From Nabob Ogbonna, Abakiliki
31 years After, the governor of Ebonyi State, Francis Nwifuru on Wednesday flagged off the construction of 5 spam bridge linking the people of Enyim in Izzi local government of the state and their neighbouring Oju on Benue which he thought of.
The early thought was conceived in 1994 when he was taken to the river bank by a white man who attended to him while on admission at Sudan Missionary Hospital in the area.
Speaking during the flag off exercise which took place at the construction site, the state governor said the project was thought of in 1994 when a white man brought him to the river bank for site seeing.
According to him, from here to Makurdi is less than two hours and from here to Abuja is less than 5 hours.
“I got to know about this bridge in when my brother was on admission at Sudan Missionary Hospital another was in 1994 when I had accident and I was treated by a white man working in the hospital.
“So it was after my treatment that the white man brought me to this place and show me this Enyim river. It was there that I started asking myself the question when would we have bridge across this river, when would development reach here?
“I did not know that those questions were questions I would live to answered,”he stated.
Nwifuru further stated that in his recent conversation with his counterpart in Benue, Rev. Fr Hyacinth Alia assured to commence work on the road so as to open up economic trades between the two states immediately the bridge is completed.
“Also,I want to thank the governor of Benue who has assured me that once the bridge is completed he will commence work on the road to reach his local government,”he explained.
Salient Times learnt that many lives have been lost while attempting to cross the Enyim river.
In an interview, a
Traditional ruler in the area, representing Izzi in Ohanaeze Ndigbo Lagos branch by name HRH Cyprian Nwekee who shared his survival story in Enyim river, said the 5 spam bridge when completed would end the era of boat mishap which has claimed many lives.,
His words: “The flag-off of the Enyim River Bridge, a 5-span structure linking Ebonyi to Benue, is one of the greatest achievements of Governor Nwifuru’s administration because I would have been death by now but it was by the grace of God that I survived boat mishap in that Enyim river.
“But with the project such a thing would be gone and agricultural produces from the Salt of the Nation with the Food Basket of the Nation would easily be transported.
“And by so doing, we are contributing our quarters in addressing food insecurity in the nation”,he explained.
The contract would be executed by Sappers Engineering Nigerian limited, a sector owned by the Nigerian Army Engineers and it’s expected to be completed within 9 months interval.
