By Yolamchi Ukaga, Aba
Motorists have decried the deplorable condition of Aba-Ibigbo section of Enugu-PortHarcourt expressway, and appealed to the federal government to rehabilitate it to reduce their suffering.
Some road users, in separate interviews with Orient Weekend in Aba, Abia state, described that section of the road as a nightmare.
Mr. Chinweike Sunday, one of the respondents, regretted that although the failed roads affect their businesses and returns on investments, government still make them to pay taxes and levies as road users and citizens, which, according to him, is unfair.
Mr. David Nzeduru, a driver, who plies Obigbo-Osisioma route, explained that extreme failure of the road has increased the duration of their trip from Aba to Obigbo, from 40 minutes to 2-hours or more.
“When you enter the road, because of its deplorable condition, there is much traffic jam, due to break down of vehicles, especially trucks conveying goods, in the middle of the bad portions of road or goods and containers that fell off trucks and blocked the road.
“If you want to cross from one lane to another, your vehicle can get stuck on a bad portion. In fact, the problem we go through on this road, because of its bad condition, is baffling.
“We beg the federal government to work on this road, even if it means doing some palliative before the complete rehabilitation. Let them do it to save us and our businesses”, he stated.
Ibitamuno Inemoweri, a Bayelsa-born driver, stated that using the Aba-Port Harcourt stretch of Enugu-Port Harcourt expressway has become a nightmare for travelers. Inemoweri noted that people are suffering on the road, because, it has failed extensively and needed repairs to make it motorable again.
For Onaze Osas, a truck driver with TSL, Lagos, the Aba-Port Harcourt road, has reduced the rate at which the company meets its target and pays them their earnings. “When our company loads our vehicle, our company and the clients have time targets for delivery; but when our company fails to meet the target, it affects the clients, and they will deduct our company’s earnings.
“This deduction will, in turn, affect our own earnings, because, our company will reduce our trip allowance from say N10,000 to about N5,000. This affects us and our families in a very bad way. So, we plead with the federal government to rehabilitate this road and make life easier for struggling citizens. Nigerians are hard-working and our governments need to encourage us”, he said.
Recall that the high court at Obehie in Ukwa West local government area of Abia state, which is accessed through that stretch of Enugu-PortHarcourt expressway, was recently relocated to Aba, a distance of about 45 kilometers, due to the bad state of the road.