On assuming office in 2007 as Delta State governor, Dr Emmanuel Uduaghan flagged off the dualization of the Ughelli/Asaba road. The jubilation that greeted the government decision expressed the yearning of the people, who had been made to go through excruciating pains plying the road which had been left to decay over the years, thereby becoming a sort of nightmare to motorists.
Besides motorists, the communities along the road were happy believing that the 149-kilometre road would speed up development in their areas
Dr Uduaghan, at that time, harped on the economic importance of the road when completed, saying linking Asaba to Ughelli enroute the Port city of Warri, would be of immense benefit to traders and importers at the Onitsha International Market since Onitsha and Asaba share a common boundary, the River Niger, thereby opening up a route to more business opportunities.
The contract for the road dualization was categorised into three sections (A, B and C) with a separate contractor handling each section
The three sections were divided thus-Section ‘A’ runs from Ughelli to Aradhe in Isoko North; Section ‘B’ runs from Aradhe to Onicha in Ndokwa West and Section ‘C’ is from Onicha to Asaba.
But as at the end of Uduaghan’s eight-year tenure, the expected happiness could not manifest, as the road remained a patchwork of a disappointment though several billions of state funds were claimed to have been expended on it.
The project suffered several hiccups, as there was what could be described as a cat-and-mouse game between the state government and the contractors handling the road project.
Despite the fact that three contractors were deployed into handling the road, it remained unpaved and the road could not be completed. On several occasions, the government threatened to determine the contracts for sections A and C But such threats ended up making no significant difference to the poor state of the road.
At the end of Uduaghan’s tenure in 2015, only section B of the road – Ossisa in Ndokwa East LGA to Aradhe in Isoko North LGA, was completed and commissioned. This section was handled by CCC Construction Company and Deltans are wondering why little or no impact was made in sections A and C despite the fact that the construction companies awarded other sections were mobilized to the site same time.
In a nutshell, Uduaghan’s eight years only saw to the completion of section B of the road.
Sections A and C were awarded to indigenous firms, Wokson Construction Company and ULO Construction Company respectively and nothing was done.
In 2015, Ifeanyi Okowa came on board as the governor of Delta State and without wasting time, reopened the Ughelli/Asaba road with a view to finishing it because of its economic importance.
To this effect, the Delta State Government budgeted N19.1 billion to complete section ‘A’ of the Ughelli/Asaba Road dualization project which, is Ughelli – Aradhe.
Section C has been divided into two – sections C1 and C2.
In January 2019, the state government also re-awarded Section C2 – Ogwashi-Uku – Ibusa – Asaba to CCECC at the cost of N9,029billion.
The section C2 stretch is 21.27 kilometers with drainage covering 17.00 kilometers.
Work is currently ongoing on the entire stretch of the road and, though the rain is slowing down the tempo of work, there seems to be a serious commitment on the part of the current administration to see that the project is completed before May 29, 2023, when this administration will be bowing out.
As the construction work is going on, so also are the attendant challenges to communities and people along the road project. Economic and social lives have been affected by the slow process of the road project.
While some people see the project as very positive, there are others with reservations concerning the dualization of the road.
A commuter, Pastor Flourish Obawharevwo, who plies Asaba- Ughelli regularly, commended Governor Okowa for his efforts. He noted that the road which was abandoned by the previous administration had brought untold hardship to road users.
“With the coming of Dr Ifeanyi Okowa, the road has enjoyed the attention. Work is currently going on in sections A, C1 and C2 which were subjected to abandonment in the past.
“With what this administration has done, the road project would have been completed if the previous administration had done something meaningful. Okowa has tried but there are parts of the road begging for urgent attention. We are praying that Governor Okowa completes the project before leaving office,” Pastor Flourish concluded.
A community leader at Aradhe in Isoko North LGA, Pa Emmanuel Efegbudu commended the state government for the progress being made on the road project.
He noted that prior to the Okowa administration, the road was in terrible shape and all hopes seemed lost and expressed confidence that Okowa will complete the project.
“With the level of work on the road project now, it is certain that Governor Okowa will complete the Ughelli-Asaba road project before leaving office,” he said.
At Ibusa in Oshimili North LGA which falls under section C2 of the road project, Elder Sylvester Okonkwo expressed joy over the pace of work. He said the Okowa-led administration has done well by embarking on the completion of the road.
“Each time I compare the poor state of the road in the past and what we have now, it gives me joy that the road that used to be a nightmare is now motorable. A trip from here to Ogwashi-Uku or to Asaba is now easy unlike in the past when you had to struggle with the deplorable road filled with potholes among other factors that made the road a nightmare.
He appealed to the state government to look into the entrance to Ibusa town now that the road is being dualized with a view to preventing accidents.
At Kwale in Ndokwa West LGA, a community leader, Mr Nduka Ossai noted that the completion of section B of the road has opened up the community.
He added that the commercial activities in Kwale also picked up as a result.
According to him, the decision of Okowa to complete other sections of the road would open up the communities along the road.
Some transporters equally expressed their views on the Ughelli-Asaba road.
At Kwale Park in Asaba, a transporter simply known as Dafe, who plies Ughelli-Asaba route applauded Governor Okowa for the bold step taken to complete the project.
He observed that the already completed portion of the road has made journeys through the road less stressful.
In his words,
“The improved road has made our jobs less stressful. A journey between Asaba and Ughelli that used to take about three hours is now about two hours due to the completed portion of the road, especially on sections A, C1 and C2.”
He however appealed to the state government to expedite actions to ensure the project is completed soon.
On his part, Mr Sunday Nwafor, a transporter based in Asaba, lamented over the bad portions yet to be constructed. He observed that the bad portions are soft spots for criminal attacks because vehicles are forced to slow down at such spots.
He appealed to the governor to hasten up the construction work on the road, adding that it would be to his credit if he could finish the project before leaving office in 2023.
Also, a fruit seller along the road by Abraka junction close to Kwale town, Madam Felicia Anueni narrated her experience with the road project. This falls within section B of the road which had been completed.
In her own case, the road project brought along bad sales as sales were better before the road was dualized.
“With the free flow of vehicular movements on the road, sales have dropped and I cannot explain why, perhaps some wicked people have used witchcraft to stop the sales”, Madam Felicia lamented.
Speaking in the same vein, a fellow fruit seller, Madam Margaret Okonkwo, attributed the low sales being experienced in the market to the dualized road.
“Vehicles don’t stop again since this portion of the road is good unlike when the road was bad. They are always in a hurry and on top speed.”
For Madam Happy Samuel at Oleh roundabout, a smoked fish seller, the improved road portion has positive implications. The business she said, has grown with the increase in vehicular movements. She attributed the increase to the improved condition of the road.
The story is however different for those cut off by the unfinished portions of the road.
At Ozoro, Mr Samson Uweh, a welder, revealed that the slow dualization of the road had paralyzed his business.
“As you can see our customers cannot access our workshop as a result of the pool of water created by the construction work at the front of the workshop. This is driving our customers away.”
He appealed to the state government to ensure early completion of the project so that their business can go back to normal.
At Emevor in Isoko North Local Government Area of the state, an Octogenarian, Madam Newworld Ekakena sells local delicacies along the road.
She complained about the danger and poor sales from the relocation of the traders to the other side of the road to pave way for construction work.
“They asked us to move to this side of the road pending the completion of the road when we would move back. The sales have remained the same but crossing the road every time is risky. ”
She appealed to the state government to hasten up on the road project and save them the pain and risk of crossing the road every day.
Citizens are worried that despite huge revenue accruing to the state from federal allocation and the derivation fund, this critical road project has remained uncompleted. In 2021, the Delta State government received three per cent of the 13 per cent derivation of nine states which amounted to N142bn. Rivers State, a sister oil state received the same year, N83bn. The Delta State government is reportedly seeking a N150bn loan part of which is to be committed to the Ughelli-Asaba road project.
Contacted, commissioner for Information in Delta State, Mr Charles Aniagwu made it clear to this publication the state government’s position stressing the readiness of the administration to finish the road project before exiting office in 2023.
In his words, “By the grace of God, it is our desire to finish the project before we exit in May 2023.
When we came in we had to find out why the contractor was not working and what led to the delay and non-completion of sections A, C1 and C2. The government discovered that the local contractors lacked the capacity for the quality of work needed. Said he: “Section B of the road had been completed during the last administration.
“We discovered that the contractor handling sections C1 and C2 lacked the capacity to deliver the kind of road that we intend to build because it is actually a trunk A road. “That led us to the option of repudiation of the contract and re-award the contract to a more competent contractor. If you pass through that route, you will see that so much work is going on in sections A, C1 and C2.
Section C2 is from Koka junction in Asaba to Ogwashi-Uku and C1 is from Ogwashi-Uku to Ossisa. Section Aradhe in Isoko to Ughelli.
“Anybody who passes there would see that so much work is being done even under the rain because we believe there are few things we could do under the rain, particularly the clearing of some of the swampy areas. “There is also the need to build bridges and thick culverts bearing in mind that heavy-duty vehicles will have to ply the route.
We are hoping that once we are able to access the bridging finance, we will be able to pursue the project more speedily.”
About 15 years ago, in 2008, the dualization process for the Ughelli-Asaba road project commenced and work is still ongoing.
Due to the delay in the project, it was observed that some parts of the completed Section B have started to fail yet the road project is yet to be completed.
The Onitsha International Market, the largest market in West Africa and described as the commercial powerhouse of West Africa, feeds into this road.
The IPOB sit-at-home order and growing insecurity in the east have driven commuters away from the Onitsha –Port Harcourt route to the Asaba-Ughelli-Port Harcourt road putting more pressure on the road still begging to be made whole.
The worry is that this is the only road linking the Urhobo, Itsekiri, Ijaw to the Delta State capital. Top personalities from this end including the speaker of the state assembly appear not to be as worried as ordinary citizens over the state of affairs.
Despite the commissioner’s assurance, there are still fears that the project may not be completed before the May 29 termination date of the Okowa administration as much work still needs to be done and the rains are already setting in.
The prayer is that the governor will act fast so that the project does not become a story without an end.
Source: National Point
