South-south Federal Roads in Disrepair Since 2001, Says Etim Etim

Etim Etim has lamented the deplorable state of federal roads in Nigeria's South-South region, despite the zone's huge contributions to the Federation Account. The six states of the South-South geopolitical zone, which hold massive hydrocarbon deposits and contribute heavily to Nigeria's foreign exchange earnings, have the worst network of federal roads in the country, with no significant repairs carried out in over a decade. Apart from the recently completed 40-km Bonny-Bodo Road linking Bonny Island with Rivers State, awarded by the Buhari administration, the region has not seen a major federal road investment in over 25 years.

Before that, the last federal highway built in the region was the Benin-Asaba expressway, constructed during the early days of the Obasanjo administration when Chief Tony Anenih of Edo State was Minister of Works. Under President Goodluck Jonathan, another Edo son, Mike Onolememen, served as Minister of Works from July 2011 until Jonathan left office in 2015, but the administration did little for federal roads in the region. Since the Benin-Asaba Highway opened in 2001, all federal roads in the South-South have fallen into disrepair.