By Vincent Ujumadu and Chinedu Adonu

AWKA — FOR years, road users have been having ugly experience plying the Enugu -Onitsha expressway due to its dilapidated nature. From administration to administration, there had been promises of the preparedness of the federal government to rehabilitate the road. Such promises usually heightened when elections drew near and no sooner would a new government come in than the promise was forgotten.

•Portion of the bad road between Umunya and Awka in Anambra State.

Of the about 100 kilometers from Enugu to Onitsha, the worst stretch is the Awkuzu -Umunya axis.

The presence of very important establishments along the about five kilometers stretch, including the orientation camp of the National Youth Service Corps, NYSC, the Federal Road Safety Corps, FRSC, two major abattoirs, permanent site of Tansian University, among other offices, make it inevitable for motorist to pass through the road on daily basis.

Due to the nature of the road, it is common for vehicles to break down there and often times, broken down vehicles stay overnight with the consequence of thieves vandalizing such vehicles.

It is also common to see emergency mechanics fiddling with broken down vehicles on that stretch and and most times, they worsen the condition of the affected vehicles.

Because drivers must reduce their speed once they get to the bad portion, men of the FRSC and the police often mount checkpoints in the area to be able to catch the drivers easily.

South East Voice spoke with some of the drivers and they have ugly stories to tell. Mr. Chibuike Ede who plies Enugu -Onitsha daily wondered why the federal government decided to abandon the road and still expect the people to perform their civic obligations of paying their taxes other levies.

Another driver, Mr. Uchenna Onwuka said the door of his vehicle had fallen off several times on that road and wondered why the federal government has abandoned it. According to him, driving from Onitsha to Umunya junction is usually sweet, but the Umunya -Awkuzu axis is usually the drivers’ nightmare. He said that while people suffer the dust during the dry season, the rainy season appears to be even worse.

It has also become customary to find mechanics hovering along the bad portions of the express way because of their belief that vehicles must break down. Once that happens, the mechanics take over and sometimes they might not repair such vehicles before nightfall.

Onwuka narrated his experience on that road on one occasion thus: “After over one hour of trial and error, a mechanic who claimed he could repair the vehicle told me it was my carburetor and that he would have to go to Onitsha to buy it. He collected money from me and I had to transfer my passengers to another vehicle to complete their journey. When he eventually came and fixed the carburetor, the vehicle still did not start and I eventually slept there.

I had to use a towing van to remove the bus from that spot to a mechanic workshop at Awkuzu where it was eventually fixed the following day.” In fact, it was gathered that that the Enugu- Onitsha expressway was abandoned following lack of funds as the federal government was said to be owing the contractor after completing the Toll gate to Umunya stretch.

During the campaigns for the 2015 general elections, the road became an issue and some politicians announced that the former President Goodluck Jonathan administration had awarded the contract to complete the road from Onitsha to Enugu. To date, no contractor has been sited on those portions of the expressway.

The Anambra State government is however reconstructing the Awka stretch of the road where three flyovers were nearing completion, but the problem is that after enjoying the smooth drive within Awka city, the motorist comes face to face with nightmare from Amawbia to Umunya. And nobody knows when this nightmare would end.

At Amawbia in Oji River, Enugu State, the nightmare increases until Enugu metropolis as the Ezeagu and Udi axis are almost impassable. Travellers usually make a detour through the old Enugu- Onitsha Road at the Oji River Junction and travel extra kilometres to Enugu via the Enugu- Port Harcourt road.

However, those who are not familiar with the terrain go through the 9th  Mile Corner where they engage in “break dance” occasioned by the poor condition of the road which also lead to Abakaliki in Ebonyi State and Ogoja in Cross River State respectively.

Travellers going to Makurdi, capital of Benue State through Obollo Afor and Oturkpo also experience similar hardship as there were over 4000 pot holes and big gullies along the road.