Reintegrating South East through repair of deplorable roads

The recent disclosure by Works Minister Senator Dave Umahi, that there is no concrete evidence of road projects in the South East region of the country should be a wakeup call on the Bola Tinubu administration that the age-long cry of marginalization by some sections of the country requires urgent attention if Nigeria is truly sincere about addressing national unity on the basis of equality, fairness and sincerity of purpose.

It is sad that over 63 years after Nigeria gained independence from Britain, parts of the country are perpetually in dire need of recognition and proper integration through equitable allocation of resources and infrastructure to the extent that some regions now wear the unfortunate tag of the abandoned hemisphere in the mould of Siberia.

It is also a matter of fact to say that the entire stretch of the Federal Government roads in the whole of the five South Eastern states of Enugu, Ebonyi, Anambra, Imo and Abia tagged Trunk A roads are completely in ruin to the point that the strategic South-South region which hosts the nation’s treasure in form of crude oil and gas can no longer be accessed easily considering that the eastern region which is gateway to the Niger Delta has been cut off in perpetuity.

Truth be told, Umahi was been economical with the true nature of the South East roads when he disclosed that over N7trillion would be required to reconstruct Trunk “A” roads in the region. The minister, who made the revelation during a meeting with the 46 contractors handling road projects in the South East and other contractors from the North East may not have factored in the legion of roads many of which reconstruction contracts were awarded as far back as 2013 but abandoned thereafter for which FG records assumed have been completed.

Such is the fate of Umuahia-Umudike-Ikot-Ekpene, Aba-Ossisioma to Port-Harcourt roads which the Senate is now pleading with Umahi to include in the planned nationwide repair of roads. Amanwozuzu-Umuomi-OrieAmakohia road in Imo State whose construction contract was revoked by Umahi is another classical example of the story of abandonment and roads in the zone.

It has remained a perennial but painful experience for travellers on the South East axis during every yuletide to be trapped in bad roads resulting in hours lost and endless travel times being spent on journeys that ought not to have lasted beyond half of the day. The euphoria of the partial opening of the important Second Niger Bridge by the Buhari administration has been diminished by the death trap that Benin By Pass, Benin inner roads and the collapse of the Onitsha- Owerri road poses.

Ahead of this year’s Christmas celebration and as a way of alleviating the suffering of travelers to the South East and the South-South regions, we join the demand for the urgent rehabilitation of all federal roads across the nation if only to accommodate the zones that are hard hit by the neglect.

The recent request by the Senate asking its Committee on Works to investigate the award of the contracts for the reconstruction and rehabilitation of the roads should be taken more seriously. It is important to ascertain the level of funds released for the road reconstruction in the zone if any, utilisation, the level of work completed and factors contributing to the unaccounted delays in the execution of the projects.  The Umuahia-Umudike-Ikot-Ekpene, Aba-Ossisioma to Port-Harcourt roads for example are central to the economic and social nerves of the cities of Aba, Umuahia, Uyo, Ikot-Expene, and Port-Harcourt just as they are major links to South West and North Central.

Trunk  “A” Road forms the skeleton of the national road grid. It cuts across regional boundaries in the country. It therefore goes without saying that no section of these national road grid must be neglected on the basis of tribal, political, or any other primordial reasons as doing so will injure the main fabric of our national sustenance and survival.

Similarly, the 43-kilometerObajana-Kabba road constructed by Dangote Industries Limited which is been described by motorists as the country’s most strategic highway that is aiding travelers between the North and the South should serve as a model of what must befall virtually every section of the country in terms of road infrastructure upgrade.

It is rather regrettable that six years after the FG admitted through the then Minister of Works, Mr.Babatunde Fashola, SAN in 2017 that all roads in the South-South and South-East geo-political zones are the ‘worst in Nigeria’, nothing concrete has been done to redress the situation except to allow the poor state of such critical infrastructure in the zones to deteriorate to such abysmally low level where travel times and economic rejuvenation of the inhabitants of the zones are been sacrificed on the alter of politicking.

The revelation by  Fashola then that some of the major federal roads in the 11 states of South East and South South were constructed before the 1967-1970 Nigerian civil war with little or no efforts being put in place to rehabilitate and or reconstruct them should leave a sour taste in the mouths of decent leaders.

It is consequent upon these and in consideration of the usual but totally avoidable hardship experienced by travelers to the South East, South-South regions during the Yuletide season due mainly to the bad road network which has been worsened by the issue of insecurity that we appeal to the FG to urgently embark on remedial measures on the affected roads if only to mitigate the pains and trauma of travelers.

For instance, the Onitsha –Owerri road is in deplorable condition in several portions while the the Onitsha-Awka-Enugu road has remained a death trap for too long as it begs for attention just as the Aba-Uyo axis has become a night mare. We demand that the authorities concerned should take advantage of the approaching dry season to effect maintenance on the collapsed sections of the roads ahead of a proper and more enduring reconstruction. No part of the country deserves to be cut off from the national road or electricity grid for whatever reason.