In the cause and process of my routine assignment , across Delta State as an independent
Road Journal Correspondent, of African Pride Newspaper Online l came across a failed section of the busy
Unenurhie / Enhwe Road and Bridge connecting the East -West Road leading to Ughelli in Delta State and traversing Bayelsa State to
Port Harcourt in Rivers State.
ln the light of my civic responsibility
as a member of ” the fourth estate of the realm ” , the traditional watch dog of our society as the saying goes, l felt morally compelled to bring this ugly situation to the attention of our State Governor, His Excellency, RT Hon Sheriff Oborevwori to fix the mess at the bridge head of the Unenurhie/ Enhwe bridge which collapsed on Thursday, November 2nd 2023 to mitigate the suffering of the masses in that economic corridor from the menace of the fallen bridge head and failed sections of the road.
Truth be told, as we speak, vehicular movement has been truncated as motorist can no longer access the East West road to go either to Ughelli or Port Harcourt, an experience which has brought a lot of pain and hardship to the innocent people of Unenurhie and Enhwe when they least expected it.
l spoke with some of the people who were trapped in the milieu and they painted a gory picture of the situation thus:
Mr Keno Omofezi a motorist who was on his way from lgbide to Oleh enroute the Unenurhie / Enhwe Road lamented saying: ” It is indeed painful to think about the situation we found ourselves . As you can see, the damage is much , collosal and terrible. Kindly call on our Governor to come and help us out of the dish we suddenly found ourselves.’
Continuing, Mr Keno Omofezi added:” This Road and bridge is very dear to us because it connects
the whole of lsoko communities to
the Popular East – West Road, so we
cannot afford to stay without it
hence the compassionate appeal
for the Governor to hear our cry early and come to our rescue because the situation apparently need urgent attention without any sentimentality.”
Mr Peter Manson, Unenurhie President General who was also trapped in the eye of the storm while gazing helplessly at the cut – off bridge head said: ” This damage is beyond community effort, the Delta State Government under the leadership of Rt Hon Sheriff Oborevwori should graciously come to our aid to help us out .” he pleaded.
However , Mr Anthony Okpiyalele, a passer – by suggested a short term action, saying that the State Government should fix the damage bridge head while on a long term basis a new bridge longer should be proposed and constructed later as a lasting solution to this problem.
African Pride Newspaper Online findings indicate that, the reality on ground, based
on the laudable antecedents of how the MORE Agenda is targeted
towards masses oriented Projects, we have plausible reasons to believe and assert that this “Compassionate Appeal of Save our Souls ” (SOS ) message sent to Governor Sheriff Oborevwori
through this veritable platform will
strike the right cord in him to magnanimously dispatch Hon Charles Aniagwu, the Hon Commissioner of Works Rural and Riverine Areas , to go and upgrade the collapsed Unenurhie /Enhwe bridge head which serves the general interest of the lsoko people in particular and the public interest of all Deltans across board.
By Wilson Macaulay
