Anambra has a large concentration of men and women who have travelled to different parts of the globe. The experiences garnered from years of travelling have paid off handsomely with Ndi Anambra setting records across the universe. And there is an axiom that wherever you go and you do not see an Igboman, nay Onye Anambra there, then that place is not habitable.
That is also why the government of Anambra state has placed great value on infrastructural development that aids the movement of people and goods, especially roads and bridges. Ndi Anambra do not want their movement restricted while they go about their daily activities. So, since he came on board, Governor Willie Obiano understands the urgent need to “Connect Ndi-Anambra”, at least, by road.
Hence, in seven years and some months, Governor Obiano has constructed roads and bridges that seemed impossible due to erosion and poor geographical locations. He has empowered and continues to finance the Anambra Road Maintenance Agency (ARMA) and they have been busy fixing roads across the state.
It is a thing of joy that about twelve Bridges and over 800 kilometers of roads have been delivered to Ndi Anambra. Unarguably, the Roads and Bridges are touching all local government areas simultaneously as each of the area councils have major on-going road/bridge projects across the State.
Hitherto, it was taken for granted that every community in the state has an access road. But the narrative does not wash. Today, there are fine stretches of road that dot the communities. Most of these communities are in the riverine area of the state and have low-lying land that is flooded in wet seasons and at high tide.
Gaining access to these communities at certain periods in a year was difficult and done through the neighboring states. Onono, Umuikwu, Umudora, Umuomu and the Igala-speaking communities of Inoma and Nzam, all in Anambra West, accessed their places through Delta State. While access to the state’s oil field in Umueje and Aguleri-Otu in Ayamelum and Anambra East council areas respectively was gained through Enugu state.
The case of Ogwuaniocha, another oil-bearing community in Ogbaru council area, was not any better. Like others, Ogwuaniocha equally had no access to good road, notwithstanding its economic importance in the state. In fact, it never had tarred road until the current effort by the Obiano government to have a road asphalted there.
The level of neglect of these riverine communities was so much. Eager to deal with the problem and harness the economic potentials of the communities (many of which also double as the food basket of the state), the Obiano government decided to double down on tackling the tortuous marshy terrain and cut a road through the communities. Only a government that does not play politics with its people can undertake the responsibility of building roads in the swampy communities.
Conscious of the cost, but convinced of its economic impact, Obiano undertook a 14 kilometer road to Nzam with a bridge. Another 42 kilometer of road is being constructed from Aguleri Uno/Aguleri-Otu/Mkpunando to the oil field.
In Ayamelum, the government has completed 12 kilometers of road from Umueje community to the oil field with a bridge. A 12.4 kilometer Ogwuaniocha road, with about 24 culverts, is under construction, while the longest bridge constructed by any state government in the Southeast, which stands at 290 meters, was constructed across the Omambala River, linking Aguleri-Otu and Aguleri-Uno.
Building roads in marshy terrains entails a lot of sand filling and fortification for it to withstand flooding, water log and high tide. It is therefore expected that the effort of the Obiano government in building up these riverine areas should be costly and physically exerting.
However, the effort to deepen interconnectivity in the state is not restricted to the riverine areas of the state. About 92 roads in the central zone of the state and 83 in the south are either completed or ongoing, including the Nkwo Enugwu-Ukwu bypass, Abatete-Oraukwu-Alor bypass; all completed.
Apart from the three flyovers in Awka, the government has equally completed many bridges, including Nengo, Odene, Iyiora, Umueje, SARS-Nando, Nzam Aguleri Uno-Aguleri Otu. No doubt, Akpokuedike has done well generally and he is still working.
WRITTEN BY DR. NNAMDI NWADIOGBU
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