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From Paul Osuyi, Asaba
About three years ago, the joy of the people of Onicha quarters in Ubulu-Uku, Aniocha South Local Government Area of Delta State, knew no bounds.
They rolled out the drums to celebrate the intervention of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), thinking that succour had finally come their way.
Officials of the commission were in town purportedly to commence work on the long-abandoned Onicha-Uku/Onicha-Ugbo road, which was first awarded in 2015 and re-awarded in 2019 by NDDC for rehabilitation.
However, little did they know that the presence of NDDC officials and mobilisation of equipment by the contractor was allegedly to evade the prying eyes of operatives Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) who were in the state at the time to investigate NDDC projects.
Soon after, the NDDC and the contractor allegedly disappeared from site, after constructing a narrow gutter half way, leaving the neglected road in worse condition of dilapidation.
At the moment, the people of the area are suffering untold hardship as a result of the bad state of the access road riddled with deep gullies and shrubs indicating the height of its abandonment.
Vehicles can no longer ply it. Residents are trapped in their homes, making them Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) in their own community.
Accidental falls by those who dared to walk on the road have resulted in death or broken limbs.
As a result, the community, like they did in 2019 when NDDC showed up, mobilised but this time, to stage a peaceful protest to draw attention to their plight, and appealed for urgent intervention.
Armed with placards of various inscriptions, the community also want the EFCC to re-open its file and investigate allegations of diversion of the contract sum for the road which leads to Abuja, Lagos and the South-East region.
According to Mr Christopher Oji, an indigene of the community, in 2015 when the contract for the rehabilitation of the road was awarded by NDDC, the sum of N245 million was allegedly released for temporary repairs.
Oji alleged: “We were very happy when we saw them with equipment in 2019. Those who had palm wine brought it out, we brought yams and what have you to entertain them, thinking that succour had come.
“We asked them who sent them and they said they were from NDDC, that one senator sent them. We put calls across to him, thanking him and celebrating.
“But they soon abandoned site. This narrow gutter is the only thing NDDC did for us. That is why we are calling on the Federal Government to investigate this contract scam because EFCC was on it but we don’t know how they abandoned it.
“Even now we are calling on ICPC to come to our aid to investigate this contract scam. We are apolitical, we are not here for political reasons, we are crying. And we are also calling on the state government to work on this road.
“We learnt that the contract was awarded in 2015 and N245 million was paid for temporary repairs just for 7km and not the entire road because this road leads to Onicha-Ugbo, from there to Abuja.
“We used to travel on this road to Asaba, Lagos and Abuja, but now it is impassable. We learnt that they allegedly shared the N245 million meant for palliative repairs. Another contract was awarded in 2019, they also shared the money.
“The project has become a conduit pipe for NDDC to siphon money. They will just write and approve and keep sharing the money.”
Among the protesters were elderly men and women of the community who passionately pleaded with the state and federal governments to intervene.
The Alor of Ubulu-Uku Kingdom, Chief Alfred Okolie Mordi, who spoke to newsmen, decried the neglect, adding that it was “very bad” that the contract has been subject to award on two occasions with no job done.
“This road leads to the only market Ubulu-Uku has. We heard that this job was awarded to our man, by NDDC in 2015 and re-awarded in 2019, I don’t know how true that is. But if this is the position, it is very bad.
“He is our man, government should come to our aid. Federal and state government should come to our aid. NDDC should come and see what their contractor has done.
“We no longer go to market, farm and church. Our sons and daughters in the diaspora, when they come home, they park their cars on the road and manage to go to their houses. Is that the right thing to do? NDDC signboard is there, we don’t know why it is there, it is completely useless to us,” he fumed.
The impact of the deplorable road on residents are legion, and cut across socio-economic and spiritual spheres. Secretary of the community, Osaji Ephraim Iwebunor, described the road as a death trap.
“Many people have been sent to their early graves, while others, who were lucky to survive accidental falls broke their limbs and ended up in the bonesetter’s homes or orthopedic hospitals. We are definitely tired of paying hospital bills.
“Our elderly are trapped in their homes. Many of our people who died outside the community are buried where they died as we no longer bother to bring them to our ancestral home for burial because of the impassable road.
“In reality, we love home very well, but our children in the diaspora have refused to return home during festive seasons obviously due to the bad road.
“Moreso, we are predominantly Catholics and Anglicans, whose priests used to come and administer communion to the sick and elderly. They ceased coming because of one them broke his limb in the past and ended up spending huge amount of money in the hospital.
“We need to also point out that since there is no road to harvest our farm produce and take them to the market, our young farmers have taken to commercial motorcycle operation outside our community and abandoned farm work.
“The implication is that food scarcity is looming. There are able hands who complied with the Federal Government advice to return to agriculture, but were forced to abandon their farms because of bad road,” Iwebunor said.
Meanwhile, residents said every end of year, they contribute huge amount of money to sand fill the road in preparation for the festive season, lamenting that it would be completely washed off by the first rain of March in the preceding year.
In 2021, the Aniocha South Local Government council shouldered the responsibility to sand fill the road, sparing residents from making the annual contribution.
But like in previous years, the modest efforts of the council have been eroded, creating yawning gullies on the neglected road.
Pa Jacob Ofunne, a retired school principal and former secretary of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Aniocha South from 1999 to 2007, described the annual communal efforts as futile.
He said: “Our hardship is untold as far as this road is concerned. We have made futile efforts for years yet no positive result. Personally, I feel that the government has abandoned us.
“We are appealing to all concerned. The NDDC had come and withdrawn. The state government is not prepared to help us because they say this is a federal road.
“But the state government has made clear remarks of roads belonging to federal government which they have vowed to construct in the interest of the indigenes of the place. Why not this?
“So, in fact, we are dejected and we are pessimistic about the road coming to something good again. We are appealing to all concerned. I may not know the specific ones, they should come to our aid. We have suffered enough for a very long time now.”
According to Pa. Ofunne, the benefits accruable if the road is fixed are enormous, saying the road “leads direct to Onicha-Ugbo, our nearest neighbour in Aniocha North.
“Right from here through Onicha-Okpe to Onicha-Ugbo to Abuja, Lagos or Onitsha, depending on your direction. You can imagine what benefit it will bring to the community if done; it would have made this place a commercial centre.
“So many people want to develop their land but because of the bad road, we are unable to do so. Our vehicles are parked indoors.”
Some women who spoke during the protest, called on Governor Ifeanyi Okowa to intervene and fix the road, rather than continue to wait for the Federal Government or its interventionist agency.
Mrs. Queensly Obinsha said the road has remained in deplorable condition since 1993 when she was married into “the family of Onicha-Uku,” pleading for urgent intervention.
On her part, Anthonia Onwueme challenged the Okowa-led administration to show residents what they have benefitted since 2015, noting that it was an opportunity to write his name in gold by fixing the road before he leaves office in 2023.
Apart from the NDDC signboard, there is another belonging to Nigeria Erosion and Watershed Management Project (NEWMAP), a World Bank intervention scheme for erosion control in communities.
NEWMAP usually collaborates with state governments to address the challenges of erosion in communities. And this was not an exception, as the signboard clearly indicates.
The project, according to the signboard, is the ‘Palliative Remedial Works and Proactive Land Degradation Management Activity Support for the Management of Drainage Channels in Ubulu-Uku’ with Delta State Government and NEWMAP as joint clients.
But a resident of the community, Henry Omefe said nothing has happened since the signboard was erected, noting that the agencies were now joking with the community.
He said: “There is no job done after this sign post was erected, it was like acting a movie. We have been trying to reach out to the authorities. Each time you go, they will tell you that they are coming.
“They have been visiting, bringing white men, passing through here to Onicha-Ugbo. They have promised severally to do heaven and earth but the reality is that nothing is being done.
“If you look at this road, you will discover that people no longer make use of this place. We enter into our homes through farm path. If there is a drop of rain, we can’t even walk through.
“We have been abandoned and we are pleading for help us irrespective of political party affiliation. This community needs help.”
