IMO: Where Are The Roads To Egbema Communities?

By Kenneth Uwadi.

The euphoria that greeted the so called performance of the Imo State Government headed by Senator Hope Uzodinma particularly, on the construction and rehabilitation of roads has begun to wane. With the rainy season, most people have now woken up to the reality, that after all, the administration of Uzodinma is not different from that of his predecessors as the roads in the rural areas of the state are in bad shape. They are simply impassable.

It seems the administration of Uzodinma performed better than that of his predecessor in terms of road rehabilitations and constructions, but its performance still falls way below what is needed. This could be likened to two students who wrote the same examination. Out of 100 marks, one of them scored 20 while the other scored 30. Though, the latter performed better than the former, both of them failed the exam.

For the purpose of this piece, I will limit myself to Egbema in Ohaji/Egbema LGA where I live. There are no roads to access Egbema communities currently. The road leading to Egbema from Avu-Obosima is in bad shape. The road leading to Egbema from Adapalm- Etekwuru is horrible while the one leading to Egbema from Ejemekwuru-Agwa is a no go area. There is no doubt that the Imo State Government is capable of reconstructing and rehabilitating all the mentioned roads given its financial resources but instead of spending the money on roads and other services that will benefit the mass of the people, huge amount are spent to maintain political office holders and a legion of hangers-on.

Whenever I remember the roads leading to Egbema I begin to wonder within myself whether we are really part of Imo State. I begin to ask myself whether we have representatives at the National Assembly in Abuja and in the State House of Assembly. Then I still ask myself whether they drive on the same roads when they come for functions in the area or do they come by Helicopter?This matter has been agitating my mind for a long time.

Since 2020, I have been excited that since Governor Uzodinma came into power, the dividend of democracy will eventually trickle down to us in Egbema and these roads will be fixed. It seems I have been mistaken. These roads have gone from bad to worse. I dare even say there are some sections one cannot call road since there is no coal tar or sign of any road there. Those who use these roads will bear me witness. As far as I am concerned, the current House of Representatives member for Ohaji/Egbema/Oguta Constituency has no use being there in Abuja . He is not even accessible, but that is a story for another day. I will get there.

Soon Governor Uzodinma will be coming to campaign for a second tenure in Egbema. What is he going to tell us? The basic things that the government of the state should provide, we did not get them. We did not have his government presence in Egbema. The core responsibility of the government is provision of public infrastructures and basic amenities to ensure a better living standard for citizens. Unfortunately, the Imo State government has consistently shirked its responsibility to the people of the area not only in terms of road infrastructure but also in the provision of other basic amenities.

The State government has the resources to address the problem of road infrastructure in the area but for capitalist greed. For instance, on the basis of the fraudulent contract system, enormous resources have been wasted on the bad road and with very little to show for it. What took place were actually drain pipes to funnel public funds into private pockets.

The solution to the crisis of good roads in the rural areas of Imo State is political. The problem is not lack of resources, but the fact that road constructions are used as a means of gratifying the greed and self-serving interests of elements in political offices and their business and political associates.

Without an elected council givernment , the rural areas will always be in comatose. Hope Uzodinma refused to conduct council elections in four years.Isopadec that should be of help to the oil areas is now a dead agency. Indeed, the trend which is going on in Imo state is to steal LGA funds, cripple the rural people, hand over road contracts to private vampires who will abandon the contracts at the expense of the working people and the poor. This is in line with the anti-poor neo-liberal policies of the APC government in Imo which makes available public funds for private profit. Who will save Imo State? Only time will tell.

-Kenneth Uwadi lives in Mmahu-Egbema, Imo State and can be reached via 08037982714