Despite the brilliant performance by Governor Rotimi Amaechi of Rivers State in many sectors of the economy, the deplorable condition of most roads in the state capital and its environs, have caused untold hardship to road users there. As Ibanga Isine and Anayo Onukwugha report, the inability of the government to put the roads right has dwarfed other achievements of the administration and attracted simmering criticisms from the natives.
Driving through Port Harcourt, the Rivers State capital was once fun and easy-going. With well-paved roads and streets lined with beautiful flowers, caring and peaceful people and a burgeoning economy, the city offered exceptional goodies and opportunities to its residents and visitors alike.
In those days, first timers to Port Harcourt were often overwhelmed by its exceptional cleanliness, the hundreds of creeks criss-crossing several waterfronts, the peaceful ambience of the Government Reserved Areas, its rich cultural heritage and the traditional hospitality of the people.
These qualities perhaps, earned it the name, “Garden City.” Port Harcourt was indeed a city of gardens. But that was many years ago. Today, the story has changed. And not for the better.
Driving through the city these days has become a nightmare of some sorts for motorists and even pedestrians. The once beautiful city has been stripped by the centrifugal forces of decay and bad governance.
Potholes and craters have sprouted all over the once smooth roads and streets. Like a beautiful bride assaulted by hoodlums right on her matrimonial bed, Port Harcourt and indeed
Rivers State has become one heap of an unkempt neighbourhood.?
The eight-year occupation of the Brick House by Dr. Peter Odili did not assuage the dilapidated state of infrastructure in the state.
However, when Chibuike Amaechi assumed office as governor in October 2007 following the removal of his cousin and then governor, Celestine Omehia, by the Supreme Court, the people heaved a sigh of relief.
Amaechi had given them loads of assurances that things would change for the better. He told them the story of his humble beginning and how beautiful Port Harcourt was when Chief Alfred Dietie-Spiff was military administrator.
He vowed that the portholes would disappear, schools rebuilt and hospitals constructed and equipped. The people believed him and gave him their support.???
True to the promise, the governor assembled some of those he considered the best hands to help him carry out the onerous responsibility of repairing Rivers State.?
To eliminate the ubiquitous potholes on the roads and ease traffic congestion, Amaechi swung into action to rehabilitate existing roads and build new ones. He set up an intervention agency, the Rivers State Road Rehabilitation and Maintenance Committee, and appointed a prominent leader of the ruling People Democratic Party (PDP) in the state, Elder Chidi Wihioka, to head it.
?Having being fully mobilised by the government, the Wihioka committee moved a few earth-moving machines to the roads.?? It dropped bitumen here and there. The committee worked so “hard” for several months but the result was an abysmal failure.?
The committee did not meet the expectation of the people as the potholes multiplied despite the huge resources allocated to it by the government.
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?Perhaps, to prove that he meant well for the state, Amaechi directed the then commissioner of works, Mr. Dakuku Peterside to rid the metropolis of bad roads and craters. He launched what he called “Operation Zero Pot-holes.” The new initiative was directly supervised by Peterside, an engineer.
A total of N1 billion was released by the government for remedial work to be done on roads within Port Harcourt and its environs but alas! Peterside could not perform the magic. Potholes and craters increased in geometrical proportions.
?At that time, some indigenes of the state had insisted that most of the funds meant for filling potholes and eliminating craters ended up filing “pocket-holes” of private individuals and political allies of the governor.?
Even Peterside, now a member of the House of Representatives, admitted that “the project was not 100 percent successful.” Speaking with Leadership in Port Harcourt, the federal lawmaker said the “Operation Zero Pot-hole” was purely an intervention measure carried out due to the failure of the Wihioka-led committee to rid the streets and roads of potholes.
?He said: “There were a lot of issues at that time because the committee was not equipped as the ministry to tackle the road failure. That was why the ministry came up with the rescue operation following huge complaints by the people.” Unfortunately, the situation was not rescued.
?Apart from embarking on “Operation Zero Pot-hole,” investigations revealed that the state ministry of works spent at least N220 billion between 2007 and 2010 for the construction of roads and allied infrastructure in the state.
?This whooping sum was used in awarding over 195 contracts, comprising a total of 900 kilometers of roads, four flyovers and interchanges, 10 major bridges, 20 minor bridges, five land reclamation and shore embankment projects and the construction of two ultra modern markets in the state.
?In 2008, Peterside had boasted that the ambitious road projects initiated by the Amaechi-led government would serve as a model to other states in the country. He stated that all the contracts awarded by the government would deliver high-quality and durable roads. He had said then: “We are going to build world-class roads. We have carried out soil tests, we have completed the engineering designs and we are ready to deliver quality roads to our people. Each of the roads constructed will last between 20 and 25 years before any work would be done on them.”
While Peterside and his colleague in the ministry of information, Mrs. Ibim Seminatari went to town with stories of anticipated road success in the state, Alice Nemi, a lawyer, who was appointed commissioner for education, was busy building schools. She never addressed a press conference. She never boasted of what she was doing. She simply went about the job with sheer doggedness. And she delivered primary and secondary schools that could compare to the best in any part of the world in terms of the quality of buildings and teaching aids.?
?Interestingly, schools have sprouted like beautiful mushrooms in many parts of the state, and potholes have also increased and like sphinxes, making vehicular and pedestrian movement painful and time consuming. Residents have become immune to the pains of navigating through bad and highly congested roads. For instance, residents of Ada George have been shouting from the rooftops, calling on the government to fix the strategic road. Similar complaints are resonating across the city but the government appears hapless in addressing the embarrassing situation.
?The people could remember as if it was yesterday how Peterside proudly intoned after he supervised the signing of multi-billion contracts, “The vision of the Amaechi government on road development is a Rivers State where all communities are accessible by quality roads and infrastructure, all year round.”? A minimum of N100 billion is said to be budgeted for road construction yearly by the government. A number of contracts were given out for dualisation of some major roads.
Some of these include; Rumuokwuta-Choba-East-West Road at the cost of N8.8 billion; Port Harcourt Airport-Isiokpo-Omerelu Road at the cost of N21 billion; Ada George Phase I & II -Choba Phase II- NTA- Choba- Airport Roads at the cost of N10 billion.
?Others are: Abuja – Mile 3 By-Pass, Tam David-West Airport Road, Slaughter-Oginiba-Rumuobiakani Road, Rumuola-Rumuokwta Road, Igbo-Etche-Eneka Road, Rumuokuta-Mgbuoba-Choba Road, Rumukurushi-Eneka -Igwuruta, Eastern By-Pass, Amadi-Ama-Oginiba Road.
?Also awarded were;? Ogu- Eteo Road,? Thompson Okujagu Road, Okrika Ring Road, Rumuorlu-Okeah-Rumuwoke-off Ada George Road, Rumuosi-Rumuakeni-Aluu Road, Okehi II- Ndashi Road, Rumuagholu Extension-Tam David West Road, Rumuogholu Road, among others.
?Over four years after contracts for the construction of the roads were awarded, very little has been done to justify the huge funds expended by the government. For instance, the Abuloma-Worji Road project which would have linked Abuloma-Worji to Akpajo community in Eleme Local Government Area at the East West Road; has hundreds of portholes and still counting.
?However, a few of the projects completed by the government have helped in reducing traffic congestion and the man hour spent on some roads. These include the Eleme Junction Flyover which costs a whooping N10 billion and the Agip-Rumueme Abacha Road Junction. Some bridges have also been completed by the government while many more are under construction.
?In view of the huge spending on road construction and rehabilitation and the continuous suffering of road users, the state government has come under serious criticism. In fact, some people have called for a probe of the road contracts awarded by the Amaechi administration.
?One of such persons is Jerry Needam, the publicity secretary of the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) in Rivers State. When it comes to criticism, Needam has loads to heap on the government.? In a chat with Leadership, he said the Amaechi-led administration has failed since according to him, almost all the roads in Port Harcourt and its environs were impassable.
?He accused the government of using road contracts to siphon public funds and therefore called on the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to investigate the government.
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Needam said: “The two intervention programmes on improving the condition of roads in the state are not only unnecessary duplication of functions but are also a massive fraud and conduit pipe through which billions of Rivers State funds go down the drain even when no genuine efforts are made at achieving the purported objective.
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?“The rains in the state have laid bare the huge jokes of the two programmes, thus confirming earlier fears that nothing good would come out of them.
?“I continue to wonder why roads in Port Harcourt and its suburbs are rendered impassable as a result of the numerous pot-holes on them after they were rehabilitated only a few months ago. Several billions of state funds were sunk into road maintenance in the state through these programmes, with the bulk now apparently gone without any benefit to society
?“I challenge Governor Rotimi Amaechi to prove his sincerity to fight corrupt practices in the state by ensuring that the operators of the two programmes are urgently investigated by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission and other anti-graft agencies.”? Perhaps, disturbed by the plight of residents, Amaechi recently directed that further remedial measures be carried out on most of the roads in Port Harcourt.? The governor however, apologised to the people of the state over the slow pace of work on various on-going road construction sites in the state.
?He enjoined those plying the various routes in the state to be patient until after the rains to enable the contractors to deliver quality roads.? Promises and baskets of promises.
? As usual, the governor explained that any road construction work carried out during the rains would compromise quality and reduce the life span of such roads.
He begged on behalf of the contractors, “If they carry out any major work now, in the next two or three years it will be very bad. We must be patient to allow these contractors do a good job that would last for us. The state has barely four months of construction window.”
Amaechi had said the same thing in 2008. He said it in 2009. He said in 2010 and he is still pleading for the people to be patient for the rains to stop. But the rains have refused.? He promised that all road projects and flyover in Port Harcourt would be completed and opened to traffic by January 2012. Such projects include: Ken Saro-Wiwa (Stadium) Road, G.U Ake Road, Olu-Obasanjo Road, Obiri-Ikwerre-East-West Road Fyover and interchange, Choba-NTA Road and the Ikwerre Road-Agip Junction Flyover.
?In the same vein, the new commissioner for works, Hon. Victor Tombari Giadom has appealed to motorists and other road users to exercise patience and understanding over the state of roads, noting that the state government is aware of the hardship they suffer as a result of the bad roads in the state.
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He said: “We have advised our contractors not to do any work during the rain because any earth work that is carried out during the rain is bound to fail and you know if you do not get the foundation of the road right, then any other thing you are doing on that road will not be sustained. However we are committed to ensuring that we have sustainable roads that will serve the people of Rivers State.”
?“There are some roads that are very dear to Governor Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi, which include the Stadium Road and Chief G.U. Ake Road. We promise to complete them as soon as the rainy season stops.
?“I believe that in next the 60 days, the entire Mile 4-Agip bridge, which is about 800 meters, would have been completed, and opened for the benefit of Rivers people. It is the longest fly-over in Port Harcourt.”
? Also speaking, Seminatari expressed the hope that the Amaechi-led administration would deliver on its promise in the area of good roads as soon as the rainy season end.
Despite the truckload of promises and pleas made by the governor and his aides, the people have continued to wonder when the harvest of potholes will end in Rivers State.