NUJ To Okowa: Okpanam Road Is An Embarrassment To State Capital

The Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ), Delta State Council, has urged Governor Ifeanyi Okowa of Delta State to declare a state of emergency on Okpanam Road, saying the road has become an embarrassment to the beautification of Asaba, the state capital.

The Council urged the Governor to revoke the road contract and give it to a competent contractor lamenting that Okpanam axis had been under construction for over eight year without completion.

This was contained in a statement signed by Chairman and Secretary of the council, Comrade Michael Ikeogwu and Comrade Churchill Oyowe respectively and made available to newsmen in Asaba on Wednesday.

The statement described the state of Okpanam Road as an embarrassment to the Asaba capital territory and counterproductive to the promotion of the numerous road projects embarked upon and completed by the government of Governor Ifeanyi Okowa in Okpanam.

It said that Okpanam Road was too strategic to the Asaba capital territory to be left at the pace work had been going on, saying observation over the years indicated that whenever the contractor made two steps forward, the flood would drag the progress backward by three steps, blaming the ugly trend on the inconsistent progression of work by the contracting firm handling the road.

According to the NUJ, work had stopped for some time now in the construction of the road and the rainy season would soon enter its peak period, stressing that the progress made in recent time before the stoppage of work might come under serious threat as experienced in the past.

The union therefore blamed the poor state of the road on incompetence of the contractor handling the job, thereby called on the state governor to give dedicated attention to finally complete the Okpanam Road by all  possible means.

While thanking the governor for the massive award of road contracts across the Lenght and Bredth of Delta State, and the completion of some, the union, once again, congratulated him on his overwhelming victory at the gubernatorial poll on 9th March, 2019 and wished him greater success in the second tenure.