You don\u2019t need to travel the road to understand that it kills. All that is
\nnecessary is to listen the testimonies of lucky survivors or just a look at
\nstill image shots of the road. The Calabar- Itu Road segment of the Calabar
\n\u2013 Itu \u2013 Ikot Ekpene \u2013 Aba Road, has completely collapsed. It has become a
\ndeath trap. There is no doubt that the road is federal highway, meaning the
\nresponsibility of maintaining the road is the FG\u2019s. However, I have always
\nwondered how inconsiderate the state governments of Akwa Ibom and Cross
\nRiver have become. Since 2011, this road gradually started giving way, and
\nup till this moment, the road remains a terrifying death trap and a horror
\ntrack for travelers.<\/p>\n
The road is the main economic route of the territories of the Old Cross
\nRivers state. It is, till this day, the only unity infrastructure that cuts
\nacross the two sister-states and conveys indigenes and visitors to these
\nstates. The road is the only passage for heavy-duty trucks conveying stones
\nand cement from the quarries of Akamkpa to the many constructions yards in
\nAkwa Ibom. It is the main economic route for the distribution of
\nagricultural produce from the large farms in Cross River state to the
\nentire Old Eastern Region and beyond.<\/p>\n
Destination Calabar is the tourist terminus of Nigeria, and most of the
\nvisitors to Calabar are actually from the South-South and South-East
\ngeopolitical zones. The Calabar-Itu Road is the major tourist
\ntransportation route to Calabar. The city has enjoyed the bliss of tourism
\nin the last decade. But the last few years have witnessed a sharp decline
\nin tourism revenue due to the very bad state of the Calabar-Itu road. One
\nhotel manager in Calabar, Orok Samuel, told me that \u201cBusiness has been
\nreally bad, many conventions scheduled for Calabar this year have been
\nmoved to other cities in the country because of the bad access road.\u201d He
\nwas right. A regional retreat for staff of a telecommunication major in
\nNigeria scheduled for July 20-23 was cancelled. The event was eventually
\nheld in Port Harcourt.<\/p>\n
While Calabar remains the capital of Cross River state, there are perhaps
\nas much indigenes of Akwa Ibom who are permanent residents in Calabar, most
\nof them being third generation residents. When these Akwa-Ibomites travel
\nto their various home towns, there is but only one road to ply.<\/p>\n
In 2015, the Akwa Ibom state governor, Mr. Emmanuel Udom, visited the
\nfailed portions of the Calabar-Itu Road. He said, \u201cThis is the busiest road
\nin this part of the region witnessing huge commercial activities. This is a
\nfederal road. Where the resources of Akwa Ibom Government could not afford
\nthe construction of the road, Federal Government has to do something
\nurgently to aid us. The ecological funds are not coming.\u201d The Akwa Ibom
\nState Ministry of Works undertook remedial works on a landslide that hit
\nthe road last year, but if the state of the road is anything to go by, that
\nwork was inconsequential.<\/p>\n
While both states, waited for the ecological fund from the federal
\ngovernment, the budget of Ministry of Works and the intervention of the
\nFederal Road Maintenance Agency (FERMA), the gully erosion continued its
\nhavoc on the stretch, leaving the road like the site of an abandoned
\narchaeological site. The heart wrenching sight of helpless travellers
\ntrapped in deep gullies, vehicles in the deep ponds, wooden canoes ferrying
\npassengers across the couloir, and badly damaged vehicles \u2013evidences of
\nfatal accidents \u2013 along the road, highlights the insensitivity of
\nleadership and the failure of our kind of federalism.<\/p>\n
I am happy that the Niger Delta Development Commission has stepped up to
\ntackle this emergency. Like all other agencies of government, the
\ncommission\u2019s revenue is dwindling and it has its own fair share of
\nabandoned projects, but this emergency intervention is commendable. It is
\nthe right thing to do.<\/p>\n
The Acting Managing Director, Mrs. Ibim Semenitari visited the road this
\nweek and has promised to commence emergency repairs immediately. But just
\nlike the remedial works executed by the Akwa Ibom state government, the
\nNDDC is no stranger to remedial works on the Calabar-Itu Road. However, the
\nrains have proved to be stronger bulldozers. It will therefore be a good
\nidea, if the NDDC goes a step beyond emergency repairs to include some
\ncivil works for erosion control. This is a sure way to retain value for the
\ninvestment on the road.<\/p>\n
With just about 8 weeks to the end of her incumbency, Mrs. Semenitari has
\nimpressed most of her fiercest critics (and I used to be one). As expected,
\nmany politicians \u2013 mostly members of her own party – in Akwa Ibom and Cross
\nRiver kicked against her appointment as Acting MD because the top two
\nmembers of the former (sacked) board -the chairman and managing director
\n-were indigenes of Cross River and Akwa Ibom states respectively. But now,
\nthey too may be having a rethink.<\/p>\n
While my assessment is limited to extent of my status as a personal
\nobserver, I conclude that in nine months she has demonstrated nothing short
\nof capacity, in a role that has never been ceded to a female politician.
\nShe has managed the resources of the commission transparently (so far),
\nstrengthened the communication framework and widened the public interface
\nwith the agency. Today, the project monitoring process of the NDDC is
\nparticipatory and public via the PMIS she commissioned in June, 2016. Also,
\nthe commission not only publishes its quarterly unaudited financial
\nreports, it plans to make its procurement process more transparent with the
\nlaunch of its online vendor management and procurement platform.<\/p>\n
Still a long shot from Nirvana, but she has made good effort to reposition
\nthe NDDC. For the people of Akwa Ibom and Cross River, and the thousands of
\ncarnival-loving bees, this intervention is a worthy parting gift. Somebody
\ncan say \u201cHalaluya!\u201d<\/p>\n
*Follow me on Twitter – @imaginasion1*<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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