WHEN will an end come to the progressive decay of federal roads in the South East? How long more will the people endure the bumpy ride?
These questions are what everybody in the zone is asking nobody in particular, and which answer no one has vouchsafed.
The deterioration has now reached critical mass where people may no longer be compliant. Their patience, like a taut muscle, has been stretched to its limit. What is more, everybody in authority is now an accursed of the people.
Even the sane of mind, blinded by anger and frustration, finds it rather difficult to make a clear distinction on who to blame on the matter.
The pertinent authority, which is the Federal Government, communicates no serious intention to arrest the ugly development. To further the pains of the people, where road construction is going on in the zone, it is handled by unserious construction companies which comfortably spend eternity on a stretch.
Some of the companies engaged in this parody of road construction have unwittingly encouraged erosion through indiscriminate excavations. Because of the nature of the soil in the area, which is essentially tenuous, any abandoned work necessarily provokes erosion.
But it is the perception of official conspiracy to deny the zone necessary infrastructure for its economic development that stirs very strong emotions among the people. This view is made evident by the snail's pace of work in the zone as against speedy road construction going on elsewhere.
Notwithstanding the number of petitions to pertinent authorities in Abuja by the South East Governors led by Mr. Peter Obi, the pace of work is still not encouraging. If anybody still believes in the charade of road constructions in the zone, it must be the Federal Government itself. No time in the history of the people have they been this frustrated.
Movement within the zone has become an ordeal, forcing commuters to contrive schemes to ease the burden of travel. Every journey now is a session for prayer, turning even professed agnostics into some kind of prayer warriors.
Besides frequent accidents witnessed on the roads which once had 70 people charred in death around Umunya in Anambra State, the greatest losers are the governors of the South East zone for obvious reasons.
The roads, some of which pass through major towns, detract from the beauty of their states. Coupled with this, the pains of travelling have made even the informed to blame everybody, including the governors for the decay.
Though it is wrong to blame them for what is obviously the failure of the Federal Government, the burgeoning decay has made even the complacent to react with some frenzy.
It is a fact that a good number of the governors, with the resources available to them, have done well for their states. Anambra, for example, has one of the best road networks in the country today. But on occasion, people expressed reservations after having a bumpy ride on the Onitsha-Enugu road.
The story is not significantly different in other portions of federal roads in the zone. Abia State for example, has Lagos-like traffic at Ugba junction on Aba-Port Harcourt road. But whether it is a bumpy ride on Enugu-Onitsha or Enugu-Port Harcourt, Aba-Owerri, Aba-Port Harcourt, Aba-Umuahia, etc, truth is that no federal road in the zone is in good condition. Efforts made to effect some changes have not yielded the desired result. But it seems the harder the push, the more adamant those who are to grant the favour.
Daily, the people struggle to maintain some level of sanity on the highly accident-prone roads. Reports show an accident rate of between five and seven daily on these roads. And most of this happens when drivers attempt to dodge potholes on the expressway.
Apart from the attention drawn to the scourge by the Governor Obi- led South East Governors Forum, some of the governors are already involved in rehabilitation.
Several other people have, either through writings or interviews, advocated a new lease of federal roads in the zone. With the outcry, it is expected that the pertinent authorities would have made some redress.
Since 2009 verdict of the Senate Ad hoc Committee on Transport led by Heineken Lokpobiri (that the zone is the worst in terms of federal road), not much has been done.
At any rate, stirring those who manage the affairs of Nigeria from decided inertia has not been known to be easy. At best, the people's cry might have become another prickly subject that tried to needle the insouciant to action.
As much as the issue of bad roads in the South East has put everybody under intolerable strain, other problems associated with the zone are yet to be addressed. Notwithstanding the opening of the Onitsha inland port, the zone has no sea port, no international airport and disparity in state distribution.
The latest effort at correcting these, especially state distribution, was almost stultified by a Governor Kwankwanso of Kano State. This further stokes the notion of official conspiracy to deny the zone basic infrastructure with which to leverage on economic development.
It is a fact that at separate borders with the states of Delta and Rivers, the two bridges linking the South East with these states are in dire need of urgent repairs. The Imo River Bridge, for example, has worn so thin that vehicles now ply on almost bare iron, forcing motorists to detour at Obigbo.
The Niger Bridge, the only veritable link with the West and Mid-West, is threatened with possible collapse as a result of excessive traffic. The volume of disinvestment as well as lull in commercial activities in the zone is such that, to ensure survival, a good number of the traders are forced to relocate to hostile environments.
Then the question: Why is the Federal Government not bothered about the plight of folks in this section of the country? Is erosion menace, which is submerging buildings and ravaging communities, not enough wahala for the zone? What political capital, if any, is the Federal Government going to gain with this blatant neglect?
Two reasons may suffice. One, either the Federal Government has other challenges that pale the pressing needs of the zone in importance, or the zone has a weak political base that has failed to advance its cause, and which successive governments have tolerated rather than wooed.
Mr EJIKE ANYADUBA, a public affairs analyst, wrote from Abatete, Anambra State.
Vanguard Nigeria
The Federal govt neglects these roads because they dont know what their responsibilities are.