The joy and excitement in Abigborodo community in Warri North Local Government Area of Delta State was palpable last Wednesday. Inhabitants of the Itsekiri community hugged one another ceaselessly. Some with tears of joy in their eyes while others just stool still, a look of insuppressible pride in their eyes as the convoy of Governor Emmanuel Uduaghan rode into the peaceful town from Sapele, headquarters of neighbouring Sapele LGA.
It was the first time any vehicle would drive into the community. And with the historical journey, Abigborodo community became one of only a handful of communities in the local government area that is accessible by road.
It was a feat long overdue for the people of the fishing and trading community. An unfriendly terrain and government neglect have conspired over the years to isolate the community from the mainland of the state.
However, with the near completion of the Sapele-Abigborodo road and bridge project, inhabitants of the riverside communities are hopeful that their days of relying only on speedboats and kpekpekpe – a crude, locally fabricated boat analogous to the heavy duty trucks on land – would soon become a thing of the past.
Even the governor, who has a home in the town, was excited. “This is the very first time we are going to the village by road. For me it is historical and very encouraging and I am so sentimental about it. A car has not been to Abigborodo before but with this bridge that is now a thing of the past and we are very happy,” he told newsmen.
He said the road would not only cut the time of transportation from the main towns to the agrarian community, but would also remove the risk and discomfort associated with river transport.
Civil engineers and other experts said the contractor handling the project had conquered the most arduous tasks. The two bridges, including one that is 120 metres long and towering 10 metres above the river to allow passage by tugboats and bigger vessels, have been completed. A long span of the road had also been completed and stone-based.
A prominent Sapele-based Abigborodo women leader, Mrs Rebecca Woweh (aka Ugbekoro), described the day as an important one that would not be forgotten by indigenes of the community both within and outside the country.
“The road will help our community develop faster. People who have not been able to come home because of fear of river, those who say they don’t like travelling by boat would no longer have excuse. For this we are grateful to this government,” she added.
However, Niger Delta Report learnt that the project was nearly stymied on the first month of its existence after its award in October 2010. It would be recalled that the project had just been awarded weeks earlier when Uduaghan was swept unceremoniously out of office by an Appeal Court ruling in November 2010. The judgment followed a petition challenging Uduaghan’s victory in the April 2007 election. It was filed by Chief Great Ogboru of the Democratic Peoples Party (DPP).
“When that incident happened, our joy that we could one day be able to drive our cars into our community was cut short. All hopes seemed to have been lost because of the conspiracy and opposition against the governor. But we thank God that he won the re-run election and after that his re-election,” an indigene of the town told our reporter.
In spite of the governor’s victories, doubts persisted on whether he could muster the political will to complete the important road and bridge project because apart from the Abigborodo road, there was also the road leading from Warri metropolis to Ode-Itsekiri (Big Warri), the ancestral home of the Itsekiri people, through the Warri River.
The specter of doubt was laid to rest on that sunny Wednesday morning, which contrasted strikingly with the mood of the people in November 2010 after the governor was removed from office by a tribunal.
Mr Godwin Utineyin, a former Treasurer of Abigborodo Community Trust described the day as too surreal. “It is unbelievable that this dream would come to pass. In the past, it was only Koko that vehicles could drive into in this local government, but now we have Abigborodo. It is auspicious for us that we have a brother and son who is governor and we are grateful to him for this feat.”
The governor, who addressed his kinsmen at the town hall, used the opportunity to reassure the people of the state about his determination to complete all ongoing projects before the terminal date of his administration in May 2015. Already, he disclosed that the Abigborodo road project was about 70percent completed, adding that it had so far gulped N7.2bn.
“We are determined to complete the all important Abigborodo Road project before the end of 2014. This road is historical and I am very sentimental about it because this is the first time that vehicles can now drive to the community,” he said.
The elated people of Abigborodo commended the governor for the road and other projects that are going on in the community. A cross section of community members who spoke with our reporter said that road has started impacting positively on their social and economic lives. The people were particularly hopeful that the road would open up the area for property boom because of its nearness to Sapele and other parts of the state.
Hon Christian Okonedo, a leader of the community, told NDR that the people were determined to offer the state government and the contractor all the support needed to achieve the governor’s determination to complete the project by the end of the year.
He said, “You can now drive into Abigborodo. The people, women children and elders, are very excited about this. They are willing to do all that is necessary to complete the road project. All the support that is needed would be given.”
Okonedo commended the state executive council and House of Assembly members for their supports for the work done so far and appealed for their continued support towards the completion and delivery of the road to the people.
Speaking in the same vein, Utienyin, while commending the governor, appealed that links should be built into other communities on the path of the road in order for the state and the Warri North LGA to reap the full benefit of the government’s investment.
Meanwhile, Uduaghan also inspected other ongoing projects including the Model school, Alema secondary school and Abigborodo Polytechnic in the town and expressed delight at the pace and quality of work.
He however expressed displeasure and frustration about the attitude of the students in the area to their education pursuits, lamenting that they were not making adequate use of the schools.
He particularly lamented that the schools were still mostly deserted nearly two weeks after resumption and vowed to revert the trend by sending ‘Edu-Marshals’ to the area to sensitize parents on the need to send their children to school.
He also directed top government officials from the riverine areas to join in the education crusade by going to their respective communities and create awareness on the importance of education.
The governor also announced plans to encourage education in the riverside areas by sending boats to convey pupils to and from schools daily. He however warned parents of dire consequences if they refuse their children the opportunity of going to school.
