By Chidi Nkwopara

Palpable fear, frustration, and anger have engulfed villagers and commuters on the Obinze-Ihiagwa-Nekede road, following what some respondents described as “the dreadful and deplorable state of this road.”

Vanguard’s on-the-spot assessment of the situation yesterday showed that a contracting firm (names withheld) charged with the responsibility of fixing the road effectively blocked it, forcing motorists to resort to Umuanunu village road.

Vanguard also noticed that the village road had been battered by heavy rains and excessive use by trucks, particularly articulated trucks.

Answering a question at the scene, a staff of the Federal University of Technology, Owerri, FUTO, Prince Amanze, recalled with grief that “there was a time the short distance between Obinze and the University gate, was a safe haven for kidnappers to freely operate”.

Amanze continued: “This road has deteriorated so badly that even pedestrians no longer find it easy to wade through the multiple deep ponds on the road.

“It is worse for motorists, and the truth is that the rainy season has just started. Only God knows if the communities served by this road will be accessed at the peak of the rainy season.

“Let’s not forget that this road serves the Federal Polytechnic, Nekede, Imo State Government owned Rubber Estate, Eneahiam and FUTO.”

For an ex-student of FUTO, Chukwudi (surname withheld): “I left FUTO in 2009. This road was in bad shape then. It is extremely sad to note that it has not been fixed yet.

“Staff and students of FUTO are worse hit. They are passing through hell on this road. Residents and villagers of Obinze, Nekede, Ihiagwa, Emeabiam, Okolochu, and other communities that access their ancestral homes through this road are not finding things easy.

“We heaved a sigh of relief when Governor Hope Uzodimma started the reconstruction of the bridge across Otamuri River, during his first tenure. Our supposed happiness has since fizzled out, while fear, frustration and anger has engulfed us.”

In his response, the President General of the Umuanunu Obinze autonomous community, Mr. James Achogbuo, threatened that he would be forced to stop articulated trucks from using their road.

His words: “Our village road has been messed up completely. The sanctity and serenity of Umuanunu village have also been bastardized.

“We can’t continue suffering this way. For now, we can’t place our hands on who engaged the contractor and the time frame for completing the job.

“I will be constrained to call out the villagers and, in the interim, stop all articulated trucks from using our road. Also note that an extreme measure would be to stop all vehicles, including FUTO staff, from using our road.

“The only thing that would prevent us from taking this extreme measure, would be an early intervention by government.”

Vanguard News