Residents of the towns surrounding the Godswill Akpabio International Stadium in Uyo, Akwa Ibom State, have complained about flooding on the access road to the communities, which acts as a significant alternate route to the stadium.
They bemoaned that the road, which had become awful and inaccessible, had caused enormous suffering to the villages, particularly during the rainy season.
The road was tarred from Goodluck Boulevard to the stadium’s main entrance, except for the stretch immediately following the stadium, which runs through four communities: Obio Etoi, Obio Offot, Use Ikot Ebio, and Ikot Ntuen Nsit, all the way to the University of Uyo Teaching Hospital.
The untarred section of the road had been subjected to constant flooding, occasioned by the drainage channeled from the stadium into the communities.
Speaking with reporters while lamenting the predicament of the communities on Thursday, the community liaison officer, Mr. Ntiense Okon, said the deplorable state of the Stadium Road being the major access road from the stadium into the communities had caused many residents to relocate.
Okon said the Stadium Road spanned over 2.9 km and its construction was necessary in order to provide alternative route to the stadium in case of medical emergency.
He said; “This road is nearer to the University of Uyo Teaching Hospital than the Abak axis and if constructed it will provide rapid medical response in case of emergency.”
He regretted that the road’s bad condition has hampered economic activity in the villages by submerging farmlands and residential buildings during the rainy season.
Another resident, Chief Idongesit Udofia of Afaha Nsit village, one of the neighboring communities, urged the outgoing governor of Akwa Ibom State, Mr. Udom Emmanuel, to ask contractors to come and help the communities before leaving office on May 29th, 2023.
He said that the impassable status of the road had increased criminal activity in the communities because police could not approach them during distress calls.
Udofia also said that sordid state of the road into the host communities of Godswill Akpabio International Stadium was likened to the cliché of living on the bank of the river and washing one’s hands with spittle.
“We were excited when the stadium was sited on our land, now we cannot access our houses because of bad road occasioned by drainage channeled into our communities. When they play international matches, security operatives even stop us from going into our houses,” Udofia alleged.
He said that the construction of the International Stadium road was necessary to ameliorate the suffering of the residents and indigenes of the communities.
Also, a community leader in Obio Etoi village, Prince Godwin Udofia, pleaded with the outgoing governor, Mr. Udom Emmanuel, to visit the host communities of Godswill Akpabio International Stadium and bring succour to the residents before his final exit from government.
