Investigations
INVESTIGATION: Uncompleted Old Enugu-Onitsha Road brings untold hardship, tears to commuters, residents of Enugu communities
Ugwu Obinna’s younger sister was killed after a truck driver transporting cows rammed into her shop located at the Okpatu end of the Old Enugu-Onitsha Road this July.
“The driver was trying to dodge the potholes along the road when he lost his break and hit her,” Obinna recalled. “She died on the spot, It was devastating for my family”.
Obinnna is the youth leader of Okpatu. The Old Enugu-Onitsha Road which cuts across his community also connects seven other communities, including Abor, Ukana, Awhum, Umulumgbe, Ukehe, Ogbede and Opi.
Ugwu Obinna says the situation of the road continues to worsen
For several years now, accidents along the federal road have become a usual occurrence. Residents say women in the community have suffered complications during child birth because it is difficult to access hospitals on time on the road.
Obinna said that several promises by the government has not translated into reality and the road continues to deteriorate with every passing day, making life difficult for both residents of communities and road users.
The award
In May 2019, the Federal Executive Council (FEC) approved contracts for the construction and rehabilitation of 10 roads across the country, sequel to a memorandum presented to it by the Minister of Power, Works and Housing at the time, Babatunde Fashola in the same month.
Hakeem Bello, who was the Special Adviser on Media and Communication to the minister, said that the roads were intended to improve transportation infrastructure and restore the nation’s road network as part of implementation of the Federal Government’s Economic Recovery and Growth plan.
Among the roads approved was the rehabilitation of old Enugu-Onitsha Road covering Opi junction- Ukehe-Okpatu-Aboh Udi-Oji to Anambra Border. The 90 kilometre contract which was awarded to Arab contractors (OSMAN AHMED OSMAN) Nigeria limited for an original contract sum of N31.94bn, (31,946,055,290) had an initial completion date of 24 months under the Federal ministry of works and housing.
Picture showing where rehabilitation ended before Awhum
When residents of Okpatu and other surrounding communities heard of the contract, they rolled out their drums in celebration. Their expectation was that the road would be completed to ease their sufferings and that of other road users. “We were willing to provide every kind of support needed by the contractor to actualise the project,” Obinna said. “We had suffered for years,”.
Little progress, road uncompleted
Data on the govspend platform showed that between June 2019, one month after the approval and June 2022, Arab contractors Nigeria Ltd received 11 different payments amounting to over 2.3 billion naira (N2,346,759,786) for the project.
Also, data on the website of the Federal Ministry of Works shows that over 11bn (11,231,040,095) has been released on the project so far, with the contract sum also revised to N48.9bn (N48,996,488,926).
The road had been captured under the phase II of the federal road infrastructure Tax Credit Scheme-funded by the NNPC Ltd to ensure the sustainability of funding critical infrastructure in Nigeria. The phase is expected to fund 44 critical road infrastructures to the tune of N1.96 trillion naira.
However, despite the payments made, many sections of the road remain dilapidated. Findings show that from the Anambra border section, a total 30 Kilometres have been executed up to the first layer of ashpalt while only about 26 kilometres have been completed up to the last layer.
From the 9th Mile end of the road, only nine and half kilometres have been completed between Abor and Ukana, taking the total length completed so far to about 36 kilometres out of 90km. But the contractor did not commence construction from 9th Mile axis because of compensation issues.
Completed section of the road at Abor
“They had to start where they had the right of way and so they would not need to pay anyone”, said Smart Okpi, assistant chief civil engineer at the Federal Ministry of Works in Enugu.
Findings also showed that although only the Abor and Ukana end of the road have been completed, grading ended at Awhum, which is the next community. But from Okpatu through Umulumbge, Ukehe, Ogbede all the way to Opi had not received any attention.
Also, while some parts of the road till Awhum had drainages on both side, others had only on one side of the road and so, whenever it rains, water gets into shops along the road. Some business owners are having to sand fill front of their shops.
Drainage only on one end of the road.
Reacting to the question of one-sided drainage, Okpi said that in water draining areas and areas where the road is higher, it is not also necessary to have drainages because water can naturally find its way.
Worsening road condition
Residents say Tharp it has been over four months since the contractor graded the Awhum end of the road and abandoned it. A resident of the community, Fredrick Ogbonna said that one of the engineers had said they would resume work by October.
On one end of the road which had not been graded, sharp stones were used to fill up potholes and vehicle owners often have to navigate through to avoid deflating their tires.
Sharp stones used to adorn part of the road.
Less than 20 minutes away from the old-Enugu Onitsha Road is another federal highway-the 9th Mile-Orokam Road linking Enugu and Benue State- which has completely become unmotorable. As a result, all heavy-duty trucks now ply the old road, further worsening its situation.
Travelling along the road, i