Going! Going!! Gone!!!: Onitsha - Enugu expressway now in total ruin

On a good note, it takes approximately an hour to drive from Onitsha in Anambra State to Enugu, the capital city of the old Eastern Ni­geria. But, at the moment, it takes over three tortuous hours to move from one end to the other due to the terrible condition of the federal expressway linking Anambra and Enugu States. Consequently, vehicles trav­elling from either point are now forced to take the old Enugu – Onitsha road and in no time, the road, which was rehabilitated by both the Anambra and Enugu States, would give way due to heavy traffic and articulated vehi­cles plying the road.
The AUTHORITY on Sunday can authoritatively report that apart from the terrible nature of the fed­eral dual carriage way, the security agencies detailed to keep an eye on the road so as to ward off armed robbers and other miscreants off the road, are themselves another menace, in fact, even worse menace. At almost every five kilometers on the stretch of the road, commercial ve­hicle drivers must ‘Roja’ the operatives or would be asked to stay beside the road for as long as the person refuses to ‘Roja’.
What is most painful is the for one to make it on the road, one must visit the me­chanic and ensure all the ball joints are properly fixed and once at the opposite destina­tion, the driver must visit the mechanic once more to re-fix what was originally fixed be­fore embarking on the trip. Aside from this, it takes al­most double the volume of premium motor spirit (fuel) to make the journey and due to the Change government, little or nothing trickles in because neither the civil ser­vants nor contractors are be­ing paid. The economy is at a standstill.
Anybody saying that the Enugu – Onitsha road is bad is completely making an un­derstatement. The road is in a mess. It has gone out of what any decent society should refer to as road. It is rather ‘human jungle’. For almost 85 per cent of the stretch of the road, one would be op­erating on pot-hole ridden earth road, with one mean­dering from one side of the both lanes to the other so as to avoid the vehicle com­pletely tripping off. The road is only comparable to Ugbo­kolo – Alliede - Oturkpo fed­eral highway, near the home town of the former Senate President, David Alechenu Mark. That stretch is another death trap!
On the Enugu – Onitsha express way, from Odumodu junction near the NYSC Per­manent Orientation Camp at Umunya in Oyi Local Government Area in Anam­bra state up to Amawbia in Awka South Local Govern­ment Area, vehicles find it extremely difficult to mean­der and crawl along the ter­ribly devastated road, even at snail pace. If one exercises patience and moves through the road, one would not count less than 100 articu­lated and low-capacity ve­hicles that either tripped off the road or were completely damaged and even aban­doned.
The AUTHORITY on Sunday witnessed that the road is equally terribly bad from Amansea in Awka North Local Government in Anambra State down to Obinofia Ndiagu junction near Amansea in Ezeagu Local Government Area of Enugu State axis up to 9th Mile Conner with vehicles diverting to single lane.
It was discovered that because the stretch from Amansea up to 9th Mile is so terrible, drivers now di­vert to the old Enugu road through Oji river and Udi axis in Enugu state. At Udi, some will take the link road constructed by Senator Jim Nwobodo when he was the governor of the old Anam­bra State, which links Udi and Four Corner in Nkanu Local Government Area. Al­ternatively, the driver could move straight on to 9th Mile Corner and join the dancing party up to Enugu.
The old road which was fixed few years ago by the Enugu State government under Sullivan Chime, is now also terribly in a bad state with dangerous pot holes here and there as well as sharp bends, going by the original design of the co­lonial British masters. The quality of the road repairs is too poor and not strong enough to take care of the numerous heavy duty vehi­cles now plying the road.
As the rainy season draws nearer, commuters, particu­larly business men, are la­menting that except imme­diate remedial measures are taken, there might not be any road linking Enugu and Onitsha. Even Okada Keke would not be able to ply the road; one might resort to us­ing either motorcycles or bi­cycles to convey goods and human beings. Just the few rain drops already, and the dangers looms large.
Whereas drivers at the Anambra end of the road complain of numerous se­curity road blocks which normally attract only ‘Roja’,

 the Enugu State axis, par­ticulary from Nkwo Ezeagu in Umana Ndiuno through Imezi Owa, up to 9th Mile have been abandoned by the security because majority of the vehicles now veer off at Ugwuoba into the old road. Therefore, the expressway is no longer lucrative, with resultant consequence that armed robbers have taken over the road, dealing with their victims the way they deemed fit.
A raffia wine (ngwo) tap­per at Nkwo Ezeagu, a vil­lage market along the ex­press way, who gave his name as Agumauzu, told The AUTHORITY on Sun­day that some local hood­lums and urchins collabo­rate with the notorious Fulani herdsmen, to rob people off their priced pos­sessions at a particular spot near the 9th Mile without any hindrance, adding that both soldiers and policemen that used to mount check points at that very spot have disappeared “and handed over the spot to the herds­men armed robbers. They (herdsmen) hide in the bush and ambush travelers. They are always there. Sometimes, they can be there robbing vehicle drivers and occu­pants for hours without any disturbance. We don’t really know why the police refused to do something about this issue even though they have got series of reports from people about this issue or robbery. If you call them on phone, once you men­tion issues pertaining to this place, they won’t come too anyone’s rescue. We think it is because the road is too bad,”Agumauzu added.
Another commercial bus driver who gave his name as Fabian, who plies Enugu - Onitsha on daily basis, said that his source of livelihood as a driver for 12 years is in danger. He warned that if something is not urgently done to provide remedy on the road, the on-coming rainy season would com­pletely destroy the road making it impossible for any vehicle to move along the road.
A private vehicle driver, who claims he plies the Enu­gu - Benin route, said it is shameful that such level of devastation could be found along the roads in the coun­try that claims to be giants of Africa adding that he has gone round other Africa. He added “this is a disgrace. Look at the kind of roads that human beings drive along. It is very shameful. I am sure this is why Nnamdi Kanu and the rest of them are looking for Biafra. My worry is that nobody is talk­ing on these ugly issues”.
Also speaking the Chair­man of Labor Party, Anam­bra State Chapter, Chief Luke Ezeanokwasa, blasted Anambra and Enugu state governors for allowing the road to dilapidate to such a level, noting that the flyovers being built by Governor Wil­lie Obiano in Awka are mis­placement of priorities. “The heavy amount of money be­ing lavished on the flyovers is enough to reconstruct the road along the Anabmra state axis”. He called on Governors Obiano and Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi of Enugu State to do some­thing now before the rainy season approaches in order not to experience avoidable incidences.