After the Supreme Court verdict which ushered in the administration of Governor Chibuike Amaechi in 2007, it was without any doubt that road infrastructure was the flagship project on his heart. This came with a lot of cheering from Rivers residents who had endured a long-term neglect in that sector. And believe it or not, Governor Amaechi pursued that goal with great vigour and urgency to the extent that the opposition class gave him a grudging respect. When critics thought he was biting more than he could chew, because he undertook construction of many road projects at the same time, Governor Amaechi proved them wrong as he delivered on his promises. For example, the once narrow Rumuola-Rumuokwuta Road was expanded and reconstructed. Today that road is a dual carriage way, paving the way for a smooth flow of traffic. Governor Amaechi’s administration have had same feat replicated on other roads such as those of Rumuobiakani roundabout, Slaughter at Trans Amadi, Rumuomasi , Airforce base/Eliozu road, Ikwerre road to Agip Junction flyover and interchange, Ken Saro-Wiwa/Stadium road, Azikiwe road, Old Aba road, Oginigba, Choba/NTA among others. Apart from Port Harcourt City, some roads in other parts of the state equally caught the governor’s attention. But Governor Amaechi’s testimonial on roads ended with his first term in office. Everything changed and nose-dived. After Governor Amaechi’s re-election in 2011, there was a decline in the effort of government to complete a good number of the road projects that were rolled over into the second term. The story is similar with new road projects started in the second term. Interestingly, neither Governor Amaechi nor his commissioner for works, Victor Giadom had come up to blame this awful development on lack of funds. It is not only the completion date that is the nagging issue. Often times, the people do not get actual value for money spent on the roads due to sub-standard jobs executed on them. The Rivers- money-for-Rivers people –policy was another tragedy that negated the delivery of quality roads to the people. Without any doubt, the political crisis rocking Rivers State in the last couple of months has been evident in many areas- most notable is that construction works on major roads have slowed down, and in some cases, completely halted. For example, the promise of delivering Peter Odili/Akpajo link road by June did not materialise. Same reason the expansion and reconstruction of Trans Amadi road cannot start. The slow pace of work on Eliopranwa is also worrying. Elelewon road is riddled with potholes even though the road was re-surfaced some months back. The internal roads in Oyibo are depreciating in an alarming rate with no help in sight. What has happened to construction work on Okporo, New Igbo-Etche-Oyibo roads? In the same vein, for people living in Ogoni-Andoni-Opobo axis of the state, the non completion of the unity road has remained an open sore. Many people also doubt whether Governor Amaechi’ continued feuding with real and perceived political enemies will allow him meet his target of completing the construction of Eneka-Rupokwu- Oyibo link road. None of this is entirely surprising. And the major reason for the slide is the distraction arising from many political battles that Governor Amaechi is fighting in recent times. To many of us, these political battles are exercises in self defence and unnecessary. They are not in any way meant to boost the status of the Rivers man. This flexing of political muscles by Governor Amaechi, whether it be that of Nigeria Governors Forum or even the 2015 politicking highlights the intense pressure the governor’s constant dwelling on those issues is having on the state. The latest of such self serving politicking is Governor Amaechi’s involvement in the break-up of the PDP, leading to the formation of a splinter group, known as the New PDP. Apart from the political implication of this on Rivers State, the fear is that state funds may be filtered away to nurture the governor’s agenda at the expense of developmental projects. Looking ahead, we expect the governor pre-occupy his mind with developmental programmes that will give Rivers people an edge above their peers. Road traffic in Port Harcourt will almost certainly get worse unless Governor Amaechi addresses head-on the road challenge in the city. But this may be an uphill task if he allows the present distraction to continue. Governor Amaechi should know that at the end of his tenure Rivers people will question his score card based on the strategy he formulated to curb under-development and not the political battles he fought or won. The only thing visible now is that Governor Amaechi is dissipating so much energy fighting the high and mighty while attention on developmental issues is ebbing.
Posted on: Tue, 10 Sep 2013 13:16:23 +0000
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