The people of Ebem Ohafia in Ohafia local government area of Abia State on Saturday held its maiden edition of road summit for landlords and land owners in the community.
Addressing participants at the summit, the President General of Ebem Ohafia Development Union, EODU, Mr Emeka Mba (BamBam) while noting that the gathering is an avenue to promote good governance added that the state of roads in the community are bad, stating that it is traceable to human activities.
He, therefore, blamed most landlords for land grabbing, which he said has diminished motorways, and passage access with no drains provided.
Mr. Mba also expressed dissatisfaction that activities of humans have led to situations where soils are badly washed away by floods in the community and houses belonging to locals are exposed to risk of collapse as a result of effects of erosion on the foundation.
He said, “The importance of good and accessible road network to the development of a community cannot be overemphasized. In my short stay at the helms of Ebem Ohafia Development Union – EODU, I have traversed most of our so called roads and seen the devastation caused by erosion, flood and human activities.
“Our soils are badly washed away by flood and our house foundations exposed to the surface. Human activities are in the forefront of this dastard devastation of our roads and lands.
“Most landlords and land owners indulge in land grabbing, where fences are built on supposed motor ways – thereby diminishing access to two-car passage, with no drains provided.”
He emphasised the need for adequate spacing while erecting structures to accommodate drainages, walkways, two-way motor roads, and other facilities for the comfort of residents and visitors to the community.
He also said farming activities have contributed to the shrinking access roads and streets in Ebem Ohafia Community.
“In saner climes and cities, there is a distance given away from a land dimension before erecting fences to provide a channel for rainwater and walkways, as well as good dimension to motorable roads. These provisions are non-existent in our architectural design and building plan.
“We cannot access one street from another. Most street connections are blocked by overzealous landlords and land owners. I cannot forget to mention farming activities done outside some of our fences – on the road, thereby diminishing the size of our roads. Kiosks and flower pots are built way away from our fences to further diminish our road sizes.
“We cannot continue to live like this. EODU is poised to make a difference and correct these anomalies done to our collective access roads. EODU under my guide will work to ensure we reclaim our roads in collaboration with the relevant State and Federal Government Road Agencies. Yes, some of our actions may not go down well with some of our landlords and landowners, but we cannot continue to turn away from the challenges posed by these land-grabbing activities, it is a unanimous responsibility assigned to EODU to champion the Development agenda of Ebem and we have now risen to this obligation,” he said.
He, therefore, urged for the understanding of the people of Ebem with the measures that will be put in place as a means to restore sanity in building plans as well as roads in the community.
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