Calabar-Itu Highway: Lawmaker Decries Slow Pace Of Work, Urges Urgent Completion Of Work
Worried about the slow pace of work by the construction firm handling the reconstruction and dualisation of the Calabar-Itu Federal Highway, Hon. Moses Essien, the member representing Ibiono Ibom State Constituency in the Akwa Ibom State House of Assembly, has made a passionate appeal to the Federal Government to expedite action on the construction of the long-abandoned federal highway.
The lawmaker made the appeal at the weekend, when he visited a failed portion of the Calabar-Itu Highway at Ikot Ebom in Ibiono Ibom Local Government Area, where commuters and motorists spend days in long queues stretching several kilometres on both lanes of the road, thereby causing loss of man hours and material resources.
Essien said his appeal has become necessary as the deplorable condition of the road continues to isolate Akwa Ibom and Cross River States in the oil-rich Niger Delta region of Nigeria.
The lawmaker emphasised the urgent need for the Federal Government to provide adequate funding for the project, highlighting the road’s strategic importance in facilitating economic growth, promoting unity, and ensuring the safety of commuters and motorists between the two states and other parts of the country.
According to him, “As the member representing the people of Ibiono Ibom State Constituency and as one who has been using this road, I had to come here to see things for myself.”
Essien told journalists, “From what I have seen and as you can see, the road has become impassable and the people of my constituency and other users are suffering, and I want to seize this opportunity to call on the Federal Government and President Bola Tinubu to urgently intervene and ensure adequate and proper funding for the construction of this important road that links the South-South region and the South-East region and other parts of the country.”
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He decried the suffering and hardship the deplorable road has caused the people.
“You can only imagine what the people are suffering on this road, sleeping days on the road without getting to their destinations.”
He lamented, “People cannot access Cross River State from here, nor can they access Akwa Ibom State, and you know the importance of this road to this region and the country as a whole.”
According to findings, the present state of the road, which was initially constructed in the 1970s, has exceeded its lifespan, rendering it nearly impassable.
Experts and stakeholders in the two states have repeatedly stressed that the expired road has severely impacted the socio-economic development of the areas and national security.
The Ibiono Ibom lawmaker’s plea resonates and amplifies the sentiments of local residents, business owners, and commuters who have endured years of hardship due to the prolonged neglect of the road.
The construction and dualisation of the Calabar-Itu-Ikot Ekpene Federal Highway, which is being handled by three construction firms, has dragged on for more than five years now without appreciable success.
The Ikot Ekpene axis, with a spur at Ididep in Ibiono Ibom Local Government Area of Akwa Ibom State, is handled by CCECC, a Chinese firm.
