By Miriam Humbe.
The Minister of Works, Arc. Mike Onolememen has said that the violation of the rights of way on Nigerian roads is an unacceptable trend and warned that the federal government will be forced to take drastic actions to curb it.
The minister, who said this when he played host to the executive governor of Anambra state, Dr. Willie Obiano in his office yesterday in Abuja, was disappointed that Lagos and Anambra (Onitsha) tops the list of states that violate the rules of the right of way.
According to him, “The issue of right of way abuse in Anambra, particularly on the pavement of Onitsha to Owerri, where sizable portion of the road has been turned into a waste dump is not acceptable. Not only is it environmentally unfriendly and untidy, it also destroys the road pavements”.
Arc. Onolememen further asked the governor to do his beat to ensure that proper waste dump sites are put in place, completely fenced from the road and should have access off the road, in order not to continue to mess up the roads that federal government spends huge amounts of tax payers’ money to build.
The minister recalled that about three years ago, when he assumed office, Anambra’s case was a very hopeless one, but that , “today, we have been able to tackle some of the challenges and identified others which we will soon resolve”.
Earlier, the Governor of Anambra state, Dr. Willie Obiano said he was on a mission to the minister’s office to draw the attention of the federal government to a specific challenge Anambra is facing on one of the Trunk “A” roads in the state.
He however promised the minister that he will relocate the refuse dumps and keep them off the access roads to enable him develop his state and vowed to do anything in his power to achieve that.
