Benin-Sapele-Effunrun Road: Quiet engagement, collective action delivering results

By Ede Dafinone

I joined representatives of the Delta State Government, Commissioner for Works (Rural Road), and Public Information, Mr Charles Aniagwu, the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), led by the Chairman, Mr Chiedu Ebie, Esq., and the Managing Director/CEO, Chief Samuel Ogbuku, PhD, and other relevant stakeholders at Amukpe Roundabout, Sapele, for the flag-off of the emergency intervention and rehabilitation of failed sections of the Benin–Sapele-Effurun Expressway.

This intervention is a welcome and timely development that will ease the difficulties faced by motorists, commuters, businesses and communities along this critical corridor.

I want to particularly commend President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, GCFR, and the Management of the Niger Delta Development Commission and our working Governor of Delta State for the response to the cries of our people, and for taking decisive steps to rehabilitate the Benin-Sapele-Effurun road, a very vital road that connects the Niger Delta region. This is clear evidence that our sustained engagement with the Federal Government, its agencies and the executive arm of government is yielding tangible results.

As your Senator and representatives of our people, we deliberately chose the path of critical and constructive engagement because our primary responsibility is to get things done. I do not believe that every intervention must be turned into a public spectacle. Sometimes, quiet, persistent, and purposeful engagement produces better results than media engagement, especially when we are one government. You will recall that the deplorable condition of the Benin-Sapele-Effurun road had attracted significant public and media attention in recent weeks. The NDDC, as an interventionist agency established to address critical infrastructure challenges in the Niger Delta, has demonstrated it can respond quickly when there is a compelling need.

The NDDC team inspected the affected sections of the road from Benin through Sapele to Effurun on Tuesday, and by Friday, they were already here to flag off the rehabilitation. That speed of response is commendable and demonstrates what can be achieved when government agencies, political leaders and representatives of the people work together.

Though this is coming now, I have been working—engaging the relevant authorities, applying pressure and pushing for concrete action. I believe results, not rhetoric, should define our efforts, and today, those results are speaking for themselves.

I, therefore, commend the Delta State Government for pulling the necessary strings and adding their voices to our interventions. This has become a collective push, and that is the way to achieve meaningful results for our people.

Our goals may not have been met, but I am particularly pleased that the intervention which covers 15km of the worst portions of Ajomata/Ibada–Elume–Amupke–Oghara is being targeted; our people need more. There are so many more failed sections of Federal roads in Delta Central, and I will continue to push and press necessary buttons.

This intervention is being approached comprehensively, with contractors starting from both ends, ensuring that no section of the Benin-Sapele-Effurun corridor is left behind while another is being attended to.

My concern is not about who takes the credit; my concern is that the road is fixed and our people get relief.

I look forward to the timely completion of the rehabilitation and, most importantly, to the relief and improved connectivity it will bring to our people.

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