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By Henry Umahi
While inspecting ongoing projects across Ebonyi State as part of the activities marking his one-year anniversary in office, Governor Francis Nwifuru, said: “We promised our people that we will punish our enemies with gigantic projects, and we believe God will be with us to fulfil that promise.”
The ongoing overhead bridge in Abakaliki, the capital of the state, is one of the “gigantic projects” being executed by the Nwifuru administration. It was supposed to ease traffic and add aesthetics to the town.
But mixed reactions have trailed the project with many indigenes and residents saying it is a waste of scarce resources of the state, not what the people need at this period of excruciating economic situation. Amidst poverty ravaging the state, many contend that the project is a burden rather than a boon.
To start with, several residential buildings and thriving businesses were destroyed. While some of the victims said they were paid a form of compensation, others said they were yet to be compensated. Residents also decried the slow pace of work at the site, expressing doubt that it will be concluded in the life of this administration.
When the reporter wanted to take take pictures at the site of the construction at Vanco Junction, the construction workers confronted him viciously, threatening to destroy his mobile phone. In fact, it was a miraculous escape from the red-eyed men. It was later gathered that they do not take kindly to people snapping pictures of the project. No one knows the exact reason. In fact, it is like a taboo to take photos of facilities in the state capitol.
One of those affected by the demolition, Ikechukwu Okonkwo, told Daily Sun: “Actually, what the government is doing is good but you don’t impoverish people to build a flyover that the people you impoverished will be using. So, it is a misplaced priority.The demolition in this Vanco area for the construction of a flyover is too much and many persons, including myself, were affected.
“Banks, supermarkets, shops, residential buildings and many other properties were destroyed and you can see, the whole place is empty. I had a provision supermarket in this place and it was demolished without compensation. Since the demolition last year, I have not seen a place to continue the business because I was having good sales due to human concentration in this area.
“I am still looking for a place that will be like this Vanco area so that I will be selling my goods very well and even if I succeed in seeing a place, where will I get the money to pay for the shop? Who will give me money to pay for it? If they had paid me compensation, I would have used the money to get another shop but they didn’t.”
Another victim, Festus Nnabuike, said: “I am operating a restaurant here but you can see that half of my building has been demolished because of this flyover they are constructing. I have blocked the front of the restaurant where my customers stay and now operating from the back of the building and it doesn’t accommodate many customers the way it used to be.
“If not that I am well known in the business, I would have lost all the customers but thank God many of them still come to patronize me. Some stay in any little space they see, eat and go to pave way for others while some buy, go and eat in their places.
“The work is moving slowly. Rainy season has set in and it may delay the work. I personally like the project because it will change the face of the Vanco area and the entire city. Remember that they are also constructing under-ground tunnel and when they finish the project, the whole place will change but the banks, shops and other properties they demolished will no longer be there because they have all been destroyed.”
Mrs. Ejikeme Jennifer, who was also affected, said: “I was selling footwears in this place before they demolished my shop. I am now doing POS business and staying under this big umbrella you are seeing.
“I was selling used footwears when they demolished my shop. I lost all my goods because I was not around when they demolished the shop, I went to Ava to buy goods.
“When I came back to my shop the following day, I saw everything destroyed and they were still demolishing people’s properties. I cried and cried and picked some I could pick and started doing this POS business and we are now many in the business.
“They allowed us to be doing this POS of a thing because it requires nothing like a structure or shop. You just put your umbrella and start your business although they may not allow us to continue staying here, especially when they advance in the construction work.
“This Vanco is a good business place because of the nature of the area. It has steady movement of people. So, anything you are doing as a business here is moving but they have spoilt everything because of the construction. I was told that they will still demolish more structures when they start constructing the roads that connects the Vanco junction.”
The governorship candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) during the 2023 election, Dr Ifeanyi Chukwuma Odii said it was a misplaced priority. “The state govt should focus on genuine human-capital investment and on boosting the state’s commercial sector before pouring resources into flyovers,” he said.
A reporter, who was born in the town and knew the area very well, was shocked at the level of destruction to build a flyover. He said: “I have never seen a thing like this. Vanco general area is the heart of Abakaliki but they have destroyed everything. This project has no human face. To make matters worse, it is coming at a time when people are finding it difficult to provide food for their families. If you use an elephant to set a trap, what sort of animal would expect it to catch?”
Again, many of the infrastructural projects are said to be poorly executed. In fact, some of them are life-threatening. In a petition dated March 10, 2025, Mgbom N’ Achara Autonomous Community, Okposi, in Ohaozara local government area, complained bitterly about what it described as “poor quality of work on the ongoing 12 kilometre Mgbom na Achara road project.”
The community stated: “We write as leaders of Mgbom N’ Achara Autonomous Community and we wish to heartily thank and appreciate your Excellency on the numerous developmental projects that have been embarked upon by your administration especially the fact that for the past 25 years His Excellency has remembered our forgotten autonomous community by awarding the contract for the 12-kilometer Mgbom Na Achara road.
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“Our people convey their immense gratitude to you for the very giant strides your administration is making in repositioning our dear state in other areas, especially, as it affects education, health care, human capital development, industrialization etc. Our community views with pride the relative peace and security which Ebonyi State has enjoyed throughout the inception of your administration.
“It is therefore against this background that we bring to your knowledge the poor quality of work that is being done by the Contractor handling the ongoing 12-kilometer road construction project that is being executed in our community.”
Lamenting about the “noticeable defects and abnormalities in the road construction,” the community volunteered: “The Atta River is a major river traversing the entire Okposi community. It flows into the Esu River going through Ivo local Government Area. The Road under construction is a trunk ‘A’ road that goes from Ohaozara LGA to Ivo LGA both in Ebonyi State but connects directly to Enugu State through Okpanku Community.
“The bridge when completed will carry very heavy traffic as vehicles coming from Abia, Imo will find the road a short cut through the bridge to Abakaliki, Enugu and Cross River.
“In spite of how important and sensitive this bridge will be to motorist and other road users; the Atta Bridge as is currently constructed is bound to fail in the coming months after completion. This is because the iron works on the bridge are below standard as they are using designs meant for culverts for such big bridge work. For instance, the iron work at the bridge is not fit for such heavy-duty load bearing structure, instead of using 25mm or 20mm diameter for the main bar as is conventional what is being used for the iron work on the bridge is 16mm diameter.
“Moreover, the longitudinal bar, which is the runners, which diameter is supposed to be 16mm diameter what is being used instead is 12mm. In our view, this is a recipe for disaster, a seeming death trap as it cannot maintain structural stability with strength to resist wear and tear when the bridge is loaded with the amount of weight is meant to carry.
“Outside the diameter of the irons, the excavation for the bridge base is another area of worry and concern to us. The excavation was done in such a shoddy manner as it did not reach the bedrock. The excavation trench was dogged just within 0.6m below the river base. This essentially will affect the load-bearing capacity of the bridge which will result to cracking and eventual structural damages on the road.”
The community, which also noted the “absence of culverts and neglecting existing ones,” stated: “Sadly, we have also observed that extension of the existing culverts and construction of new culverts at the critical zones for the easy flow of water are totally neglected and absent. The absence of these necessary components of the road will render the road useless within a very short-term when put in use, thereby making the resources expended on the road wasteful.
“It is unheard of in modern road constructions that a road of such nature and distance will be constructed without drainage system. Sadly, in this particular instance, the Mgbom N’ Achara Road is being constructed without provisions for drainage systems, thereby exposing the road to avoidable floods that will possibly wash off the road in the next rainy season.
“The quality of mortar being used for the road is equally below acceptable mixture. The mortar is poured on the dry ground without compaction and without allowing it to core. Essentially, coring will reduce the dirt on the road and make it ready to receive concrete thereby ensuring integrity, stability and durability of the road.
“In the light of the above, we are constrained to state here that if the road is allowed to continue at its present state, it will be a disaster waiting to happen and will be a big embarrassment to your good and noble administration.
“We therefore call upon your Excellency to use your good offices to: Order for immediate remedial work on the road with a view to rectifying all identified abnormalities and defects in order to avert the disaster that will happen if the work is allowed to continue in its current state and form;
Authorize the release of the engineering design of the road to enable the community to exercise the requisite oversight and take ownership of the project” Compel the supervising agencies of government to provide the requisite oversight and ensure that proper designs and implementation of the basic engineering measurement is strictly adhered to.”
However, following the public outcry over the quality of the Mgbom Na Achara road under construction, the Commissioner for Project Monitoring, Felix Ogbonna Igboke , an engineer, visited the site.
He assured that the site engineer would remedy the situation. Though, there was some improvement, Daily Sun gathered that not much had changed.
Other poorly executed projects in the metropolis by the Nwifuru administration include Ogbaga road, Nnorom street, Alo street/Amagu/unity square road, Ukwuakpu street, Bar Igweamah street. Hope Inn road and Statesman road.
The roads were constructed with concrete but immediately started washing out. Thereafter, some of the roads were partly coated with asphalt.
A resident of the state capital, who identified himself simply as D. Nweke, said: “This administration seems to be overwhelmed. The truth is that former Governor Dave Umahi raised the bar so much and the people there now are not measuring up. People were expecting the Nwifuru administration to follow in the footsteps of the former governor in terms of infrastructural development but it is not working that way. That’s the simple truth.”
Efforts to speak with the Commissioner for Works, Stanley Lebechi Mbam, an engineer, proved abortive. A questionnaire sent through Godfrey Chikwere, who acts as his media aide, didn’t get any response.
The questionnaire reads: “(1) How has the Nwifuru administration fared in the area of infrastructure? What are the major projects executed in the last two years? (2) What is the reason for poorly executed projects by Nwifuru administration such as Ogbaga road and Nnorom street in Abakaliki, among others?
“(3) What exactly is the government constructing at Vanco and environs?Residents are bothered about the slow pace of work, doubting if the project will be completed.
“(4) When this journalist wanted to take photos of the project at Vanco the workers almost manhandled him. Is it the policy of the government not to allow such. (5) Some of the landlords whose buildings were pulled down at Vanco general area claim they were not compensated or poorly compensated. What is the true position?”
