Vivian is a passionate young lady presently living in Abia State. She has taken to writing her experiences and sharing them on my blog. Her articles have been featured on here several times. You can search for #BlogFeature on my blog to see others.
The truth is that for the change we seek to happen, we must keep talking and pointing out the ills in our country. We cannot afford to keep quiet about them. Enjoy the article and have a lovely Saturday ahead.
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Will the urgency of all
the consequences of the terrible state of our roads be finally grasped when the
very last one of us dies? September 4th was a black Friday in Aba, a tanker
carrying oil overturned and went up in flames. Right now, we don't know how many
casualties we had as a result. Yesterday, I got a call from a friend that his
sister survived a near ghastly accident. The driver of a truck didn't see the
gutter because it was waterlogged. He drove his car into the gutter and turned
over taking lives along with his.
On our way into Aba,
along waterside, we saw a truck carrying wood sliding down the sloppy road.
People were shouting and running. Others were picking themselves off the
ground. A Keke and a private car had already been bashed. The passengers in the
Keke were scampering out from different directions. The truck had lost its brakes
and there was traffic on the other side of the road. We were witnessing an
accident that would claim lives and we couldn't help them. The worst of all, we
were driving into the oncoming truck. People in our bus were screaming and
praying. Our driver was able to manoeuvre the situation. The truck kept sliding
down and all we could was pray for others.
When we turned on the
radio to get local news, a radio program where people will call in to report
about the traffic situation in the City was going on. From the discussion, we
learnt that the previous day, on the same spot, another truck lost its brakes and
was sliding down the road. A tipper driver blocked the oncoming truck with his
tipper to save the day but lost his life
in the bid. He sacrificed his life to save many others. And the story goes on.
How long more will this
happen before the government begins to give these roads the attention they
deserve? Clearing gutters, dumping the filth on the road and then taking
another two weeks before clearing the filth off the roads at which time the
filth would be blocking the roads thereby causing more traffic and then making
every where look so nasty is not road construction. It is not alleviating the
traffic situation. It is not fixing the terrible potholes.
The security and
wellbeing of the citizens should be the priority of any government. If the
people feel these basic needs are not the priority of the leadership, they
relocate to areas where they feel these needs will be met. Most, if not all, of the
people still living in Aba are still there because their sources of livelihood are there. How can a man whose business is well established in a city think of
relocating? His customers, paying for a
new shop, uprooting children from their schools and so many other factors need
to put into consideration. Yet, how can he keep doing business in the city when
he's no longer safe? When he's not sure
he would always return home from work due to these incessant accidents.
In 2009, we had a
crisis in the state. We had a situation where kidnappers held the city hostage
for months, kidnapping people, raping young women and committing all forms of
atrocities. We lost many people as a result. Doctors, lawyers and many business
people left the city. Today, we no longer have the kind of qualified doctors we
had prior to then. Any hospital you find one is usually overcrowded. Women go
for antenatal in the morning and return late in the evening. The church rose in
prayers and by God's grace, order returned to the state but many of those
precious people never returned. Now, will the church need to pray again for the
governor to fix the roads?
I feel 2009 is about to
repeat itself. People are fed up. Those that can relocate will. People can no
longer keep up with the traffic, the accidents, the feeling of insecurity and
the gory sights. It's really time for this leadership to rise up and fix Aba.
Article by: IGBOKWE VIVIAN BEULAH
Email: scriptwriter87@gmail.com
Twitter : @club7teen
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