Juliana Francis
Residents of Ubulu-Uku in Aniocha South Local Government Area of Delta State are imploring their governor, Ifeanyi Okowa, and the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) to fix their roads before the beginning of the rainfall.
The residents, while bemoaning the deplorable states of the roads, explained that the Ubulu-Uku- Onicha Ugbo roads are linked to farms and other communities.
There is anxiety that if work does not commence to fix the roads immediately many people maybe be trapped in their homes when the rains start.
According to them, the roads contract was awarded to a senator by Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), but he, like many others before him, collected the money and then abandoned the roads.
They opined that if the number one citizen of the state, Okowa, and NDDC synergise, they believe that a solution towards fixing the roads would be reached. One of the core mandates of the NDDCs is to develop states under it, but many of these states had often complained of not feeling the impact of the agency.
One of the residents said: “For years now, we used to contribute millions of naira to sand-fill the road as a palliative measure, but once the rain starts, all the sand would wash away, returning the roads to its former deplorable state. Many successive administrations have abandoned the road for over three decades.”
It was also gathered that the incumbent chairman of Aniocha South Local Government Area, Mr. Jude Chukwuwike, sand-filled the roads last November to enable the community celebrate the Christmas and the New Year season without worrying and fretting over going to their farms.
A community leader, Mr. Mark Chidozie, explained that Ubulu-Uku- Onicha Ugbo roads have suffered neglect by successive administrations.
He said: “None of them remembered the roads. We were happy when our brother, Okowa, took over, but his administration will soon be over. We’re appealing to him to come to our rescue. Our son, chairman of Aniocha South Local Government Area, Pastor Jude Chukwuwike, took off a serious burden from us when he sand-filled the road, so we were not taxed during the 2021 Christmas and New Year celebrations. However, by April, what he did will be rubbished by the rain and subsequent erosion. We will have to suffer from April till November when we will again, contribute money to put the roads in order in preparation for Christmas and New Year. If we don't fix the roads, our children will not come home.”
He added that in as much as most people see rain as a blessing and necessary for the earth and planting season, they in Ubulu-Uku, live in perpetual worries.
Chidozie further noted: “Once the rain starts in April, to pass through the roads would be like walking through the valley of the shadow of death. It is only the courageous that will be able to make use of them. However, a few of these people still end up in orthopedic hospitals or traditional bonesetters homes.”
Another resident, Mr. Tony Osadebe, said: “Why we are pleading with the government to come to our rescue now is that when the rain starts roads will become impassable to the extent that walking through what is left of the track would be like walking into a death trap. The road project was awarded to a prominent son of the state by the NDDC, which is why the community is sending a Save Our Soul (SOS) to President Muhammadu Buhari, Minister of Niger Delta, Godswill Akpabio, Speaker of the House of Representatives, Femi Gbajabiamila, and all well-meaning Nigerians to intervene and end the suffering of residents. Residents, who are predominantly farmers and civil servants, are running away from the land of their birth not because of an upsurge in criminal activities, an outbreak of epidemics, or any untoward factors, but because of the government’s total neglect of the area, which has been cut off from other communities in Ubulu-Uku and neighbouring communities by erosion.”
A United States-based Ubulu-Uku indigene, Catherine Williams, who returned to the village for the burial of her sibling, Boniface, could not enter her family’s compound with the three SUVs that conveyed her and her entourage.
She said: “I have never been so embarrassed! I was returning home in the company of my friends from the U.S. and those who in Nigeria joined us from Lagos. We had a smooth ride to Delta State, and just to enter my street, Onicha-Uku Quarters, in Ubulu-Uku, we were not able to advance because of the dilapidated state of our roads. We had to abandon our vehicles and paid heavily for people to convey our loads on their heads, as neither cart pushers nor motorcycles could pass. We, daughters and sons of Ubulu-Uku in the diaspora are asking the offense that the Onicha-Uku and Onicha-Okpe people committed that they have been abandoned by the government. They voted for the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), which is in control of Delta State. The last time I visited home was about one year ago. I wonder what the roads would look like in another year’s time. We understand that the government is aware that the contract to repair the road was awarded many times to a sitting senator who embezzled the money and boasted that nothing would be done to him. Our son, Okowa, should fix the road and also assist us to prevail on the NDDC to come out with its investigation on the road contract.”
An elder in Ubulu-Uku, Diokpa Eziashi, said: “The road is usually impassable from April to December, every year due to the deep gully and flooding situation, which also results in serious flooding around homes within the affected areas in Ubulu-Uku. During this period, motorists and commuters are forced to take alternative routes to other communities. The flooding situation has compelled affected residents to build walls on both sides of the road in order to protect their property from floods, but without results. I’m appealing to our son, Okowa, to save us from erosion. He has a few months left in office, if our son cannot fix the roads for us, who will do it, especially since successive governors had abandoned the roads? Many of them played politics with the road, promising to fix it for us, but the moment they entered as governors, they abandoned us.”
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