THE COLLAPSE OF ROAD TRANSPORTATION NETWORKS IN the ESANLAND: What I Will Do Differently If You Take A Stand With Me And Vote FOR Me As Your Next Senator. November 06, 2022

Road transportation is at the core of the food distribution and service transfer chain in any economy. Farmers and wholesalers cannot move their goods and foodstuffs to retailers and final consumers without good roads. And that's an irrefutable fact.

So, of what use is the emphasis on an agro-based economy, without a corresponding interest or improvement in transportation channels?

The sorry state of the Benin/Auchi and Agbor/Uromi federal highways in Edo State is the worst chapter in Mr. Babatunde Fashola's eight years of ministerial mishaps in power.

As your Senator, I will be directly involved in the supervision and monitoring of every road construction project in Esanland. Our goal is to ensure that the thickness of the corrugated asphalt and the relevant materials used in tarring can withstand hazardous weather conditions and corrosive forces for at least twenty-five years.

We will not make any exceptions, irrespective of the government or contractors involved in the construction works - we will be on the ground, providing unhindered oversight.

Again, my team and I will monitor to ensure that the volume of the asphalt and drainage meets international best practices or Governor David Umahi's benchmarks in Abakaliki Road Networks in Ebonyi State. We will be regulatory compliance and accountability-focused.

I am not an Engineer. I am a Lawyer, with a graduate-level background in Administration and Management from the American topmost university. It doesn't take rocket science to unravel the major cause or causes of the dilapidation of the Ekpoma/Irrua/Ewu axis along the Benin/Auchi road. It's the aftermath of a history of poor jobs plus a deficient understanding of the topography of the region.

Esanland, geographically, is a plateau, specifically the Ewu/Ekpoma/Irrua axis. To avoid recurrent damage to the road, beginning from Iruekpen/Ekpoma boundary to Agbede, the highway level MUST be comfortably higher than the GROUND LEVEL AND THE DRAINAGE (gutter). In that case, whenever it rains, the water will readily flow into the drainage.

If the road surface is lower or at the same level as the drainage and the surrounding ground level on both sides of the road, whenever it rains, the road surface is easily saturated, because the rain falling down on the road surface has no exit. Therefore, it requires additional or massive landfilling of the road surface to create smooth corrosion.

Now let me use a practical example. Historically, the Uselu Motor Park section of the New Benin Road in Berlin City is always flooded any time it rains. Thank God, the Adam Oshiomhole administration did something spectacular on that axis. They raised the surface of the road visibly higher than the ground level, with two massive drainages on both sides of the road.

That is exactly what we have to do on the Ekpoma/Irrua axis of the Benin/Auchi road. God willing, as your next Senator, I will be on the ground on behalf of my beloved people of Esanland to ensure compliance.

Please, I want to reiterate for the purpose of records that I did not hire or pay anyone to write this opinion for me. And l have no paid writers doing my thinking for me and posting their opinions on the various Esan Online Forums on my behalf. I am the author of all my works as well as my manifesto available on Esan Forums. I won't be comfortable in Abuja, using surrogates to speak for me or think for me.

Just as an aside, President Buhari didn't entertain any modicum of scruple or regret, when he reneged on the payment of 5k stipends to unemployed Nigerian youths, because the APC Manifesto was not his brainchild. And that's the repercussions when voters knowingly succumb to the vibes and manipulations of "paid writers without conscience" and vote local DJs into public offices.

It is a shame that Esanland is now cut off from civilization. Whether coming from Benin City or through Agbor via Igbanke and Ekpon, it is the same story. It appears as if Esan hasn't had elected representatives or ministers at the seat of power in the last fifteen years.

We deserve better and we must change the narrative of the entitlement leadership culture in Esanland. And the time is now. Thank you and God bless Esanland.

Barr Alex Ehi Aidaghese is the Accord Political Party Senatorial Candidate for Edo Central Senatorial District. You can reach him by phone at 0704 921 5084, Tex Message, or email at ehilexander@gmail.com.