Abia To Maintain Five Rural Roads

The Abia State Ministry of Poverty Alleviation and Social Protection has awarded contracts for the maintenance of rural roads in five local government areas across the state.

This initiative is part of the ongoing effort to improve rural infrastructure and empower local communities.

The contracts, which are part of the Abia State Rural Access and Agricultural Marketing Project (RAAMP), a World Bank-sponsored program, which aims to enhance transportation, support agricultural activities, and foster economic growth cover 59 kilometers of roads.

Speaking during a press briefing on Monday, the Commissioner for Poverty Alleviation and Social Protection, Mrs. Ngozi Felix, explained, “The six packages across seven or eight local government areas are part of the backlogged rural road maintenance projects, covering 59 kilometers.

“This is part of His Excellency’s commitment to empower local communities, businesses, and, most importantly, the vulnerable populations, whose livelihoods depend on accessible roads and quality infrastructure.”

She emphasized that the project’s goal is to boost agricultural productivity, reduce post-harvest losses, and improve market access.

“We have upcoming programs, markets that need to be rehabilitated, also to meet up with the objectives of the RAAMP project, which is to improve access to rural areas by rehabilitating and maintaining key rural transport infrastructure.

This will support agricultural marketing and logistics intervention in order to reduce post-harvest losses. Of course, part of the objective is also to reduce poverty, and joblessness by enhancing productivity and production,” she stated.

In addition to rural infrastructure, the Special Adviser to the Governor on Education, Kenechukwu Nwosu, shared updates regarding the newly launched portal for teacher recruitment by the State Ministry of Basic Education. He revealed that Over 17,000 applications have been received so far.

He reiterated that the recruitment process is designed to be merit-based, with a computer-based test and oral interviews for shortlisted candidates which is part of a broader effort to improve education in the state, where school enrollments have skyrocketed.

“For instance, schools in Aba have experienced a surge in student numbers, with some institutions seeing enrollments rise from 34 to over 450 students since the start of the year,” he said.

Additionally, he noted that the state government is planning the construction of 20 smart schools, equipped with cutting-edge technology to promote digital learning.

“These smart schools will expose our children to global best practices in education, driving digital learning and preparing them for the future,” Nwosu added.

On the financial front, the Commissioner for Information, Prince Okey Kanu, highlighted the state’s success in boosting its internally generated revenue (IGR), surpassing the target set for the past year. The state’s 2025 budget includes an ambitious Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) target of $120bn, a 207% increase over the previous year’s target. Kanu noted that this revenue boost would support ongoing and new development programs aimed at enhancing the well-being of Abia citizens.

He also discussed the state’s focus on social protection, revealing that a draft proposal for the Social Protection Policy had recently been reviewed at a workshop. The policy, developed in partnership with UNICEF, aims to create an equitable social protection system that reduces poverty, unemployment, and social tensions while safeguarding the most vulnerable populations.

Abia To Maintain Five Rural Roads is first published on The Whistler Newspaper