New 18-hole Aba course opens new vista for tourism, says Onwuchekwa

Until recently, Aba, the commercial nerve centre of the South East, was the melting pot for art and entertainment in the entire region and even beyond.

The city, which was the Igboman’s first port of call before venturing beyond the region in search of business and other opportunities, has always been a leading centre for sports and recreation such that products of the city feature prominently in most national teams.

But the town went through a rough patch in the early part of this decade, when kidnappers and other criminals held it by the jugular, threatening to destroy everything that made the town the revered Enyimba City.

Having survived the criminal onslaught on its core essentials, the city has started regaining its lustre, with the resilient residents doing everything possible to reclaim its position as one of the most important towns in Nigeria.

One of such efforts at rejuvenating the Enyimba City is the recent commissioning of an 18-hole green course at the Aba Golf Club.

The 18-hole course, according to officials of the club, cost N1.5 million each to construct and would require an estimated maintenance fee of N250, 000 per hole every month.

However, beyond the cost implication, the promoters of the club have started looking at its potential to drive economic, tourist and infrastructural development of the city.

At the recent launch of the course, president of the club, Dr. Uwa Onwuchekwa, urged the state government to leverage on the new 18-hole course to restore the pull of the city.

He said: “I commend what the governor is doing on urban renewal; fixing the roads and other infrastructure. I appeal to him to help maintain the golf course. Any entrepreneur who wants a place to recreate, this is what Aba Sports Club represents.

“From now, most major investors would look at the calendar and see when the Aba Amateur Open will take place. They can plan to have their holidays in Aba and hotels in the city would be fully booked. We need excellent hotels. With this, Aba will bounce back.”

There is the belief among the people that holding the Aba Arts and Culture Festival alongside the Aba Amateur Open will lure many tourists to the commercial centre.

It is also hoped that traders from Cameroun, Gabon, Benin Republic, Togo and other neighbouring West African countries, who were driven away from the city by kidnappers and other miscreants, would start coming back to the town if the Aba Chamber of Commerce and Industries and the government join hands in selling the new state of the city to them.

Explaining his call on the Abia State government to help in maintaining the course, Onwuchekwa said: “In other places like Enugu, Uyo, Owerri, governments contribute to maintenance of the golf course. We plead that the state government sees the need to invest in golf.

“Government must work in conjunction with the people by investing and helping in the maintenance of the golf course. This would be to the betterment of the state.”