Extend Uzodimma’s road projects to Ekeonumiri

Governor Hope Uzodimma’s shared prosperity mantra is quite in order as a framework for implementing his government’s policies and programmes. It is ideal for any serious government to have a philosophy, a policy framework that guide its actions aimed at serving the people.

The shared prosperity slogan is a proactive strategy aimed at identifying the critical needs of the people and, therefore, giving them urgent attention in order to navigate the state into prosperity. The prosperity of the people should be the desire of any responsible government. This is because the welfare and security of the people is the primary responsibility of government.

Thus, inside the shared prosperity are issues like roads infrastructure development, education, healthcare, agriculture and urban renewal, among others. All these are critical needs which enhance good living that manifests in quality of life and security of the people.

For decades, the issue of roads development has remained a recurring challenge of every administration in Imo State. While some administrations have genuinely tackled roads development as the former Governor Sam Mbakwe demonstrated in no small measure, others added something to complement what is on ground.

From what is on ground, there is no doubt that a lot still needs to be done. Many parts of the state still have impassable roads that render the communities inaccessible. The Uzodimma administration is confronted with this state of affairs, which is being tackled vigorously.

My home visit during the Christmas and New Year festivities afforded me the opportunity to see things firsthand. What is Uzodinmma’s administration doing? Out there, the impression being created is that nothing is happening outside of political bickering and unhealthy stone throwing back and forth. But, honestly, that is far from the truth. It is not really the case.

The government has its hands on deck and is working to leave a legacy in many fronts.
I am personally interested in what is happening in the roads infrastructure sector. I was opportune to visit parts of the three zones of Imo State to assess what the government is doing.

Beginning from Owerri, granted that the Okorocha administration tried as much as possible to give the state capital a face lift, there are still many critical roads in and around Owerri that were untouched, which the Uzodimma administration is now tackling. Surprisingly, nobody is hearing about these because no noise is made about it.

Critical among these roads are the Naze-Ihiagwa road from Poly junction leading to Federal College of Technology (Coltech), Federal University of Technology (FUTO) and down to Obinze on the Oweri-Port Harcourt highway. This serves as a ring road that connects Owerri-Aba road to Owerri-Port Harcourt road via this link.

The other critical roads that have been completed include the Buhari road off World Bank Market, Yar’Adua road off World Bank and another road from Control to Umugwoma, among others.

In the Orlu axis, there is serious work on the dualization of the Owerri –Orlu road. The same work is on-going on the Owerri-Okigwe expressway. These two major roads are being handled by Craneburg a prominent contractor and the work is expected to be completed soonest.

It should be noted that the two roads are the so-called federal roads that have been neglected for decades but which the Uzodinmma administration has taken up as a challenge to give the people a new lease of life.

Whereas, the administration listed these two major highways for rehabilitation, there is need to also consider the Owerri-Umuahia road as well as the Owerri –Aba road.

My visit to Orlu and Okigwe showed that those zones generally have good motorable roads showing that efforts seem to have been concentrated there. The shared prosperity is also needed in other places.

It is on that ground that I lament the awful condition of the Ekeonumiri road that connects Okpuala and Owu, the two communities that make up Amakohia in Ikeduru Local Government Council.

The lamentation of Amakohia-Ikeduru people at the beginning of the “rescue mission” government of the Rochas Okorocha’s administration in Imo State came to naught as the rescue mission expired without Ikeduru gaining anything. Ikeduru is totally forgotten. There is nothing to show as dividend of democracy in the area.
 
Just as the people have been forgotten since independence and only remembered only during election when their votes are needed, politicians would soon begin to canvas for the people’s votes as the 2023 electioneering campaign draws nearer. 
 
I was scandalized when I went home to see that the Ekeonumiri road has collapsed. I could not believe that there is no road to get to my village Owu Amakohia. All the roads leading to Ikeduru from all directions are devastated and impassable. Whether you are coming from Atta, Iho, Mbaise or Azaraegbelu axis, the trauma is the same. No road to connect from one community to the other. Owu-Amakohia has been cut off from their kits and kin in Okpuala Amakohia.
 
Ikeduru is, perhaps, the only Local Government Council (LGC) in Imo State that lacks tarred roads. What would have stood as a tarred road in the forgotten LGC, which is the road radiating from Azaraegbelu through Avuvu to Owu Amakohia, was stopped half way after it had been destroyed in the name of rehabilitating it. The people living in that axis regret that the road was ever touched in the first place.