•Akpabio begs youths to allow workers back to site
•Protesters play tennis, football on road as blockade enters day four
By Okodili Ndidi, Abuja and Mike Odiegwu, Port Harcourt
The Federal Government has released N2.5billion for the payment of compensation for property owners on the East-West road, so that work can resume on section 3 of the road that has been barricaded by protesting youths.
Niger Delta Affairs Minister Godswill Akpabio, who made the disclosure last night, appealed to the aggrieved Niger Delta youths to vacate the road, to enable contractors to begin work.
The minister made the appeal in Abuja after a meeting with contractors handling different sections of the road.
Ogoni youths protesting the abandonment of the Eleme section of the East-West road in Rivers State, were yesterday seen playing lawn tennis and football on the road.
They vowed to continue the blockade of the major road that leads to the Onne Port, the Port Harcourt Refinery, other factories and companies until the government showed seriousness to rehabilitate the road.
While the youth used one lane to draw a lawn tennis court on the ground, they turned the other lane into a five-aside football pitch.
They said they were not happy that the Minister of Niger Delta Affairs, Senator Godswill Akpabio, failed to fulfil his promise that work would soon start on the road.
They were particularly unimpressed by the presentation made by the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Niger Delta Affairs, Dr. Babayo Ado, who was sent by Akpabio to appeal to them to withdraw from the road.
It was gathered that instead of giving a timeline of when work would begin on the road, the permanent secretary spent time tracing the recent history of the road and when contract for the reconstruction of the entire road from Warri to Prom was awarded, a contract that excluded the Eleme section of the road.
The permanent secretary appealed to the protesters to exercise patience.
He said: “Eleme section was not part of the contract initially awarded in 2006 because it was in good condition, having been dualised earlier. The Port Harcourt – Onne junction portion had progressively deteriorated as a result of heavy axle loading, flooding and is no longer serviceable for the current traffic volumes.
“Therefore, the ministry had to award the contract for additional works to Messrs RCC Nigeria Limited to upgrade the Port Harcourt Onne Port Junction.
“The initial design for interchange bridges at Onne Junction is to be substituted with a flyover bridge due to space constraints caused by the newly constructed Power Sub-Station, which cannot be relocated due to higher cost implication interchange bridge initially designed for Refinery Junction new flyover bridge has been designed for Akpajo intersection.
“The scope of works include and not limited to; widening the road from two-lane dual carriage to a three-lane dual carriageway; increasing the thickness of the asphalt layer; constructing interchange bridges at Refinery and Onne Port Junction to smoothen traffic flow and constructing a new 51m long reinforced concrete bridge on Port Harcourt- bound carriageway at Aleto
“The condition of the road deteriorated during the period of delay and there has been serious encroachment on the right-of-way initially delineated for the road.
“It is in pursuance of this objective that the ministry stepped down 345 projects and committed N10billion in the current 2022 budget, while Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) made provision of N10billion in the 2020 annual budget and another N25billion in 2021 budget to impact positively on the rate of progress of work on the East-West road.”
Street parties were held at the Refinery and Alode junctions of the road by youths, who were entertained with live bands and refreshments.
The leader of the protest, Legborsi Yamabana, said they would not leave the road until the government mobilised contractors to the area.
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