Itsekiri communities urge Okowa to fix Ubeji road

Residents of Ubeji and adjourning riverine Itsekiri communities in Warri South Local Government Area of Delta State have cried out to Governor Ifeanyi Okowa to fix the deteriorating Ubeji road as promised during campaigns for his second term.

Checks by the Nigerian Tribune revealed that motorists are going through hard times plying the less-than-one-kilometre road linking Itsekiri communities to many oil and gas companies including Warri Refinery.

The construction of the road mostly plied by articulated trucks was started by the administration of Governor Emmanuel Uduaghan, but could not be completed before the expiration of his tenure.

There are claims of pregnant women losing their pregnancies, incessant damage to vehicles and several multiple accidents involving road users.

Speaking on the isssue, an Itsekiri chief, Robinson Ariyo, expressed his displeasure with the state of the road which has paralysed socioeconomic activities.

“While I appreciate the need to apportion blame to former Governor Emmamuel Uduaghan  for the failure to conclude the construction of Ubeji road, I think that more than four years after that administration, it amounts to a fundamental defect in our mental capacity if we still resort to that as an excuse for the road not being fixed. After all, government, they say, is a continuum.

“The failure to fix that road amounts to a neglect of the duty of government towards the people of that area whom the incumbent governor directly promised the commissioning of the same in record time,” he enthused.

Another resident of the area and social critic, Monoyo Edon, while decrying the deplorable state of the road, reminded Governor Okowa of his earlier promise to fix the all-important road in record time.

“Governor Ifeanyi Okowa personally inspected the road, and promised that work was going to continue and the road completed before the 2019 general election.

“The road is now a death trap, worse than the way it was when he visited,” he noted.

It will, however, be recalled that Governor Okowa, during a an interview with journalists from across the state in Asaba recently, assured that all ongoing road projects in the state would be completed