Sam Mbakwe road to collapse, unless…Federal, State govts’ attention urgently needed
The popular Sam Mbakwe Road in Obowo Local Government Area of Imo State, Nigeria will soon be cut into two with devastating consequences for the communities along its route unless the Federal and State governments rush in to remedy an already very bad situation.
Named after the iconic second republic governor of Imo State, Chief Sam Onunaka Mbakwe, the road leads from Owerri, the state’s capital to Avutu, the country home of the legendary leader and from there to Umuahia, the Abia State capital.
The very important road has over the years been facing the threat of gully erosion but the danger has become very imminent in the past few days as a huge ravine created by the erosion has come up to within a few feet of the highway.
A source, who articulated the agitated concern of the people of the communities served by the road said that if it is allowed to be destroyed by the erosion, all the communities along the road, including Umuariam, Avutu, Ehume and Umunachi would be badly affected as they would be effectively cut off from Owerri and Umuahia.
He said that the historical, economic and social importance of the road cannot be easily quantified, stressing that apart from the road, the communities close to the daily deteriorating gully are also endangered.
Some houses close to the gully have already been swallowed by it while others are at the verge of collapsing into the deep ravine.
Our source noted that the danger to the road should be of great concern to all, but especially so to the political leaders of the area, including the House of Assembly member, Hon. Kennedy Ibeh, the House of Representatives member, Hon. Deacon Chike Okafor and the candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, in the upcoming Imo North (Okigwe) senatorial bye-election, Chief Emmanuel Okewulonu, who is from Avutu, late Chief Mbakwe’s autonomous community that is directly served by the endangered road.
According to this indigene of one of the communities, these and other political leaders of the area should, as a matter of urgency, visit the affected area to see things for themselves and take up the matter with all seriousness with the appropriate authorities in Owerri and Abuja, especially with the Ministries of Works and the Ecological Fund Office of the Presidency.
He argued that allowing the road to be destroyed would be an insult to the memory of the late Chief Sam Mbakwe who served Imo State and Nigeria so meritoriously, apart from the fact that communities along the road would be directly, adversely affected as a result of the imminent catastrophe.
He noted also that the communities around the erosion site have tried to address the situation but regretted that the magnitude of the crisis was far beyond what a community can handle, recalling, however, that successive governments had tried to remedy the situation, half-heartedly and without success.
He equally asked that governments should probe the past efforts to reconstruct the road and bring any erring contractors and their collaborators in or out of government to book.
What the situation requires, he insisted, is a drastic and holistic treatment, to arrest the threat once and for all, warning that a stitch in time saves nine.
