Ortom breaks 500-year-old road jinx in Agatu

WITH the completion of the Oshigbudu-Obagaji Road, Governor Samuel Ortom of Benue State has broken the 500-year-old jinx that negated the construction of the road, the traditional ruler of the Adogoji Kingdom, Chief James Ochoche Olewulu, has stated.

He spoke while addressing a group of journalists who visited Obagaji, on Sunday, to assess the level of work on the road.

Obagaji, is a settlement located 10 kilometres from Oshigbudu which is on the federal highway that leads to Oweto which is currently under construction by the Federal Government.

Contract for the construction of the Obagaji road was awarded to Rockbridge Construction Company by the immediate past administration in 2013 but was later abandoned due to non-release of funds to the company.

The Ortom-led administration, on assuming office, however, paid off the state’s indebtedness to the contractor and mobilised it back to site.

Deputy Director in the Ministry of Works, Transport and Energy, Samson Imoni, who supervises all resident site engineers in the state, disclosed that the road was completed at the cost of N776 million.

“Yes, one can safely say that Governor Ortom has broken a jink because this road had been an age-long problem,” he stated, “only tractors could conveniently ply this road during the rainy season, it really used to be a nightmare.”

Imoni said the state executive council also awarded a contract for the extension of the road from Obagaji to Agagbe which will further make the town more accessible from the state capital.

Obagaji and neighbouring communities were almost cut off from the rest of civilisation due to bad roads.

According to the chief of the area, it used to take three days to make a journey from the town to Otukpo, a trip which now takes one hour with the completion of the road.