The Abia State Government has commenced an intervention work aimed at recovering the more than a decade Obuba-mbara-Ozu Umunwanwa gully, in the Umuahia South Local Government Area of the state.

The Special Adviser to Governor Alex Otti, Dr Christian Anokwuru, who hails from the area, said the gully posed serious existential threat to the community, having washed away many residential houses and people’s means of livelihoods.

Mr Anokwuru spoke on Thursday when he conducted journalists round the gully site currently undergoing reclamation work by the state government.

He said that aside destroying people’s houses, the gully had also washed away part of the Community Primary School I, Umunwanwa.

He stated, “We also lost the community square, which used to be a beautiful place, and our playing field to the gully.”

He added that the community also lost many farmlands, plantations and economic trees to the menace.

Mr Anokwuru said that the gully dangerously threatened the Methodist Church, Ozu and practically cut the road leading to Ogbodi Ring Road before the current intervention.

“It took the community’s continuous interventions to check the encroachment and maintain the road to make sure people pass through to Ogbodi,” the governor’s aid said.

According to him, the gully spans three villages, beginning from Umuobia to Umuokeh, toward Udo Bridge, which is the boundary between Abia and Mbaise in Imo State.

Mr Anokwuru explained that the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) attempted to rebuild the road leading to the bridge during the Orji Kalu’s administration, but abandoned the project, which was handled by Zerock Construction Company.

He noted that the project was abandoned at Amuzu Ubakala, shortly after its commencement from Mgbarakuma, near the Enugu-Port Harcourt Expressway.

Mr Anokwuru said that the NDDC intervention helped to arrest the Iyi-Afor gully, which existed long before the Obuba-mbara-Ozu gully started.

“It is a federal road, but the beauty now is the state hovernment’s intervention, which is why we have the steady progress of work. The prayer on the lips of every member of this community is that the road will be actualised. With the signs on ground and Dr Alex Otti’s intervention, I can comfortably say it is a done deal. I can’t tell you that I played any role in attracting the project. Noo!

“It is the governor’s programme to ensure that every community in Abia is impacted positively by his administration. He does not mind whether it is a state or federal project, provided it benefits humanity,” Mr Anokwuru said.

The President-General of the community, Fidelis Okebugwu, and the Community Liaison Officer to the project, Oluchi Nwosu, also shared similar optimism that both the gully reclamation and road construction would be successfully executed by the Otti’s administration.

The two community leaders and the governor’s aide expressed profound gratitude to Mr Otti for embarking on what they described as “two gigantic projects.”

According to them, completing the road will help in realising the long-expected Umuopara-Ogbodi-Umunwanwa-Ubakala Ring Road.

They said that the road would not only open up the area to social development, but also enhance its economic potentials, including commercial fish farming and sand escalation in one of the big rivers in the area.

The community leaders also stated when completed, the road would stimulate economic prosperity among the people and reduce the travel time from Mbaise to Aba, the commercial hub of Abia.

“God will bless Gov. Alex Otti. Our community cannot wait for the 2027 general rlections to reward his good work with our block votes for his second tenure,” they said. 

(NAN)