Abigail ErhiagbojeElder statesman, Edwin Clark, has alleged that former Minister of Works, Babatunde Raji Fashola, was not fair to the South-South region in the allocation and distribution of projects while he held sway as minister.
This was as he called on the government to address the poor infrastructure in the South-South region of the country, stressing that revamping the national economy would be impossible without addressing the decline in oil revenue caused by inadequate infrastructure.
Clark cited the recent accident on the Warri-Benin highway that resulted in 20 deaths as an example of the dire state of roads in the geopolitical zone.
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He expressed regrets that despite being responsible for much of Nigeria’s wealth, the South-South region was not benefiting from it.
According to him, “We see the impact of the natural resource that is daily taken out of our soil here in the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja and almost every other part of the country, we are left to wallow in this total neglect, marginalisation and deprivation.”
The former Federal Commissioner for Information said the recent accident at the Koko junction could have been prevented if the former President, Muhammadu Buhari had made conscious efforts towards looking into the situation of the roads.
He said, “The East-West Road remains an ugly stain on Nigeria political administrative logic, especially for something considered as a signature project, because of its economic significance.
“No substantial inch of construction work has been added in the eight years of the Buhari Administration. Sections of the road supposedly constructed were washed away like whitewash on walls by the 2022 floods, obviously due to the poor standard of work done.
“As you would expect, that road is, right now, especially at the time of this 2023 rainy season, in total disrepair and a death trap where there is daily carnage.
“The connection between Calabar and Itu, that is, in the section between Cross River and Akwa Ibom remains one of the most dangerous roads in the world, even though the NNPC Ltd is supposed to have taken it over.
“Coming further down, under your government, you have gratefully awarded the section around the Refinery by Eleme Junction. For this, we are grateful.”
Clark further pointed out that the connection between Rivers State and Bayelsa State has four major sections that collapsed due to the 2022 floods and have remained unrepaired. This has resulted in a normal journey that would have taken one and a half hours between the two states now taking three hours or more. Commuters now had to go through bush paths to continue their journey.
He disclosed the fact that there were also many bad spots between Warri and Sapele, which were washed away by floods, leading to a high number of deaths at Koko junction.
He also stated the fact that the $333 million Bodo-Bonny Road project, which was expected to open up opportunities for rapid socio-economic development of the areas, had not been completed despite a reported contribution of $167 million by the Nigeria Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) Limited and that four years ago, the Minister of Works and Housing, Babatunde Fashola, had disclosed that 524 road projects were ongoing in the six geopolitical zones of the country.
However, billions of naira from Niger Delta oil and gas resources had been approved and expended on the construction and rehabilitation of roads and bridges across the country, excluding roads and bridges in the South-South zone.
According to Clark, some of the roads and bridges reportedly completed or being constructed/reconstructed included the Kano-Maiduguri Road linking Kano-Jigawa-Bauchi-Yobe and Borno States Section II covering over 177km.
He added that in terms of kilometres (length of roads), South-South had only 52.2 kilometres while North Central had 1,479.9 kilometres…South-East had 122 kilometres; and South-West had 119 kilometres, and queried what the yardstick for such an absurd distribution was.
The elder statesman also alleged that Fashola had neglected the South-South zone in allocation and distribution of projects by his ministry “in tandem with established pattern of Buhari administration.”
He stated that even housing units that were being built by federal government across Nigeria excluded any being built in South-South zone. According to his final statement, when the $311 million Abacha looted was returned from United States in 2020, no project in South-South zone was listed for funds designated for second Niger Bridge, Lagos-Ibadan & Abuja-Kaduna-Kano expressways as well as Mambilla Power Project in North East zone; a scenario which was repeated with the Ibori loot.
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