Traveling with tears in South East

•Collapsed part of Onitsha-Owerri road poses huge challenge to commuters and economic activities

Following the sudden severance of Kilometer 6-7 part of the Onitsha-Owerri Road within the Metallurgical Training Institute (MTI) axis in Obosi, Anambra State, commuters are passing through hell, though there is respite in sight as remedial works have commenced.

It was a tragedy foretold. The signs were all over the place but, probably, owing to the near lack of maintenance culture in the country, the relevant authorities failed to act.

For sometime before now, from the Obosi axis after the Electrical Parts Market, opposite another federal government neglected institution, the Metallurgical Training Institute, as one prepares to enter Onistha city in full, incidents of  major flooding and eroding of both sides of the road had been reported.

Sources said heavy flooding in the area was caused by the blockage of water channel and underground culvert allegedly by a businessman who reportedly bought a large expanse of land there. The land in question used to be a big dump site on the right side of the Onitsha-Owerri road. The blockage led to monumental losses for some roadside mechanic workshops, small-scale industries and some residential houses within the area, as about 30 vehicles inside the mechanic workshop were all swallowed and several other properties were damaged by floods.

While the occupants of the area fled for safety of their lives and have been counting their losses, the Metallurgical Institute, which was also experiencing the pounding of floods into their facilities reportedly blocked their own axis and the whole weight of the flood went back to the major road without further outlets.

The result was the eventual caving in of the road portion on the evening of Sunday, September 19, 2021, after many days of initial cracks.

To compound the problem, a speeding tanker laden with diesel rammed into the cracked portion with its full weight and the whole structure collapsed, cutting the road into two.

Since then, motorists and other road users have been seeing hell while looking for alternative routes.

When the reporter visited the site, the ill-fated tanker, with registration number Anambra HTE 818 XA, had been pulled out of the crater, though with serious damage on the vehicle. The Federal Ministry of Works had also mobilised Julius Berger Construction Company to the site, and its workers battled to fix the road.

A security man working in the area who declined to mention his name gave the reporter further insight on what happened.

The road cut off on Sunday evening after several signs because the underground drainage channels and culvert were blocked.  When the portion caved in that Sunday, some people placed green leaves and logs of wood in the area to warn motorists to avoid plying the portion. But the tanker driver on Monday morning thought it was a blockade made by some of these people that enforced Monday sit-at-home and drove into the portion with full weight and the whole thing scattered. This is where we are now,” he said.

Road of challenges

The Onitsha-Owerri Road has been a very busy highway way back in history. It is an all-important road that connects the West with the East and even Cameroon. It is one of the two major roads that connect from the Asaba-Onitsha bridgehead. While the long stretch of road that links straight from the bridgehead leads to Onitsha-Awka-Enugu highway, the Onitsha-Owerri Road veers from the right side from Upper Iweka as one descends from the bridge.

The road connects various parts of Anambra State to Imo, Abia, Akwa Ibom and Cross River, among others. Many travellers going to any community or town in these states from the West take the Onitsha-Owerri Road. Heavy duty vehicles, including trailers, haulage trucks and petrol tankers, are also regulars on the road. The Onitsha-Owerri Road was in a terrible state for many years until the President Olusegun Obasanjo administration awarded it for reconstruction in 2002 to Consolidated Construction Company (CCC), a Greek company, at an initial cost of N25.541 billion

The project dragged endlessly such that, at a time, the federal government partitioned it into two and awarded the Owerri section to Julius Berger while CCC took charge of the Onitsha section. Though reportedly completed after about 10 years, some portions of the road, mostly the Onitsha axis, have failed, leading to further award of contracts for some remedial works. One lane of the road within the Onitsha end has been practically impassable as it is dotted with deep gullies, potholes and craters.

Trekking mode activated 

Commuters have been groaning endlessly following diversion of traffic to enable remedial works on the failed portion.

A two-hour monitoring of situation in the area done by the reporter last Friday presented different scenarios of frustration, chaos, agony and survival strategies, which people have adopted to cope with the excruciating situation.

For those coming from the Owerri, Ihiala, Oba  axis and even those going to those areas from Onitsha, it is now double journey as they alight from their vehicles after the Obosi bypass, carry their loads on their heads and trek a distance before they cross to the other side and board another vehicle to continue their journey.

Those who take the Obosi bypass end up in endless gridlock for days. Daily Sun observed that two trailers broke down on the Obosi bypass, thereby compounding the woes of road users in the area.

“My brother, I slept here yesterday and even now that it is noon already, we are still stuck,  no way to move forward or even go back,” a frustrated commuter, Thomas Obi, told the reporter.

Meanwhile, the pains of commuters and residents of the area has turned to the advantage of tricycle operators as they make brisk business from the area cordoned off for repair works. They shuttle passengers at twice the normal fare, while some Owerri-bound buses now load passengers from the Obosi-Oba axis.

Beggars also throng the area seeking alms. One of them, who gave her name as Blessing, dropped her triplets in the hot sun within the blocked portion and solicited for financial assistance to feed the little babies.

Hawkers of different wares, especially soft drinks and snacks, swarm the area ever ready to solve the pressing hunger and thirst of traumatized travellers stuck on the road.

Glimmer of hope

Federal Controller of Works, Anambra State, Ajani Adeyemo, an engineer, said relief would come the way of road users in a few days as they intensified work on the collapsed portion so that movement can commence on the road once again. He also spoke about the incident leading to the blockade.

“Depending on the story you heard or what people might have told you, there was heavy rain on Sunday/Monday. By the evening of Sunday, the road cut off as a result of heavy pounding of one side of the drainage. The culverts were blocked and there was no easy passage of water but we have opened up the culvert now and are restating the road back.”

On the impression that the problem was caused by the private developer who allegedly bought the dumpsite from government, Ajani said he could not substantiate rumours but he confirmed that some people in the area tried to control the water, which was becoming too much for them, and the situation led to the present problem.

He also confirmed that he heard the same rumour that someone bought the dumpsite and diverted the water but said they were going to open up the water for everything to come back to the status quo.

“If anybody has bought that place, let him come up and do the proper thing so that the water can flow in the right channel,” he said.

Adeyemo also confirmed that Julius Berger was contracted to handle the emergency, since they were the one handling the construction of the nearby Second Niger Bridge in the state, and expressed hope that, in a matter of days, road users would be able to ply the road again.

He said: “They mobilized to site last Tuesday. By Saturday, they will put asphalt on this reclaimed portion and move over to the other lane because the thing affected both sides of the road.  We actually feel the hardship pedestrians and other road users are going through. We know that they are supposed to use their vehicles and drive through but we have to block the road so that we can work. It took us two whole days to maintain sanity on this failed portion so we can work.

“The people did not allow us to work initially because there was a small portion of the road not affected by the collapse, which they could meander and pass; so they kept surging forward. We had to mobilize security agencies, including the army, to take control, because it is absolutely dangerous to allow vehicles to pass through the small space remaining. If we allowed them, it would have been another tragedy of unimaginable proportions.”

An angry bus driver, Amos Eze, lambasted the federal and state governments for what he described as their insensitivity to the plight of the masses.

“I work in a mass transit company and I ply various routes, depending on the directives of the management. I’m going to Umuahia now but I also shuttle Enugu, Nsukka and Abakaliki. Imagine what we are passing through in the South-East. Going to Enugu, you can spend a whole day at Amansea-Awka axis because of the bad road.

“Nsukka is now a no-go area because from 9th Mile is another death trap. I’m stuck here because of Owerri road. The state roads are not better too, yet we have governments in place. All these contribute to early deaths in Nigeria because one can develop high blood pressure anytime because of what we pass through every day,” he lamented.

(Daily Sun)