The Otuocha-Ibaji-Idah Road in Kogi state has remained abandoned 12 years after it was awarded for the sum of N7.2 billion.
The road that connects Ibaji and Idah Local Government Areas of Kogi state was awarded to Nigercat Nigeria Limited at the sum of N7.2 billion in 2009 with contract number C/6024.
After the contract award, the sum of N2.5 billion was made available by the federal government as a mobilization fee for the road that covers 90-kilometers.
Although the money has since been spent, there is nothing to show the fund was actually expended on the road while residents that use it continue to suffer using it.
Despite the road been awarded in 2009, Nigercat, a company that got the contract to carry out the construction did not show up until 2018, when it appeared with few machines and personnel and disappeared few days after and never returned to the site.
Worse still, Nigeria’s Federal Ministry of Works had listed the road as having been constructed and completed since 2018.
This is even as the road was abandoned by the contractor, and residents who are mainly farmers that depend on it to transport their agricultural produce are suffering using the road, leading them to abject poverty as their farm produce often decays while they cannot find a market to sell their product.
A situation that would have been averted if the road was to be constructed and made accessible to commuters and travelers.
Apart from linking the two Local Government Areas in Kogi state, the road also links Anambra state and will be the shortest and preferable route for travelers moving from Anambra to Abuja the Nigerian capital city.
Some of the community residents while speaking on the deplorable state of the road, appealed to Mr. Muhammadu Buhari, the Nigerian President and Mr. Yahaya Bello, the Kogi State Governor to help intervene and ensure the road is fixed for the people of the area to live a normal life without going through a huge predicament.
An action they said will boost the local economy and reduce crimes.