Photo Credit: Google Map
By Mcdonald Onu
Erstwhile National Publicity Secretary of the defunct New
People’s Democratic Party (nPDP) and chieftain of the All Progressives Congress
(APC), Chief Eze Chukwuemeka Eze has widely extolled the achievements of
President Mohammadu Buhari, especially his performance on infrastructure,
social investment and human capital development.
Making specific emphasis on the impactful records of the
Buhari/APC administration on the South-South/East, Chief Eze, in a statement
made available to media houses in Port Harcourt, said the President has shown
manifest commitment towards the development of the two regions particularly in
the area of infrastructure.
The party Chief, an alumnus of the University of Calabar, noted
that in the 1980s, he witnessed how the Calabar-Itu highway - widely known as
the gateway linking Calabar to Akwa Ibom, Rivers, Ebonyi, Abia and other States
in South South and South East deteriorated to such a horrible state that it
became a dead trap for wheelmen, commuters and other road users who counted
their loses on a daily basis.
Recall that the Senior Special Assistant (SSA) to President
Muhammadu Buhari, Senator Ita Enang, recently inspected work on the road in Uyo,
where he told Journalists that the fund for the project has been released by
the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) to the Federal Ministry of
Works to facilitate fixing of the road.
He further hinted that three construction giants Julius Berger
PLC, China Civil Engineering Construction Company (CCECC) and SERMATECH Nigeria
Limited, have been mobilised to three sections of the Calabar-Itu Federal
highway following the release of N185 billion by the Federal Government.
According to reports from a reliable source, the first phase of
the contract was awarded to Julius Berger to the tune of N54 billion, with
construction works commencing from Odukpani and Ibiono Ibom axis of the highway
in Cross River and Akwa Ibom states until it went on holiday.
From the breakdown, N54billion was handed to Julius Berger; N52
billion approved for CCECC while N79billion was approved for SERMATECH, whose
portion of the road has a total of four bridges.
Eze who toured this major road expressed happiness on what he
observed but pleaded with the Contractor handling the ABA, Agbor Hill through
Ikot Ekpene section of the road which has been left unattended for more than a
decade to hasten work on that section as it is still in a very sorry state and
unmotorable
Eze also observed that the Ikot Ekpene Umuahia Road is also in a
very bad shape and according to those living within the axis of this road,
"We have been cut off from Nigeria.” As a stakeholder in this
administration, I appeal to the Minister of Works, Babatunde Fashola to do
something about this road particularly now that we have decided as a government
to come to the aid of our people.
Berating the past PDP-led administration for paying lip service
to critical issues of national concern, Chief Eze said the importance of that
road to the people and the economy would ordinarily be enough ground for any
serious government to engage contractors to put it in order, unfortunately,
under the sixteen years of PDP thievery, the road suffered reckless abandon, forcing
road users to groan in disappointment as they tried hard to maneuver their way
through the dangerous path.
“It is saddening to note that this road, despite its
significance to Nigeria and Nigerians, the PDP administration could not fix it
for sixteen solid years.”
Nigerians are however happy and grateful to President Buhari and
the APC for coming to the scene and magnificently turning this once deadly road
to one of the best roads in Africa by engaging three top Contractors to handle
the road construction”.
According to Chief Eze, the second major intervention of the
administration of President Muhammadu Buhari is the second Niger Bridge which
deferred all efforts at solution and become a source of embezzlement for
officials of past administrations in Nigeria.
Eze highlighted that for the 2nd Niger bridge to be connected on
both ends simply demonstrates that Buhari is working. With this feat he has
shown that what others couldn't do since independence including Presidents from
the South, he was able to accomplish within six years in office
Eze said it took the willpower of President Buhari to put a stop
to the use of the said projects to siphon public funds and punish Nigerians
particularly those from South East, by mobilizing contractors to site and
pegging June 2022 as the date of its commissioning.
Commending the contractors for their commitment in ensuring that
the projects are completed within record time, the party stalwart urged the
people on whose soil the projects are located to maximally support the
companies handling the construction works for the success of the projects.
With the delivery of the two legacy projects and coupled with
countless others completed and ongoing within the South South and South East
regions, Chief Eze said President Buhari and the APC administration need not
waste time on campaigns for 2023, given that Nigerians have seen and can now
clearly discern what is good and evil.
Eze called on the good people of the two regions to continue to
support President Mohammadu Buhari, in his efforts to deliver quality service
to them through infrastructural development which he described as very critical
element of governance.
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