By Israel Umoh
The closure of the busy Calabar-Itu Federal Highway was to aid the reconstruction and halt the ravaging gully erosion menace from dividing a portion of Nwut Usiong community in Itu Local Government Area of Akwa Ibom State.
The looming gully that threatened the mouth of the highway was a source of concern to the road users and residents of the area.
And the Akwa Ibom State Government, based on the advice of experts for the reconstruction of the deplorable portion, awarded contract that included excavation of popular Afaha Ube Itam Road, which is adjacent to the affected portion to empty water into the underground pipe jacking trough.
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Therefore, Nsik Engineering Construction Company, the contracting firm, had to excavate the road 12m deep, according to Bill of Quantities, to control water flowing from the adjoining streets to the pipe jacking technology built by Julius Berger Nigeria during ex-Governor Godswill Akpabio administration in 2010.
However, the excavation has become a nightmare- a life-threatening one to churches and residential houses along the affected portion of the road. Like a poorly mismanaged wound on human body that turns to ulcer, the excavation with perpendicular slope has become a gully of grave magnitude, courtesy of the heavy rains that frequently stomp the area.
In a bid to know the gravity of the dug portion on the lives and properties, I embarked on expedition to the scene on Monday, October 21, 2024.
Undeterred by the much-talked excavated site and danger posed to commuters, I decided to board a commercial bus from Nwaniba Road and disembarked at Ikpa Road by University of Uyo to confirm the reality.
Again, I boarded a tricycle also known as Keke NAPEP with five passengers, through dilapidated Itu Road and got off by Calabar-Itu Highway.
From Ikpa Road through Udoette Street to Itu Road, the tricycle operator carelessly swapped pools of water and bumps of varying sizes. As soon as the tricycle pulled up near the highway, I heaved a sigh of relief because the speed coupled with the bumpy road would have forced a pregnant woman to deliver untimely.
Hence, my journey to the scene has begun in earnest. I quickly crossed the highway to the side overlooking untarred Ikot Ekwere Itam Road in Itu. Some haggard-looking motor cyclists beckoned on me, but I turned down their overtures because it was not my port of call.
I headed to the scene and branched off into Ayadehe Road in Nwut Usiong community. What could have been a bypass by the government or the company is a diversion created by commuters and motorists to meander traffic via the highway to the Itam main market.
My thoughts flew and my mind was troubled. I recollected the days of the road pacing from Pepsi Junction through Ediene Ikot Obio Imo in Uyo to Abak. The road boasts of many government offices and residential properties, among which include Christian Secondary School, Ukpom, and General Hospital, Ukpom, Goodnews Christian Community, Waterside, Abak, and Mercy Hospital, Abak, among others.
It was learnt that ex-Governor Udom Emmanuel administration awarded contract for the construction of Ikot Oku Ikono flyover to Julius Berger Construction Company Nigeria. It was alleged that the company sent a financial proposal to the Governor for the construction of a bypass, but he turned it down on the pretext of high cost and that there was alternative route to Abak, Ukanafun, Ikot Abasi, Mkpat Enin and even Port Harcourt, among other roads.
Since the Trunk C road was the only option, vehicles of different makes: heavy duty trucks, tippers, bull dozers, caterpillars, buses, cars and tricycles plied the road and it fell, sinking many vehicles and becoming impassable. Till date, the road is hellish to the residents and road users, who are now chewing cuds of the good old days.
When the thought crossed my mind, I comported myself with ‘butterflies’ rumbling in my stomach. A few metres on the road, I saw a “good Samaritan” who is a POS operator. He became an emergency tour guide. “See, this is Ikot Ekpuk Road in Itam that traverses many residential houses including that of Lady Apostle Helen Ukpabio’s mansion, yet it is deplorable. The road to the police station is also in dire straits,” he narrates.
Hear him, “This is Ayadehe Road, a village road plied by pedestrians and motorists after the closure of Calabar- Itu Highway. When the state government ordered closure of the highway, an army of motorists and tricycle operators started plying the road.”
However, the road looks like a glorified footpath, harbingering pools of water and potholes. A vehicle modelled Dyna loaded with firewood was tucked and some young men were seen offloading the wood into a nearby compound. Some business shops are closed.
The diversion led me to Ekpenyong Edem Street, Itam, which opens to the popular Nasarawa Road in Itam where goats and cows are sold. Along the road is another potholed Quality Ceramics Street with large pools of water.
One Joseph Udofia, resident of the street, said “Before now, it was pliable until ex-Governor Udom Emmanuel administration graded the street, left it without any stone base or tarring, resulting in the rainwater washing off the surface earth easily.”
Another road user, who refused to mention his name to me, walked me down to Nelson Mandela Street crisscrossing Ikot Udoro Road and Tabernacle Road and terminating at Ikot Ekpene Road. “These roads pose sorry sight due to dilapidation. I wonder when the state government will complete and inaugurate them for use. The residents and commuters are suffering a lot. We have shouted and cried, yet there is no solution to our endless wailings caused by the poor road network and occasional high transport fares,” the man cries out.
Trekking along the streets was tedious owing to jumping from one portion of the road to another. By now, I had been exhausted and weakened by the appalling nature of roads within Uyo Municipality.
I summoned courage and headed to Afaha Ube Itam Road, the epicentre of dilapidation. As I sauntered to the road, I developed goose pimples. Overlooking the road is a sprawling excavated site turned gully that gnaws at residents and users.
Immediately, I deeply reflected on the natural gullies at Ekeya group of villages in Okobo Local Government Area. It reminds me too of gullies snaking from Ekpri Nsukara, Anua, Eniong Offot, Udo Inwang Street, piercing through Oku group of villages, Uyo City Polytechnic to Ntak Inyang in Itu.
But, the “gully” of Afaha Ube Itam Road is man-made and perhaps self-inflicted. The gully-like site averages about 20m deep, 12m wide and stretches to a distance of over 400m. The bank walls have steep slopes. The surrounding fingers slope towards the gully is about 2%. The area is mostly residential.
Lying about half a kilometer is the frightening, but deep “gulf.” At the mouth of the road from Nelson Mandela Street is an alarming notice: “Nsik
No Entry Deep Excavation
Keep off”
To be continued
