Barely three months after Sections 1-4 of the East-West road was handed over to the Ministry of Works and Housing by Niger Delta Ministry, the ministry said, it is set to resume work and ensure speedy completion of the road, stressing that funding will not be a challenge.

The handover came 13 years after the Federal Government transferred the same project to the Niger Delta Ministry.

The Guardian recalled that the sections of the road project were handed over to the works Ministry on March 30, 2022, following the inability of the ministry to fast-track the projects, especially the Eleme-Onne stretch, which is adjudged to be key to the nation’s economy as it leads to the Onne Oil and gas free zone that houses about 300 oil and gas companies.

The deplorable state of Onne road, which is about 15 kilometres forced Ogoni youths and other concerned citizens in the Niger Delta region to stage a ‘mother of all protest’ last year along the road and they shut down the section for one week. It was later reopened after an agreement with Federal Government to fix the road without further delay.

Speaking after inspecting the road sections in Rivers State, which is about 100 kilometres, spanning from Akwa Ibom border to Eleme Junction to Ahoada West and Ahoada East, the Director, Highway construction and Rehabilitation, Federal Ministry of Works, Mr. Folorunso Esan, disclosed that the major challenges hampering the rehabilitation of Onne section were the absence of water drainage channels and delayed approval of an augmented funding application for its expansion from the present two lanes to six lanes.