MR Chioba Okeke works in Akamkpa Local Government Area of Cross River State. But he lives in Calabar, the state capital. He now spends about 30 minutes to get to work from home everyday and this quite excited him.
However, that was not the case before now. He used to spend hours making the same trip. He described his experience then simply as a nightmare.
Mr Okeke’s story tallies with those of thousands of other commuters who ply the Calabar-Ikom-Ogoja Highway that had been a death trap, being in a state of disrepair for years until the Federal Government intervened and began to rehabilitate the almost 350-kilometer stretch.
The state has two major federal highways: the Calabar-Odukpani-Ikot Ekpene and the Calabar-Ikom-Ogoja roads. The former is the shortest to other south-south and south-east states, while the latter, which connects almost all the local governments in the state in one long stretch, leads to the northern part of the country.
The Calabar-Odukpani-Ikot Ekpene Road received attention in 2016 when the Federal Government, through the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), carried out intervention works on the road to ameliorate the plight of commuters.
The Calabar-Ikom-Ogoja highway, constructed in the 70s, however, remained in a state of complete disrepair until the Minister of Power, Works and Housing, Babatunde Fashola(SAN), visited the state in 2017 to inspect that road following the people’s outcry. The minister had promised that funds would be released to carry out intervention works at critical sections of the road as well as rehabilitation works where necessary.
In need of urgent attention at the time was the Pamol axis of the highway, the only road leading in and out of the state capital, where a deep gully had threatened to cut the road in two, endangering the lives of road users.
The situation had been a terrible one, as a yawning chasm had taken up the entire road, forcing vehicles to precariously use one lane of the road; even the side of the road which vehicles were forced to use had been eroded and was in a collapsible state.
Commuters had expressed strong fears that with the onset of rains and heavy traffic, especially with heavy-duty cement and petroleum trucks plying the road, tragedy was imminent if nothing was done urgently.
Also worrisome for commuters and residents was that the road was the only one leading in and out of the state capital. Hence if the road had collapsed, besides the imminent loss of lives, Calabar would be completely cut off from other parts of the country.
This was the part of the road that had been giving Okeke and other commuters nightmares any time they were going to work. However, their exhilaration knew no bounds when the Federal Government intervened and began to fix the road. They expressed gratitude to the government for making life easier for road users and saving lives.
“Sometimes we used to spend hours on this particular spot, but not too long, the Federal Government intervened and as you can see, things are back to normal. It now takes just 30 minutes to get to Akamkpa. I want to thank the Federal Ministry of Power Works and Housing for a job well done. We are all happy. You can see that things are gradually getting back to shape.
“This place we are standing here, there used to be a very big gully by the side; it had been there for years. It gradually ate into the road and almost half of the road was gone before the intervention,” Okeke said.
At the Iwuru, Akamkpa local government area section of the road, where rehabilitation has been completed, a commercial motorcyclist, Patrick Sylvanus, also expressed joy over the development.
“The road was very bad but now, we are enjoying it because they have worked on it. Before now, we were not able to pass through here because the place was very bad, but now, we thank God that the government has come to give us a better place to pass. We are very happy with the government. It has also helped our business in this area a lot. Also, we used to record a lot of accidents here because of the bad road. There was an accident that happened at this spot involving a tanker. It caught fire and killed a lot of people here because of the bad road. We thank God, it is now fine,” Sylvanus said.
Mr.Odey Joseph from Ogoja said he travels home more often now from Calabar as the condition of the road, though not perfect, has greatly improved.
“I used to spend up to 10 to 12 hours anytime I wanted to travel from Calabar to my home town. Because of this, I was always reluctant to go home, even when it was important for me to do so. But now even though the work on the road is still going on, I can make it home in four to five hours. For this I am grateful,” Joseph said.
In Ugep local government well known for the sale of garri, the women in the area, where a rehabilitated portion of the road passes through, expressed gratitude, saying their sales had improved.
One of them, who gave her name simply as Nnanke, said because of the smooth road, more people now come to buy their products from other local government areas and even neighbouring states.
“Before now, it was just people passing through that used to patronise us. But now that the road is good, people actually come here directly to buy our garri. We are happy for this,” she said.
The Federal Controller of Works, Federal Ministry of Power, Works and Housing in Cross River State, Engr.Bassey Nsentip, said the ministry was working on the rehabilitation of about 250 kilometers of the road.
The road, which is the nerve of the state, runs 330 kilometers from Calabar in the southern part of the state up to Ogoja Local Government Area in the northern part,terminating at Gakem at the Benue State border.
Nsentip said three different contractors are handling the rehabilitation of the road and the quality of the job was good. According to him, areas rehabilitated would last for over 20 years.
He said the idea was that by the time government is done with the road, travellers would have a smooth ride all the way from Calabar, at one end of the state and to Ogoja, at the other end.
In January this year, Fashola flagged off the rehabilitation of the 73-kilometer Odukpani Junction-Ikot Okopra-Akpet 1 section of the Calabar-Ikom-Ogoja road in Biase local government area. The minister said the project, which cost about N14 billion, is a demonstration of the commitment of President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration to bridge the infrastructural gap in the country, geared towards providing the much needed stimulants for economic growth and ease of doing business. The project is expected to be completed in 24 months.
“This project is a 73-kilometer single carriage way. It links the industrial town of Akamkpa to Biase Yakurr road, hence its frequent use by industrialists around the area, which led to its deterioration. The shoulders of the road have been completely eroded, while the entire alignment is riddled with alligator cracks, as well as characterised by potholes,” the minister, who was represented by the Minister of State in the Ministry, Mustapha Baba Shehuri, said.
“When completed, the road will greatly reduce vehicle operation maintenance cost, improve travel time, reduce accidents as well as loss of lives and property. It will also enhance the socio-economic wellbeing of the people along the corridor, generate employment opportunities for both skilled and unskilled labour and assist in the fight against crime,” he said.