Legacy In concrete: Massive Road projects Reshape Ebonyi In Unprecedented Way, By Kunle Sanni

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Shorter drive times. Smoother highways. These are dreams that have so far eluded the average Nigerian, but something is happening and hopes of the Nigerians are being renewed – fast. Across the south-east, massive construction projects are transforming the landscape of the geo-political zone, with legacy infrastructure expected to outlive the current administration and redefine the area for decades to come.

The administration of President Bola Tinubu is marking three years in office, and Ebonyi state is witnessing a wave of infrastructural development unprecedented in the region’s recent history.

Recently, Bayo Onanuga, special adviser to the president on information and strategy, led a team of presidential aides comprising of Sunday Dare, special adviser on media and public communication;
Tunde Rahman, senior special assistant on media and special Duties; Tope Ajayi, senior special assistant on media and publicity; Otega Ogra, adviser on new media; Olusegun Dada, senior special assistant on new media; and Linda Akhigbe, senior special assistant on strategic communication; as well as some journalists on a Renewed Hope tour of eight multi-billion-naira infrastructure projects, highlighting the administration’s drive to spur economic growth through large-scale public works.

The concrete projects reflect Tinubu’s commitment to using infrastructure as a catalyst for economic expansion and for unlocking new opportunities across the country, Onanuga said.

“The last time I was here we saw a lot of things, things that are happening,” Onanuga said. “And on my own, as I am telling people, come and join me. I want [you] to see something you have never seen in another part of Nigeria.”

At the tour of the Onueke project in Ebonyi state, David Umahi, minister of works, said a new flyover which would have 2.2 kilometre roads on both sides, would be connected to the Trans-Sahara highway which was at 60 percent complete at the time of the visit and had cost the federal government N35 billion. The highway, designed to decongest one of the busiest trade corridors in the West Africa region, was a key infrastructure to the colonialists.

“They were using this route for trading palm oil from the east, granite from the north, and even slave trading,” the works minister said. “That pathway has been a dream for 60 years. Today, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, the man divinely called to do the impossible, is fulfilling that dream.”

Another crucial project is the Calabar–Ebonyi–Benue Super highway where section 1 and 2 of the infrastructure has cost the federal government N45 billion and N668 billion respectively. It will link Cross River, Ebonyi, Benue, Kogi and Nasarawa states when completed.

“We have attained about 28 percent completion in some parts, and we are not stopping because of rain,” Umahi said during the inspection. “President Tinubu’s concrete road technology allows us to work through the wet season. That is the difference.”

Another ambitious project currently underway is the Abakaliki–Afikpo road which would cut through a hill and link Ebonyi to the Lagos-Calabar highway, which is another mega project.

“We are doing the impossible. The cutting is more than 30 metres high,” the former governor of Ebonyi said. “From Ndibe Beach to the Ebonyi‑Benue boundary, it covers 123 kilometres and costs about N454 billion.”

The Okposi–Enugu project, is a reinforced concrete road from Ohaozara local government area in Enugu that would terminate at the Enugu–Butterkote expressway. The project, at 90 percent completion, is 43 kilometres long and cost the federal government N34 billion, Umahi said.

The works minister said there is also another N53 billion project, starting from the Okposi community through Okwu, Abomege, and terminating at Ughette in Cross River state.

At various stages of completion, these new roads allow Nigerians to imagine the possibilities they could unlock once finished and Ebonyi has been put on a trajectory to succeed.