Sunny Udeh at the project site.
By Sunny Udeh
There is something huge and positive happening in Cross River State that has been under the radar. Away from the political bickerings that have resurfaced in the social media space in the State, there is a massive Federal Government project that is ongoing in the Central Senatorial District of the State. This project has the potential to transform the socioeconomic landscapes of both the central and southern senatorial districts of the State through the facilitation of easy movement of people, goods and services between Cross River and Ebonyi States all the way to the Eastern heartland.
The commencement of works on the Ebom – Ndibe bridge and the accompanying federal highway is a source of unparalleled joy to the people of Abi LGA in Cross River State and Afikpo North LGA in Ebonyi State. The project involves the construction of a bridge across the Cross River to connect Ndibe community with Ebom and an accompanying federal highway from Ebom to Adim in Biase LGA to link with the existing Calabar-Ikom Highway. Quite clearly, aside from fast tracking the economic growth of the area, the project will also open up the area for wider infrastructural development.
One may wonder how Senator Williams who represents the Central Senatorial District of Cross River State in the National Assembly is involved in the project.
During his campaigns in 2023, on a visit to Ebom in Abi LGA, the perennial problem of the Bahumono Road that links the nine communities of the area to the Ugep-Abaomeghe federal highway, as well as the poor condition of the Ebom-Adim road was put before him by the Ebom community as priority projects that he should help facilitate.
By October of the same year 2023, Senator Williams, who was then about 4 months old in the Senate made a phone call to me requesting to be provided with the correct name of the Ebom -Adim road with a spur to the Ebom Beach (Rehat Ekpoi). He told me he was in a meeting with the Minister of Works, Senator David Umahi who was his colleague in the Senate before resigning to take up the ministerial position. He revealed that the Minister had asked him for some projects to include in the Special Intervention Fund of the Federal Government and the moment he mentioned the Ebom Beach -Adim road project, the Minister’s countenance lit up as he (Sen. Umahi) recalled that there is a federal road that terminates at Ndibe and there have been long standing plans to construct a bridge to link Ebonyi and Cross River State at that point, when he served as Governor of Ebonyi State.
As the pace of work gathers momentum, everyone that is connected with the project is hopeful that it will be completed within the scheduled timeline. Undoubtedly, the project is a socioeconomic game changer, moreso being a strategically located interstate bridge connecting Cross River and Ebonyi States directly, the second such bridge in Cross River after the Odukpani-Itu bridge linking the State with Akwa Ibom State.
The people of Ebom in Bahumono, Abi LGA are filled with gratitude to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and the Minister of Works, Senator David Umahi while also reserving commendations for Senator Eteng Jonah Williams for keeping to his promise of giving a firm voice to the developmental aspirations of his constituents, in Abuja.
The ongoing construction work on the Ebom-Ndibe Bridge stands as a testament to Senator Williams’ commitment to delivering in his mandate to the people of Central Senatorial District of Cross River State.
Udeh is an elated indigene of Ebom, Abi LGA and writes from Calabar.
