Residents of Jiwa community in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) have appealed to the incoming FCT administration to rehabilitate the main road linking the community to Dei-dei and Gwagwa-Karmo communities.
Mr. Hassan Musa, who spoke with Abuja Review, said that the poor road has presented serious challenges to the people, with motorists often trapped for hours in traffic gridlock when it rains.
According to Musa, the residents of the communities have written many letters to the FCTA and even to media organisations just to attract the FCT administration to the roads and the plight of the residents, but nothing has been done to alleviate their suffering.
He appealed to the incoming FCT Minister to include the rehabilitation of the road in the FCT budget when the new administration takes effect, saying that if the road is rehabilitated, it will reduce the suffering of the people and also improve on the economic development of the council.
Another resident of the community, Mr. Alhassan Mohammed, also said that the dilapidated state of the road is affecting the businesses in the communities, as Dei-Dei, Gwagwa and Karmo communities are the most flourishing business areas in the FCT.
“The internally generated revenue gotten from these communities are more than any community in the FCT, the largest timber and building materials markets are in this communities, but the road that leads to this markets are dilapidated and gradually becoming inaccessible.
“That is why we are appealing to the incoming administration to consider the rehabilitation of this road, so that things will go well for everybody within and outside these communities. We have been going through hell as a result of the bad road, mostly when it rains, the government should come to our rescue so that we can have peace,” he said.
The people of Uwessan, a community that comprises of eight villages, are not happy. What pained them is that they see communities around them enjoy basic amenities such as good road network, electricity and water but they are still yearning for government to come to their aid.
Uwessan is located in Esan Central local government. It is a boundary community between Estako West and Esan North East local government areas in Edo State. Indigenous of Uwessan are mainly farmers but they find it difficult to convey their farm produce to where they could sell for profits because the main road connecting the community to other communities is an eye sore.
The road which connects from Utako in Esan North East through Ujabhole to other communities in Uwessan is about 21 kilometers. It is supposed to reduce travel to Abuja from the Eastern part of the country without motorist getting to Ewu along the Benin-Auchi express road. The road however cuts off at Utako and has been overtaken by weeds. Residents who live opposite each other along the road cannot walk through to the other side.
Side drains constructed on the road and was abandoned have collapsed. The drainage was said to have been constructed in 2005 by the then Chairman of Esan Central, Okhai Enegbo but was stopped because of funding.
Residents in the area blamed former Minister of Works, Mike Onolememen for the collapsed side drains because flood water from Uromi was channelled to the drains. Besides, they said the former Minister focused on building roads within Uromi and environs without extending same to other local government.
Apart from the inaccessible road to Uwessan, the residents said access to portable water has remained a mirage to them since the days of Awolowo. Water tap erected in the community many years ago still stand but no water.
Charles Akhere, a businessman, said his house used to be a like a fighting spot during the dry season as people struggle to get free water.
According to him, “This road is appalling when you are going from Utako to all the villages. We have no business following another long route. Uwessan as a whole, there is no road. We go through another road.”
“When it is time for campaign, you see politicians here. It has affected development of Uwessan. Good road network is vital to development. If the road were good, those places where you find bushes, people would have built houses. A journey of five minutes would take you longer hours. It has affected business and our farmers are mainly affected.”
“We don’t have a single borehole dug by either the state or local government in the whole of Uwessan. During dry season, you see my house like a war front because people are looking for water. There are no teachers in the secondary school here. Oshiomhole has renovated the primary school but our grammar school is appalling. I built house for female corpers here. It is at Uwessan you find the worst road in Esanland”.
Vice Chairman of Uwessan Youth Movement, Henshaw Oligbi, described the situation as pathetic. He said vehicles stopped playing the road for the past 16 years.
His words, “That is the original road to access Uwessan Community. It was the original road connecting Southern and Northern part of the country via Auchi before it was diverted to Ekpoma-Ewu-Auchi road. For the past 16 years, the road has been abandoned. Successive government has promised to construct the road for us but after election, we will not see them again.”
“During the days of Action Group, we were told politicians used the road to campaign but nothing was done. We are farmers but no road to move our products to the market. Uwessan is made up of eight communities but the road is our headache. We have been neglected for so long that we don’t have government presence in our communities. All the developmental structures were through self help or through our sons who excelled in their chosen careers.”
“The electricity was brought by late Sunday Okoduwa. Uwessan has the highest population in Esan land. Oshiomhole promised to construct the road during his second term electioneering campaign. We need govern-ment to construct the road so that we would stop passing through long distance.”
Paul Iyoha, Ujabhole community youth president, said, “This is the only access road we have that lead to the eight villages in Uwessan. We have not been passing that road for many years now.”
“
he Bad Roads In The Community
The road has been in a deplorable condition. There is no accessible road in the whole of Uwessan. You see lorries falling off the road. We have paid our taxes and it is government time to help us. We have been trying through self help. Flood water from Uromi destroyed the whole drainage that was constructed. There is no pipe borne water. The last time we had water was during the days of Awolowo. Since the water scheme broke down, we have not had water. We get water from wells.”
Retired Commissioner of Police, Young Emmanuel Arebamen, said it was bad politics that caused the situation of the road linking Uwessan to other communities.
Arebamen said the Auchi expressed road was diverted to pass through Agbede by powerful politicians even when the colonial masters saw that the stretch of road between Ewu-Agebde and Auchi was swampy and not suitable for road construction.
According to him, “The only solid road in that axis is through my village. I am surprised that what politicians promised my forefathers, they are promising my children in my presence.”
“Our people are suffering. Nobody can go there and buy anything. The schools were built by our collective effort. What is the essence of government? We want Oshiomhole to come and work in our community.”
From the depths of despair, residents are starting to savour the joys of smooth roads. NWANOSIKE ONU reports that the people have the Federal Road Maintenance Agency (FERMA) to thank for it
The casualty statistics is grim. In the last 10 years no fewer than 136 people have died on the roads, said a driver. Others recalled that an uncountable number of vehicles have been damaged on the poor roads. Then consider the sheer agony of farmers and traders moving from one location to another.
Federal roads in Anambra State have been in such disrepair that those who travel on them simply gave up hope.
Now, that hope has returned, thanks to the Federal Road maintenance Agency (FERMA). The agency’s intervention in the state is said to be massive, giving the people hope to live again.
Before now, road accidents on the deplorable federal roads in the state had reached an alarming state, with all the federal roads including the Onitsha-Enugu expressway impassable.
One of the drivers in the state, 46 year old Chukwubuike Okoye told The Nation that in the past 10 years, no fewer than 136 lives had been lost on those roads through accidents.
Some of these federal roads in Anambra state which had suffered neglect included Awka-Ekwlubia road, Oba-Nnewi road, Nnewi-Arondizuogu-Okigwe Road and the Onitsha-Enugu expressway among others.
For the past 30 years, the Oba-Nnewi-Okigwe road had been neglected by the successive federal governments, while the Onitsha-Enugu expressway had become a past tense to the residents.
But last week, FERMA began rehabilitation of some of those roads to alleviate the sufferings of the road users for the ember months as Christmas is fast approaching.
Already, the agency had moved its equipment to Ekwulobia, Nnewi and Onitsha to fix the roads, especially, those critical ones.
The director of Public Works of FERMA, Abuja headquarters who visited Anambra to kick-start the programme, Mr. Godson Chimezie Amos, an engineer, said all the sections that had dangerous potholes must be recovered.
He said he was in the state to ensure that deplorable roads were given adequate attention and rehabilitation to meet specified standard.
Amos lamented the high rate of accidents recorded during ember months nationwide, adding that the federal government under the president Muhammadu Buhari administration was out to get it right this time around, the reason according to him for the massive intervention by (FERMA).
He went round the roads with the South East zonal coordinator, Mr. Rufus Onimisi and the road maintenance engineer in Awka, George Francis Usoroh to assess the damage caused by erosion in some of the roads.
Another residents, Mrs. Onome Nwajiaku, told The Nation that what FERMA was doing was a way of wiping away the tears of the road users in the state.
She commended the agency for what she called its new idea adding that the Buhari administration had begun on a good footing which the previous governments failed to do in their era.
The FERMA team advised motorists to be cautious while driving on Onitsha-Owerri Expressway because of the gully erosion on it.
Our Girls are still missing since April 15 2014. The military coalition is making progress. If done three years ago, we would never have had 20,000+ murdered and four million unhappy and often helpless ‘Internally Displaced Persons’. We must add as a cause of IDPs, the over 20,000 killed in the 20 year+ lethal Fulani herdsmen vs farmers war. Why do the herdsmen see farm land as ‘Federal No Man’s Land’ with ‘free’ cattle fodder, with no compensation offered? Is this a thinly disguised attempt to redress past failed ‘conquest and humiliate’ strategies? President Buhari must stop this war. The recent marches in Plateau and Nassarawa states where I did my NYSC in 1975/6 in Jos and Lafia leave me cold at the crimes committed. It is so easy to kill in Nigeria and we are so easy to kill. Just call yourself a ‘militia’ and you can kill at will. When Boko Haram is curbed, the same military is required for the Fulani herdsmen/farmers war, and the soldiers must ensure ‘‘Freedom and Security for Farmers in the ‘Front Line States’ ‘’.
Happily the Third War in Nigeria, The Anti-Corruption War, is active at federal Level. All thieves must return amounts stolen and be imprisoned in proportion. A financial crime is as deadly as a violent crime. A crime is criminal, period! The term ‘Financial Crime’ must not make the crime ‘less criminal’, than the crime of an armed robber. It is not okay to commit a ‘financial crime’. Even law enforcement agencies ‘cooperate’ by charging such criminals with ‘MONEY LAUNDERING’ which has a MAXIMUM JAIL TERM OF JUST TWO YEARS, no matter the amount involved- N100,000 or N27billion! This is a legal scam law to deceive Nigerians that justice is occurring when it is criminal unwritten ‘plea bargaining’.
For the anti-corruption war to work, it requires to progress from federal command and control for spread Buhari-ism to all states and LGAs for ‘national spread and federal character’ of anti-corruption. The NLC-led nationwide anti-corruption war march is not politics. The NLC and Co must practicalise things to guarantee the anti-corruption war’s success. The worker and the family will benefit from ‘Zero Corruption’. Every kobo stolen is stolen from people programmes aimed at making Nigerians own Nigeria, be they workers, children or retired. The NLC should produce ‘Anti-Corruption Ways and Means Guidelines’ and strategise to confront their own internal and also external corruption. The NLC and others must harness ‘useful Anti-Corruption information’. WHISTLE BLOWING MUST BECOME A RESPECTABLE PROFESSION with a Honours List and Role Model Status in Nigeria and Annual Whistleblowers Awards.
The migration and trafficking nightmare are a sobering lesson for Africa’s corruption-prone leaders and thieves from public coffers. Under the uninspiring engine-rooms of corruption – the regimes of Babangida, Abacha, Abdusalami and Obasanjo – many Nigerians emigrated or were forced by circumstance to flee to Europe for normal work and even prostitution or died of thirst in the Sahara or drowned in the Mediterranean. The media should ban them and stop reporting every antic and word of these Ex-Presidents – a daily insult to Nigerians living in darkness. They richly deserve the Buhari anti-corruption treatment,
The national anti-corruption project must be disseminated and domesticated nationwide in every village and by all organisations, societies, groups, forces and services. Let every honest Nigerian contribute to this anti-corruption war from Boy Scouts to PTAs. Every Nigerian will benefit from a bribe-free society. Bribery can be stopped immediately, overnight.
Every Nigerian has experienced the corruption of the Nigerian uniform. President Buhari has an enormous task but in reality, it is easily achieved by delegation of authority and ready recourse to ‘termination of appointment (TOA) and ‘Pre-Signed Letters of Resignation’ from his management team. He can reverse this ugly but permanent stain on Nigeria’s flag by giving each ‘Head of Uniform and Organisation’ an ultimatum- a ‘Priority 1 Internal Anti-Corruption Drive’. ‘Stop Corruption Top To Bottom Immediately Today Or Face Sack in one month’. Give them one month to bring corruption to a halt. Invite the public to report to a ‘Corruption Monitor’ database. A monthly meeting thereafter will keep everyone on their toes and create the ‘ZERO CORRUPTION MODEL’. The Customs, Police, security agencies, VIO, FRSC, LGA road officials, SON, NAFDAC, judges, magistrates, greedy tax consultants and exorbitant levy imposers, road maintenance agencies, ministry officials, professionals, electricity [non]suppliers all on the long ‘accused of corruption’ list! They all need to be ‘under surveillance’ by anti-corruption citizens. By the time Buhari has ‘accepted’ the resignation of three or four successive IGPs, SON or NAFDAC bosses in three months, the police will fall in line from Constable to Commissioner as will the others.
President Buhari should add ‘aguntasolo.com’ to his reading list. I agree that the national carrier idea is strictly about pride and to be avoided like a plague in Nigeria’s weak economy. The New Nigeria Airways will cost us dearly but profit only 0.1% of Nigerians. Instead, that money could build many railways, 100 bridges and 500 roads used by 100% of Nigerians. After killing corruption, Buhari must have a legacy and plan to be more than ‘Buhari- The Anti-Corruption Tsar’ but also ‘Buhari- The Great Road/Bridge Builder’. He must avoid becoming ‘Buhari – the failed New Nigerian Airways Man’. The Ibadan Lagos road is screaming to be completed. On Sunday afternoon September 13, it took seven hours to reach Lagos.
‘The national anti-corruption project must be disseminated and domesticated nationwide in every village and by all organisations, societies, groups, forces and services. Let every honest Nigerian contribute to this anti-corruption war from Boy Scouts to PTAs’
Ebonyi State Governor Dave Umahi has started matching his campaign word with action as his administration embarks on fixing the state’s deplorable roads.
To achieve this, he bought 15 heavy-duty trucks which he handed over to the Ministry of Works.
•Some of the trucks bought for the road project
Speaking at the handover ceremony held at Akanu ibiam Roundabout, Abakaliki, Governor Umahi said the trucks were acquired to fast-track the construction projects.
The governor who said that the government had incorporated three new construction companies, namely-south construction company ltd, North construction company ltd. and central construction company to assist in fast tracking the much desired development of the state, announced that the trucks would be deployed to the three senatorial zones of the state for use.
The governor disclosed that a team of expatriate engineers has been recruited to work with our engineers to achieve the desired result. He reiterated his commitment to construct at least 10kms of road in each of the 13 local government areas of the state within the first two years of his administration.
He said, “We are having quite a number of pay-loaders, a number of bulldozers, a number of mixers and other construction equipment. So we want to divide it into these three senatorial zones. We have approved that each of the local government areas and of course each community in Ebonyi State should start receiving attention in terms of electricity.”
The state Commissioner for Works, Mr Felix Nweze, an engineer, announced that the state government placed orders for the procurement of six concrete mixers and eight pay-loaders to arrive very soon.
New Market Road Abakaliki under construction
Nweze disclosed that the contractors handling the construction of flyovers at the state capital had mobilised to site; while the over laying of asphalt on ogaoja road would commence soon.
He said that the fifteen trucks handed over to the ministry by the Governor “would enable us to move quickly into action to rehabilitate most of our roads,” stressing that Nkaliki, Ogoja, Gunning and new Market roads have been rehabilitated.
Residents of Aba have urged the government to speed up work on roads undergoing reconstruction to reduce gridlock.
Speaking with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), the residents said the contractors were “too slow and sloppy”.
A resident, Mr. Anayo Okoro, a banker, said the delay was affecting their resumption and closure from work.
“This work started three months ago and we thought that by now, the contractors would have finished or at worse, lessened our sufferings in a city full of failed roads, but it was not to be.
“What they did was to block the roads we were using before and in some cases, make the alternatives inaccessible by damaging them with their trucks and machinery ,” Okoro said.
SIR: From the inception of his tenure as the Governor of Rivers State in October 2007, Amaechi directed efforts and deployed significant resources of the state towards the development of infrastructure.
Against the backdrop of this commitment, the administration articulated its vision with respect to the road sector as “A Rivers State where all communities are accessible by quality roads…” This vision by emphasizing quality roads implicitly acknowledged the finding of a study that there is a strong positive correlation between the economic development and the quality of the road network of an area.
Between 2007 and 2014, over 300 contracts relating to roads and bridges, land reclamation and shore protection projects were awarded. As at August 2014, 165 of these contracts had been successfully completed with the remainder at various stages of completion, with the exception of two in which the contractors were not mobilized before the end of the tenure.
The administration also completed 23 major bridges in different parts of the State with six other bridges at various stages of completion. The completed bridges include nine bridges on the Unity Road (Ogoni-Andoni-Opobo) Road; two Steel bridges at Eagle Island; Ndoni Steel Bridge; three bridges on the Okrika Ring Road; bridge at the Abuloma-Woji Road; Mbiama-Akinima Bridge; Bolo Creek bridge. The on-going bridges include Woji-Akpajobridge (70% completion); Luwa-Bere bridge (50% completion); Orashi Steel bridge (60% completion); Tema Steel bridge (40% completion) and two bridges on the Unity Road.
The administration completed two major flyovers: Agip Roundabout on Ikwerre Road and Eliozu on the East-West Road. It reconstructed the collapsed flyover on Aba Road near the Nigeria Air force Base. Another flyover at Woji has reached 85% completion level. Two interchanges were also completed at Rumuokwurusi (at the intersection between the Port Harcourt-Aba Expressway and the East-West Road) the area erroneously called “Eleme Junction”; and at Obiri Ikwerre (at the intersection between Prof. Tam David-West Boulevard and East-West Road).
To evidence, Amaechi’s concern for all the residents of the State, 70 percent of the roads are located in the rural areas with the remainder 30% are within the Greater Port Harcourt Metropolis. From the rural areas to the urban centres, no part of the State was left out in the development of good road network. The Amaechi Administration expanded and completed the Okrika Ring Road. It expanded the Mbiama-Akinima Road. It constructed the Kpopie-Bodo Road. It substantially completed the Unity Road, which traverses three local government councils – Khana, Andoni and Opobo/Nkoro.
Before he left office, Governor Amaechi ensured that the people of the Ancient Opobo Kingdom could get to Opobo by road. Anxious to ensure that all parts of Rivers State were accessible by road, the Amaechi administration entered into advanced discussions with the Nigeria LNG Ltd with respect to the completion of the Bodo-Bonny Road, which had been abandoned by the Federal Government. The administration also completed the Rivers State end of the Port Harcourt Owerri Road, in order to create relief for Rivers people, in the same way it attempted to reconstruct the Rivers State end of the East West road, but was refused to do so by the then Federal Government. To improve movement of farm goods and encourage trade and commerce, the Amaechi administration constructed a major spine road between Isiokpo and Omerelu.
The Isiokpo/Omerelu road reaffirmed the high premium the Amaechi administration placed on transportation. The criticality of some roads made them a compelling proposition for the Amaechi Administration. These included the Ada George Road (Mile III Diobu to Mgbuoba) and the Port Harcourt – Owerri Road. The Amaechi Administration constructed a dual carriage Highway from the Port International Airport Junction to the boundary between Rivers State and Imo State; the rehabilitation of the Port-Harcourt – Aba Expressway (from the Rumuokwurusi Interchange to the boundary with Abia State). The Administration also awarded the contract for the Trans-Kalabari Highway which construction had commenced before the end of tenure.
Within the capital city, the need to decongest the Aba Road led to the conception and construction of a Relief Road before the ever-busy Rumuola Junction to link Aba Road to Rumuomasi/Elekahia/Trans-Amadi. This Relief Road opened the area for residential development. The Old Stadium Road (renamed Ken Saro-Wiwa Road) was dualized. Similarly, the Old Aba Road up to Rumuogba (Artillery) was also dualized. Okporo Road was dualized to take traffic from Aba Road to the East-West Road.
To address access to the Industrial Area: Trans-Amadi, the Amaechi Administration dualized the Elekahia-Rumuomasi Road linking Aba Expressway. It also dualized the Oginigba – Rumuobiokani Road. It dualized Nkpogu Road, which takes traffic to and from Eastern By-Pass. Save for a disagreement between the Contractor and the Ministry of Works, the bridge that opens up the second lane of the road would have been completed before the end of term.
The Administration conceived, awarded the contract and commenced the construction of another major spine road linking Garrison to East-West Road (Garrison-Trans-Amadi-Oginigba-Woji-Elelenwo) with an interchange at Garrison, three bridges at Waja River, Oginigba River, Woji River and underpass at Oginigba (near the Zoological Garden. The execution of the road project is phased.
The Woji section had attained a level of completion since 2014 that allows for reasonably unimpeded use by commuters. Work continued at the Trans-Amadi section before the end of the term. Within the same Trans-Amadi axis, the Amaechi Administration conceived, awarded the contracts and substantially constructed the Abuloma-Woji Road and the Woji-Akpajo Road. The objective of this road is to take traffic to or from Eleme axis (Akwa Ibom) away from Aba Road.
The Administration also conceived, awarded the contract and commenced the reconstruction of the Rumuepirikom – Rumuolumeni Road; the Elioparanwo Road; the Iguruta-Eneka-Rumuokwurusi Road as dualized roads. The Administration reconstructed the Ikwerre Road from Education Bus Stop to Agip Roundabout. To provide relief to Ikwerre Road for commuters from Rukpokwu, Iguruta, International Airport, and the Administration reconstructed the G.U. Ake Road linking Aba Road to Ikwerre Road close to Rukpokwu. The Amaechi Administration also conceived and awarded the contracts for the dualization and reconstruction of the Old Aba Road (Rumuogba) – Woji Road and Oil-Mill –Elelenwo-Akpajo Road (the Old Refinery Road.)
In summary, Amaechi gave significant attention to the development of good roads in Rivers State on the understanding of its many benefits to the socio-economic wellbeing of the State. The Amaechi administration left a number of nearly completed roads that now serve as low hanging fruits for the new administration. What is required is for the present government to build on the excellent foundation laid. Those who are resorting to cheap muck-raking rather than face their work are only wasting their time and that of the good people of Rivers State.
Victor Tambari Giadom is the immediate past Commissioner of Works in Rivers State.
Roads are nothing to cheer in Jos, the Plateau State capital. Now, the rains have worsened them, submerging the potholes and leaving motorists huffing and cursing. Pedestrians do not fare better; often, they get splashed with dirty water by helpless drivers doing their best to avoid the ditches and potholes.
Ajara Usman, a resident, said, “One can no longer walk freely along the road; motorists will spray you with mud-water and spoil your whole day. Most of the potholes are deep, and when there is rain, water will cover up the holes and these motorists will…splash you water; it has happened to me several times.”
Governor Simon Lalong has started fixing them, something he promised to do as soon as he took office.
Two months after, Governor Lalong has decided to proffer a short-term solution to the road problem by flagging off the rehabilitation of road network around the city.
Apart from flagging off the rehabilitation of the road network, Lalong also impressed the people of the state by mobilising the construction company Pw Company Nigeria Limited to complete the contract awarded by the immediate past government led by Jonah David Jang.
That uncompleted road which runs through the heart of the city, has been a nightmare for residents since last year when Jang began the construction.
“But realising the impact of the uncompleted project of the socio-economic sector of the state and considering the hardship faced by motorists and pedestrians, Governor Lalong decided to make the road project topmost priority apart from settling seven months salary arrears of the state civil servants,” said Samuel Nanle, Director of Press and Public Affairs to Governor Lalong.
With the rehabilitation of the bad roads and the resumption of construction on the uncompleted road, residents of Jos, particularly commercial taxi drivers, are hailing the governor for alleviating their plight.
One of them, Ahmodu Bala said, “My relief is because, recently I began to hate my driving profession because of the nature of roads in Jos; the roads are terribly bad, by the time you get home after the day’s work, you feel so devastated and it makes you get discouraged continuing the work the next day. But I have been a taxi driver all my life and I don’t want to quit. That is why I say this governor is a saviour for repairing these roads.“
Another motorist, Abel Aboki said, “All thanks to the governor, at least I will not be doing alignment every week because of bad road anymore. He is a people-oriented leader; I hail him.”
Most residents of the state said they are praying for the governor to continue in the same good spirit he has started.
A resident Abraham Malu said, “The governor had made the workers happy by offsetting their salary arrears, he has also turn to also solve the road problems to make the entire citizens happy, this to me is the best way to start a government and I think the way he is going, he will be a listening leader”
A LAWMAKER in the House of Representatives Hon. Ossy Prestige has urged colleagues to take action on the deplorable federal roads in Aba, the state’s commercial capital.
•Port Harcourt Road, Aba
Aba roads are woeful; hazardous to commuters, agonising to shopkeepers, business people and residents alike.
When it rains, the city is half-submerged, many areas flooded and practically impassable.
Business has suffered, while criminals have thrived.
How?
It is said that kidnappers exploit the poor roads to swoop on victims and make away with them without much challenge, if any.
The lawmaker may be on the verge of making history because if he succeeds to galvanise enough response from his colleagues to repair the roads, he would have made a difference where governments failed repeatedly.
The Aba-Ikot Ekpene, Ovom-Opobo-Azumini, Ohabiam-Port Harcourt, among other roads, have remained impassable in the past three years or more and if nothing is urgently done, the Osisioma-Aba-Owerri Road which now serves as the only major route in and out of the city may soon collapse due to the volume of commercial buses and articulated trucks that ply it on a daily basis.
A visit to Aba especially during the rainy season shows that successive administrations in the state and at the federal level have failed to address the situation.
The deplorable roads in Aba are not only taking a toll on business and economic activities; virtually all the sectors in the state are affected as hoodlums such as kidnappers and armed robbers take advantage of the situation to unleash mayhem on the innocent citizens.
There are accidents and deaths too.
A driver, who plies the Aba-Ikot Ekpene route, lamented that they are steadily losing passengers due to the woeful road.
Prestige, an All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) lawmaker representing Aba North and South Federal Constituency, drew the attention of the members of the Green Chamber to the plight of the people of his constituency.
His motion was titled “The Deplorable State of Federal Roads and the Insecurity in Aba, Abia State and the Need to Rehabilitate them in Order to Preserve Lives and Properties of Indigenes and Sustain the Status of the City as the Commercial Hub of Southeast and Nigeria”.
He said the roads are so bad that some travellers to Aba for business or other reasons have shelved the idea.
•Onicha Ngwa-Umuokpor Road
The federal lawmaker lamented that the growing rate at which innocent Nigerian citizens and residents of the commercial city were being kidnapped and taken into hiding by hoodlums who uses the abandoned roads as safe havens for keeping their captives feared that if no urgent steps were taken to address the situation, the city may witness a mass exodus of its inhabitants as was witnessed in 2011 when most corporate and financial agencies shutdown operations and over 200, 000 people left the city in droves.
He said that the rehabilitation of federal roads in Aba would boost economic activities, reduce accidents, ensure improved security and similarly attract local and foreign investors who were going to come to the city and the state in general and invest their resources and in the process create job for the teeming unemployed/jobless youths that would be meaningful to the state and their respective families.
The lawmaker urged the Federal Ministry of Works to as a matter of urgency include in 2016 budget, Appropriations that will aim at the reconstruction and total rehabilitation of the entry roads in Aba, called on the Federal Road Maintenance Agency (FERMA) to in the interim; urgently take palliative measures towards the rehabilitation of the roads so as to alleviate agony of the people, mandated the committees on works and road maintenance agency (when constituted) to liaise with the relevant authorities with a vow to ensure compliance and report back to the House fortnightly.
They also urged President Muhammadu Buhari to restore full military patrol and full presence in Aba just like it was done in 2011 to check the menace of notorious kidnappers in Aba.
The House resolution which was made available to The Nation also urged the Inspector General of Police, Solomon Arase to deploy an anti-terrorist squad to police every part of the city and its environs.
They also urged the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) to declare Ndiegoro, Obohia, Ohanku, Ngwa road and Port Harcourt road areas as a disaster area and take urgent steps to compensate those whose house/homes were devastated by flood.
The Federal Roads Maintenance Agency (FERMA) has started repairing some federal roads in Ekiti State to bring relief to motorists and commuters plying them.
Ifaki-Ikole-Omuo-Kogi State boundary road, which is “receiving the immediate attention of the agency”, is the busiest federal road in the state.
Apart from serving as the link road to the Federal Capital Territory, the road also serves as alternative route to motorists and commercial drivers going to Abuja from Kwara State, who now avoid Egbe-Kabba-Okene portion because it had remained impassable.
FERMA’s executive management team led by the Executive Director (Administration and Human Resources Development), Degi Eremienyo, was on hand to assess the extent and quality of work done.
Eremienyo hailed the agency’s officials in Ekiti for the work done so far.
The team also inspected other critical roads in Ekiti to assess the extent of damage and propose possible measures to mitigate the situation.
The state’s FERMA’s Maintenance Engineer, Emmanuel Onu, said the repair “is being carried out to save critical washouts and failures on federal roads due to the effect of the rains”.
