Oji River Stakeholders Task Mbah On Infrastructure, Minerals Exploration

Communities in Oji River South and Mmam River Development Centres in Oji River local government area of Enugu State have presented their needs to the governorship candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Dr. Peter Mbah.

 They urged him to give attention to their demands when he wins the forthcoming election.

Stakeholders from the border communities such as the presidents-general, traditional rulers, members of different professional and religious bodies, civil society organizations, representatives of women group and other interest bodies, made this presentation on Wednesday at Ugwuoba and Inyi towns, both headquarters of the two development centres, at the town hall meetings initiated by the governorship hopeful to extract information on their pressing and peculiar needs.

The spokespersons of the different bodies who spoke on behalf of the communities urged Mbah to facilitate new projects and other development infrastructure that would give the council area its urban status in order to meet up with other towns such as Nsukka, Udi, Awgu and Agbani.

According to them, the local government is sharing boundaries with neighbouring Anambra and Abia states which makes it susceptible to security breaches from hoodlums operating in those states.

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In a communique jointly signed by the leaders and presidents-general of Agulu Ugwuoba, Ugwuoba Urban, Agbalaenyi Nachi, Okpunoagude Ugwuoba, Ugwuoba Development Union, and the Administrator, Oji River South Development Centre, Mr. Ndubuishi Anyaora, Hon. John Nnagbo, Mr. Ejike Okechukwu, Mr. Chijioke Nwana, Chief Godfrey Umeadi, High Chief Osy Omah, and Hon. Chekwubechukwu Nwana, the people pleaded for a dire attention on some of their feeder roads which will upscale economic activities and urbanise their various communities.

The list which included the old Onitsha-Enugu-Aguabosi-Nkwere-Inyi-Awlaw, Aguabosi-Nkwere-Akpugoeze-Ufuma, Ogbudu-Nkwere-Akpugoeze-Ufuma, Umualu-Forest-Reserve-Ufuma, Mkpagu-Umueze-OrieEngine/Iwollo, Agungwuobo-Umuchukwu-Ebenebe roads among others, also requested the provision of water reticulation for the communities through the Greater Enugu Water Project.

Similarly, the people called on the gubernatorial candidate to consider boosting the internally generated revenue accruable to the state through the exploration of the rich deposits of mineral resources in the area which had abundance of oil field, arable land for commercial agriculture and the harnessing of the Agor Water Fall at Agbalaenyi Nachi as a tourist attraction.

Meanwhile, an elder statesman, Dr. Chike Madueke, who presented another communique on behalf of the communities in Mmam River development centre, appealed to the governorship frontrunner to rescue their people from years of trespass on their land and resources by people from Anambra State.

Maintaining that their forest reserve was being plundered by Anambra State, Madueke said the act must be stopped with immediate effect by revisiting the existing boundary delineation between the two states.

He called for the reconstruction of Ugwuoba-Nkwere road, Nkwere Inyi Aguobasi Forest Reserve, Enugwu Akwu Aguabosi Inyi road which will engender more development by expanding their market base as the gateway of the state.

Also making a case for the reconstruction of the abandoned Awlaw-Mbala-Isuochi and Awlaw-Owere Ezukala bridges and provision of new fire service station, a former ranking House of Representatives member, Rt. Hon. KGB Ogwuakwa and the House of Assembly member, Hon. Jeff Mbah, stressed that the projects were fundamental to the welfare of their people.

In his response, Mbah said their needs will be integrated into his integrated sectors development programme designed to improve the standard of living of the people.

Underscoring the importance of infrastructure in achieving his proposed $30 billion economy, create jobs for the teeming youths, and attract both foreign direct and local investments to the state, Mbah maintained that the absence of the above would discourage investors.

Mbah who promised alternative financing model and less dependance on federal allocations, asserted that the abundant resources in the local government area such as the OPL 905 and OPL 907 gas fields in Ugwuoba and vast arable lands will be harnessed into productive assets that will generate revenue to finance the ambitious projects.