Ebonyi State Ministry of Works and Transport is saddled with trained and professionally competent personnel who are committed towards excellence and professionalism doing justice to the sophisticated equipment procured by the State Government under the leadership of Engr. David Nweze Umahi for the facilitation of construction of roads and bridges in the state.
The Ministry has been poised to ensure standard and excellent service delivery in line with the vision of the Governor which is also in consonance with the Mission and Vision of the Ministry.
Between 1999 after the Military era and now, Ebonyi State has had three successive Civilian Governors that came with their various peculiarities of developments. At present, the State Executive Governor Engr. David Nweze Umahi has been adjudged the best in the country on infrastructural development especially on road network, bridges and flyovers.
Recently, the Honourable Commissioner for Work and Transport, Engr. Ogbonnaya Obasi Abara in his reactions to questions from various media outfits affirmed that Ebonyi State has surpassed its contemporaries with the best quality of roads in Nigeria.
HIS WORDS:
The landmark projects of Governor David Nweze Umahi are monumental. A lot of transformation have taken place in Ebonyi State since the past five years. You see bridges, flyovers and quality roads in different parts of the State. In the Capital City you can see three (3) flyover bridges dotting the landscape at Offia Nwali Roundabout, Akanu-Ibaim Roundabout and the International Market.
When the Governor came on board, he promised that he will do 15km of roads in all the Local Government Areas. You can agree with me and I know that you are aware that presently, that projected number has been surpassed. At Amasiri, Owutu, Ebuwana, Ekoli Road through Nguzu for instance, we have done about 20km rigid pavement.
The Commissioner noted that Ebonyi has never had it as good as is now the case under Engr. David Nweze Umahi stating that the Governor has taken infrastructural development to the grass root. “All the thirteen (13) Local Government Areas have benefited. The most spectacular aspect of these projects is that the roads are paved with Grade forty (40) concrete and because it is so paved, we have never had any issue of road failure since five (5) years unlike what we have had in the past all around the country and even some African Countries that constructed roads hardly survive one rainy season before they begin to collapse. I am honestly proud to say that the Governor has done exceedingly well in the areas of infrastructural development, economic empowerment and peaceful coexistence of the citizenry” the Commissioner said.
Commissioner Ogbonnaya Obasi Abara who said that the Ministry of Works and Transport as the Ministry that has the statutory responsibility to develop roads and bridges in Ebonyi State has been effectively committed from the project conception, to the design, and construction through adequate supervision maintained that the successive administrations will not in the near future be under the pressure to work on collapsed roads adding that the funds which could be used for maintenance of failed roads will certainly be channeled into other developmental projects and programmes as Governor Umahi has made things easy.
On the need for sustainability of the projects, the Commissioner said that the Governor was already aware that maintenance culture in Nigerian society is faulty and has laid greater emphasis on life duration of the projects maintaining that all the projects will certainly last into decades and may possibly outlive the present generation.
Engr. Abara said that within the first four years of this administration, over one hundred and four (104) road projects have been executed in every part of the State. He stated that Ninety-Two (92) of them have been 100% completed, Seven (7) were terminated and re-awarded while about five (5) of them are at their various levels of completion and more new projects have been identified and commence including the Uburu Medical College flyover bridge, Onuofukuru flyover etc.
Talking about how the roads have improved the economic activities of the State, the Commissioner said that before the administration of Engr. David Nweze Umahi, most of the major roads were like nightmare for drivers and passengers. He recalled that on several occasions, passengers slept along the roads especially Abakaliki-Afikpo road because of vehicle breakdown and Ogoja road was a huge challenge for citizens and visitors who found it difficult to get to the rice mill. “So the up rise of the roads network in the State has definitely reduced the fatigue associated to bad condition of roads in the State and road users have now heaved a sigh of relief as the cost of transportation has reduced to the barest minimal. The State economic activities have as a result of that transformation been greatly improved. The rice mill can now be accessed in a twinkle of an eye from any location in the State.
Farmers no longer find it difficult to transport their farm produce to and from relevant places. Cost of transportation has equally reduced drastically. It has also impacted positively on the security of lives and properties of Ebonyians and visitors alike” said he.
Engr. Ogbonnaya Obasi Abara described Governor Umahi as a focused and detribalized leader that has the people’s interest at heart and does not give in for distraction. He said that even though Ebonyi State receive the least Federal allocation, the Governor is doing marvelously well because he is a good manager of resources including Money, Men and Material. That is why he makes sure that we get best qualities in all the projects we execute in Ebonyi State and at the least cost. He said that despite the unforeseen circumstances associated to the COVID-19 pandemic which has adversely affected almost every human activities, “the Governor has continued to assure us that he will not leave any project uncompleted before leaving office in 2023 and we have no reason to be in doubt because he has never made any pronouncement and fail to bring it to accomplishment”.
The Commissioner commended Governor Umahi for his resolute determination to develop Ebonyi State and his resolve not to discriminate between Federal and State roads but goes out of his way to construct roads and bridges along Federal roads in the State believing that whether the Federal Government pays back or not, it is a development for the State which he cannot fail to achieve. The creation of Ebonyi State in 1996 by the then Nigerian Head of Military junta, Late General Sani Abacha, saw the coming together of the people who had long acquiesced under the old Anambra and Imo States and later the Abia and Enugu States. The people heaved a sigh of relief as that heralded their emancipation from social stigmatization and the shackles of enslavement under the previous masters.
ONWE EMMANUEL ONWE (P.R.O. Ministry of Works & Transport)
