INVESTIGATION: Abia residents in pains, as contractor abandons erosion control project after collecting N185m

Fresh from fashion school in 2022, Onuka Kalu planned to convert one of his father’s two shops, where he formerly sold beverages inside Elu, a community in Ohafia local government, Abia state, into his fashion store.

“The plan was to use one and rent off the second one to generate income for the family”, said Onuka. “I have always dreamt of owning my own fashion store”.

But In June of the same year, engineers from Rokozi Investment Ltd, a construction company, arrived Elu and approached Kalu’s his father to rent the shops for six months to allow them store bags of cement which would be used in the construction of a drainage system for an erosion control project in the community.

The Federal Ministry Of Niger Delta Headquarters had awarded a contract for the construction of 10km Amaife community School Uyim road to Rokozi in 2017. Okozi Richard, Okozi Marvelous and Oshiozokha Prosper Okozi are directors at the company.

Before Rokozi arrived, the road was not entirely bad, cars and motorcycles travelled on it to connect Ozuamabam and other surrounding communities which lead to Umuahia, the capital of Abia State.

“They paid my father N3000 for each of the shops, that is N36,000 for six months”, recalled Onuka who collected the money. “The rent was to expire by December 2022”.

Late Kalu’s son planned to convert one of the shops into a fashion store

Repeatedly, they reassured Onuka’s father that the entire project would not last more than six months. At the expiration of the rent in December, they did not come to remove the over 600 bags of cement that occupied the two shops. By January, 2023, they came back and Onuka’s father told them that he needed the shop for his son.

Abandoned boots in the shop

By this time, the shops had already developed cracks due to pressure from the cement bags. They agreed to pay for damages but told Kalu to allow them more time to work and remove the cement bags. They also promised to pay rent for January. But they never did.

Project of tears and pain

Data available on Govspend platform- which tracks and analyses federal government spendings-shows that Rokozi received three different payments between August 2022 and July 2023, amounting to N185.6million (N185,631,444). A further breakdown of the sum shows that the company received N96m (N96,422,428) on August 1, 2022, N61m (N61,227,621) on February 01, 2023 and N27m (N27,981,395) on July 18, 2023 with 0451001001 as payment code.

Project signboard

Idika Uduka, a leader in the community said that residents were happy when Rokozi arrived, especially because other roads connecting Elu-which is the capital of Ohafia LGA- had been damaged by gully erosion.

Cracks on the walls behind Kalu’s shops

He said that the community even secured the machines brought by the contractor for the project and relocated a high-tension pole that stood in the way of the drainage channel.

“Our hope was that when completed, the road will further open up economic opportunities and make it easier for our sons and daughters returning during celebrations”, Uduka said.

However, despite these payments, Rokozi only completed a drainage system that is less than 1km out of the 10km erosion control project. There was no grading of the road or any other construction work.

Only two side drainages were constructed with over N185m collected

After they worked that January, the contractor told community members that he had work elsewhere and that they would return after they completed the other one. They left with their equipment.

As days ran into weeks and months and there were no signs that the contractor would return, Kalu brought the matter before the leadership of the community and when they called the contractor, he told them that the project had not been abandoned. But they never showed up till date.

The two shops have remained locked with over 600 bags of cement left out of the total now stiff. The company also abandoned wheelbarrows, head pans, shoes and other working materials. As at 2022, a bag of cement sold for N3500. When multiplied by 600, it amounts to N2.1million.

In March 2023, Onuka’s father became ill and the family needed funds for his medication. With no money anywhere, they relied on local alternatives. Sadly, he died In June 2023 and was buried just in front of his compound, behind his shop in September 2023.

Spot where Kalu’s father was buried

Glory Onuka, younger sister to the late Kalu said that his death was devastating for the family, particularly, his wife who is now left with the responsibility of catering to their eight children.

Onuka said that the fear of what the consequence might be is what has discouraged him from removing the bags of cement, adding however, that the situation has affected his business plans as he now manages to sew from his room.

Apart from the cement bags that were abandoned, this reporter followed two leaders of the community to three different locations- about 30 minutes away, where Rokozi also abandoned three trips of sand and gravel meant to be used for the road construction.

“They drove their vehicle through the road to drop the materials, now, we cannot pass through the same road again,” Kalu Obasi, a leader in the community said, his face contorted with rage.

He said that the hopes of the community has been dashed as the contractor has caused heavy erosion with their machines after they abandoned the project with an incomplete drainage system.

One of the locations where gravel was abandoned by the company

Farmers bear the brunt

Elu is a predominantly agrarian community in Ohafia, one of the agricultural zones in Abia state. Residents of the community grow rice, yam and cassava. They are supplemented with banana, maize, plantain and other vegetable crops.

Sadly, with the project abandoned, it has increasingly become difficult for these farmers to evacuate their crops from their farmlands to the market for sale. With constant rain, parts of the road leading to these farms have degraded.

Farmers are forced to climb hills with their crops

Without carrying any load, walking into the community from where these farmlands are located leaves one completely drained. But farmers are forced to use wheelbarrows to transport their crops from the farm to the market or carry them on their heads. All of these contribute to the increasing cost of food items in the market as farmers consider the stress they go through.

Some sources who spoke to this reporter said that the dilapidated state of the road is also discouraging investors from visiting local markets in the community for business, especially during the rainy season.

Where the drainage ended

Uduka said that the people are becoming poorer because of the bad roads. He added that farmers sometimes abandon their crops to rot away because of the stress of having to evacuate them.

Friday Ukam, a motorcyclist, who regularly plies the road said that its abandonment has increases travel time and the cost of transport, adding that distances that used to be covered with N500 now cost N1000.

Ukam says state of the road has increased transport fair

“From Elu to Ozuamabam, another community which connects Umuahia, the state capital takes should take 20 minutes on the road”, he said. Now, you have to go round and spend over 40 minutes to get there”.

Okon Ode, member of the Caretaker Committee Union set up to elect a new traditional ruler after the death of the former one, said that the leadership of the community was already making efforts to create an alternative route that will enable farmers access their farmlands as erosion has made the main road impassable.

Houses under threat, businesses not spared

The non-execution of the project is contributing to the rapid expansion of an already existing gully in the community. Now, households living close to it fear that they might wake up one morning to discover that their houses and property are all gone.

“Whenever it rains, we don’t come out of our houses because everywhere is flooded”, said Obasi, who lives close to the edge of the gully. “Some residents of the area have had to relocate to other parts of the community”.

Houses are under threat of being washed away

Business owners along the road-where the project signboard is mounted, say that they hardly make sales as commuters now seek alternative routes to their destinations. When it rains, with the road not asphalted, they stay indoors as everywhere is flooded.

A former youth leader in the community, Innocent Obasi said that it would have bee better Rokozi did not even commence the project at all than exposing residents to this level of suffering for over two years now.

“All we want is for Rokozi to come back to site and complete the project it started and nothing more”, he said.

Vahyala Kwaga, Senior research and policy analyst at Budgit-a Nigerian civil organization said that it is worrying that fiscal transparency as regards the utilisation of funds and the implementation of public works is not done in a systematic way in Nigeria.

Shops along the road

“The budget implementation reports (that should explain how well the budget was implemented in a granular form) only touch lightly on these things, maybe a picture here or there but nothing in detail”, he said.

He explained that not having consequences following infractions of Public Finance Management rules also creates instability in the system and signals that actions do not have repercussions.

Contractor blames lack of funds for abandonment

When contacted, director of Rokozi Investment, Okozi Richard, said that the project stalled because the federal government, through the Ministry of Niger Delta has failed to fund it.

When asked if his company received any funding for the project and how much he received, he refused to disclose and said “I don’t have that record and I don’t know what you are talking about,” if there was any money, we have worked on the project.

“There is no good contractor that knows that he will make profit that will deliberately abandon a job”, he said. “90% of the projects that have stalled is as a result of funding”.

A rapidly expanding gully caused by the abandoned road project

Okozi further claimed that the ministry was indebted to his company because he raised a certificate but payment was not made for the job done. This means that the company used N185.6 million to construct a side drainage that is less than 1km.

He confirmed that his company abandoned over 600 bags of cement in the community and other materials like iron rods, sands and gravel, concrete mixers, adding that he recently took out his truck from the community.

Obasi says heavy machines have worsened erosion in Elu

“We moved to site and commenced the job after the contract was awarded and now the government cannot fund it again”, he claimed. “It is the government that gave me the job, I did not get it from the community, If they need any information, they should go to the ministry of Niger Delta which gave me the project. The community did not pay me for the project”.

To hear its own side of the story, this reporter called a contact available on the website of the Ministry but it did not connect. Thereafter, an email was sent to the Federal Ministry Of Niger Delta Headquarters, demanding explanation as to the abandonment of the project on Wednesday, October 16, 2024. Also, a message was sent to the Ministry via its website.

On Tuesday, February 4 2025, a Freedom of Information (FOI) Request was sent to the Ministry. However, no response was received aa at the time of this publication.

By: Arinze Chijioke

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