Sunday 16 September 2012

Works Minister: This is a case of national emergency

Works Minister: This is a  case of national emergency

Few weeks ago, I did a piece entitled, “Works Minister, are you still there?” That discourse or revelation was not intended to deduct from the efforts of the Minister. The intension was to help the Goodluck Jonathan administration serve Nigeria better by pointing out omissions that make leaders fail woefully against their desire. Come to think of it, I could not imagine that in the 21st Century, when serious nations want to relocate to the moon, that any Nigerian, much against his wish, would have cause to spend the night unprotected on the road.
That was my experience on the Aba end of Port-Harcourt-Enugu Expressway. From what I know, the situation has not changed; instead, it has gone worst. Well, this is not about Port-Harcourt-Enugu Expressway (even though the state of the road is one big point giving the Jonathan administration a big negative tag). Today’s outing is about Umuahia-Ikot-Ekpene-Calabar road and Ikot-Ekpene-Aba road.
The situation I had on hand was like the case of a man complaining about shoes until he saw his mate without legs. I was bitter when I drove to Enugu and saw the deplorable state of the Port-Harcourt to Ishiagu end of the Port-Harcourt-Enugu Expressway. It grew into anger when on another occasion I almost slept on the road. I have been in this state of anger when last weekend I made a strip to Calabar, passing through Umuahia-Ikot-Ekpene and a return trip through Ikot-Ekpene to Aba.
What I saw turned my anger to red rage and I am still boiling. Could this be Nigeria? Is this the nation that earns huge free money every day? Do we actually have leaders? What do they think are the people’s real problems? What is their communication link with the people? Do their aides feel free to report to them issues of emergencies? If they do, how do they react? So, how come things develop, capable of taking lives and there is no reaction or responses from the authorities, be it local government, state or Federal Government? Minister of Works, if your aides have refused to tell you this:I want to use this medium (if you read papers at all) to inform you that the situation on the latest roads I mentioned is a disaster. You can’t drive on the Umuahia-Ikot-Ekpene road.
The journey from Umuahia to Ikot-Ekpene (about 30km), which used to take 20-24 minutes, now takes nearly an hour 30 minutes. This would be if you have a strong car that can wade through the “rivers” your staff are likely to call flooded points. Raising strong indignation over what I saw in Calabar, a driver with All States Mass Transit Motor Company told me that even Governor of Akwa-Ibom, the irrepressible Godswill Akpabio, had his official car stuck in a particular point on that road penultimate Wednesday. It took a tipper lorry to pull him out of the mess and embarrassment, I was told.
That will confirm how bad things have gone on that road. Ikot-Ekpene-Calabar road is another story of anguish. It is a live drama of hell before the real one. One can hardly move on this only link road that connects Cross River from the southern fringe with the rest of the nation. Last Sunday, when I experienced a terrible halt lasting several hours on the road, which even resulted in severe damages to my vehicle, I was told in Calabar that I was lucky to arrive same day and in daylight.
I learnt those who went through the road on Friday and Saturday slept there. Many who had corpses to take across for burial could not meet deadlines; and the creative ones had to look for Okada (motorcycles) to take across the coffins containing the dead. What a tragedy! What a calamity!! And what kind of a nation is this that takes delight in inflicting discomfort, disgrace, loss of dignity and even harm on its innocent, law-abiding citizens?
This is even the light side of the trouble. As I left Calabar mid-week, last week I observed that the river that embeds the two sides of Calabar-Ikot-Ekpene road had almost taken over the road and that if not for the advent of dry season, this nation would wake up one morning to hear that Calabar and other communities in that axis have been cut off from the rest of the nation.
Now, the big question: would it be correct to say that Liyel Imoke and Godswill Akpabio, governors of Cross River and Akwa-Ibom states respectively, don’t know about this situation? If they know the state of the roads, its strategic importance to the economies of both states and by extension that of the nation and the hardship Nigerians are subjected to daily; have they reported to both the President and the Works Minister? How come they don’t issue a public statement on such a vital matter? Don’t they have cause to travel through this road? If they don’t (which is likely), don’t their aides travel, too? When I ruminated about the state of the roads, I told myself these are the important secrets Akpabio and Imoke would not find necessary to tell the President. It is such acts that make the President the most criticized ever to emerge from this nation.
I am sure that many Niger-Deltans, who pass through this road, would have no choice but wonder if the President and Minister of Works are truly indigenes of the Niger-Delta. The state of that road is more than a national embarrassment. It is an eye-sore. It gives the impression that we are not serious about developing this nation. Let the Minister reverse this thinking by undertaking an on-the-spot verification visit of the roads this week.
Let him enter from Aba to Calabar, possibly take a rest and return to Umuahia through Ikot-Ekpene and go back through Owerri Airport. At Abuja, he should let the nation know what his impressions are. There is no doubt that the Jonathan administration has continued to approve huge funds for road rehabilitation. Whether such funds are released is what I don’t know, but if even the funds are released, the effect will not be there because I don’t see prioritization in the whole thing. Much of the effort is expended on roads that are of less importance. What is more, completion dates are far off that some of us wonder if the intension is truly to have these roads fully reconstructed within the specific tenure of an administration.
Jonathan (if he too reads) must get this: roads, security and power can get him the re-election I know he desires. If I were him, I will do the primary things for now. Emphasis on macro economics with foreign institutions exerting so much pressure is becoming too expensive for the President’s good. If there is need to elaborate on this, I will do so, but not here today. A word they say is…

No comments:

Post a Comment