ABIA STATE: CALLING A SPADE, A SPADE. There have been a barrage of criticisms from different quarters as regards the honoring of the invitation to see the extent of development or otherwise at Abia State under the incumbent governor. The critiques fall into three categories- Genuine critics, Player haters and those who are very bitter for having been schemed out of the Abia State political abracadabra and shenanigans, otherwise known as yesterdays men. The last group gives me the goose pimples more than any other group. Do you remember this summary lines from Shakespeare? . Brutus paces back and forth in his garden. He asks his servant to bring him a light and mutters to himself that Caesar will have to die. He knows with certainty that Caesar will be crowned king; what he questions is whether or not Caesar will be corrupted by his power. Although he admits that he has never seen Caesar swayed by power in the past, he believes that it would be impossible for Caesar to reach such heights without eventually coming to scorn those lower in status. Brutus compares Caesar to the egg of a serpent “which, hatched, would as his kind grow mischievous”; thus, he determines to “kill him in the shell” (II.i.33–34). Three nights ago, at about 11p.m, I put up a post notifying my fellow social media savvy persons about the end of my tour in Abia State while promising to bring them updates about what i saw and my experiences soonest. Whether out of sheer ignorance for what the term soonest stands for or maybe out of pure mischief, I was abused and threatened inbox by pestle wielding, bbm-pinging, face booking children of anger (apologies to Reuben Abati). All in the bid to cow me (just in case I want to praise the man they hate so much). I simply concluded that there is indeed problem in Abia. The greatest maladies of ignorance is being ignorant of ones own ignorance. I am not aware whether the Governor of Abia State is aware of the context in which he is operating or not. If he is not aware, it would mean that he is inflicted with this malady of ignorance. If he is, then it means he is playing the game the best way he thinks it ought to be done. There have been a lot of incidents within the last few days that one does not need to go into details here but which have shown that Abia State story is more than meets the eye. I for one will never agree with anyone who says that Abia state is an eldorado, however, I must say that the impression we were given about the state was that of a suburb or at best, a garbage, this was due to the fact that gory pictures of Abia has been moving round the Internet. I visited Abia State to observe things for myself, therefore, I must write what I saw otherwise I will be either a hypocrite or a coward for shying away so as not to hurt the feelings of certain groups of persons especially the Brutus in third group. The tour commenced proper on Tuesday, the 11th of November, 2014 in Umuahia, the capital of the State. The first place I visited in company with others was the ABIA STATE DIALYSIS CENTER. We saw, contrary to popular opinion, a total of 6 functional dialysis machines whereas three patients were being managed as at that time. Furthermore, there was a Pre washed osmosis plant or water purifying plant. The centre was set up in conjunction with Mecure, an indian specialist hospital, so it was no surprise that i met an indian engineer whom i walked up to, Mr. Balkishna Patil, a renowned technologist engineer to ask him questions on how the centre functions and the use of the sophisticated machines. I was still not satisfied, I wanted to know if Abians are being ripped off so I further inquired to know the cost of each treatment or management as the case maybe. We were told that a sum total of N61, 000 was for MRI scan whereas N30,000 is for CTscan.the government claimed their price is subsidized compared to what other private hospital,a charge more especially when compared to what the Federal Medical Centre opposite the hospital charges. Let the doctors in the house confirm this since I am not one. Whatever happens now you know you can actually get a functional dialysis centre at Umuahia. What I do not know and could not ascertain however was the amount budgeted for setting up such a gigantic project. I say this because a lot of side commenters have asked the same question which though valid but somewhat a diversion from the main criticism which was that nothing was done in Abia State. In the same centre was the Phlebotomy- the UBS room that stores power for the place and the Optometry suite. Another area of development of the health sector is the building of the Amachara specialist hospital with a 100 bed unit, however, the government accepted that this was in conjunction with UBE. The next interesting place for me was the Ubani ultra market which we were told had not less than 10,000 stalls. The traders who were formerly trading o. The entrance of Umuahia making the surrounding environment dirty, unhealthy and traffic ridden were all relocated to the area known as Ubani. The place known as Ubani I must agree is on the inside, so I wondered how a trader who lives in town would embark on a journey in the mornings and journey back in the evenings just to meet ends meet. Reasonable man would agree with me that such a trader would spend more on transportation to and fro the market. I guess this was what led to the building of the Ubani low cost estate. Since this estate were still being built, one cannot ascertain with certainty how much each building would cost as regards sale or rent, whichever is the case. Abia State is not the type you sit up and start uploading pictures for your audience to watch. Abia State needs extensive and detailed discussion due to the kind of heat it generates in the hearts and minds of social media audience. Therefore, it is a thing of surprise to see people demand how many days it is taking one to come up with an update. We visited the newly built state high court and I must confess that the high court stood out in the midst of other smaller buildings in the compound which hitherto served as the state high court. Permit me to stop for now as I again promise to talk about other projects in the state like Isiukwato, Ovim and of course (pause for effect) -Aba. I do not run a monarchical system of government on my wall, consequently, every kind of opinion devoid of insult is welcome. As for Brutus, it is pertinent for you to understand that, Macbeth shall never vanquished be, until Great Birnam wood to high Dunsinane hill Shall come against him.
Posted on: Mon, 17 Nov 2014 22:04:56 +0000
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