Ongoing projects in South East: Truth vs Lies

There were screaming headlines on the front pages of national newspapers on August 28, 2018. The story was about the 69 ongoing projects funded by the Federal Government in the South East part of Nigeria.

It made headlines because the governors of the South East had met few days earlier to protest marginalisation of their zone. The governors had alleged that most federally-funded infrastructure projects in their zone were stalled.

Consequent upon this, Nigeria’s Information Minister Lai Mohammed refuted this claim, releasing a list of 69 projects that were going on in various parts of the zone.

“His Excellencies were either misquoted or they were quoted out of context. Either way, this allegation flies in the face of available evidence,’’ Mohammed said in Ilorin, Kwara State capital, at a lecture, in reference to the governors’ claim.

“Though the contracts for many of the roads were awarded before the advent of this administration, they were either poorly funded or not funded at all, hence work on the roads has lingered,” he added.

Mohammed said the 69 roads and bridges, spread across the five states in the South-East Nigeria, were at different stages of completion, thanks to the funding sourced by the present Muhammadu Buhari administration from budgetary allocations, the Sukuk Bond and the Presidential Infrastructure Development Fund.

Understanding the problem

The South East is one of the six geopolitical zones in Nigeria. It is made up of Abia, Anambra, Ebonyi, Enugu and Imo states. It is the only zone among the six geopolitical regions with five states. The other five—South South, South West, North Central and North East have six states, with North West having one more.

Pundits say the region has the worst infrastructure record, with major federal roads in state of disrepair.

The zone is made up of mainly Igbo-speaking people of Nigeria, who are one of the tripods on which the country stands—with the other two being Yoruba in the South West, and Hausa/Fulani in the North-West/North East.

From the days of Olusegun Obasanjo (1999-2007) to Umaru Musa Yar’Adua (2007-2010) and Goodluck Jonathan (2010-May 28, 2015), promises of infrastructure revamp were made to the people of the region, but these often turned into political gimmicks targeted at winning votes. The promises would often come weeks before general elections and evaporate weeks after.

The Investigation

My interest was, therefore, aroused the moment I saw the list of projects in the zone released by Nigeria’s Information Minister.

I decided to fact-check these claims. I noticed that out of the 69 projects, 20 were classified as ‘construction’ while the rest were designated ‘rehabilitation’.

I moved down to the South East to investigate the ones categorised as ‘construction’.

A bridge or a ridge?

I left Lagos for Ihiala. My first port of call was Oseakwa Bridge. This project had been listed as ‘construction of Oseakwa Bridge in Anambra State, C/No. 6043’ by the Minister. My findings showed that Oseakwa Bridge was awarded on October 6, 2009, to Horizon Construction Co. Ltd at N896.863 million.

When I got to this location, I observed that no work was going on. My findings showed that the project was completed two years after by the immediate past government of Goodluck Jonathan.

But there is something striking about this project. What the Federal Government calls ‘Oseakwa Bridge’ is not technically a bridge. It is just a road in a typical Nigerian village—sandy, hilly and bumpy.

The Cambridge Dictionary (online) defines a bridge as a ‘structure that is built over a river, road, or railway to allow people and vehicles to cross from one side to the other’. This so-called bridge does not fit into this definition.

Also, the road leading to it is not tarred and the road extending from it is decrepit and is not passed by vehicles. Ordinarily, federal government roads always interconnect states in Nigeria, but this so-called bridge does not lead to anywhere.

Villagers told me that work was done and completed on the so-called bridge, but the road looks like nothing was ever done.

Completed projects listed as ‘ongoing’

Findings showed that the list released by Mohammed contained some projects completed by the immediate past administration. Muhammadu Buhari came to power on May 29, 2015, but the list released included projects completed before this date.

First is the Olokoro-Isiala-Oboro-Nnono Junction awarded on December 21, 2010, to Abia Bok Company at N515.315 million. This road starts from Federal University of Agriculture Umudike, down to Isiala Ngwa. I found that it was completed in 2013. Contrary to claim made by the Minister, the road was not poorly funded. However, some sections of this road—around Isiala—are decaying, which speaks to the quality of work done, an engineer, Duru Anayamere, told me.

Second is the Ahiakwu-Amangwo-Umuahia-Ngwa-Ngwa Road, awarded on December 23, 2010, and contracted to La Ann Engineering Nig Ltd for N589.554 million.

I found that this road was completed before May 2015. No work was going on as of September 13 when I used this road. It was neither abandoned nor poorly funded as residents testified that it was completed around 2013.

Another one completed by the immediate past administration but listed as ‘ongoing’ by Lai Mohammed is the Olokoro-Alaukwu-Itaja-Okwu-Obuohia-Ikwuano, awarded on March 10, 2010, to Rhas Nigeria Limited at N990.673 million. I found that this road was completed before the advent of the current government. No work was going on as of September 14 and it was not poorly funded as claimed by the Minister.

While going to Aba, the industrial nerve centre of the region, from Owerri, Imo State capital, I alighted at Imo River. This river borders Imo and Abia states. The road leading to this river was listed as ongoing. But I found that it was completed in 2014 and is in good shape.