INVESTIGATION: After 8years, and N4bn budgeted, uncompleted road frustrates Akwa Ibom residents

In Ibiaku Uruan, a community in Akwa Ibom State, where survival hinges on how much is planted, harvested, and sold in the market, Godwin Umana, a full-time farmer, shares the harrowing experiences of farmers.

Hailing from Akwa Ibom state, Mr Umana found his home in the embrace of Ibiaku Uruan, a land that has fertilised his dreams and, similarly, that of his children. His weathered hands, marked by years of toil, have cultivated more than just the soil; they’ve nurtured dreams and raised a family.

As the sun beats down on the zinc roof of his modest home, with a hand fan swishing across his face, he reflects on the fruits of his labor: two sons who have graduated from university and a daughter happily married in Uyo.

Mr Umana’s daily routine involves packing bags of cassava and carrying them on his head from the farm back to his community in Ibiaku Uruan, roughly seven kilometers from the farm. He repeats this process on foot, making several trips until all the cassava is safely transported home. This arduous task has become necessary due to the deplorable condition of the Nduetong Oku Ibiaku Uruan road, which has been unmotorable for years.

Mr Umana, a farmer in Ibiaku Uruan after the day’s farming experience

The ordeal doesn’t end with transporting the farm produce from the farm to the house. The journey from harvest to market turns into an odyssey. Just like him, several other farmers must painstakingly carry their farm produce on their head back to the community- a motorable road is all the community members ask for.

“The only thing we are looking for is road, we eat the little we see. The government will come during elections and promise to fix this our road, we will be happy thinking that our suffering will soon come to an end but it hasn’t. Before I was born, the government has been making promises of fixing this road and the gutters but we haven’t seen any of it,” Mr Umana said as he packed the cassavas into his bag for transport

The road in question is the 8.5km Nduetong-Ibiaku Uruan road, which was allocated N1.5 billion by the Akwa Ibom State government in 2023.

Findings reveal that between 2017 and 2023, a total of N5.5 billion was allocated for constructing the 8.5km road. Similarly, an investigative report by UDEME, a project of the Center for Journalism Innovation and Development (CJID), indicates that N4 billion was budgeted for the same project between 2017 and 2020 alone.

Meanwhile, a physical inspection in August 2024 revealed that work on the road has barely begun despite eight years of construction. only drainage systems and ground leveling had been done with no substantial progress.

It’s a win-and-lose game for farmers in Ibiaku

Most farmers in Ibiaku Uruan survive on the income they earn from selling their farm products to the major local governments in Akwa Ibom State

However, the journey is often fraught with risk, as poor road conditions frequently lead to damaged goods, turning what could have been a profitable venture into a significant loss.

Esther Akpan, a widow in Ibiaku Uruan who has relied on her late husband’s farms to sustain her family, told this reporter that the hazards faced by commuters and farmers in Ibiaku are numerous. She, however, noted that the major challenge faced is transporting the goods to the markets in the city

“If you want to make good money, you go to Uyo, Itu, Itam, those people buy our goods very well, but transporting them to those places is the problem, if you look around we don’t have road, I will carry them on my head small small, till I get to the area where motor will pass” she said while pointing to the bad roads in Ibiaku Uruan.

The Youth leader of Ibiaku Uruan, Mr Victor Ederinyang told UDEME that the community members have been deprived of development due to the break in access to other developed communities

The stories of Umana and Esther mirror the whispers of countless others whose hopes lie imprisoned in the ruts of this forsaken path.

History of Ibiaku Uruan road construction

Francis Okon, a carpenter from Ibiaku Uruan, who is approaching his late 70s recalled that rumours of the road’s construction have circulated since his childhood. He vividly remembered men in construction aprons surveying the 8.5km stretch with tapes and rulers. However, the hopes he once held as a child gradually faded as the years passed, and the project remained unfinished.

“When (Emmanuel) Udom took office, before the election, he came to us and promised that he would fix the road within a few months, but since then, we haven’t seen anything. The only thing we saw was sand and heavy machinery. We later heard that the contracts had been awarded, but after a short while, the contractors disappeared, and the road remained the same. I’ve promised myself that I will not vote for anyone again, since they neglect us once they get into office,” he said.

The road and award of contracts

Research shows that the road construction project was awarded in 2017 to Slavabogu Construction Limited, a Lagos-based company. Further investigation on the Corporate Affairs Commission’s (CAC) official website shows that the company was registered in the same 2017.

Mr Solomon Anthony, one of the community members who worked with Slavabogu told this reporter that the company was frustrated and they left the site due to poor funding from the government.

This reporter later verified the resident’s claim through a document obtained, published in 2019, which disclosed that Slavabogu Construction Company was among the construction firms owed over 20 million naira and above by the state government.

After Udom’s tenure ended, Governor Umo Eno took the mantle to continue the project. In 2023, the contract, valued at N1.5 billion, was awarded to Ras Premium Construction Company, a firm registered in 2021 with registration number 1859224.

Since the award of the contract, residents said work started smoothly in 2023 and looked promising, but was halted almost soon after, returning them back to square one.

In a 2023 interview with Spectrum TV, Mr. Ikpi Orjah, a top official at Ras Premium Construction overseeing the road project, revealed that the construction was halted due to a lack of funds from the government. He explained that while the government had allocated funds for the project, they could only disburse half of the budget, leading to the delay.

“We have done well and are also working within the finances at our disposal, but we need funding on the project. If funding is not provided, we can’t go ahead; every day, the price of materials in the market is escalating. They have mobilized, half of the mobilization has been paid and we are still expecting the balance,” he said

Ministry Reacts

When this reporter visited the Ministry of Works and Fire Services and spoke to the Director of Civil Engineering, Uboro Umoh, who is in charge of all road construction in Akwa Ibom state, the Director asked to be excused from talking on sensitive matters and refused to address the issue, which includes; details of funding, work progress and status, stating that he is not allowed to speak to the press.

A Freedom of Information (FOI) request sent to the state’s Accountant-General’s office was also not replied to as of the time of filing this report.

By: Confidence Chibueze

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