THE NORTH UKELLE ROAD: A FESTIVAL OF BUDGETING

The last is yet to be heard of the age- long story of the deplorable state of the Yahe – Wanokom – Wanikade – Benue border road, as this road has over the years enjoyed mention by members of parliament representing constituencies covering the area on the floors of both the State and national assemblies.

Unfortunately, even when budgetary allocations are made for the construction of the road and ground- breakings ceremonies performed as photo ops to feed the media with the needed inputs for propaganda; this is all the road has enjoyed in decades.

Recently, the anxieties of the people of North Ukelle and indeed the entire Ukelle nation was heightened when the road got media attention. This time, the road  we were gleefully informed was listed and approved for execution in the 2023 supplementary appropriation act, with a whopping sum of over N10.7billion which was passed by the senate and assented to by the President and Commander-in-Chief of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, Ahmed Bola Tinubu. It was achieved courtesy of the dogged efforts of the senator representing Cross River North senatorial zone, Senator Jarigbe Agom Jarigbe. I doff my hat for this legislative feat achieved by the senator within so Short a time in the red chambers.

Curiously however, in proposing the bill for the construction of the North Ukelle road, unlike in the past where the title of the budget item used to be: Yahe-Ebo-Wanokom-Wanikade-Oju road, the title this time rather read: Oju-Adum-Wanikade-Wanokom -Yahe Road. Not that this inversion of title is of any significant concern though, it only raises curiosity on what effect this may have in bringing to fruition this long-awaited project which has suffered decades of neglect by subsequent regimes both at the state and national, and have been the bane of the development of the North Ukelle people.

I have also attempted to rationalize the title change to the fact that since the earlier ones which begin with names of towns in Cross River State may have been over used for far too long in appropriation and budgeting, the question could have arisen and suspicions triggered. It can only be safe to let sleeping dogs lie. Just a wild imagination. It could also be that the law makers representing the Oju area of Benue State and their opposite colleagues in Cross River State believe in the efficacy of partnership since the road if constructed will be of tremendous mutual socio-economic benefits to their constituents.

That said, there are a few more concerns for all to ponder upon; When the 2023 supplementary bill was passed into law and assented to by the President, it had a life span of three months or thereabouts. It was to lapse by 31st March, 2024. It has however been extended to June 30th, 2024. Before the extension, we have not seen enough activity to indicate to us that a road construction worth the sum we are talking about is in progress. Usually when projects of such magnitude are approved, there are ware housed under their designated Ministries, in this case, the Federal Ministry of Works; the supervising Ministry and a contractor who may have gone through the due process of bidding is selected. Such contractor is expected to show obvious presence at the site. We haven’t seen one yet, we are even yet to see the sign posts suggesting the name of the contractor and the supervising entity executing a road construction worth N10.7billion.

Besides, executing a contract worth that amount should ordinarily impact the local economy through engagement of local artisans, food vendors, etc.  This is not the case here. Another issue of great concern for that matter is the fact that the rainy season is fast approaching and not much has been seen on ground, are we likely to see our legislators going back in the next budget year with the same item since it may not be achieved during this budget cycle?

Curiously this same road just like in the years gone by, is enjoying budgetary allocation of N2 .5billion in the 2024 budget by the Cross River State Government for its construction, with the same amount budgeted by the  out gone  government led by Sen Ben Ayade for the same road.  Ordinarily as someone who will benefit immensely should the road be constructed I should be extremely happy about it. But no, how could any right thinking individual rationalize the cost of construction of the same road at almost the same cost four or more years after, given the hyper inflationary trend in the economy now?

 Can someone explain what is going on here to the people. What sort of political abracadabra is going on here? One road, two levels of budget appropriation in one budget cycle? It’s not adding up to some of us. I hope that this is not a ploy to cause confusion and deny the good people of north Ukelle the construction of the road again?

The questions that need answers will include but not limited to: Who is the supervising Ministry for the project? Who is the contractor handling the project? Why have we not seen sign posts showing us that the project is underway? Why is the contractor if any, not recruiting local artisans to boost the local economy?

What is the interest of the Cross River State government in the road now that the federal government the rightful owner of the road wants to handle the job? Why is the state government budgeting for the same road with a lesser amount? Why is the contractor not advised to identify trouble spots on the Ukelle axis of the road and carry out remedial works on those spots before the rainy season sets in?

Why is Senator Jarigbe carrying out remedial repairs on the same road after exerting so much energy and influence to have the road appropriated for instead of insisting to have the contractor mobilize to site and ensure double layer supervision over the contractor?

Michael Ikpa Igbang, (Ngidi-Ezokobe, Wanokom Ukelle) can be reached on ulakomm@gmail.com