation of Abia State Government to flag off the reconstruction of Port Harcourt Road.

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There was hope. There was joy. There was celebration. Mr Umahi’s presence stirred more excitement because it was believed that the infrastructural revolution witnessed in Ebonyi would be replicated on Port Harcourt Road if those who invited him showed the same capacity.

That was never to be.

For nearly 30 years, Port Harcourt Road in Aba was more than just a bad road. It was a wound.

It was the road mothers cursed while carrying babies through ankle-deep mud. The road traders avoided as customers disappeared because no vehicle wanted to enter. The road landlords abandoned because who would rent a shop where goods could not come in and customers could not come?

It was also the road politicians remembered only during campaign seasons. Every four years, they stood on it, made promises, took pictures, and vanished until the next election cycle. For almost three decades, Port Harcourt Road became a symbol of neglect, of broken trust, and of how far a government could betray and forget its people.

The cost was heavy. Businesses died. Transport fares tripled. Goods got damaged. Schools, churches and factories shut down. Investors ran away from Port Harcourt Road and the adjoining streets. With each rainy season, the suffering deepened. People didn’t just lose money on that road. They lost hope.

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Then came Governor Alex Otti.

He didn’t come with another speech. He had spoken enough during the years of struggle. He came with bulldozers. Not just any bulldozers, but those from Julius Berger.

Where others saw “impossibility,” he saw “urgency.” Where others saw campaign materials and political tools to be exploited, he saw human beings who deserved dignity.

In record time, the road that had been abandoned for years was built. Not patched.

Today, you can drive from one end to the other without swerving into craters. Trailers move in and out with ease. Shops that were shut for years have reopened. Buildings that lost their value have given landlords reason to live longer and live better. Students get to school on time. The sick get to hospitals without ambulances getting stuck. At night, the road is alive again and businesses run late because the streetlights have chased darkness away.

Why does this matter to Ndi Abia?

It matters because of the strategic importance of the road. Because of the agony the people endured. Because of the unjustifiable hardship they suffered.

Roads are not just asphalt and drainage. They are economic arteries.

When you fix a road like Port Harcourt Road, you don’t just fix transportation. You fix commerce. You fix jobs. You fix confidence.

Trade comes alive: Aba is the commercial heart of the South-east. With motorable roads, goods move faster, costs drop, and markets expand beyond Abia.

Investment returns: Investors watch where government keeps its word. A completed Port Harcourt Road tells them: Abia is open for business.

Jobs are created: From construction workers to drivers, shop owners and suppliers, infrastructure puts food on tables.

Human dignity is restored: No more wading through floods. No more paying “road tax” touts. People move freely.

This is what infrastructure does. It doesn’t just connect places. It connects people to opportunity.

Governor Otti has shown what is possible when leadership is focused and intentional. He chose governance over grammar. Results over rhetoric. And, of course, impact over promises.

The years of waiting on Port Harcourt Road should teach us one thing: neglect is expensive, but commitment is transformational.

Governor Otti has kept his promise on many projects. Let us keep our promise to him — with support, patience, and partnership — so he can do even more.

Because when a government remembers its people, the people remember why they believed in government in the first place.

It is not by accident that the same man, Mr Umahi, who flagged off Port Harcourt Road in 2017 as governor, returned to Abia in 2025, eight years later, as a minister to commission the project. All because one man, Mr Otti, believes that a flag-off without construction is an illusion, while execution is the reality — and a testament to what can be achieved when leadership is driven by courage, capacity and sincerity.

Abia is speedily rising from the ashes, and the people are happy for it.

*Ferdinand Ekeoma is special adviser to Governor Otti on Media and Publicity