Why Egoro Naoka People Want Government Intervention on Uhiele- Egoro Naoka- Ebudin Road.

By Lucky Isibor.

The road leading from Ekpoma, the administrative headquarters of Esan West Local Government Area of Edo State to Egoro Naoka,  Ujiogba and Ogwa, all in Esan West Local Government Area, otherwise known as the Uhiele-Egoro Naoka- Ebudin road has not been given attention by successive administrations from the days of Midwest Region to what is now Edo State.

  Uhiele- Egoro Naoka- Ebudin road  before  ongoing rehabilitation.

This Uhiele- Egoro Naoka-  Ebudin road is the only road that connects the people of the Southern part of Esan West, namely Ogwa, Upper Izogen - Ogwa, Ugiogba, Ebute- Ugiogba with their kits and kins in the northern part of the Council Area. Given the bad state of the said Uhiele-Egoro Naoka- Ebudin road, the people from Ogwa, Ugiogba, Ebute-Ugiogba, Upper Izogen- Ogwa must transverse about three or four local government areas of Igueben, Esan North-East and Esan Central to be able to access Ekpoma, their local government headquarters and one of the commercial nerve centres in Edo Central Senatorial District.

Farming being the predominant occupation of the people of the southern part of Esan West and Egoro Naoka, the people may have to pay exhubitant and unjustified transport fares to take their farm products to Ekpoma for sales, a development that makes the farmers run at huge losses or their products are wasted outrightly for lack of means of transportation.

However, the solutions to these challenges could be tackled easily with the construction of the 13 kilometres Uhiele-Egoro  Naoka - Ebudin road to link the Ugiogba - Ebudin - Igueben road at Ebudin thus linking up all the communities in the southern part of Esan West with their brethren in the northern part namely Ekpoma, Uhun and Idoa.

The people of Egoro Naoka has always birne the burden of maintaining the Uhiele-Egoro Naoka- Ebudin road from antiquity, save for a brief period in the colonial days when there were road makers in the Public Works Department, PWD. These road makers mainted the earth road till the Nigerian Independence. It is on record that the people of Egoro Naoka have been responsible for the maintenance of the only road linking them with Ekpoma since independence. Before the advent and popularity of earth moving equipment, they used communal labour, deploring crude mechanical intstruments like hoes, cutlasses and shovels for the maintenance of the road to allow vehicles and motor cycles access Ekpoma. 

When the deployment of earth moving equipment became popular, Egoro Naoka sons and daughters would ensure the road is graded at the beginning of every dry season to guarantee access during the coming rainy season. 

However, the people's hope was rekindled when Governor Godwin Obaseki came into office in the state. In response to a letter of appeal for the governor's intervention on the road by the community, engineers from the Edo State Ministry of Works were directed to take measurements of the road. 

Investigations also revealed that on receipt of the report of the engineers, the state government listed the road for bidding and voted 50 million for commencement of construction in the 2021 budget. 

These developments  underscores the government's seriousness and desire to see to it that the road is constructed to ameliorate the plight of the people.

However, as the waiting game continues, the road has become impassable just as the inhabitants are no longer able to access Ekpoma except they have to pass through Ebudin, Igueben and some times Utomi and Irrua to get to Ekpoma, a typical example of the proverbial Isrealite journey.

Realising that the revolving wheels of expectations are moving at less than snail speed, or even motioning to a halt; 

Egoro Naoka sons and daughters at home and in the Diaspora decided to take the bull by the horns by setting machinery in motion to first, raise funds to do palliative measures on the road so that the people can at least access Ekpoma, their local government headquarters, and secondly intencify the community appeal to the Governor Godwin Obaseki led administration who has thus far shown a lot of commitment to the construction of the road.

The first objective has been achieved as earth moving equipment have been deployed to the road since December 22, 2021 doing palliative measures. The contractor handling the job has been fully mobilised with funds raised by Egoro Naoka sons and daughters at home and in the Diaspora. According to the engineering committee set by the Egoro Naoka Development Association, the contractor will deploy three earth moving equipment and construct three culvets, one at the slope between Okeboh and Okihionmen, one at Ato- Obanore and another at Egoro Naoka market. 

 

Flagging off the rehabilitation of the road, His Royal Highness, Zaiki Theophilus Osobase, the Onojie of Egoro commended sons and daughters of Egoro Naoka for initiating the project and seeing to its execution with their free will donations. The Onojie who also made his personal donation prayed for God's intervention on the road.

In his remarks, the President General of Egoro Naoka Community, Mr. John Aikharaiyi while narrating what nessecitated the rehabilitation of the road, thanked the Edo State Governor, Godwin Obaseki for stating that the Ekpoma- Egoro Naoka road will be a priority project in his second term during his campaign at Ekpoma and appealed to the Governor not to forget the community in the scheme of things adding that the rehabilitation of the road is palliative measure pending when the state government will commence full scale construction of the road.

"We remember when the Governor, His Excellency Godwin Obaseki campaigned at Esan West, he really promised that Egoro Naoka road is going to be his priority this second term. While we are still waiting for that, knowing that the Governor has the love of my community at heart, we know before his term elapses he's going to attend to us. But since the road was no longer motorable and our people are suffering; our sons and daughters home and abroad put our heads together and said we cannot be waiting for government alone in the midst of suffering, we decided to get money, mobilise to get palliative measures on earth reconstruction of the road", Aikharaiyi said.

Also speaking to news men on the sidelines during the flag off ceremony, Chief Odiamehi Idemudian, the Aigbojie of Egoro Kingdom said the community is an agrarian community and lamented post harvest losses in the area as a result of lack of road to evacuate the farm products. He therefore appealed to the Edo State government to come to the aid of Egoro Naoka Community by tarring the Uhiele-Egoro Naoka- Ebudin road to enable them evacuate their farm products after harvest.

Also speaking, Mrs Felicia Edokpa while commending the initiative of Egoro Naoka sons and daughters who pooled resources together to embark on the road rehabilitation, appealed to Governor Godwin Obaseki and the Edo State government to come to the aid of the community to give the Uhiele-Egoro- Ebudin road full scale construction adding that is the permanent solution to the plight of the transportation problem of the people in that corridor of the state.

"There are a lot of things to be sold in the community like food items, farm products but no road; they're all waisting away. It is a problem to pass that road now."

Also speaking, Mr Dominic Ibharalu said the community have made overtures to successive governments in the state without any tangible result. He pointed out that the community have communicated its plights on the road to most political representatives in Edo Centre and hoped the ongoing rehabilitation of the road through communual effort will further draw the attention of political leaders and elected representatives in the area to the state of the road with a view to attracting government attention to it.

Efforts to get the reaction of the Edo State government failed. However the Edo State government has on several occasions stated its desire to construct the Uhiele-Egoro Naoka - Ebudin road, sent engineers from the Ministry of Works to assess the road and even listed it for construction as it went through bid process and other relevant processes.

Culled from Esan Magazine