Vice President Shettima Unveils 33.5km Elele -Egbeda-Omoku

Vice President Kashim Shettima on Thursday, inaugurated the newly constructed 33.5-kilometer Elele-Egbeda-Omoku dual carriageway in Rivers State.

Key Highlights:

• VP Kashim Shettima inaugurated the 33.5km Elele-Egbeda-Omoku dual carriageway in Rivers.
• The road will improve transportation, security and economic activities.
• Governor Fubara said the project replaces a dangerous route plagued by kidnapping and bunkering.
• The project includes drainage, a 99m bridge and street lighting.
• Fubara described the road as a promise fulfilled to Rivers residents.

The road is a major infrastructure project designed to boost connectivity and enhance economic activities.

The project, is a transit corridor linking several communities across Ikwerre, Emohua, and Ogba–Egbema–Ndoni Local Government Areas of Rivers State.

The vice president, who performed the official inauguration of the road, described it as an example of a subnational government’s efforts to expand the nation’s road network in order to enhance movement of goods and people as well as expand economic opportunities.

Shettima stated that roads are the most democratic instruments of development as they serve the farmer carrying produce to the market, the trader seeking customers, the worker traveling to seeking employment, the student going to school, and the patient seeking medical care.

He recalled that the road being celebrated once stood as a warning rather than an invitation to commuters because of the deep gullies that made every journey a herculean task amidst security concerns.

He applauded Governor Fubara for the intervention made by his administration which has put the ugly memories people had of the road behind them.

He said that by transforming the once deplorable route into a modern dual carriageway, illuminated for safer movement by day and night, Governor Fubara has left an indelible mark in the hearts of the people of Rivers State.

Delivering his address at the ceremony, Governor Fubara emphasised that the completion of the road has transformed a route previously plagued by avoidable man hour losses and insecurity into a fast and secure highway.

According to him, the Elele – Omoku Road is not just a signature project but an eloquent testimony of his administration’s love and care for the people of Rivers State, describing it as a promise kept.

“For anybody who understands the nature of this road, they will appreciate what we have done here. It’s not just a project; it’s a statement that we have made to show our people that we care for you.

“We already know what normally happens on this road. It is a corridor for kidnap; it is also a very big corridor for bunkering. I’m very, very convinced that with what we have done today, those things will be things of the past. Security agencies can now operate effectively along this corridor,” he said.

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Governor Fubara acknowledged that the delivery of the project would not have been possible without the support of the people in the communities along the route and thanked them for their unflinching support for his administration.

Fubara, who expressed happiness at the presence of the Vice President at the commissioning ceremony, said it was a demonstration of the fact that Rivers State remains an integral part of Nigeria and that the country is standing by the state.

In an earlier presentation, the Rivers State Commissioner for Works, Prof. Temple Nwofor, affirmed that the road project was delivered according to high engineering standards and specifications to ensure long-term structural integrity.

Nwofor stressed that the contract, awarded to Messrs Craneburg Construction Company on March 26, 2024, included 6 kilometers of drainage and a 99-meter long by 11-meter wide bridge at the Ubimini axis, alongside full street lighting across the entire length of the highway.

“The basic specifics of this project is a total construction and rehabilitation of approximately 33.5 kilometers of road works with a width of 7.3 meters on both sides of the dual carriageway, an asphaltic binder course of 50mm, an asphaltic wearing course of 50mm, a concrete shoulder of 1.2 meters on both sides, and a concrete median of 1.4 meters.

“This road project represents another significant step in the determination of the Rivers State Government to provide durable infrastructure that will improve connectivity,” he said.