Umuahia- Ikot Ekpene highway gets worse

Authority Newspaper Correspondent in Umuahia STEVE OKO, in this piece, captures the growing  ordeals  of residents, motorists and commuters as the deplorable condition of the Umuahia- Ikot Ekpene federal highway gets worse.

It is no longer news to report that Umuahia - Ikot Ekpene federal highway is in a very bad shape. In fact, residents of communities who use the highway as the only access route to their country homes have since adjusted to their misery . But what perhaps is news is that unless some urgent palliative measures are put in place in the days ahead, travelers may no longer link Akwa Ibom and Cross River States through Umuahia as   the road is now at the verge of total collapse. The road has split into two at about four different locations along Ikwuano axis, thus, forcing road users to resort to bush paths as alternative routes.


The current sorry- state of the road did not happen over night. It is the bitter outcome of  decades of gross neglect by the Federal Government. Our investigation revealed that the road has not undergone any major rehabilitation over 30 years after it was significantly repaired. What is more worrisome and annoying about the poor state of the road is the fact that it remains the only link road between South Eastern States and Akwa Ibom and Cross River States via Umuahia. The economic importance of the single lane highway not withstanding, the Federal Government has continued to pay little or no attention to its deplorable state. All the assurances of " work will soon commence on this important road" have remained a paper tiger.

For over 30 years now when the last major rehabilitation work was done on the road during the military era, commuters and motorists plying the highway have continued to bemoan their woes. Auto crashes have become a regular occurrence on the road . It recently claimed the lives of six National Executive members of the National Association of Nigeria Students NANS on national assignment. Goods worth billions of naira have also been lost on the road following the rising incidents of road accidents on the highway due to bad road.

Besides carnages which have become a regular sight on the road, there is also a regrettable great loss of avoidable human hour on the road as a journey between  Umuahia and Uyo which ordinarily should not last beyond  40 or 50 minutes, now lasts between two hours  , and two and half hours. Traveling on the 60 kilometer road has become so nightmarish  that people now try their best to avoid any engagement that will warrant their passing through it.   

The situation got so bad some time ago that some communities in Ikwuano staged a protest against the continued destruction of their local roads which motorists use as alternative routes while trying to avoid some terrible portions of the road. The heavy traffic flow on the highway which at various points divert into these local roads has really left the local routes in messy forms. Evacuation of farm produce from these agrarian communities to urban centres has been greatly hampered. Ikwuano is incontrovertibly the food basket of Abia State especially in cassava production.

Despite efforts by the National Assembly members representing the area, there seems to be no convincing signals that the Federal Government is seriously committed to fixing the road this year. Ex- Governor of Abia State and the incumbent Senator representing Abia Central district, Chief Theodore Orji has at different occasions  called for a total rehabilitation of the road. Similarly, Hon. Sam Onuigbo representing Ikwuano/ Umuahia federal constituency at the House of Representatives has also called on the Federal Government to at least embark on palliative work to save the road from total collapse. But these calls seem to have fallen  on deaf ears as the condition of the road has continued  to deteriorate.

Onuigbo in a recent tour of the road lamented that despite efforts of the NASS members from the area to ensure that the rehabilitation of the road was captured in the 2016 budget, the Federal Government only allocated very meagre funds for it.
 Onuigbo,  during the  tour , lambasted the federal government for its nonchalance attitude towards the road.

He almost broke down in tears  at Ndoro Oboro and Okwe Ukwu  spots  where he saw some trapped vehicles and the excruciating ordeals of the occupants who were making futile efforts to get out of the mud. Onuogb expressed sadness that despite his efforts and that of his colleagues at the National Assembly in ensuring that the road was captured in the 2016 budget, what the federal government provided could not cater for comprehensive rehabilitation of the road.

He, therefore appealed   to the federal Ministry of Works and the Federal Road Maintenance Agency (FERMA) provide some palliative  measures to make the road passable until a major repair work is carried out on it. This has compounded the woes of the road users  more so now that the rains are getting heavier.  The lawmaker noted that the highway deserves serious attention considering its economic importance as the major route between South East and Cameroon via South South.

According to  the Chairman of the Ikwuano Local Government Area, Major Emmanuel Awa ( retd), there are over 17 " terrible death spots" on the highway  between Ikwuano and Ikot Ekpene in Akwa Ibom state. The Council boss further lamented that some of his council workers are unable to report for duty following the poor state of the road which makes access to the council headquarters very difficult.

Similarly, the Arochukwu- Ohafia federal highway is also in a terrible condition. Senator Mao Ohuabunwa has remained a ' weeping Senator' over the deplorable condition of the road, but just like the Ikwuano- Ikot Ekpene road, there are no signals yet that the Federal Government is in a mood to intervene. The poor attitude of the federal government over the sorry-  state of its roads in the South East zone is too bad and calls for worry. This is part of the reasons the people of the zone do not seem to have sympathy for the current administration. The criminal neglect of federal roads in the zone is no less a genocide considering the unquantifiable loss of human lives and property as a result of the numerous carnages on the roads . It is a glaring proof of marginalisation which has remained one of the many causes of ill feeling by  the people against Abuja.

The truth remains that the state of federal roads in the South East remains the worst in the country, and unless something is done to give the people a sense of belonging, the renewed agitation for the restoration of Biafran Republic may continue to receive more support of the already disenchanted people of the zone who may resort to the last option of taking their destiny in their hands.