Fear of road users along Calabar-Itu Highway BY JOY BASSEY

The hue and cry about the deplorable state of the Calabar-Itu road is not a mere fluke. First time visitors on the road to the city of Calabar will attest to the fact that travelling to Cross River State could be a night mare and if urgent steps are not taken to revive its only access road, Calabar, the capital of Cross River State, known for its tourism potential might soon be cut off from the rest of Nigeria.

A few weeks ago, road users spent two days travelling from Uyo to Calabar, a distance of about 100km, because of a frail portion of the road which was blocked by a fallen truck. Commuters who have had cause to experience the recent traffic jam that left people stranded for days along the Calabar-Uyo highway have bitter tales to tell.

A federal civil servant who came in from Calabar for a seminar in Uyo, Mrs. Blossom Alao, said the state of the road could discourage someone from travelling to Uyo from Calabar or vice versa.

A commuter who was recently trapped on the Calabar-Uyo highway, called on the State and Federal Governments to construct an alternative route, saying that a new expressway linking Calabar to Uyo was long overdue. He appealed to the State Government to, as a matter of urgency; prevail on the FG to be sensitive to the plight of the people as the current situation could be likened to total neglect. “The government should help us on this road because we are suffering a lot. They should think of an alternative route between Uyo and Calabar or build a new road”, he said.

Another passenger who was also stranded, Cynthia Ekpe, lamented that the State was already suffering neglect by the federal authorities, adding that, “one way in and one way out of Calabar is not the best for the city. If there is an invasion, what do you think will happen?”.

Expressing concern over the situation, the Cross River State Commissioner for Information, Mr. Akin Ricketts, called on the FG to intervene as the road had affected the little resources of the State, he said the State had committed itself financially to ensuring that the road was passable, adding that its effort had not been complemented as the FG was yet to reimburse the State with the billions of naira it had spent over the years to rehabilitate the bad portions.

The Commissioner for Works, Mr. Legor Idagbo, said the State had been calling on the FG over the deplorable state of the Calabar-Uyo road since last year. Mr. Idagbo, however gave a ray of hope when he said, “the major problem we have is the Calabar-Uyo road, which SERMATECH is working on. We are trying to tidy proper contracts with the company so that they can do complete rehabilitation of that road. We also hope that before Christmas, something substantial would have been done there. Even at this, we are calling on the FG to come to our aid by addressing these challenges. We hope that they will listen to our cry and assist in this regard. The rains have not helped matters either, infact it has made travellers very sceptical about travelling through the Calabar-Itu Road. On Friday, coffins were seen being carried on people’s shoulders, and corpses were held by bare hands. There were also eight pregnant women who were travelling to Calabar for check-up but could not pass through the road as a result of the gridlock. He added that the road which was built in 1975 was not built for the heavy traffics it was carrying.

Two Senators from Cross River and Akwa Ibom States have written to the Federal Government, asking for immediate steps to address the deplorable situation of the road. They are Senators Ita Enang and Ndoma Egba. Speaking in Uyo recently, Enang said they had sent several memos to the Ministry of Works for the dualisation of Calabar-Uyo road and that they were not asking for the rehabilitation or reconstruction of the road but the dualization of the entire road from Ikot Ekpene through Itu in Akwa Ibom State to Calabar in Cross River State. The lawmakers said they were aware of the deplorable condition of the road and are working to provide a solution that will make the road motorable for a lengthy period.

He also stated that a memo had been sent to the Federal Ministry of Works for the extension of railway line from Aba in Abia State to Akwa Ibom and Cross River States. According to him, contract for the survey of the railway line was underway. Records published by the Akwa Ibom State sector command of the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) indicates that 50 persons lost their lives along Calabar-Itu road in 2013 because of the poor condition of the road. Although the Federal Road Maintenance Agency (FERMA) has been rehabilitating the road every year, the number of heavy trucks plying the road does not make the maintenance work durable. Experts in road engineering had at various times, called on the federal government to reconstruct the whole stretch of the Calabar-Itu road, pointing out that the road which was constructed in 1977 was overdue for total overhaul in view of the heavy trucks plying the road now.

The ambience that the Tinapa Resort provides, coupled with the annual Calabar Christmas carnival that attracts participants and tourists from all parts of the world now provide people with enough reasons to travel to Calabar.

The Akwa Ibom State governor, Chief Godswill Akpabio made it much easier when he decided to give a face-lift to the section of the road that empties into the Calabar-Itu road from Uyo. While on that road, you may be tempted to sleep while driving. The road network is just so good. He did that and was to claim the money later from the FG since it was a federal government project. But the splendour ends as soon as travellers get in the Calabar-Itu road proper. It gets worse around the Odukpani section, where you have pits and ditches at so many points. There is hardly any time Lorries, Trucks and other heavy duty vehicles plying the road do not either fall into the ditches and block the road or are found to have fallen off the road into the bush because of the road condition.

The Niger Delta Development Commission, from time to time, make efforts to carryout remedial works on the road but their efforts would only last for a few days before motorists would be forced back to the hell of experience that is now becoming sad and provoking.

What is more annoying is that the President of Nigeria hails from this part of the country. But if he can be excused, since he hardly ever uses the road, the Governor of Cross River State, Senator Liyel Imoke and the National Assembly members from the State cannot be excused.

while we hold strongly to the opinion that the federal government under Goodluck Jonthan has a duty to ensure that the road is kept in a perfect condition, we also believe that the government of Cross River State will take enduring steps to ensure that the road is fixed to avoid the constant loss of lives and properties, as well as the effects on people’s cars.

If Akpabio can fix his State’s proportion of the road that connects Calabar, Imoke should also endeavour to provide temporary relief to the road users while waiting for Jonathan. The road, as it currently is, is a death trap.

That is not to say that Jonathan’s federal government should go to bed. Granted that FERMA is pouring some head pans of sand on some of the bad portions, which fades away once there is a semblance of rain, we implore the federal government to take a closer look at the Calabar-Itu Road. The road is a very good example of a government that cares less about what is happening to the electorates. The various governments should wake up and prevent further human and material casualties on their way to the cities of rest, leisure and pleasure, called Calabar and Uyo.