Udu’s Communities struggle with decay and neglected roads

On a rainy Tuesday morning, a jalopy commercial tricycle crawls along the muddy stretch between Ovwian Secondary School Udu Road in Delta State. Potholes, some deep enough to swallow a small car tire, litter the road like war wounds. The tricycle bounces violently, the passengers clutching tightly to the rusting bars, teeth gritted—not from fear, but from the daily frustration of navigating one of Delt’s most neglected roads.

For residents of Udu Local Government Area, the nightmare of bad roads is not new. But what was once tolerable has now become unbearable. Provision of basic amenities like roads, schools, health facilities and security of lives are the basis upon which people measure good governance.

“This road has been like this for years, since the Jite Brown administration. No one seems to care” says Mama Ese, a trader at the Ovwian Express market. “Every rainy season, it gets worse. We have to pay a higher fare to move our goods from Ubogo Market which is barely four kilometres away. Even customers stop coming from Utuama and Igbiki areas because of how terrible the road is.”

The Udu area, home to vibrant communities like Ubogo, Ogbe-Udu, Owhrode, Orhuwhorun, Aladja, Ekete, and Ovwian, is a vital link between Warri and other parts of Delta State. It’s an economic corridor that supports trade, oil, and local industry. Yet, its road infrastructure tells a story of abandonment.

A Daily Struggle

Commuters spend half of an hour navigating what should be 10-minute journeys. Tricycles, mini-buses and lorries break down regularly. Delivery trucks avoid the area altogether, pushing up the cost of food and essentials. Just as private car owners have become permanent visitors to mechanics.

Students at the Open University campus at Owhrode in Udu often arrive late or miss lectures entirely due to inaccessible routes, especially through Orhuwhorun/Owhrode axis. Ovwian Secondary School students walk through sludge. Pregnant women in Owhrode are forced to trek for medical help during emergencies.

“I lost a contract because my car got stuck near Daddy Bakery,” laments Samuel Igho, a small-scale contractor. “By the time I got help, it was too late.”

“As a result of the bad roads in which I ply my motorcycle, when I close in the evening I am now unable to perform my duty in the other room because of the pains accumulated through the day,” stated Kesiena Kpeku, a motorcyclist. “This is causing trouble in my marriage as we speak.”

Promises Made, Promises Forgotten

In 2023 and 2024, the Delta State Government allocated funds for rural and township road rehabilitation. Yet, several roads in Udu—like the notorious Udu-ECN Road and the stretch from Owhrode to Orhuwhorun—remain untouched.

The community says they've heard it all before.

“Despite Owhrode being a major oil and gas producing community, it has been utterly neglected, the roads leading to the community are in a poor state, there is an absence of critical infrastructure in the area. We have to embark on the protest because of our silence, the government has failed to do meaningful projects in the area.

They come with big promises during election time, after they get votes, they disappear. The roads remain.” He added.

Tired of waiting, local leaders and youth groups Monday staged peaceful protests and made calls to the Delta State Ministry of Works with little hope of response.

The Economic Cost

Bad roads in Udu are not just a nuisance; they are an economic drain. Farmers are unable to transport crops. Small businesses spend more on vehicle repairs. Young people, unable to find jobs or commute easily to Warri, are losing hope.

“Development can’t happen when roads are this bad,” says Idowu Samson, a youth leader. “We want industries and investors, but who will come when we can’t guarantee mobility?”

A Call for Action

Residents from various communities in Udu Local Government Area, along with several civil society groups, staged a peaceful protest on July 22, 2025, to express their deep dissatisfaction with what they described as long-standing government’s neglect and marginalization by the Delta State Government.

The protesters who were chanting slogans and bearing placards with different inscriptions marched through key areas of Udu Local Government Area demanding fair treatment and equitable distribution of state’s development efforts.

The group acknowledged the efforts of Governor Oborevwori for executing projects in other parts of the state. However, they said, many of such meaningful and landmark projects are not present in Udu, two years into the current administration of Governor Oborevwori.

 On his part, one of the conveners of the Coalition of Civil Society Groups, Mr. Famous Akpojotor, said Udu has been completely sidelined in the implementation of the state’s MORE Agenda. According to him, the lack of state government’s presence in the area is visible saying, Udu has no tertiary institution, vocational school.

He stressed the deplorable condition of Udu-ECN Road saying, no efforts have been made to rehabilitate the road. Pleaded with the Governor for a second Udu bridge.

As the rain continues once again, many fear that the roads—already barely passable—may become completely impassable by the end of the season.

Until then, the people of Udu brace themselves. Not for progress, but for the daily battle of getting from one pothole to the next.