IMO: The Roads, Yes We Want Them, But Durable.

• "What's worth doing, is worth doing well."-Anonymous

Ongoing in Imo State is the expansion/rehabilitation, by the state government, of some major roads. The projects, which had earlier started last year in the peak of the rainy season, were, for obvious reasons, put on hold. However, with the gradual exit of the rains,construction workers have been called back to site and the projects seemed just to have resumed in earnest.


The Rochas Okorocha-led APC government in the state had earlier, in the midst of the rainy season, last year, embarked on massive and wide demolition exercises that affected mostly buildings and structures adjoining the roads, that forced many to close shops and many more to go home for the lack of continued means of subsistence and cover of house or both.

Trailing that exercise were obstreperous condemnations that described the whole thing as outrageous and insensitive. The many that spoke on the issue took swipes at the government for several odious reasons, which among others included the wrong timing of the demolitions. In a lengthy letter to the governor, his immediate predecessor, Ikedi Ohakim had questioned the nobility of such intention at a time when many of the citizens were crying of economic hardship, and specially when it heavily rained.

In the face of the above glaringly stated criticism coming from no less a personality than his predecessor and the others that hinged on poor planning and on the failure of government to give early warning signal (of a minimum of six months) so as to enable the affected victims of the tsunami ample time to prepare both psychologically and otherwise, the state governor, Rochas Okorocha, feigning ignorance of the censure-charade, remained unfettered in the whole demolition thing.

The hurried demolition in the torrent of the rainy season had appeared to be handy preparation for what supposedly should be the untrammelled rehabilitation and reconstruction of the affected roads and areas. And true to supposition, the whole demolished areas appeared to be sites of work. With the graders and trucks back in sight, some of the suspended constructions had resumed. Workers and contractors alike are on sight and the road construction activity is really in top gear. The government through its commissioner for Works has reiterated its genuineness cum readiness to see to the completion of projects.

But beyond the road rehabilitation or expansion and the many assurances.

Beyond the road reconstruction, whose effort and indication we've seen-and have also severally being assured of by the government, let's focus, rather, on the quality and strength of the roads underway.

The"Rescue Mission", the slogan on which the Rochas administration found a comfortable platform for the jolly ride into the psyches of the Imo people and in which almost every of government accessories have being designed and embellished with, must ensure, a little bit, that the new roads offered are of better quality or, at worst, at par with the ones they are meant to replace and which are being destroyed.

One thing highly common among the critics of the Rescue Mission government and which appears to be true going by the quick deterioration of most of the newly built roads is that the roads by Rochas could only pass for 'China roads'-a euphemism for poor quality, substandard roads.

If any reminder must be made, it is that most of the roads, built by previous administrations, some even spanning the widely hailed Mbakwe regime, are still very strong, despite the longevity. Thus, anything short of a durability and quality that can, at least, compete with these roads is a failure, and as such, a defeat of the intent and purpose of the whole exercise.

The people of Imo State will not want to be taken to the dark lane of retrogression where 'past is better than present'. They would gladly prefer and applaud loudly a 'forward ever, backward never' approach. Could the critics of the government standards of roads be given a leverage of prove? Only a poor reconstruction exercise would have given them a confirmation.

But that affirmation would be one so defeating of the government and denigrating to the Imo people. Hence, the very reason why the intention of the massive road expansion and rehabilitation programs must go beyond just 'destruction and reconstruction' to one that's more qualitative, long lasting replacement that would stand the rigorous tests of time, climate and transport activities.