It once felt good to hail from communities fringing the Nnewi-Arondizogu-Okigwe-Enugu Road in Imo State. Residents happily tilled the land, producing such cash crops as rice.

They also milled palm oil and made a fortune for their efforts. From Lagos, Enugu, Cross River states and the north, many flocked to the Farm Produce Market in Arondizogu in Okigwe Local Government Area of the state to buy their produce. The people prospered and so did the settlements. Life was good.

Not anymore.

Why not?

The 19km Trunk-A road on which patrons trooped to the communities has since failed and along with it, the booming industry.

But today what reminds the indigenes of those good old days of prosperity and abundance, are abandoned rice farms, failed cottage industries and sad remains of what used to be beautiful travelers’ guest houses and whether –beaten gigantic roofs of filling stations and factories.

The communities are almost completely deserted, save for some adamant indigenes who are managing to eke a living out of their peasant farming, hoping that one day their plight will draw the attention of the Federal Government.

Today, the few travellers who still brave the road have tales of horror in the hands of daredevil armed robbers who have turned the once busy highway into a den of terror.

Now described as one of the worst Trunk-A roads in the country, the Nnewi-Arondizogu-Okigwe-Enugu Road was awarded to different contractors in the past, Doliz Brown Group, who abandoned the project shortly after mobilising to site, dashing the hope of the people each time.

At different points along the now snaky road, heavy duty equipments belonging to the absconded firms litter the road.

After years of fruitless hope for intervention, the communities have once again brought their plight to the knowledge of the Federal Government under President Muhammadu Buhari.

The traditional ruler of Ihieme-Izuogu, Eze Cosmos Ndubuisi Kanu lamented that the state of the road has brought untold economic hardship on the people.

He said, “We have managed this terrible situation for over fifteen years. Everything in this community has been at a standstill. We can’t take our farm produce to the market because of the road. Most of the people have abandoned their rice farms and gone to the cities to search for nonexistent jobs.

“We have 12 autonomous communities along this road that are affected and terrible accidents happen on this road always. It has brought economic and social services to a halt, the few industries and hotels that were flourishing when the road was still good have all closed down. The contractors handling the road in the past have all abandoned it but we are not apportioning blame but we are appealing to President Muhammadu Buhari to come to our aid and fix this road, given its importance”.

He continued that, “We are agrarian communities and we cultivate rice in commercial quantities but since the road collapsed, we are no longer cultivating that much because we don’t have road to take them to the market. This important Trunk-A road connects six states in the Southeast and Southsouth geopolitical zones”.

Another indigene, Mr. Uche Ohia, a legal practitioner and rice farmer, called for urgent and drastic intervention on the road, stating that the state of the road has forced out young farmers who could have been contributing to providing the food need of the nation.

He said, “we have lost millions of naira to the collapse of this road, the level of impoverishment among the people is very high because no business can thrive under the present situation. The economy of the communities has totally collapsed, it is indeed a terrible situation.

“This situation is not encouraging most of us who returned home to invest in agriculture. For instance I have a large palm plantation and for almost last two weeks now I have been looking for means to transport the harvest fruits to the market and they are beginning to get bad.

“One other major problem created by bad road, is the increase in criminal activities. There is high rate of vandalization of electrical installations by vandals who operate unchallenged at night because no one dare move out once it is night. It gets even worse any day it rains. We are appealing to the Federal Government to order the contractors handling the road to return to site or revoke it and award it to a more committed firm”.

Another angry indigene and a banker, Dr Ikenna Uche, noted that the contractors handling the road contributed to its present state, adding that, “the contractors destroyed the road totally by abandoning it after excavating deep boroughs on the road and this has resulted in flooding and serious erosion. This road used to be the shortest route to Lagos but our people now travel to Onitsha or Owerri before going to Lagos.

“Our people don’t come back home anymore because of the bad road. Those of us that manage to come leave our cars in Owerri and ride on okada, which is very dangerous. We are appealing to the relevant authorities to come to our aid and I can assure you that once this road fixed the economy will bounce back and all the collapsed industries will be revived because our people are willing to invest at home.

“Another area of serious concern is that the total collapse of the road has also affected the state of other social infrastructure like school, market, health centers, electricity and pipe borne water. All these have either ceased to exist or are in very poor state because the communities are cut off by the bad road”.

Apart from this particular road, other Federal roads in the state have equally collapsed. The Owerri-Port Harcourt and the Owerri-Umuahia roads have also been abandoned and are currently in a terrible state of disrepair.

Speaking on the development, the Chief of Staff to the Imo State Government House, Chief Uche Nwosu, decried the state of the roads, adding that in the last four years, the state government has spent huge sum of money carrying out palliative repairs on all the Federal Government roads in the state.

He however assured that the situation will not remain the same under the President Muhammadu Buhari led administration, noting that, “the situation of the Federal Government roads in the state will not remain the same because the Governor has already taken it up with the President but that does not mean the state will not continue to maintain the roads because the common road users does not know the difference”.

Proffering solution to the problem, Nwosu suggested that all Federal Government roads in every state should be managed by the state but financed by the Federal Government.

Source: http://thenationonlineng.net/poor-road-has-ruined-our-cottage-industry/

CHANGE IS COMING.

Lalasticlala, you asked for the source

TOP 10 FACTS ABOUT SOUTH EAST NIGERIA. https://www.nairaland.com/2592742/top-10-facts-south-east#37912579

Ok

Plz post a pix of the road

ECOTERRORS:
Plz post a pix of the road

The pix are here:
https://www.nairaland.com/2581531/channels-t-crews-visit-okigwe

Apart from Onitsha-Owerri federal road, all federal roads in the SE are in deplorable state.

Oh! I weep!