Ohafia-Arochukwu Road: FENRAD commends Gov. Otti, call for probe of years of neglect

Stanley Ihedigbo

Foundation for Environmental Rights, Advocacy and Development (FENRAD), a pro-democracy and environmental rights advocacy group  has commended the initiative to drive development through massive road infrastructure provision in Abia State by Governor Alex Otti.

According to the Executive Director of the group,  Comrade Nelson Nnanna Nwafor, the Foundation is thrilled that after years of neglect and abandonment, over sixty communities living in the corridor where the road project traversed can now breathe in a fresh air.

“It is sad that the said road was abandoned and allowed to suffer a total collapse that laid waste to it after many decades. What is more, the road was first constructed under the premiership of Dr. Michael Ọkpara of the NCNC in the then Eastern Region, meaning that successive governments have only been paying lip service. For the record: Michael Ọkpara’s premiership came to an end with the January coup of 1966. So the decay is one that spanned decades until the recent intervention by the governor.

The forty-four-kilometer refundable project under reconstruction by the state government, when completed, the Foundation believes, will not only bring about intensified agricultural productivity but also ensure effective communication between agrarian communities and suburbs thereby creating a better food price regime.

Again, in the interest of inclusion, especially to ensure that no part of the state is left out, it is wise that not only city roads get a facelift, but those in semi/urban city centres.

The Foundation, having congratulated the governor, call on His Excellency to ensure that fiscal prudence is maintained, especially concerning initial award of contract for the same road later abandoned under past administrations. Every kobo, to the very last, must be recovered and put to tangible use.

It is through projects like this that economic nexus is built, creating arterial linkages that channel production to every part of the state. The Foundation calls on the governor to ramp up ongoing infrastructure provision, especially the 30-kilometer Arochukwu-Ndiokereke-Ozuabam Road, the 67-kilometer Umuahia-Uzuakoli-OhafiaRaod, and all other ongoing road projects nearby which when completed will address infrastructure gaps and deficits in the state occasioned by decades of abandonment.

Again, the Foundation salutes this move and demands a thorough investigation regarding award of contract and construction of the abandoned road.