Road to nowhere: Niger Delta highway project sees no end in sight

Minister of Niger Delta Affairs, Usani Uguru Usani, has said that there is no definite date for the completion of the East-West road.
The minister gave the submission why responding to a question on the timeline for the completion of the East-West road during the 2017 ministerial press briefing of the Ministry of Niger Delta Affairs in Abuja.
The project (which was initiated in 2006) consists of the construction of a second carriageway and the rehabilitation of the existing carriageway.
The total length of each of the carriageway is 188 kilometres, with 29 river bridges of variable lengths ranging from 31 metres to 260 metres, and two box girder bridges with lengths of 700m and 850m.
The East-West road is said to be one of the largest infrastructural projects in the country, connecting Warri, in Delta State and Bayelsa, Rivers, Cross River and Akwa Ibom states.
Uguru acknowledged public anxieties over the completion of the East-West road.
The minister, however, failed to give a definite date for completion of a project that has traversed previous administrations, saying that the unavailability of funds is holding back progress.
“I am not indifferent. I am as anxious as any other person from the Niger Delta would be,” he said.
“What we are doing is within the limit our financial abilities and capabilities.”
Addressing the thorny issue of when the project is likely to come to an end, the minister said: “To commit me to [a precise] date [of] completion… I can answer that question when you lead us to where we can get a pool of resources to do the work.”
Speaking on the contractual conditions of the projects, Uguru said the liabilities that are deliberately borne and intended to be borne and continue to increase placed the government in a maze of conflicts.
“You go now and say you want to challenge the contractors, you find people in the judiciary frustrating your very efforts to make government programmes work. So, by the grace of God, pray for us, pray for the nation so that money would come to complete that project. I do not know the date of completion,” Uguru said.
In his earlier presentation, Uguru said section one of the East-West road had been completed, while sections two, three and four of the road have reached advanced stages. Section five (Oron to Calabar) is being redesigned.
“The ministry is collaborating with the nine states of the Niger Delta to establish an industrial park in each of the states in the region. Modalities are being worked out for the commencement of this project,” Uguru stated.