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MTN SAYS ENUGU – ONITSHA ROAD WILL BE SMART
… Pledges to partially finish the 82 Division End by Middle of March.By Reginald Facah
Rising from a strategic meeting with the Garrison Commander of the 82 Division of the Nigerian Army, Bridg Gen Murtala Mohammed Abu on Monday 5th February 2024 at his office in Enugu, the MTN/CCGE Community Liaison Initiative (CLI) team led by the Chairman/Principal Consultant, Crown Crest Global Engineers (CCGE) Engr Chris Okoye stated that when completed, the Enugu – Onitsha 107km x 2 dual carriage way would be a full option smart road. He also informed the Commander that MTN is funding the construction of the road through the Federal Government Novel Road Infrastructure Tax Credit Scheme (RITCS).
The meeting which was to introduce CCGE as the MTN consultant on the rehabilitation of the Enugu – Onitsha 107kmx2 road and to discuss possible collaboration especially in terms of security by both parties took a different turn when the Garrisson Commander asked what the final intentions of MTN were about the road.
According to Engr. Okoye who was accompanied to the meeting by Dr. Reginald Facah, Coordinator of the MTN/CCGE Community Liaison Initiative (CLI) and the Community Liaison Officer in Enugu State, Mrs. Chinenye Okwuosa, smart roads are in vogue the world over and are good for traffic management and security. Explaining further, the chairman said that the road is planned to be a freeway to encourage a free flow of traffic from one end to the other; adding that: “when completed, there would be no difference between day and night time driving on the expressway as there are plans to deploy solar light right from Enugu to Onitsha.” He further hinted that drones and CCTV Cameras would be deployed along the length of the road in which control rooms would be installed to monitor activities on the road.
Check point would also be a thing of the past if the smart road concept is fully deployed, instead lots of security patrols would be encouraged to guard against a situation where checkpoints hamper and slow down traffic on the dual carriage way. “The security personnels would be encouraged to do more of clear – stop – and- search” revealed Engr. Okoye as he added that lay-byes and clearing areas would be an integral part of the dual carriage way’s construction.
On the RITCS, Engr. Okoye informed the Garrison Commander that it is the Road Infrastructure Development and Refurbishment Investment Tax Credit Scheme, which is a policy initiative by the Federal Government to woo the Private Sector into participating in the development of infrastructure in Nigeria. It is structured in such a manner as to allow the investing partner (in this wise, MTN) to deploy maximum of 50% of its tax liability in a year to the execution of the 107×2 Enugu-Onitsha project whilst the other 50% is transferred to the FIRS to fund other FG’s projects.
On his part, the commander who was enthused by the visit, praised the Federal Government for coming up with such a novel scheme and thanked MTN for its commitment toward delivering a world standard road. Further, he explained that the challenges with a smart road include indiscipline by road users and not having a enough vehicles for patrol. He added that roadblocks were tactically located as this area is prone to armed robbery and IPOB disturbances. He however assured the MTN/CCGE CLI team that their suggestions on the smart road and the role of security agencies would be further examined so that be best option can be adopted. He advised that we partner with the police and the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) to also reduce the number of checkpoints on the roads and with the state government to support them with patrol vehicles.
According to the Garrison Commander: “a joint security meeting with all the security outfits and the construction companies to discuss the location of the CCTVs and how to ensure that the road remains smart would be the sure way to go.” Speaking further during the meeting, the Garrison Commander who appealed that the road be constructed to make room for future expansion into a four-lane expressway due to the growth and development of Nigeria’s southeast and the importance of this particular highway, wanted to know the duration of the project which he was told that it was structured to be delivered by the end of 2025 if not for some delays.
However, “sometime this year a partially completed double-laned carriageway from the 82 Division end to the Airport at Awka would be completed,” revealed Engr. Okoye, adding that “we want to have a straight drive-through on one part of the dual carriageway, so that we can face the other sections and then go on to construct the round abouts, interchanges and pedestrian bridges.”
In his closing remarks after the meeting, the Chairman/Principal Consultant Crown Crest Global Engineers Ltd Engr Chris Okoye thanked the Garrison Commander for receiving his team at such a short notice while assuring him that the focus of the MTN/CCGE is to ensure that the Enugu – Onitsha dual carriage way is beneficial to all stakeholders along the work corridor, other Road users and that the CLI is committed to working with the Nigerian Army to be able to create a synergy on security on the road as well as make the road a model for all such future highways in the country.
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My husband is so unlike Men of recent days.
He is the most fastidious hard working selfless family Man I Know. I couldn’t help but share his most recent milestones in his endeavour for creating a better future for Nigerians.
