Right from the Asaba Airport, it
was greetings from all quarters. I initially thought it was
the usual Airport “rats” who want tips by offering to help lift your luggage.
To my greatest chagrin, the same warm and welcoming Airport reception was also
replicated on the streets of Asaba by the average citizens.
Impressively,
Asaba residents I came in contact with kept greeting me “Good morning
brother”! On such occasions,
I was tempted to check if it was someone else around
me who was being greeted. After
looking and finding
none else in sight but myself, I would gladly answer.
My journey to Asaba evoked nostalgic memories of
my childhood identity developed in Okitipupa, Ondo
State, which has been tremendously altered
by my over a decade exposure to the cold Lagos culture,where everybody
minds their business. Asaba
people relate freely with one another.
From the
Airport, I wished the warm reception I was
already receiving from the loving people in Asaba, would
also be reflected in the environment, given the
State’s huge Federal allocations and internally generated revenue.
Unfortunately, it was not the case. Basic amenities
were lacking. Where they existed, they
were nothing to write home about.
I was
dismayed when I saw the flood the people were
contending with. There were no functional drainage
systems to drain away the stagnant waters. The City
center was littered with wastes. The hygiene standard was absolutely short
of my expectation for a State Capital of an Oil producing state like Delta
State. I practically walked through the puddle of waters
daily to my place of assignment for the five days I stayed
in the state. No thanks to the rains which refused to stop
for the days i stayed in the Delta State Capital.
With all sincerity, I took my
time to move through Asaba’s numerous streets,
and could barely find a well tarred street. The very
few tarred streets I saw, lacked proper drainage. Where there sewage systems, they
were abysmally constructed.
At coker junction, which is the
first point of contact for people coming into Asaba
town from the Airport, all I saw
were hips of wastes, exuding
pungent stench, leaving endangered pedestrians with no any
other choice than to cover their nose while passing the area.
Another intrigues of the town was
the preposterous manner Asaba Drivers drive their cars against traffic. They were
not only driving
against traffic, they were driving on very high speed.
Seeing that, what
first came to my baffled mind was, Where is LASTMA? Come and
eat! I had to pinch myself to realize that I was in Asaba
and not Lagos, where such traffic irresponsible
demeanor would not be condoned by traffic officials.
Asaba had
really tasty local delicacies. Food
vendors AKA “mama Put” are well regulated. Unlike Lagos where you can go to a
local restaurant and buy food according to your pocket size,the
prize for a plate of rice in Asaba, is
standard. A plate of rice is sold for N300
anywhere . I tasted a
couple of them.And one of the intricacies to the rice is, it is either served
with normal STEW or BANGA soup base on your individual
preference.
Day 5, was the day i finally said goodbye to
Asaba and i said in my mind that, at least i am now
free from the unending “street ocean” that i wade through daily to attend my
assignment.Getting to the Airport, i encountered another hitch while trying to
check in. The attendant said “OGA, GO GET STAMP” he pointed at a direction to me.Thinking it
was free, i quickly rushed down to get my ticket stamped.On getting there, the
guy behind the counter said N1,000. The Warri in me came out “Bros, wish dey
they start to dey pay for stamp na, me no get money to give you oo”. Talking to
me rudely, the attendant replied me that i cannot go through the door without
stamped ticket, that the only option i have is to get a refund and forget the
flight. Out of anger i gave him one thousand Naira and passed.
My journey to Asaba was full of intrigues, Asaba people are very accommodating, but the
physical condition of the environment was quite appalling.
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