Flood, bad roads ravage Imo communities

Flood, bad roads ravage Imo communities

By Our Reporter  on November 3, 2015
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By Gilbert Ekezie
Ifakala and Nkalu autonomous communities in Mbaitoli Local Government Area of Imo State have been participating actively in the development of the state. They solidly supported former governors Achike Udenwa and Ikedi Ohakim’s administrations. They also played active roles in the emergence of Governor Rochas Okorocha and other elected candidates from the area, and have not ceased to show them their support.
 Yet the communities say they have nothing to show for their past support in terms of infrastructural development and appointment into key positions in the state. They insist they don’t have any accessible roads and that they are ravaged by flood and erosion.
 Residents complain that the Ukwu Orji-Ifakala-Nwaorieubi Road, the only state road running through the area, is in a deplorable state. The road, contracted to MCC during the administration of Governor Ikedi Ohakim, was abandoned. And nothing whatsoever has been done on it.
 They alleged that the construction firm handling the project had a disagreement with the state government which allegedly reviewed the contract sum downwards, a development that did not go well with the contractor. As a result, the project was abandoned, pending when enough funds would be made available by the state government.
 MCC later took the Imo State Government to court over the issue, and the case is still pending. However, as the case lingers, residents and other road users are paying the big price as erosion and flood are forcing some of them out of their homes.
 The residents are equally unhappy that the abandoned Ogbaku-Nkalu-Ifakala Road that links Umuagwu, Umunakpaku, Oboro, Amazu, Umungwo, Umutaku to Owere Nkalu villages as well as Nwaorieubi is causing the residents enormous pain. They complain that erosion and flood have taken over their homes and farmlands. Their crops were damaged, just as some villages had been cut off from the rest of their relatives.
 Narrating the ordeal of the communities, the traditional ruler of Ifakala, Eze Michael Akanonu Eromaka Ekeruo (Ezeriohamma II), expressed regret over the hardship residents of the area have been facing.
 The royal father, who spoke to Daily Sun in his palace at Umuchinewe village, stated that the Ukwuorji-Ifakala Road that connects Nwaorieubi-Mbieri-Atta-Inyishi-Ikeduru-Ahiazu Mbaise, if rehabilitated, would be more useful to road users. He said it would reduce the pressure on the Onitsha-Owerri Road and other roads in the state.
 He also said the road would be of economic benefit to the residents, noting that traders would have good access to various markets in the region.
“Aside that, if the road is rehabilitated, it would attract investments to Mbaitoli; the existing businesses here would do better. With that, there would be more job opportunities for the unemployed.
“It is unfortunate that most villages here are no longer accessible; business activities have also been crippled and many are being threatened to vacate their homes due to flood. This has been on for a long time and we have been complaining, yet, the government has refused to do anything about it.”
He appealed to Governor Rochas Okorocha to mobilise contractors handling all the abandoned road projects at Ifakala and Nkalu communities to complete them.
“We do not expect what we are getting from Governor Okorocha. We tried hard to ensure his victory and he knows it. But now, he is paying us back with denial of infrastructure and total abandonment.
“During Ifakala Cultural Day Celebration 2015, Deputy Governor, Eze Madumere, an Mbaitoli son, came here and promised us that the state government would complete the Ukwuorji – Ifakala Road. Shortly after he left, they started reconstructing the road from Nwaorieubi, thereby giving us hope that all would be well. But immediately after the 2015 election, they abandoned the project. So, for the purpose of good governance, Governor Okorocha should complete all the abandoned road projects in Ifakala and Nkalu communities as soon as possible, because we are suffering.”
Former member representing Mbaitoli Constituency in the Imo State House of Assembly, Hon Victor Ndunagu, attributed the abandoned roads and other projects at Ifakala and Nkalu communities to actions that had political undertone.
 He explained that the Ukwuorji-Ifakala, Ogbaku-Nwaorieubi and other road projects at Mbaitoli should have been among the first road projects the Okorocha’s administration was supposed to handle due to their importance.
 Ndunagu recalled that he moved two motions while he was in the House of Assembly for the rehabilitation of the Ukwuorji-Nwaorieubi Road and other projects. He regretted that the state government refused to agree with the contractors over funds, hence the abandonment of the project.
“When I asked the contractor why the road was abandoned, I was told that the company was only mobilised to reconstruct the road from Ukwuorji to Ifakala for the first phase; the second phase was to be from Ifakala to Nwaorieubi. So, after the first phase, they kept their equipment at Ifakala, waiting to be paid to continue the job. So, when they could not get their money four months after, they packed their equipment and left. And all my efforts to persuade them to continue the job failed as they insisted on being paid before returning to site.”
Ndunagu also informed that when the House members were asked to bring some roads in their constituency for rehabilitation, he recommended the half-kilometre road from Uba to Owere Nkalu-Ogbaku, Umuagwu-Oboro-Amazu-Umungwo-Umutaku-Ogbaku and other roads in other communities, to ensure that residents of the areas had access roads to transport their agricultural products.
“I also approved the road from Nwaorieubi to Orodo-Ogwa, Ubomiri to Achi Mbieri and Ogbaku – Obudi Agwa. But unfortunately, the state government did not touch a large part of it. What I had in mind was to connect communities in Mbaitoli properly, so that people would move freely, but the state government played politics with the projects by refusing to pay the contractors.”
A community leader in Nkalu Ifakala, Chief Cornelius Ahunwa, frowned at the state of the roads and other infrastructure in Mbaitoli, especially those in Ifakala and Nkalu communities, pointing out that both Nkalu communities had so far been denied of amenities for a long time and had not benefited from anything in the past.
“Mbaitoli Local Government Area is the most abandoned, even when we are at the centre. Our roads are terribly bad; erosion is threatening to chase our people away from their homes. Yet government is watching,” he said.
 He contended that the reconstruction of roads in the area would reduce the accommodation problems that some workers faced in Owerri town, as many would prefer going to work from their homes.
“Our community is closer to Owerri. But because of bad roads and lack of infrastructure, our people who are supposed to be commuting to work in Owerri from home can’t do that. I know that if such people were encouraged to live at home, they would concentrate and contribute to community development.
“We are not asking for much from the government; we are only asking it to reconstruct our roads and leave us to struggle for survival on our own.”
Also, the Chairman of Umutaku Umungwo Progressive Union, Mr. Christopher Dike, lamented the state of roads in the area and called on the state government to see the residents as part of the state by allowing them to benefit from the dividends of democracy.
 Dike pointed out that with the way things were going in the affected communities, it appeared that they did not have any sense of belonging. He therefore called on Governor Okorocha not to play politics with the welfare of those who stood under the sun to vote him into power.
“It is obvious that our people played active role in the emergence of Okorocha as governor. There is no reason we should be abandoned just like that. Therefore, he should intervene before the floods consume us.”
Responding, the Chief Press Secretary to the Imo State Government, Mr. Sam Onwuemeodo, explained that no government would embark on a project with the intention of not completing it.
 He informed that the state government was presently doing everything possible to ensure that all abandoned projects in the state, especially roads, were completed immediately after the rainy season.
“Governor Okorocha is bent on ensuring that every community in the state is happy during and after his administration. But our people should exercise patience and support him to achieve his heart’s desires,” he informed.
“They should appreciate what he has already done and is still doing,” he enjoined.