Once again, the rainy season has exposed the frightening incompetence of the Abia State government in managing erosion and flood control in Aba. The images and videos flooding social media are no exaggeration—homes are submerged, roads have turned into rivers, and the commercial heart of the state is gasping for breath. From Osisioma to Ogbor Hill, Umueze to Ariaria, and Cemetery Road to Ngwa Road, the scenes are tragic and shameful. This is not just nature’s wrath, it is a direct consequence of government negligence.
It is important to recall that Abia State was among the states specifically mentioned in the Nigerian Meteorological Agency (NiMET) forecast as being at high risk of experiencing intense rainfall and potential flash floods in the 2025 rainy season. This early warning was not a vague prediction. it was a clear advisory intended to prompt immediate preparedness. States like Abia were urged to strengthen and fortify flood-prone zones in anticipation of the looming danger.
In fairness to the federal government under President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, proactive steps were taken at the national level. Adequate funds were made available to state governments to mitigate the predicted impact. Given this, one would have expected a high level of responsiveness and strategic action from the Abia State Government. Unfortunately, what we have witnessed instead is a disappointing lack of urgency,proactiveness and visible results.
Governor Alex Otti’s administration claims to have spent ₦3.14 billion on flood and erosion control. If so, where exactly did this money go? Certainly not to Aba, where flooding has made the streets impassable and livelihoods have been washed away. More damning is the administration’s boast of having invested ₦624 billion in road infrastructure. To what end? painting and marking existing roads and patching potholes on roads built the past government, while ignoring the critical flood prone zones where urgent attention is required and real construction is needed?
This failure is even more glaring when compared to the meager ₦2–₦4 billion monthly allocation the previous administration operated with. Today, Otti receives over ₦23 billion monthly from the federation account, oil derivation funds, internally generated revenue, cumulatatively, excluding borrowings. With this financial muscle, one would expect a significant transformation in Aba. Instead, the city has continued to drown in flood and the government is busy SIGNATURING away the resources of the state through a BANK in an effort to RECAPITALIZE, its important to reimphasize that Aba the commercial nerve center of Abia state is being submerged, businesses are drowning, peoples livelihoods and properties are being destroyed, churches and schools are being submerged and the residents are suffering untold hardship without any help coming from the government despite the huge resources the government have allegedly written off through flood control.
Residents are weeping. Businesses are ruined. vehicles are submerged in waist-deep waters. Yet, traders and residents are made to pay heavy taxes, and families are forced to relocate from their homes,while the government is more interested in hiring skit makers and influencers to paint a false picture of paradise in Abia.
The current flooding crisis ravaging parts of Aba is not limited to consequence of nature, it is a direct result of the vindictive and shortsighted policy direction of the Otti administration. Rather than building on existing frameworks, the government deliberately ignored the comprehensive flood management design for Aba as detailed in the African Development Bank (AfDB)-backed urban renewal plan championed the previous administration. That plan was data-driven and engineered to offer long-term solutions to Aba’s perennial flooding.
Instead, in a politically motivated move, the government sidelined expert recommendations and opted for cosmetic interventions. A clear example is the ongoing Port Harcourt Road project, where Julius Berger was hurriedly mobilized with an eye-popping N36.5 billion contract — yet without integrating the vital holistic flood control components that the area desperately requires. Today, areas like Uratta and its environs are submerged and vulnerable, proving that these projects, however grand in budget, are fundamentally flawed in scope.
Governor Otti was elected on the wings of hope and a promise of transformation. Today, that hope is floating in flood water. This administration cannot continue to paper over cracked walls with social media stunts. Real work is needed. Strategic drainage. Long-term erosion control. Proper road reconstruction—not just cosmetic fixes on already stable routes.
It is time Governor Otti stopped investing in propaganda and started investing in people. Aba is not an Instagram set, it’s a floof prone city begging for urgent attention, and the government must act before it collapses.
This is the tragic endpoint of leadership driven ego and media validation rather than reality.
Aguoru
Is a Public Affairs Analyst.
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