A review of the implications of the planned Enugu - Opi Nsukka dual carriage way.

Implications of the dualization of the Enugu - Opi Nsukka road by Enugu state government.

Yesterday, Governor Peter Mba flagged off the start of a project to dualize the single road which leads from Penoks junction in Enugu city to Opi Nsukka junction. We are going to look at the implications of this commendable project in the following passages.

Economic implications.

This is the most important consideration, this road is a nerve centre road, economically speaking. Nsukka zone is said to be the food basket of Enugu state, food supplies from many parts of Nsukka zone, Adani rice farms, Enugu Ezike palm oil mills, garri farms and many other fruit and vegetable products will get to Enugu central in a timely and efficient manner. The road will aid the movement of goods and services to where they could be bought for more money, stimulating the economy of Nsukka zone, and Enugu state economy as a whole.

City planning implications.

This project will bring some sanity in the way and manner vehicles move around Enugu city. This road we are discussing is a road that takes traffic from many parts of the country (Ebonyi, Cross River, Abia, Rivers and Akwa Ibom states) to the northern parts of Nigeria. With a dual carriage way, movement of vehicles in that axis will be quicker, smoother and easier, preventing traffic jams which was a constant in this road.

Real estate development implications.

This planned work will definitely bring in more real estate development to the affected areas. We know how the lands along Abakpa Nike to Ugwuogo Nike areas all went up in price as investors jostled for more land to develop during the administration of Sullivan Chime. We saw how estates sprang up in many of the towns along that road and building sales skyrocketed, this trend is set to increase as this road becomes wider, is used more and more business set up on the road. More private building developers will move un now to buy lands for development, because as this area becomes more accessible due to reduced traffic jams, many residents will prefer to rent houses and shops in this part of the state to live and so business.

Some negative implications.

Of course you have to break some eggs to make an omelette. This road we are discussing already have so much physical developments, houses, shops, filling stations, hotels, banks and even churches along the roads we are talking about. How will the people living in those houses, and doing business in those shops manage to relocate in the shortest time to give way to this commendable development. There will be building demolition, most certainly. This project was mooted in the administration of Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi, rumours had it that the people that owned the lands, and mainly Nike people begged the government to stop the work that would have made the road a dual carriage way, even before he built a flyover at T junction. We advice that the people affected will be given enough time to relocate, since this might affect their businesses negatively.