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• Sends SOS to EFCC, lauds gov for repairing road
By Christopher Oji
A few months after the people of Onicha Uku and Onicha Okpe communities in Ubulu-Uku, Aniocha South Local Government, Delta State, protested against the non-execution of the road contract awarded to the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), the Federal Government has revoked the contract.
The abandoned road leads to neighbouring Onicha Ugbo in Aniocha North LG. Contract for the road was first awarded 40 years ago but re-awarded to the NDDC in 2015 and in 2019. The NDDC, an agency of the Federal Government, allegedly spent over N3 billion on the phantom project, with nothing to show for it.
Bearing placards with several inscriptions, residents of the communities protested against the commission on August 8, 2022. They equally appealed to Governor Ifeanyi Okowa to come to their rescue, since the NDDC had failed them.
Commissioner for Information, Mr. Charles Aniagwu, said state government would have stepped in but that the FG had already awarded the contract to the NDDC: “If the governor were to take over the rehabilitation of the road, that would be doing great injustice to the state, as the NDDC would take the glory.”
Shortly after the revocation of some NDDC projects, among which were two major roads, Onicha Uku-Ugbo road and Udo road, he has started the construction of Udo road.
A source who, pleaded anonymity, as he was not supposed to speak with the press, told Daily Sun: “Okowa would have done so many roads, if not that they were NDDC projects. But now he has started awarding road contracts. He has awarded the contract on Udo Road.
“Work has commenced. He felt so sorry that the FG just revoked the road projects a few months to the end of his tenure. But as he has started the construction of Udo Road, he still could do same for Onicha-Uku/Onicha-Ugbo Road.”
Director-General, Delta State Capital Area Development Agency, Joan Amechi Mrakpor, said: “Okowa would have repaired the Onicha-Uku/Onicha-Ugbo Road long before now, if not that it was already awarded by the NDDC.
“But it is not too late. The governor can still award the contract and the work will commence. Government is a continuum, so, even if the road project is not completed, the next administration will start from where he stops.
“The governor is not happy the way the road is. But because it was awarded to the NDDC, there was nothing he could do. But now that the contract has been revoked, he is looking into it. Really, the governor is doing the Udo Road.
“When Mr Andy Isichie approached him about the road to his community, Udo, and he discovered that the road was among those the NDDC was handling but was revoked by the FG, he didn’t waste time to repair it. The work has commenced.”
Mr. Mark Chiedozi, an indigene of the community, said: “If our governor could award contract for Udo Road reconstruction, he can still do our road. We know that he is capable. We are appealing to Governor Okowa to save us from the menace of the road.
“We can no longer go anywhere. We cannot go to the farm. We cannot go to the church. Many of us now have broken legs. For many indigenes of the erosion-ravaged Onicha-Uku Quarters in Ubulu-Uku at home and in the Diaspora, accessing their homes has become nearly impossible.
“Predominantly made up of farmers and civil servants, the community is almost cut off. It is one of the reasons sons of the land in the Diaspora find it difficult to come home, especially during festive periods.
“The only road in and out of the area, which links the people to other communities and other states, has totally collapsed. It is now a death trap. Only the strong and courageous can walk through the road. Many have been forced to park their cars and trek home.”
Residents also petitioned the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC). They asked the anti-graft agency to re-open investigation into the alleged misappropriation of N3billion released for the rehabilitation of the Onicha-Uku/Onicha-Ugbo Road.
The road, which links them to Abuja, Lagos and Asaba, was awarded in 2015 and 2019. The community also called on Okowa, NDDC and other relevant agencies to wade into the matter to make sure that “the N3 billion is recovered and the contractors who failed to execute the project are brought to book.
“We are passionately appealing to Okowa to come to our rescue. As he did for Udo Road, let him do for Onicha-Uku-Onicha-Ugbo Road. He is our governor and our son and brother. If he cannot do it for us, who will do it for us?”
Secretary of the community, Osaji Ephraim Iwebunor, who read the content of a save-our-soul letter, alleged deceit on the part of some officials of the NDDC, whom he said pretended to be working on the road only to disappear sooner than later.
