Good morning!
Saturdays are sweet. And if you have never stepped foot in Aba but you want to feel Aba — not the watered down, tourist brochure version, but the real, unfiltered, bustling heartbeat of the city — then forget every other day of the week. Saturday is your portal. Saturday carries the full DNA of the Aba man: energy, hustle, banter, chaos, joy, and a sprinkle of unpredictability for flavour.
So here is a free tour guide for any brave tourist wishing to sample the commercial capital of Abia State. The town that somehow became a slang. The city that behaves like Lagos even though its population is modest. The heartbeat of trade in the southeast. Aba. No airport of its own, yet always a hive of arrivals. No seaport, yet containers find their way in like bees to nectar. With Uyo, Port Harcourt, and Owerri airports serving as its unofficial terminals, the goods still pour in, the markets still breathe, and the city stays in constant motion.
Speaking of markets, Aba’s market map is an ecosystem of its own. Ariaria International Market, where you can find everything from handmade shoes to things even Google cannot explain. Shopping Center, the kingdom of fabrics and fashion imports. Ahia Ohuru, famous for its special Ngwa Road and Okirika clothing and food supplies. Eziukwu Road Market, also called Cemetery Market, the undisputed headquarters of beverages and stockfish. The underrated but absolutely essential Good Morning Market, your morning plug for the freshest veggies money can buy. And then all the other smaller markets that do not sleep; they only blink.
But Aba is not just business and bargaining. We know how to unwind. On a typical Saturday evening, the city slowly transforms. Cold beers start opening, bars light up, chairs scatter outside like they grew legs, and friends gather for gist, football, politics, and everything in between. Aba may not boast amusement parks or theme rides, but the nightlife has its own pulse — simple, loud, honest, and absolutely unforgettable.
And then there is football. You cannot claim to have experienced Aba if you have not witnessed a matchday at the Elephant Park. This town breathes football the way fish breathe water. Enyimba FC is not just a club here, it is an identity, a heritage, a symbol. The sculpted elephant at the city entrance is not decoration, it is a statement. A reminder that you have entered a land where blue runs deeper than blood. Matchdays are loud, emotional, electric, and beautifully chaotic — the full Aba experience compressed into ninety minutes.
So yes, any tourist who finds their way here must soak it all in and return home with stories, not just souvenirs. Aba does not give you things to carry, rather it gives you memories.
And speaking of tourists, some visitors from Bauchi are in town today. Wikki Tourists. We will show them around, give them the warm Aba welcome, and then send them back home empty handed — hopefully.
EnyimbaEnyi 💙
