Reactions Trail Uzodimma’s Repair of Owerri/Okigwe Road

By Sampson Uhuegbu

The reconstruction of  Owerri- Okigwe road by the Imo State Governor, Hope Uzodimma, has continued to generate reactions of people from all walks of life. That is, motorists, residents of Onuimo, Isiala Mbano and Okigwe are seemingly excited. This is because the bad state of the repaired road affected their lives negatively.

     STATE OF THE ROAD IN THE PAST:

  Owerri-Okigwe road is one of the major ways linking Enugu, Abia, Ebonyi, Benue, Abuja, Kogi and other parts of Nigeria from Owerri, the Imo capital. The road had been dilapidated for the past eight years before the advent of the Reconstruction, Rehabilitation and Recovery (3R) administration of Sen. Hope Uzodimma.

    WHAT PEOPLE WILL GAIN AS THE ROAD HAS BEEN REPAIRED:

  There was a period bandits took over the Owerri-Okigwe road. Specifically the Umuna- Ezelu- Umulolo axis became a Haven for hoodlums. Kidnappers started abducting passengers. The period that road was in a state of disrepair, passengers travelling to other states were attacked whenever drivers applied brakes on the bad spots along the isolated highway.

    Also, Security Officers’ movements from Okigwe to Owerri are no longer hampered. The operation of Fulani men and their herders can be said to be going into extinction as they have relocated to another area for their grazing.

 Farmers are now freely moving their farm produce through the reconstructed road, to the markets; such as Eke Atta; in the Ikeduru, Orie Amaraku market in Isiala Mbano and  Afor Umuna markets in Onuimo Local Government Areas of the State.

     Reactions:

A farmer, Mrs. Lois Nwachukwu, A transporter,  Mike Udoha, A student of The Abia State University, Uturu; Amaka Noel and A traditional ruler in Onuimo; Eze Charles Eboh, expressed gratitude to the governor, Hope Uzodimma, for fixing the road, which they said, had caused the a setback.

   The Commissioner for Works, Ralph Nwosu, when interviewed, could not disclose how much that was spent on the project done by the Craineburg Construction Company.