President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has commissioned a 600-metre over-the-sea bridge in Akwa Ibom State.
The bridge covers Iko-Atabrikang-Akata-Opolom-Okoroutip-Iwuochang communities in Ibeno and Eastern Obolo local government areas.
It links 20 communities in the oil areas of the state.
The bridge, a component of the Iko-Atabrikang-Akata-Opolom- Okoroutip-Iwouchang Road (section 11) was completed by the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC).
While commissioning the project, Tinubu, who the Senate President Godswill Akpabio represented, applauded the Chief Samuel Ogbuku-led management of the interventionist agency for directly touching the lives of the people of Niger Delta in just one year in office.
For this, he said the commission’s 2024 budget, currently being considered by the National Assembly (NASS), would be carefully addressed and implemented to tackle the prevailing underdevelopment plaguing the region holistically.
He said: ‘’Congratulations to you, the managing director (MD), together with the chairman of NDDC Board, along with other executive members for being the first Board since the year 2000, to remain focused, united and commissioning projects that directly benefit the people of the Niger Delta region.
“Just after one year, you have connected five local government areas in Ondo State to the national grid by commissioning the substation at Okitipupa. The substation will serve 64 communities, and I can tell you that you have brought light to the people.
“Today, the people of Ibeno have another access road to civilisation.
It was difficult before to access these areas, but today, you can access 600 metres through the bridge. About 20 communities separated by the Qua-Iboe River are now linked up by this bridge to Eastern Obolo and other parts of the state.
“The economic activities, exchange of commerce, and education will now flourish. This is the first time NDDC is impacting the lives of the Niger Delta people directly,” the president noted.
He recalled that many years of oil exploration activities had impacted negatively on the Niger Delta people in terms of acid rain and poor yields, and other devastating effects, and urged NDDC to beam its searchlight on empowering the people of the region.
In his remarks, the minister of the Niger Delta Affairs, Engr Abubakar Momoh said the milestone being recorded with the commissioning of the bridge resulted from the performance bond signed between the management of NDDC and his ministry.
While noting that the 20 communities the bridge would serve were disjointed, Momoh explained that with the bridge’s commissioning, the communities would access themselves, adding that economic activities in those communities would begin to flourish.
“When we assumed office last year, the permanent secretary and I signed a performance bond with Mr President, and sometime last year NDDC signed a performance bond with the ministry, so what you are seeing today is a direct fallout of that commitment,” the minister recalled.
Governor of Akwa Ibom State Umo Eno, who his deputy, Akon Eyakenyi represented, lauded the NDDC management for its commitment to uplifting the lives of ordinary people in Nigeria. He pledged to support the administration’s socio-economic reforms under the ‘Renewed Hope Agenda’.
Earlier, the MD of the commission, Dr Samuel Ogbuku, while commending the president for his support, assured of holistic interventions across the region with improved budget to address the challenges of development plaguing the region over the years.
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