By Sunday Ani
The people of Uzo-Uwani Local Government Area of Enugu State, particularly those in communities along the corridor leading to Umulokpa, the local government headquarters, have expressed deep gratitude to the state governor, Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi, for reconstructing the road leading to the council secretariat and making it accessible after many years of abandonment by successive governments.
The 39-kilometre road, which connects Onu b’Ogbo Igata in Nkpologu, Uvuru, Ukpata and Adaba communities to Umulokpa, the council secretariat, has suffered many years of neglect and abandonment, with residents going through hell on the road.
Speaking on behalf of the people of the area, a lawyer and chieftain of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Ikechukwu Onodi, said residents, over the years, had suffered untold hardship as they had to either traverse four other local government areas in the state, namely: Nsukka, Igbo-Etiti, Udi and Ezeagu, or crisscross Ayamelum Local Government Area in Anambra State, just to get to their local government secretariat in Umulokpa.
Onodi commended the governor for coming to the people’s rescue and making it possible for them to access the council headquarters without the rigours of going through the neighbouring local government areas and state, after long years of neglect by the past governments.
He noted that prior to Gov Ugwuanyi’s intervention, the road was full of gullies and potholes, which made journey rather tortuous for the people, stressing that those who defied advice to travel on the road always had very ugly experiences.
“Travelling on the road during the dry season amounted to a dust bath. During the rainy season, movement on the road was also, most of the time, impossible because erosion had rendered the road impassible. As a result of the turbulent and slow pace of trying to crawl through the road, those who dared, sometimes had robbers to contend with,” he said.
Onodi stated that 13 out of the 16 council wards in the local government area were cut off from the headquarters due to the deplorable condition of the road. “It will be recalled that Uzo-Uwani Local Government Area used to comprise the present Ayamelum Local Government Area in the present Anambra State up until 1991. Then, Umulokpa was central to the length of the geographical spread of the council area as then constituted,”.
However, today the people in the affected communities in particular, and the entire Uzo-uwani Local Government Area, are singing Ugwuanyi’s praises for consigning their ugly experiences on the road to history, having laid proper foundation for a modern road with standard drainage system. “Trip from Onu b’Ogbo Igata in Nkpologu through Uvuru, Ukpata and Adaba to Umulokpa has resumed, devoid of such hitherto existing ugly experiences. The state government has given the road the desired attention. The Uzo-Uwani person now has a sense of belonging in civil governance given the massive infrastructural development embarked upon by the Gburugburu administration. Uzo-Uwani will never forget Ugwuanyi for hearing their cry and wiping their tears. What remains is just to asphalt the road and I know that given the interest already shown by the governor; that will be done in a matter of time,” he stated.
