Acquisition of 40 electric buses – evolution of Mass Transit in Abia
By Chukwuma Elvis
The history of man is etched in the ability to move from one point to another. Transportation for humans has been in different forms for as long as can be remembered. Transportation outside the shores of the earth into outer space cannot also be overlooked.
History teaches that at some point in human development, the ability to walk over both long and short distances is probably the earliest mode of transportation across land borders and territories.
The reliance on animals for transportation is also significant over time in human development and carries on till this day in certain parts of the world
Over water, which covers more than 70 percent of the earth’s surface, men have been able to craft canoes dug out from giant tree trunks and adapted these wooden ferries to travel on rivers and across the vast oceans of the world.
Though records show that these modes of early transportation sometimes proved perilous but humans made these attempts for transportation in the quest to survive and thrive by exploring unknown territories.
Canoes have been unearthed through Archeology which are carbon dated to be tens of thousands of years old pointing to a long standing drive in humans to move around despite natural barriers.
Today’s world presents very unique opportunities for man to move around on land, sea, air and even under the Earth all targeted at moving the most persons in speed, comfort and safety.
Nations and societies have developed and adopted various concepts in Mass Transportation – targeted at conveying persons to and from various destinations regularly.
Mass Transit Concepts cover deploying busses to convey commuters across cities, states or regions and sometimes across international borders. Ferries have also been adopted to convey persons through water ways while ocean liners carry large amounts of goods and persons across international lines in global mass transportation drive.
Airplanes also play a very crucial part in global mass transit requiring nations to build necessary infrastructure such as airports to receive and launch these behemoths of the air for both national and transnational movements of persons and goods.
These different aspects and modes of transportation require high level coordination to avoid chaos and this is achieved through a well thought out Mass Transit Policy to serve the immediate and future needs of any evolving society.
Abia under the forward thinking Governor Alex Otti has for the first time since its creation taken the first step to conceive, outline and implement a mass transit policy framework to advance the movement of persons from one point to the other; capturing both intra city/state and inter state transportation.
This comes on the heels of the massive road infrastructure advances already achieved by the current Abia administration. Smart bus shelters and laybys are already in place along major roads in Aba and Umuahia for coordinated embarkation and disembarkation of Abia commuters from buses as part of infrastructure provisions in the implementation of the new mass transit policy.
It therefore follows a natural course of progression that after fixing roads and providing necessary infrastructure, the next logical step is to implement the operational phase of the mass transit policy for the state. This will invariably drive development in a coordinated manner without hiccups which can occur if there are limitations in transportation services.
In the first leg of this laudable mass transit policy, the state government has concluded plans to launch 40 Mass Transit Electric Buses; to be deployed across Aba, Umuahia, Ohafia and other major commercial hubs in the state.
The Modern Mass Transit Electric Powered Buses currently being perfected with the installation of modern communication and signaling gadgets in China will be ready for delivery in November 2025.
Thus by the time Abians will be stepping into the yuletide, these busses would have commenced operation in what will be an unprecedented feat in the history of the state.
Abians are grateful to Dr. Alex Otti for the birthing of the ‘New Abia’. Under the old order, this careful articulation and implementation of a mass transit policy wouldn’t have been possible owing to selfishness and avarice; stealing of public funds by those entrusted with our commonwealth. Their right over the rest of us was the privilege of holding the levers of power at the time.
The tide has turned and gladly so! Here we are with another man – a man for the moment who holds the instruments of power and is applying these instruments for the good of all hence the benefit of the Abia transport sector.
These 40 brand new Electric Powered Buses will play a significant role in driving the new Abia mass transit policy and connect to other means of transportation which have also been revived since the coming to office of Dr. Alex Chioma Otti.
It is on record that the railway sector though on the exclusive list, has received attention to the extent that daily train services from Aba to Port-Harcourt and back are in place serving the people of Abia.
Thousands of Aba residents and visitors travel between these two cities straddling the South-East and South-South to transact business; moving goods and services through the railway system which before now was moribund for over two decades but witnessed a resuscitation owing to the pressure from governor Otti on railway authorities to hasten the rebuilding of this vital mass transit system.
It gladdens the heart to know that Governor Ottis’ capacity for modern systems and the desire to embrace such for the benefit of Abians is yielding results which Abians can testify to.
The Abia Airport Nsulu, though a project initiated by the Federal Government but fully endorsed and embraced by Governor Otti is progressing with work ongoing on the runway. At inception, Gov. Otti advised the Federal Government to build an airport instead of an airstrip which was the initial plan.
The Government at the center welcomed the suggestion and the state government entered into partnership with the Federal Government on the construction of the ‘real Abia Airport’.
For the keen observer, one can relate the construction of an airport in Abia to the revival of the railway system and now the soon coming launch of 40 electric powered buses as an evolution in a mass transit system necessary for the development of the state going into the future.
All land borders between Abia and neighbouring states are presently being expanded to improve vehicular movement in and out of the state. This comes under the road reconstruction efforts of Ottis’ administration aimed at detaching from the past.
Vehicular traffic constrictions sometimes resulting in gridlocks which frustrates commuters and transport operators trying to gain entry into the commercial hub of the state and the state capital often occurred before now.
Abia will not be left behind as the world moves on and Governor Otti is leading the charge to keep the state focused on key attainments in this drive to fast track development.
As the launch date of the 40 electric buses beckons, Abians look forward to enjoying the benefits of a mass transit system like they have never known and made possible by the visionary Dr. Alex Chioma Otti.
The fruits of the new Abia are sweet to all people of goodwill. Many thanks to Chioma NdiAbia for making God’s Own State standout.
Chukwuma Elvis is Public Affairs Commentator