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Whispers of corruption, involving the disappearance of N2.3 billion compensation for beneficiaries in the Eket Urban subsection of the Section 1V of East-West Road since 2009, and intrigues dot the now frozen project.
Each time it is in the news, it raises jeers like the mixed feelings associated with the pace of development projects in Nigeria. In fact, there are those who swear that the level of commitment to the construction of the popular East-West road in the Niger Delta is a metaphor for the value placed on the region by the authorities. That is because ten years after the contracts for the construction of the road that cuts across the region have been awarded the project is yet to be delivered.
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It is not that it is forgotten, nor that work has really ceased from the 338-kilometre project, but what has never been in short supply are statements about the percentage of level of work done and promises of commitment for prompt completion. The percentage has moved gradually to 90 and above, depending on what section of it is under review. But the delay is actually a product of the complexities involving people of the region, the style of government with regard to project implementation, fulfillment of obligation to contractors and perennial variations in contract costs. So by the time TELL visited the area recently, the anger of the people who suspect betrayal and corruption dwarfed the expectations from the much-awaited infrastructure…
