A rash of road construction projects have been flagged off in the hitherto neglected Nsukka Local Government Area of Enugu State following the shockwave triggered by the homecoming organised by the Enugu State chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) for the Deputy Governorship candidate of the party for the 2027 election, Chief Chijioke Ugwu.

The homecoming, which witnessed an unprecedented turn out of Nsukka people was heralded by a kilometre-long motorcade that stretched farther than the eye could see, started from the popular Opi Junction, in a march that lasted for more than 5 hours.

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The marchers, who chanted various songs, including, “No more tax,” “Pitax Mbah out!” grew larger as the march continued rom Opi, through Enugu Road, Barracks, Ikenga, Mechanic village to its terminal point at Chief Ugwu’s country home at Ukwuokpeye Nguru Nsukka.

Thugs acting on the direction of the Chairman of Nsukka local government area, Engr Chinedu Jude Asogwa made an attempt to disperse the rally along Urban Girls Road, by firing two rounds of gun shots, but they were immediately put to flight by the committed and fearless throng of excited supporters.

The rally, which took the social media spaces around Nsukka by storm, attracted content creators and social media activists who have been long gagged by the tyrannical local government administration in Nsukka.

This wave of social media narratives appears to have put the APC echelon in the state in serious panic, as they immediately began flagging off road construction projects, apparently realizing that intimidating the people by various ugly means have failed to stop the groundswell of the aggrieved people from signing up to the PDP.

First on the road construction flag-off list was the senator representing Enugu North senatorial district, Senator Ikeje Asogwa, who announced the construction of the abandoned Nguru-Lejja end of Aku road.

This is a road project that was awarded by former Governor Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi duplicitously for the hunt for votes ahead of his failed senatorial campaign.

When the late Senator Okey Ezea planned to construct the road before his death, the Enugu State government rushed and conducted a flag-off with the Governor, Peter Mbah conducting the orchestra of the grand deceit only to abandon it soon again.

This is the fourth flag-offs of the construction of this important road since 2018 when Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi used it to hoodwink the people for votes ahead of his failed senatorial bid in 2022.

Next in the retinue of hurried flag-offs is the road that stretches from Obukpa to Ibagwa Ani, also announced by senator Ikeje as a project he was going to undertake immediately.

This road has also been flagged off and abandoned multiple times from the Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi administration to the present one of Peter Mbah.

From 2023 to the present, the government of Peter Mbah has not constructed any road in Nsukka.

Apart from the Ogige Market which he demolished and built a motor park in its place, no project has been done by this government in the whole of Nsukka since it was sworn into office.

A cross section of Nsukka residents that were interviewed expressed misgivings towards the announcements, calling them election baits, but they said the people would not be deceived again.

“We are tired of being deceived. We have benefitted nothing from the government of Enugu State. The smart schools they claimed to be building have proven to be death traps. The ones which haven’t collapsed are not stable, lacking in structural integrity. Yet, they are forcing our children to attend those schools. For what purpose? To kill them under the rubble of the buildings that are facing imminent collapse?

“We know what they are doing, but nobody would be deceived again. The turnout of Nsukka people at the homecoming of Chijioke Ugwu was clear demonstration of the preparedness of the people to vote the PDP out come the next election,” said Innocent Obetta, an Nsukka resident.

‘Ikeje Asogwa is senator, and has no budgetary vote for the roads he is claiming to undertake their construction. He has no constituency projects vote yet, so where will the money for those roads come from,” queried Mr. Inno Attamah, a resident of Nru Nsukka.