Architect Mike Onolememen, a professional architect, the current Minister of Works of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, was made a cabinet level member by President Goodluck Jonathan soon after the current administration coasted home to victory in the 2011 general elections.

He immediately came into the general consciousness of the Nigerian reading public when he toed similar line of media showmanship that was created by one of his predecessors – the current Minister of Petroleum (Mrs. Deziani Alison-Madueke) when she was made Minister of Works and she drove to the then deteriorated Lagos/Benin/Onitsha Federal Highway and was photographed/videoed in most local electronic and print media while she shed tears [crocodile or genuine] regarding the bad state of that road and promised to fix it.

She left without doing anything to improve the terrible condition of that road alongside others across the country and especially in the South East and South South geo-political zones. But unlike his female counterpart in the current cabinet, the current Minister of Works did not betray emotion when he visited the seemingly unending construction site at the Abuja/Lokoja Federal High way awarded over a decade ago and for which several tons of public funds have been released without any remarkable progress. Onolememen rather than cry like a baby, mustered masculine courage and pledged that before long, that bad road alongside many others, including those in the South East and the South South geopolitical zones, would be fixed. He also promised equity in the construction of key federal roads to al zones of the country. However, the Federal Government has not only failed to deliver some of these vital and critical road infrastructure but, to the chagrin of most Nigerians, many more Federal Highways are also abandoned even when the funds required for such roads have either been released to the contractors.

The Arondizuogu Federal Highway abandoned since three decades is among roads that have suffered this fate. Only recently, Mathias Okwe, an assistant editor [business] of The Guardian newspapers, visited Arondizuogu community and saw for himself the incredible situation of this abandoned federal road and reported that although some releases have been made to the contractors, the people have been left to their fate and the economy of the once vibrant communities are suffering.

He reported thus: ‘ABANDONED for more than 30 years, the Oba-Nnewi-Arondizuogu-Okigwe federal road has become a nightmare for commuters and a source of concern to the people of Arondizuogu in Ideato North Local Council of Imo State, whose economy has been rendered prostrate due to the poor state of the road.

‘The road played a key role during the civil war, as illustrated by relics of the Biafra War like the Uga Airstrip and Ojukwu Bunker, which at a time served as the Biafra operational headquarters.

Arondizuogu town, known for its industry, is equally home to some of the brightest brains the South East has produced such as Mazi Mbonu Ojike, Chief K.O. Mbadiwe, Lady Onyeka Onwenu and Eze Maxwell Kanu, an industrialist.

‘The town is now dotted with relics of a once virile cottage industry and hotels that have wound up due to poor sales attributed to lack of good access roads. Commuters prefer to take alternative though longer routes to adjoining cities like Okigwe down to Cross River and River.

‘Some of the companies that have closed down as a result of the bad road include: Jolly Jones Vegetable Oil, Safari Vegetable Oil, Safari Hotel, Arondizuogu Rice Mill, LNO Obioha Motel and Chimon Hotel Limited.

‘For a trip that would normally last about 40 minutes, commuters spend over three harrowing hours navigating through broken-down vehicles. There is also the fear of attacks by armed robbers and kidnappers, who have suddenly turned the spot into their favourite place to attack hapless citizens. At some spots, passengers have to disembark to allow the vehicle snarl through the deep mud-filled potholes.

‘On a recent trip through the route, The Guardian ran into a protest staged by the Arondizougu people to demonstrate against the marginalisation of the town by the Federal Government, who they accuse of abandoning the road since construction began in 1982.

‘They carried placards with several inscriptions, some of which read: Nnewi-Oba-Akokwa-Arondiozogu-Okigwe is now a death trap; Okigwe-Onitsha Road, a blessing or curse? Help us, our industries are dying; Arondiozogu, are we part of Nigeria? And we cannot convey our rice to the market, among others.

‘Leader of the group, the traditional ruler of Ihieme Izuogu community, Dr. Kosmann Ndubuisi Kanu, said: “We have suffered so much on this road. For over 15 years, this project has been ongoing and nothing is being done about it. What we hear is that the president has approved that the project should be completed. We don’t know why the contractor has not moved to site or what is delaying his mobilization.

‘ “This road is very important as far as Nigeria is concerned. It connects Cross River, Rivers, Abia, Ebonyi and Anambra states. The president should monitor the project so that the contractor would not vanish into thin air after payment has been made. Five months ago, a trailer load of cement plunged into this place, killing everybody involved due to the bad road.”

‘Investigation revealed that for 2012, N49 million was appropriated for the project, while this year, a provision of N20 million for engineering design for the same project is contained in the budget.

‘When The Guardian approached the Budget Office and the Federal Ministry of Works in Abuja to know the status of releases to the contractor, officials were not forthcoming.

‘Director, Fiscal at the Budget Office, Barrister Etuk, explained that the Budget Office does not deal with contractors as it only releases money to the line ministry, in this case the Federal Ministry of Works, for disbursement to contractors upon satisfactory completion of projects.

‘He explained that the lean provision for projects monitoring was deterring his office from visiting every project. He, however, promised to ensure that the specific project would be monitored in the next quarter monitoring exercise.

‘At the Federal Ministry of Works Headquarters, Mabushi, Abuja, the Director, Highways, in charge of the South East, Mr. Godwin Eghieyu, gave insight to the delay of the project but declined to disclose how much had been released to the contractor.

‘ “The project is about 14 kilometres. They have repaired about 4.5 kilometres on one side, on the other side. The work was not very good and the contractor was told to stop work during the rainy season, because the quality of any work done during the rainy season might not be guaranteed.

‘The contract was awarded to a firm that was not handling the project to our satisfaction. Due to queries, another firm was brought in to complete the project,” he clarified.’

Can someone please advise the government especially Mr. President to ask his Minister of Works to face his national assignment and stop his frequent local trips to Edo State to play local politics at the cost of huge public funds. This brings us to the critical question of why the Federal Government would use political affiliations rather than merit and competence to determine who emerges as cabinet level ministers. If we ever hope to create a better society, then the President must appoint only statesmen and women into his cabinet and must stop appointing politicians who would milk Nigeria dry and use public fund to pursue their parochial and pedestrian political interest.

•RIGHTSVIEW appears thrice a week on Mondays, Wednesday and Saturdays. The Columnist, popular activist Emmanuel Onwubiko, is a former Federal Commissioner of Nigeria’s National Human Rights Commission and presently National Coordinator of Human Rights Writers’ Association of Nigeria (HURIWA).

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