Enugu-Onitsha highway of agony, frustration

The state of the EnuguOnitsha highway is better experienced than described. It questions the existence of all tiers of government and also exposes how considerate or otherwise the government (including past administrations) is to the well-being of the gov

The terrible situation of the Enugu-Onitsha Highway is such that the driver maneuvers his heavy duty truck up-hill, then the vehicle snakes into manswallowing potholes, with the engine occasionally ‘coughing’ and ‘sneezing’, then the vehicle wobbles, bending towards one side, compelling on-lookers and passers-by to hold their breath with popping eyes and mouth wide-open as if it would fall down.

Suddenly, a ‘miracle’ or ‘magic’ happens! The heavy weight of the vehicle shifts to the other side as the driver struggles to wrestle it out of the extremely difficult situation. Now, the vehicle stands and regains its almost lost balance and then continues its rigorous, stressful and sluggishly frustrating movement up and down, from left to right until it finally meanders out of the treacherous terrain and goes on smooth ground again.

The state of the Enugu-Onitsha highway is better experienced than described. It questions the existence of all tiers of government and also exposes how considerate or otherwise the government (including past administrations) is to the well-being of the governed.

The deplorable condition of federal roads in the southeast zone may not be news after all, but what may shock an average traveler on the federal highways is the fact that the roads keep degenerating daily, whether in the rainy or dry season.

The devastation and inaccessible condition of some roads in the country, particularly those in the southeast was confirmed by the Minister of Works and Housing, Babatunde Fashola, recently. A State House correspondent had asked Mr. Fashola why Nigerian roads have remained impassible in spite of the billions of naira approved to fix them by the Federal Executive Council, and the worried Fashola was quoted to have said, among other things: “I am worried because a trip across roads from Abuja to Uromi, Delta State, Edo, Imo and other southeast states show that the roads are bad.”

A project supervisor in the Federal Ministry of Works, who identified himself simply as Engr. Eleweke, when he was encountered near the RCC Construction site along EnuguOnitsha highway, said: “The rains are contributing to the delay in fixing the roads; the rain is also causing the damage on the road.” He referred this reporter to the Controller of Works, Federal Ministry of Works at the Federal Secretariat in Enugu.

Our correspondent had gone to enquire from RCC when the contract was awarded, the level of work done, the challenges while executing the contract and how such challenges were being tackled, but the PRO of RCC directed our correspondent to the office of the Federal Ministry of Works located beside RCC construction office on

Enugu-Onitsha highway.

At the Federal Ministry of Works office Enugu, the Controller of Works was absent owing to health challenges. “The Controller of Works will resume next week. I believe that if you meet with him when he resumes, he will give you all the information you need because he is the official representative of the federal ministry of works in this zone,” a staff of the ministry said.

Traveling from Enugu to Onitsha is like practically passing through the ‘valley of the shadow of death’, with the high number of potholes and gully that have taken over large portions of the highway. Some sections of the highway had been abandoned over the years with grasses growing on them, so herdsmen and their cattle have taken over the bushy parts of the highway.

From the infamous Ugwu Onyeama axis to the Ekochin Hospital Junction at 9th Mile, both sides of the highway are nothing to write home about.

reporter observed that from Ugwu Onyeama to 82 Division of the Nigerian Army along the Enugu-Onitsha-Abakaliki highway, only one side of the road is being currently used. But the danger is that heavy trucks could lose control and ram into smaller vehicles, according to residents of the area. “The terrain from Ugwu Onyeama to 82 Division is more of hill and valley. This makes it dangerous for travelers as only one side of the road is being used because with the lorries and big trucks moving to and fro, anything can happen in terms of brake failure and lose of control of vehicles,” said a driver who was buying fuel at NNPC station near NOWAS Junction on the highway.

However, the left side of the highway from the Ekochin Hospital Junction at 9th Mile towards Umumba area in Eziagu LGA of Enugu State has been completed. Ironically, the whole vehicular pressure is being put on the completed section, apparently