Lawyers Protest Poor State Of Aba Roads

Lawyers in Aba last week took to the streets to register
their displeasure with the condition of local and federal roads in the city.

The Tide  reports that
the lawyers, in their hundreds, led by the Chairman of the Nigerian Bar
Association in the town, Chief Charles Eduzor, carried placards with various
inscriptions and chanting songs, including: “All we are saying, give us good
roads’’.

Some of the inscriptions read: “Live in Aba, live in hell’’,
“government neglect of Aba is a gross injustice’’, “lawyers are asking for good
governance’’, and “If you need excellent awards, build roads in your state’’.

The lawyers marched from the state high court, Aba, through
the Aba-Owerri Road to the Port Harcourt-Enugu Expressway.

Eduzor told newsmen after the rally that the aim was to
register the displeasure of the lawyers with the deplorable federal and local
roads in the city to attract government’s attention.

He said commercial activities had been grounded by the
deplorable condition of the roads.

The chairman named the worst roads in the city to include
Azikiwe, Omuma  Ohanku, Ukaegbu and
Ommuojima roads.

He said that even the road named after Dr Nnamdi Azikiwe had
been allowed to deteriorate to terrible condition, and blamed the federal and
state governments for the neglect of the roads over the years which caused
sufferings to commuters using the local roads and the Port Harcourt expressway.

He noted that Aba, the commercial hub of the South East, had
been neglected for long, and was fast loosing its enterprising business
potential.

“The commercial city, with many industries and commercial
enterprises, is fast loosing its potential. The city has been taken over by
infrastructural decay because of long neglect.

Meanwhile, Governor Theodore Orji has assured residents of
the city of massive roads rehabilitation at the onset of the dry season.

He said the state government was determined to clean up the
city with the planned demolition of illegal structures.

In a statement signed by
the Chief Press Secretary to the governor Mr Ugochukwu Emezue, in
Umuahia, Orji said the state government was not unmindful of the neglect Aba
had suffered before.

The Tide  recalls that
the state assembly had passed a resolution urging the Federal Government to
repair the Enugu-Port Harcourt road without further delay.