I flew into Abakaliki last night after so many years that I haven’t visited the state and the first thing that welcomed me was the multi-colour paints on the city walls and roadsides, the fancy street lights and numerous flyovers both completed and uncompleted inside the city centre.
Paradoxically, I can count how many private vehicles drove past us within the city; but everywhere is filled with tricycles (Keke Napep) and I was forced to ask myself the reasons for building multiple flyovers in a city with zero traffic like Abakaliki.
Common sense should have told those in charge that flyovers are needed and of high importance in only highly congested cities so as to decongest traffic gridlock. There has never been traffic gridlock on any road in Abakaliki so I will ask the state government what is and will be the use of the flyovers they built. I guess for aesthetics and beauty purposes. A project as capital intensive as such should not be engaged just for aesthetics and decorations. All the flyovers built are just a waste of money; a gigantic sum of money that should rather be invested in other ventures that would have created long-term sustainable jobs for the Ebonyi residents.
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No serious businessman or investor will relocate to invest in a city just because of the city’s aesthetics; paints or street lights.
Again, the airport that was just built in the state is another waste of scarce resources. Enugu airport is just about 45 mins away from Abakaliki city; the Enugu airport has been serving Ebonyi residents and visitors and could still serve. Every state, especially a state like Ebonyi, must not own an airport, it is not a “show off” project. Millions of dollars were spent on that project and I can predict that the airport will go bankrupt and will be abandoned soon just like the Benue’s due to low patronage.
The state government should have asked themselves before embarking on such a project about how many business persons or visitors visit the state daily to warrant an airport to be built.
I expected the Ebonyi state government to know that for every project undertaken by a government, there is an opportunity cost for it which was abandoned and that’s why before embarking and wasting money on a project, the government should ask the hard question; “is the project really necessary at this point”?
For any flyover built, there are schools which ought to be built or renovated which were sacrificed as an opportunity cost to erect a flyover. For every airport built, there is money which ought to be pumped into an educational subsidy to subsidize the cost of university education in the state; Ebonyi state university is one of the most expensive state-owned universities in Nigeria and for a state like Ebonyi which is the state in southern Nigeria that tops the rank of educational less developed states, the state should have prioritized instead on subsidizing the cost of tertiary education to encourage education amongst the indigenes and also investing in projects that will attract industries that will create more jobs.
What the state government like Ebonyi should consider now is the creation of long term and sustainable jobs, inviting and attracting investors through different incentives like stable and low-cost electricity, tax abatement/ reduction and building of more schools and subsidizing the cost of education in state-owned institutions to encourage education.
Building flyovers, and airports and spending millions of dollars painting the city walls just for decoration and aesthetics are just so unnecessary (at this point) and will never attract investors or create long-term jobs.
Nothing actually in happening in that state .
Zero economic activities.
Thanks for this wonderful thoughts.
Mediocrity is the problem we have here especially the Ebonyians of abakaliki block.
Severally we have pointed out that umahi was squandering our common resources on what I called cosmetic governance. Those projects are not of any employment opportunity or income generating. We were called names.
With all the flyovers, ogun state with less flyovers remains the inventors destination while Ebonyi state remains the poorest state in southern Nigeria.
Our so called elites are the worst problems. They keep clapping for umahi while he keeps wasting our resources on frivolities. Education is in a sorry state in Ebonyi state. Pensioners are not paid, no employment, no promotion of civil servants.
To cap it up, he has foisted his stooges on Ebonyians meaning that the next 8yrs or so will be same if not worse. We will not relent in our resistance of mediocrity until Ebonyians are throughly liberated. Thanks and God bless you once again.
The government need to fix their priorities.
I wonder why one would have to wait till he falls sick before he begins to take care of his health.
I wonder why Ebonyi State would have to wait for her roads to be congested before averting foreseeable congestions on her roads. Even the blind cannot in good conscience, refute deny that the city (some persons may argue that Abakaliki isn’t near being called ‘a city’) is rapidly expanding. If not on anything else, human population. It is humans that drive cars not spirits.
I am not sure that any school was closed down because it lacked renovation. I am also not sure that Ebonyi state is rated any less in academic performance now than in the past 8 years.
HE, Okezie Ikpeazu is mocked for constructing only ONE flyover for Abians in his 7years and 11months administration.
HE Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi is not spoken well of for his poor or zero interest in infrastructural development.
Outside of Ebonyi State, the praises being sung for HE Dave Umahi is no doubt, high.
I understand that everyone cannot praise or appreciate everyone for everything. But in criticising, it should be done constructively for the overall good of the country or state.
May the good lord bless you and bless you again
I really think that Mr. Governor Dave of Ebonyi state deserve some commendations.
It is conceded that the construction of Flyovers is capital intensive.
Construction of roads and dualisation of highways with concrete is no doubt capital intensive as well.
Yours truly, however can contend that Ebonyi state isn’t the poorest of Southern States (as suggested by my brother, Obinna) except one looks at it from the viewpoint of Federal Allocations to the state.
However, to buttress my point that HE Dave Umahi deserves some accolades, I’ll half-heartedly concede that Ebonyi is a poor state. Which makes it much more imperative for the Governor to be commended for doing so much amidst the ‘poor state’ of the State.
Before Dave as the Governor of Ebonyi State, Ogun State had always been the Investors preferred choice to situate factories. Governance too, is a continuum. Let the incoming FON look in other directions with a view to leaving enduring legacies too.
Governor Sam Egwu is reputed with ‘free education’.
Governor Elechi, for ‘Unity bridges’.
Governor Dave for ‘infrastructure/flyovers’.
Let Governor Francis Nwifuru make his mark in any otheraspect(s) too.
Ebonyi First.
Umahi have wasted all the state resources building flyovers and airport, no industry, no employment, education is in bad state etc
When the people in government know nothing or do not care about the priorities of Ndi Ebonyi, they misplace it. That’s what Mr. Governor did.
One will argue that the massive infrastructural strides of the state is a long-term achievement, however since that came at the expense of the immediate priorities of the people, it amounts to a failure of some sort.
Under Umahi’s administration, education died a complete death. When you visit any state owned primary and secondary school in the state, you will let out a tear. Ebonyi State University that was once rated highly, is a complete shadow of herself. Today, something as essential as Primary health care is grossly neglected by the government of Ebonyi State. The high unemployment rate in the state screams to the high heavens not to talk of the zero industrialization and Economic activities that takes place in the state due to the governments negligence and demonic tax policy.
The Ebonyi is on the rise mantra would have gotten alot of facelift if the things that matter and which would speed up development in the state were given attention, however, it was all a hoax. It got discarded for mere aesthetics and white elephant projects that doesn’t serve the states immediate needs.
If Ebonyi must rise as we all want, then the government must rise up to her responsibility of providing basic amenities that will serve the needs of her people and not those that makes the state look as though she is competing with others on aesthetics which counts for less.
God bless Ebonyi State.
Sometimes I wonder what someone can do to please everyone in this country when u look back to elechi administration he could not bust of single meaningful project in ebonyi state but Dave enter I did all this just to make the state proud yet people are still complain Dave have done his best it’s now left for next administration to start from where he stop during elechi administration alot of people are not proud to say there are from ebonyi state in the public but today is among the fastest developing state in Nigeria
U can not pls everybody. Umahi can not do everthing. For me dave umahi is the nigeria best governor. 70 percent of ebonyians like what umahi is doing.