COMMUTERS
and motorists in the South-East have expressed worry over the
dilapidation of most federal roads in the area, saying that the
situation has made vehicular movement cumberersome and more expensive.
In
a survey conducted by the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in the zone, the
people blamed the deplorable condition of the federal roads on poor
handling, substandard job and poor maintenance culture by successive
governments in the country.
They,
therefore, called on the Federal Government to declare a state of
emergency on the roads to alleviate their plight and also save lives and
property of the people
In
Anambra, the Commissioner for Works, Mr Marcel Ifejiofor, said that
because of the poor state of the roads, motorists resorted to diverting
to state roads, hence bringing a lot of pressure on the roads.
Marcel
said that the state had written to the Minister of Works on the matter
and that plans were on to put barricades on some of the state roads to
bar heavy duty trucks and articulated vehicles from plying them and
causing more damage.
She
said: “Every road is designed for a particular load measure and
allowing heavy duty vehicles to damage the state roads would have
negative impact on the state economy.
“In spite of heavy rainfalls being experienced in the area, government is not relenting in making the roads passable.
“We
have 188 active road projects and we are doing palliative work on some
strategic roads to ease the sufferings of road users pending the end of
the rainy season,’’ he said.
Also,
the Controller, Federal Ministry of Works in the state, Mr Adeyemo
Ajani, said that his office was aware of the deplorable state of most
federal roads in the state.
“We
have communicated this to the Minister of Works and Housing and he has
directed that we forward proposals to his office on the state of the
roads.
“As
we speak, approval has been given for the rehabilitation of seven
federal roads in Anambra and once the rains are over, work will commence
on the roads,’’ he said.
Ajani
listed Onitsha/Owerri road, Onitsha-Aguleri-Ideani,
Otuocha-Ibaji-Nzam-Innoma, Nnobi/Ekwulobia, Amawbia-Ekwulobia-Uga and
Oba-Ozubulu-Nnewi roads, as some of the roads already approved for
rehabilitation.
He
said that remedial work was ongoing on the Onitsha-Enugu Expressway to
ease the burden of motorists traveling to either Asaba, Owerri or Port
Harcourt Airport after the closure of Enugu Airport.
Ajani,
who appealed to road users to be patient, gave an assurance that
measures were in top gear to address the deplorable state of federal
roads in the area.
Mr
Cosmas Ikechukwu, a commercial bus operator on the
Awka-Ekwulobia-Owerri route, said the bad state of the road deteriorated
with the rains.
In
Enugu state, commuters expressed concern over the deplorable condition
of some of the federal roads which, they said, have made life unbearable
for them.
Mr
Harrison Ogbu said that while some portions of the Enugu-Port Harcourt
Expressway had been rehabilitated, a lot more work needed to be done.
Ogbu
regretted that the federal government had yet to complete
rehabilitation works on the road which, according to him, serves as a
gateway to all the states in the South-east.
He said that work seemed to have been stalled on the roads, following the withdrawal of contractors from site.
A motorist, Mr Ben Nnamani, said that the Enugu section of the Enugu–Onitsha Expressway had become a death trap.
Nnamani described the Abakpa Junction/9th Mile section of the road as one of the worst dilapidations.
He
said that many fatal accidents had been recorded in the area,
especially the Ugwu Onyeama axis of the road, with loss of many lives
and property.
NAN reports that the 9th Mile–Nsukka section of the Enugu–Markudi highway had remained impassable in the last 10 years.
It
would be recalled that the Minister of Works and Housing, Mr Raji
Fashola had during a tour of the federal roads in the zone in May 2018,
said that the Federal Government would re-award the Abakpa–9th Mile
section of the Enugu–Onitsha Expressway, following allegations that the
contractor handling the road absconded.
Meanwhile,
the Federal Controller of Works in the state, Mr Femi Oyekanmi, who was
said to be on leave, could not be reached to comment on the issue.
Conversely, road users in Ebonyi said that federal roads in the state were in good condition.
A
cross-section of the people, who spoke on the condition of the roads,
commended the state government for its periodic interventions on the
roads.
The
respondents said that the roads, including the Abakaliki-Enugu Road and
Abakaliki-Afikpo federal highway, were hitherto in deplorable
condition.
An
official of the state Ministry of Works and Transport, who spoke on the
condition of anonymity, said that the state government rehabilitated
the entire Abakaliki-Afikpo Road and as well as the Abakaliki end of the
Abakaliki-Enugu Road.
“The
state government felt the sufferings of Ebonyi citizens and others who
ply the 62km-Abakaliki-Afikpo Road, with regular breakdown of
articulated vehicles.
“The
road has since been fully rehabilitated and put into use and the normal
one hour duration from Abakaliki to Afikpo has been maintained as
against the three to four hours in took when the road was in deplorable
condition,” he said.
Mrs
Anna Igwe, a motorist, also thanked the state government for
rehabilitating and dualising the Abakaliki section of the
Enugu-Abakaliki federal road.
She
said that the initiative had helped to minimise traffic congestion and
accidents often recorded in that section of the road in the past.
“I
urge the federal government to complement the state government efforts
by rehabilitating the dilapidated Abakaliki-Oferekpe-Cross River Road,
to facilitate free movement of people and goods on that axis,” she said.
Chief
Eni Chima, Chairman of Afikpo South Local Government Area, said that
the state government was rehabilitating federal roads in the area
without any discrimination.
“The federal road in the area is the Nguzu-Amiyi-Owutu-Osso Road, which was abandoned by the Federal Government.
“The
state government is, however, yet to take over rehabilitation of the
road reportedly attracted by the former senator representing the area at
the national assembly.
“They
could not construct more than a kilometre of that road since the past
eight years and even where construction was effected, it was poorly
executed,’’ Chima said.
Efforts
made by NAN to get comments from officials of the Federal Ministry of
Works in the state proved abortive as none was willing to speak on the
issue.
From Abia, the poor state of federal roads in the area leaves motorists and commuters with horrible daily experience.
The
list of roads that are in terrible state of dilapidation include the
Umuahia-Ikot Ekpene Road, Aba-Ikot Ekpene Road, Aba end of the
Enugu-Port Harcourt Expressway.
Others are Umuahia-Owerri Road, Arochukwu-Ohafia Road, Aba-Azumiri-Akwa Ibom Road and Arochukwu-Ohafia-Ebonyi Road.
Also,
the Ohafia Junction-Ebonyi Road, Umuahia-Bende-Ohafia Road, Umuikaa
Junction-Umovo-Imo Road, Arochukwu-Ikot Ekpene-Cross River Road,
Aba-Abayi-Ohabiam, Ohafia-Biakpan, Arochuk-Ikot Okpora and
Calabar-Itu-Ikot Ekpene-ABA-Owerri Road are in poor state.
A
cross-section of the road users, who spoke on the deplorable condition
of the roads, described their experience as nightmarish.
They said that the poor condition of the roads worsened with the rains, adding that they now spend more man hour on short trips.
They said that the dilapidation also resulted in serious accidents with loss of lives and other valuables.
Mr Promise Kelechi, a mini-bus driver on the Umuahia-Ikwuano route, described the road as a death trap.
Kelechi said that many transporters no longer plied the road because of the enormous damage to their vehicles.
“It
is so bad that mini-bus operators can no longer go Ariam, the boundary
community between Abia and Akwa Ibom, because our vehicles cannot move
beyond Ndoru,” he said.
Also, Bright Akaeghelam said that the roads were in terrible state, especially from Ihie, Ukwu Ugba, Ahieke, Timber to Ndoru.
NAN
reports that transporters on the affected roads have hiked their fares
by about 80 per cent, justifying the increase on the cost of fuel spent
on each trip and vehicle maintenance.
The
Federal Controller of Works in Abia, Mr Chuks Nwankwo, told NAN that a
majority of the roads, including the Umuahia axis of the Enugu-Port
Harcourt Expressway, were undergoing rehabilitation and reconstruction.
Nwankwo
also said that many of the roads, including the Umuahia-Ariam-Akwa Ibom
Road, had been awarded for reconstruction and were captured in this
year’s budget.
NAN