Fix the Ewohimi-Idumujie-Ugboko, Onicha-Ugbo Road Now, Group Urges NDDC, Others

A civil society organization, Niger Delta Patriots for Community Development, NDPCD, has called on the Niger Delta Development Commission, NDDC, to quickly rehabilitate the Ewohimi/Idumujie-Ugboko, Onicha Ugbo road.

The call is contained in a press statement made available to newsmen by its national coordinator, Nduka Nwoko in Asaba, Delta state capital, on Tuesday.

The group, which decried the neglect of the road lamented that indigenes of the affected communities can no longer sit by and watch what he described as “vital regional artery” that connects the South East to the North Central continue to lie in ruins. It noted that abandoning the road, as the NDDC seems to have done, amounts to a disservice to the nation.

While also calling on the federal government to expedite action on its rehabilitation by mandating the NDDC, the group urged the government of both Edo and Delta to recognise the urgency the road rehabilitation requires by jointly facilitating a coordinated, state-level process without any delay.

“The governors of delta and Edo must act fast because the bad state of the road affect more communities in their states. Both of them must work together to ensure a coordinated, state-level rehabilitation effort.

“They can no longer sit by and watch this vital regional artery connecting, South East, North Central Nigeria, Delta and Edo states lie in ruins. It is a disservice to the nation to watch a project born of vision abandoned to ruin. Sixteen years of neglect is enough. It is time to act,” the group said.

“That vision was not only bold, it was also inclusive and necessary. What followed, however, was unconscionable: sixteen years of absolute neglect. Today, the road exists in name only-a crumbling, potholed stretch that has effectively severed communities from one another and brought trade to its knees,” it continued.

Before its current state, the Ewohimi/Idumujie-Ugboko, Onicha Ugbo road served as a major link for goods and services across between the South East, South-South and North Central Nigeria. It reduced travel time and cost between the affected regions, fostered regional integration, cultural and social exchanges in all the communities it traversed and stimulated the growth of small and medium enterprises that rely on free-flowing commerce. It is currently in ruins.

“Today, none of that is possible. Transportation is in comatose. Commercial activities are paralysed. Thousands of commuters are forced daily onto circuitous routes-longer, costlier, and far more dangerous, just to reach destinations that once took them a fraction of the time,” the group lamented.

The group warned that the longer the rehabilitation process is delayed, the costlier it will become.

“Every rainy season that passes without rehabilitation exponentially escalates the cost of eventual repairs. The NDDC and the state governments responsible for this road are not saving money by delaying. Failing to commence immediate rehabilitation is akin to compounding the financial burden on the public purse. A road rehabilitated today costs a fraction of one reconstructed from scratch tomorrow,” the group counselled.