The Nation Newspaper

Tag: COMMUNITY

  • Community pleads for amenities

    Unsettled by the continued lack of basic amenities in the community, the residents of Tokulo in Bwari Area Council have called on the council’s administration and the Minister of Federal Capital Territory (FCT) to provide essential amenities for the community.

    Some residents who spoke to our correspondent on the issue lamented that the community is still living in darkness as they were yet to experience the pleasure of electricity in the area for a very long period.

    One of the residents, Mamuud Idir said it was unfortunate that the residents cannot predict when light would be available in their community; an amenity most communities have been enjoying for years.

    “As I am talking to you now, I don’t know when we will be able to enjoy light.  There are no poles, no electricity cables and no transformers. For me, it would be a miracle if this community is provided with electricity. I wonder why we should continue to say that we are in the FCT when we do not have light,” he said.

    Mohammed Dogo who owns a shop at the area stated that “availability of electricity brings about economic development in any community, even as he added that lack of it has made the community to be stagnant.

    “Wherever there is electricity, there is development. I own a shop here but because of lack of electricity, there is no maximal improvement in my business. My drinks are hardly cold. Things I would have loved to preserve in the fridge are always spoilt.

    “We have a makeshift place where we go to charge our phones. The owner puts on his electricity generating set and collects N50 from us to charge our phones.  It is rather unfortunate. We hope that something will be done for our community this year.”

    Another resident, John Igo said the community lacks good roads that could link it to neighbouring communities, adding that lack of potable water is another serious issue members of the community are suffering from, as they depend on the local stream for their water supply.

    “I am calling on the area council to help us. I hope this year will be a good one for us and our forgotten town,” he said.

  • Community hails council chief on performance

    Natives of Kpaduma II community in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), have commended the chairman of Abuja Municipal Area Council (AMAC) Hon. Micah Jiba for the rural electrification project taking place in the community after being in darkness since the beginning of existence.

    The Secretary of Kpaduma communities Simon Baba, who spoke on behalf of the natives in Abuja, thanked the council boss for reaching out to them in 2013, adding that the rural electrification taking place in the community has given the natives a sense of belonging which they have been denied from the beginning of the community.

    According to him, the people of Kpaduma II have spent years without electricity, and the AMAC chairman is doing all he can to ensure that there is developing in every community in his area council.

    “We were informed that the job would have been completed in December 2013, but it is yet to be completed. The council boss has assured us that the project will be completed in January this year and we believe him, because he always stands by his words.

    “Like Oliver Twist, although we are aware that everything has to go gradual, we hope that in his administration he will help us a get health centre in our community, because, the only hospital we make use of is Asokoro general hospital, which is about 5kms from our community,” he said.

    He therefore appealed to the council to also provide the community with a primary school, and health care centre which they know is one of the priorities of the council boss as a leader who has passion for his people.

    “The council boss has almost touched the lives of everybody in rural communities, by providing water boreholes, electricity transformers, access roads and we believe that he will do more to make life easy for those at the grassroots.

    “I strongly believe that 2014 is going to be better than 2013, base on the steps the council boss is taking to reach out to natives at the grassroots and we will continue to support his administration,” he said.

  • Medical mission breathes life into Osun rural community

    Medical mission breathes life into Osun rural community

    Imesi-Ile in Obokun Local Government Area of Osun State recently came alive when some medical experts from the United States visited the sleepy and an agrarian community to attend to some of its ailing residents.

    Hundreds of people, even far beyond the community’s borders, besieged the town’s almost disused health facility, which is under the management of the Obafemi Awolowo University Teaching Hospital, Ile-Ife.

    It was a very rare opportunity for the residents of the community, who are suffering from various life-threatening diseases and ailments to come forward for cure – all for free.

    Dr. Remi Saseun, an indigene who lives in the United States, led 24 medical personnel, including doctors, theatre nurses, surgeons, laboratory scientists and pharmacists, for the exercise.

    According to Saseun, the medical personnel were in the country under the aegis of the Association of Medical Physicians in America (AMPA). He said the immediate past medical intervention of the association was in Ibadan, the Oyo State capital.

    Saseun, who disclosed that more than N8 million was expended on medication for the five-day free mission, said two resident doctors and a matron in the health facility joined them to treat the people.

    He said they spent extra thousands of naira in procuring anti-malaria drugs from Nigeria because in the United States people don’t have malaria and, therefore, no drugs for such disease in that country. Within three days of the programme, 921 patients were treated. There were 46 surgeries.

    On top of the list of ailments treated were eye problems, such as cataract, diabetes, high blood pressure and hypertension as well as arthritis.

    The officials of the hospitals declined comment because they said they were not authorised to speak but few of the patients expressed joy for the mission which they said had restored their hope and helped them overcome some of their health challenges.

    For instance,  Kehinde Adesiyan, an indigene of the town, lamented that there was no functional government hospital in the community to treat ailments, saying they most times travel as far as Osogbo, Ilesa and Ile-Ife before the residents could receive medical attention for their ailments.

    A refrigerator technician in the community, Peter Aluko; a petty trader, Madam Eunice Esan and a retired civil servant, Pa Adebowale Ajiboye, said they had tremendously benefitted from the medical mission.

    The Secretary of the Imesi-Ile Progressive Association, Pa Jacob Babajide Awowale said, that the people would always be grateful to God and those behind the initiative, particularly, Dr. Remi Saseun.

    However, he joined Dr. Saseun to appeal to governments, both at the state and local government levels, to come to the aid of the people in the rural areas and ensure that they have access to medical care like those in the urban communities.

    “What will  make a big difference in the lives of the people in the rural areas is very small and if various authorities can help these people, their quality of lives would improve and it would make them contribute significantly to national development,” Saseun advised.

     

  • Community demands development

    Community demands development

    Residents of Congo community along Funtaj Road in Kuje Area Council of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) have appealed to the council chairman, Mr. Shaban Tete to provide the community with basic infrastructure in this year to ease their prolonged suffering.

    Checks by our correspondent revealed that members of the community are truly going through hard times due to non-availability of basic infrastructure such as pipe-borne water, electricity, healthcare centres and others that can improve their well-being.

    Zephaniah Iyah who is indigenous to the community expressed griefs that, since the existence of the community, past administrations have failed to provide dividends of democracy to it, saying that it seemed as if the community has completely been ruled out of the council.

    “The bad state of this community is becoming unbearable and things are getting worse by the day. There is nothing in this community that can represent the existence of past and present administrations. We have been left behind in all areas of development.

    “Past administrations have failed to impact positively on our lives and I do not know why we are treated this way. We voted for them as our leaders, but they have failed to lead us well. I am appealing to our present chairman, Mr Shaban Tete to come to our aide and save us from further suffering in this New Year,” he said.

    Ishiaku Balla, another inhabitant also expressed his disappointment over what he called criminal neglect of the area. He said that because of the neglect those indigenous to Congo Village have been experiencing for a long time, they have completely lost hope of the government of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

    “When I visit Kuje town and other communities that have received some infrastructural improvement from past and present chairmen, I always ask if Congo Village is part of Kuje Area Council. The truth is that the government has disappointed us. I hope this present administration will make a difference and restore our faith in the ruling party.

    “I sincerely want to appeal to Mr Shaban Tete to come to our rescue. We need potable water supply, even if it is two or three water boreholes, electricity to improve our economic values, healthcare centres to take care of our health needs and other basic infrastructure that will give us a sense of belonging,” he said.

     

  • Reprieve as speed breakers’ flood volatile Ita-Ogbolu community

    The violence that erupted in Ita Ogbolu, Akure North Local Government Area of Ondo State recently following incessant killings of the residents by hit and run drivers who ply the Akure-Ado Ekiti highway that passes through the ancient town has yielded positive results.

    Barely 72 hours after the protest, men of the Federal Roads Maintenance Agency (FERMA) have moved in to build speed breakers on the highway to check excessive speeding by motorists.

    The protest, it was learnt started around 7pm that Tuesday when a middle aged woman  was knocked down 48 hours after two persons were killed in a similar situation in the same community.

    The death of the woman reportedly prompted the irate villagers to mobilise themselves and blocked the highway. Ita-Ogbolu boiled for almost three days, even the police and other security agencies were helpless.

    The protest hindered movement of vehicles especially heavy trucks which were stranded for days. The protesters were said to have made bonfires and used heavy logs of wood to barricade the road, insisting that it would not be reopened until government constructs speed breakers.

    Many motorists and travellers slept overnight in their vehicles as the road was completely blocked. Many diverted to Igbara-Odo-Ilawe-Igbara-Oke-Akure road which was like the biblical Israelites journey.

    Even efforts by the men of the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) and other security agencies to calm the situation were futile.

    The state Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO) , Mr Wole Ogodo said the police team led by Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP) arrived the town  around 9pm and left by 2am the following day. They tried all they could do to pacify the protesters, but the irate youths remained adamant.

    He said after all the pleadings were resisted by the protesters, the police could not do anything other than to persuade the motorists to take alternative routes to either Ado Ekiti or Akure.

    The police spokesman said, “we left the town after 2:00am the following day, the people dug deep holes across the road, they set fire on every portion of the road. All our pleas to them fell on their deaf ears.

    “A whole DCP was there, the Area Commander was there, and other officers, yet we could not do anything. The only thing we did was to appeal to the road users to take alternative routes,” he added.

    Policemen were seen directing motorists to use alternatives routes, while heavy trucks parked on long stretch of the road side.

    The traditional ruler of the community, Ogbolu of Ita-Ogbolu was said to have fled the palace to prevent being attacked.

    Also, all efforts by the council chairman, Olu Aderuku and lawmaker representing the constituency in the state House of Assembly, Akindele Adeniyi to pacify the aggrieved youths were abortive.

    However, because of the heat generated by the skirmishes, within the next 72 hours, authorities of FERMA quickly built over 40 bumps to check excessive speeding of motorists and other road users.

    The bumps are so close and thick, but nobody could complain again on the swift action taken against the situation that had led to the loss of  many innocent souls.

    Within Ita-Ogbolu community alone, road users particularly motorists must now spend close to 30 minutes because of the newly constructed speed humps, instead of the two minutes normally used in running through the town which had resulted into unexpected deaths of many people by hit and run drivers.

     

  • Anger in Odi over Fed Govt’s refusal to pay N37.6b compensation

    Anger in Odi over Fed Govt’s refusal to pay N37.6b compensation

    Eleven months after a court  judgment  ordering the Federal Government to pay the Odi community in Bayelsa N37.6 billion as compensation for the destruction of the community during the administration of former President Olusegun Obasanjo, the Goodluck Jonathan administration is playing hide and seek, writes Mike Odiegwu, Yenagoa

    Pulverised houses, charred roofs and tombs of their loved ones grimly remind them of the sad day. Wounds of devastation have remained fresh in their minds 13 years after troops deployed by former President Olusegun Obasanjo invaded their ancestral land.

    It was November 20, 1999. Soldiers raped their women, mowed down hapless able-bodied men, shelled and bombed houses. The lively community was reduced to rubbles by the “marauding beast.”

    The people still recalled the fate that befell their late Paramount Ruler, King Efeke Bolou. The federal troops killed him and destroyed his palace. The palace, till today, is yet to be rebuilt.

    In climes where the rule of law works, Odi, a community in Kolokuma/Opokuma Local Government Area of Bayelsa State would have been witnessing some degrees of reconstruction and rehabilitation. But Nigeria is a theatre of the absurd; a state where even the authorities, most times, show total disregard to pronouncements of a court of competent jurisdiction.

    Therefore, Odi, despite winning a judgment against the Federal Government, may have to wait till eternity for the enforcement of the court order. In fact, the disenchanted people of Odi are patiently waiting on the government to pay the N37.6 billion awarded them by the Federal High Court. Though no amount of compensation would take away their sad memories and restore the dignity of Odi Kingdom, the least the people expect the government to do is to honour the court judgment.A Federal High Court in Port Harcourt, in February, ordered the government to pay N37.6 billion as compensation to victims of the military invasion. The court categorised the damages to include special damages of N17.6 billion and general damages of N20 billion.

    It also gave a permanent injunction stopping the government and their agents from attacking Odi again. The suit No.FHC/PH/CP/11/2000 was filed on behalf of the community by Prof. Kobina Keme-Ebi Imananagha, Chief Ndu Gwagha, Chief Shadrack Agadah, Mr. Idoni Ingezi and Mr. Nwaka Echomgbe.

    Justice Lambo Akambi delivered the judgment and ordered the government to pay the money in the next 21 days. Akanbi described the attack on the people of Odi as genocidal, reckless, brutish and a gross violation of the rights of the victims to life and to ownership of property.

    Justice Akanbi berated the government for the “brazen violation of the fundamental human rights of the victims to movement, life and to own property and live peacefully in their ancestral home.”

    Making reference to various statements by government officials, including that of President Goodluck Jonathan, the National Assembly as well as video evidence of the invasion, the judge described the content of a government counter-affidavit as “worthless”.

    Lead counsel to the Odi people, Lucius Nwosu, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), referred to comments credited to Jonathan that the soldiers did not kill any member of the gangs accused of killing the policemen but helpless members of the community.

    Jonathan said during one of his presidential chats: “It was only old men, women and children, who could not run, that were massacred in that military operation.

    “A situation where you turn guns and artillery purchased with taxpayers’ money against the taxpayers, is a call for sober reflection and a matter of serious concern. It calls for atonement for the dead and compensation for the living, for the trauma and loss they have been made to suffer as refugees and loss of their precious homes, loved ones, friends and objects of reverence.”

    Throughout the proceeding, the counsel to the Federal Government and the military did not make any formal appearance. The Federal Government’s lawyers argued that they did not get any invitation from the court. Court records show they actually received invitations but refused to honour them.

    In the spirit of the judgment, the government was supposed to have paid the money on or before March 13.

    But, in its usual show of disdain to court orders, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP)-led government started playing to the gallery. Lawyers to the government began to bring spurious applications to the court in a bid to either frustrate the payment or stop it.

    Odi has on five occasions when such applications were brought before the lower and higher courts floored the government. Even at the Court of Appeal, the community won.

    Lawyers to Odi, Nwosu (SAN), Lawal Rabana (SAN) and Ifedayo Adedipe (SAN), have consistently taken their helpless colleagues in the federal team to the cleaners.

    In one of its failed applications for stay of execution, the government had pleaded with the court to grant its application pending the determination of their appeal on the grounds that it might be difficult to recover the money from the community should its appeal on the matter become successful.

    However, Lawal urged the court to disregard the plea of the Federal Government insisting that Odi people were not foreigners that could vanish after getting the money.

    He said: “You cannot say that because of N37.6 billion, your citizens, in whose land you explore crude oil, should be subjected to suffering. The Federal Government of Nigeria cannot go bankrupt or collapse if the money is released to the Odi community.

    “In the event that the appeal succeeds, the Federal Government can get the money back, as these people are not foreigners that will abscond. Odi will continue to remain an integral part of Nigeria forever.”

    As expected, the appeal failed. The dilly-dallying game continued and got to a point where the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) sponsored an application at the Federal High Court seeking to stop the payment of the money. Still, it failed.

    Irked by the delay, a faction of the Movement for the Emancipation of Niger Delta (MEND) had given the government a seven-day ultimatum to pay the money or face series of attacks against its oil installations in the Niger Delta region.

    Despite the threats, the government has remained adamant over 10 months after the judgement. There are fears that if the money is not paid before electioneering begins next year ahead of 2015, it may take divine intervention to honour the court ruling.

    A member of Odi Council of Chiefs, Chief Bruce Wilson, said the community had resorted to divine intervention through fasting and praying.

    “We have declared days of fasting and praying. We don’t know why the government is wasting time. They can’t say they are not ready because the money is there. We are waiting and we know that God will make it happen”, he said.

    There are, however, indications that the development may pit the community against their kinsman, President Goodluck Jonathan. The people are not happy that Jonathan had failed to order the enforcement of the judgment.

    A member of the Odi Legal Committee and retired Naval Commander, Koku Imanana, said the people of the community within and abroad had been ordered to come back home on December 20 to take a collective stand on the matter.

    He lamented the delay in paying the money and said it was unfortunate that “it is happening when someone from the state is the President of the country”. He insisted that Odi would speak against the system.

    “If the Federal Government cannot observe the rule of law now that our brother is the President, is it when somebody who is not from the state becomes the President that we will get this money?” He quarried.

    He continued: “If a Bayelsa man cannot pay us as the President, who else will become the President and pay us? We are going to take a stand on December 20th. We are not happy.”

    Another member of the Odi Council of Chiefs, Chief Michael Okringbo, appealed to the government not to waste further time in paying the money. He observed that government was always slow in obeying judgment awarded against it by the court.

    He said: “If the court had prescribed judgment against us, the government would have come down on us with anger. Now that the government is guilty, they are foot-dragging.

    “We are begging President Goodluck Jonathan to use his good offices to intervene and enforce this judgment. We are saying this because we know that soon the 2015 politicking will start and our matter may be relegated to the background.”

    Also, Prince Tari Bolou, the son of the late king, said Odi people were not happy with the government. He recalled being the first to champion the course for compensation when Obasanjo later visited Odi after the invasion.

    “We took the pains to institute a legal action against the government but l feel so bad that the government is wasting time to pay this money after we had won this case. Most of the people are still displaced. Let them pay the money.

    “The general Odi is angry including the monarch. President Goodluck Jonathan should use his good offices to intervene and ensure that the money is paid,” he said.

    Odi’s invasion was caused by the killing of 12 policemen by armed gangs based in Odi on November 5, 1999. A wide range of estimates have been given for the numbers of civilians killed. Human Rights Watch concluded that “the soldiers must certainly have killed tens of unarmed civilians and that figures of several hundred dead are entirely plausible.” Nnimmo Bassey, former Executive Director of the Environmental Rights Action (ERA), claims that nearly 2500 civilians were killed. The government initially put the death toll at 43, including eight soldiers.

    By Jonathan’s admission, the bombardment of Odi did not succeed in curbing militancy in Niger Delta. He said it worsened militancy in the region and attracted international outcry against the Federal Government.

    He said if the military action in Odi had stopped militancy, there would have not been any need for the amnesty programme for militants in the Niger Delta initiated by the late President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua.

    He said the bombardment of Odi in retaliation for the killing of 12 policemen in the community only succeeded in killing old men and women, pointing out that no single militant was shot dead in the action.

    His words : “After the invasion, I and the governor entered Odi. Ordinarily, the governor and his subordinates would not have moved in at the same time. We entered houses and we saw some dead people. Most of the dead were old men and women, but none of the militants was killed. None. Bombarding Odi was meant to solve the problem, but it never did. If the attack in Odi had solved the problem of militancy in Niger Delta, then the late President Yar’Adua’s government of whom I was privileged to be his deputy, would not come up with the amnesty programme.

    That is to tell you that an attack on Odi never solved the problem of militancy, rather it attracted international outcry and many people began to say things rather than the attack on Odi.”

    But despite his belief, his government is playing hide and seek over the court order on the N3.7 billion compensation. And the question is: Will the Odi people ever get this money?

     

     

  • Kwali community decries infrastructure decay

    Kwali community decries infrastructure decay

    Residents of Kwaita community of Kwali area, a settlement between Kwali and Abaji township, have decried infrastructure decay in the area, just as they complained of government neglect over the years.

    Some of the residents expressed displeasure over the attitude of the construction company handling a 27 kilometre road, which was awarded to one ABDEC company since 2005 by former Kwali Chairman, late Samuel Gwamna.

    “Since this road has been awarded over ten years ago nothing tangible has been done by the contractor, if the contractor cannot handle the road it should be revoked,” said Ilu Gabriel a resident of the area.

    A woman who pleaded anonymity said: “they said this road will be repaired, our houses were demolished because of it, no compensation, till today the construction work is not completed.”

    Another road from Kwaita to Kujekwa a village under Kuje Area Council of about 3 hours drive is also in a bad state.

    Poor electricity supply and lack of safe drinking water is another source of worry to the community.

    ”At the other side of the road there, I think they had supply of electricity, eight years ago, go to Gengere and see the situation yourself,” said Emeneke, a shop owner in Kwaita.

    Another person who runs a business within the community said: “‘ Here we don’t have safe drinking water, we usually go to the stream to fetch drinking water and you know this is not good in the FCT’.”

    According to the former councillor Yebu Ward, Kwaita Abednego Aliyu several letters of complaint have been sent to the Minister of State FCT, Olajumoke Akinjide without response.

    His words: “I have written letters of complaints to the FCT ministers and National Assembly about the plight of Yebu ward all to no avail. I equally informed the immediate past chairman Joseph Shazin but he didn’t do anything about it and the current chairman is also aware of the challenges of Kwaita community”

    Hon. Aliyu therefore appealed both Kwali Chairman and the Ministers of FCT to safe the people of the community from their current ordeal.

    Kwaita access road which connects over 100 communities to Kujekwa, home town of Kuje Chairman, Shaban Tete and Nassarawa State, if completed would ease movement of farm produce to the city centre.

    The road would also serve as alternative route from that axis to Nasarawa State and Kuje area council.

    However all efforts by Abuja Review to speak with the Chairman Kwali Area Council, Ibrahim Daniel on the efforts of his administration to find remedy to the ugly development were futile.

  • Plight of a neglected Lagos community

    Plight of a neglected Lagos community

    Going down Gafaru Street, a soft wind caresses its hard and rough length. Waste papers and trash dust dance a light-footed tango with the wind as it drives them down the almost deserted street.

    Gafaru Street was the first tarred road in the old Alimosho Local Government Area of Lagos State before Igando/Ikotun Local Council Development Area was carved out of it by the administration of Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu.

    Walking down the road, which is off Abaranje and Ijegun roads, is akin to a walk to Golgotha. You wonder if sane mankind lives in such a forlorn area. Yet, the area boasts responsible and intelligent people.

    But for what could be perceived as neglect on the parts of local and state governments, Gafaru/Itoki would have been a very exciting and bubbly community; far from it. Any wonder members of this forgotten area are gnashing their teeth.

    As one ambles further to Middle and Down Gafaru, one begins to understand why members of this community are angry. Their fury was perceptible. Men, women, youths and even infants bore hatred of their forlorn situation on their face. No pretence about it.

    Their disposition seemingly proved false Fela; the Afro beat king’s mordant comment about Nigerians’ longsuffering attitude in his song Suffering and Smiling. They were ready to tell their disgusting story.

    Women and youths trooped out to protest what one youth described as “criminal neglect of part of humanity.” There used be a road on which they walked, but now, they are living in an abyss caused by indescribable volume of erosion.

    During and after down pour; whether heavy or mild, babies are swept away as houses are submerged. For long, members of Gafaru/Itoki community watched helplessly.

    Time and again, rain deals a heavy blow on residents of Gafaru/Itoki community; a Lagos suburb. But it is the resultant floods that made the people cry out most, because whatever pours down from the heavens finds no other outlet than the road to Gafaru. This is so because water erosion from Babalegba, Old Garage, Abaranje, Ijegun and Ikotun Market are channelled to this forsaken street. This was why some residents; mostly women took to the streets to protest the brazen neglect.

    In spite of the seeming competition among local councils in Lagos State with regard to road construction, the residents of Gafaru/Itoki community in Igando/Ikotun Local Council Development Area have expressed their displeasure over what they called shut in situation due to lack of access road to other parts of the council.

    The inhabitants of this area very close to Oba of Ikotun’s Palace and other adjoining streets maintained that they have been cut off from all neighbouring communities because Gafaru Road which is the only road that links them with the others has been in terrible bad condition over these past years.

    Investigation revealed that right from Gafaru Road bus stop along Ikotun-Ijegun Road; the Gafaru Road has become an awfully dreadful stretch of deathtrap. The road has turned out to be no-go-area for cars.

    Car owners have to park their cars in their garages. Those whose cars were out of their garages before the situation of the road worsened end up parking them outside the community before sauntering into Gafaru.

    Some residents who spoke with our correspondent said they had abandoned the road for a very long time when they noticed that the road is no longer impassable. They also hinted that they had to go through a long distance in order to connect their various destinations, even as they blamed the inability of previous local government administrations for not fixing the road.

    Chief Alhaji Lateef Balogun, the Asojuoba of Ikotun land said his people have been subjected to incalculable suffering as a result of the condition of the road which he described as deathtrap.

    He pleaded with the local and state governments to fix the road to make life better for his people, even as he added that when the road is fixed, it will help in decongesting the horrible traffic jam on Ikotun-Isolo Road.

    Mr Busari Fatai Balogun, Secretary-General of Gafaru/Itoki Landlords and Landladies Association said that the inhabitants of Gafaru/Itoki community have suffered what he considered as criminal neglect of the only road that links them with the other parts of the state.

    On efforts his association has made to draw the attention of the authorities to the situation of the road and the suffering of the people, Mr Balogun disclosed that they have made written several letters to both the local and state governments to draw their attention to the inhuman situation in which members of the community are living.

    “The inhabitants of this area are suffering horribly. We have written letters to Governor Babatunde Fashola, the Commissioner for Rural Development, Commissioner for Works; Commissioner for Special Duties and the former Chairman of Igando/Ikotun Local Council Development Area where we stated our problems about the road,” he said.

    A letter the association wrote to Governor Babatunde Fashola which was copied to the Commissioner for Works, Commissioner for Rural Development; Commissioner for Special Duties and Chairman Igando/Ikotun Local Council Development Area on January 19, 2009 was entitled: “Appeal for Reconstruction of Road and Drainage at Gafaru Street Ikotun.”

    The letter signed by Messrs Adewale Adesanya and F. Busari Balogun; Chairman and Secretary of the association respectively and which was received by the Office of the Governor on January 23, 2009 at 1:43 p.m. reads: “We the above named association write to inform the authority about the deplorable condition of our street; i.e. GAFARU STREET IKOTUN. This street, Gafaru is situated in Ikotun in Igando/Ikotun Local Council Development Area (LCDA) of Lagos State. It’s very popular and has over five hundred thousand people living in and around the area.

    “Consequently, since the construction of Ikotun/Ijegun Road, the inhabitants of this area have been subjected to great erosion and flooding. This was due to the diversion of erosion from Ikotun; Ijegun; Abaranje/Okerube and Igando roads to Gafaru Street by the time the construction of Ikotun/Ijegun Road was still going on. We tried to meet the construction company that was handling the project. We also wrote LAMATA to complain about the diversion of the erosion to Gafaru Street but nothing fruitful came out of it. They were just promising the community that they will soon come to our aid, but up till today, nothing has been done.

    “During the rainy season, Gafaru Street is the most dangerous as flood usually carry little children to unknown places. We know your Excellency does not like this type of situation.

    “[When this road is reconstructed, it can be of social and economic importance to the people and other road users]. Gafaru Street can be linked with Bolorunpelu/Egbe/Agodo towns. This will automatically reduce the (traffic) hold-up at Ikotun Old Garage and Ikotun Junction [as motorists will prefer plying the road to get to Cele-Egbe and from Cele-Egbe to Ijegun, Abaranje and Igando towns without reaching Ikotun-Isolo Road]. The attention of Igando/Ikotun LCDA has been drawn to this street…”

    Corroborating the views of Mr Balogun, Mr Adewale Adesanya, Chairman of Ikotun/Itoki Landlords/Landladies Association and Community Development Association (CDA), said the state of the road gives him concern because many people find it difficult to get to their houses as they have been cut off from other communities.

    “The government has totally neglected this community. The only road that links it up to other communities is impassable. It’s an indirect way of government telling us that we are not part of the state and whether we voted for it or not is immaterial.

    He added that when the youth sensed that there was no way people could pass through the road as major part of it has collapsed, members of the Gafaru Youths Association had to task themselves to build makeshift wooden bridges (pako) across the road to enable people pass across the dangerous spots.

    Efforts made by our correspondent through visits and phone calls to the Chairman of Igando/Ikotun Local Council Development Area for comments were futile as she was said to have travelled to Israel.

    “No parents would want to risk the life of their children or wards. When the children are in school, the parents wouldn’t have peace of mind; especially during the rainy season. When it rains, the erosion could get to the mid-section of a tall human being.

    “All waters from about 10 areas like Babalegba, Old Garrage, Ikotun, Ijegun and Abaranje, among others were channelled to Gafaru Road when LAMATA was constructing roads in these areas. I complained to the contractor handling Ijegun Road about the situation and he said it would be rectified before former Lagos State governor Asiwaju Ahmed Tinubu would inaugurate the road. But nothing was corrected.

    “When it rains, the erosion is so heavy so much so that it had once carried away a car parked along the road and deposited it very close to the canal. There was a seven-footer man who erosion swept off his feet and carried him through under my culverts down the street. The man was rescued but he sustained serious injuries.

    There was also a nine-year-old pupil who was going to school. She fell into the gully and the massive erosion carried her down to the canal; though she was rescued two hours later.

    “We have made several representations at Alausa and Ministry of the Environment among other authorities, yet we have been neglected as if we are not part of the system.

    “Anybody that comes to this area will cry for us. How can we be living in slum? Some houses have been swept away and some others erosion has laid bare their foundations. My school is nearly desolate.

    Mr Akinpelu Opeoluwa is the Vice-Chairman of Down Gafaru Youths Association. He said the youth of Down Gafaru Road (a term used to describe the worst part of the road) have tried all they could to bring the worsening state of the road to the attention of government through the landlords association.

    A source who spoke to our correspondent in confidence said that “Gafaru Road is in such terrible state because the street is named after a stalwart of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) who has a party office on the street. The government in power in Lagos State had told him to join APC so that the road would be fixed but he refused.”

  • Oyo community in desperate need of help

    Oyo community in desperate need of help

    The rate of rural urban/ migration in Nigeria is alarming and worrisome, as urban centers are geometrically over-populated due to dearth of social infrastructures needed to encourage and motivate the settlers to contribute to Gross Domestic Productivity.

    One of such rural communities in deplorable conditions is the Olori village in the Oyo-East Local Government area of Oyo State.

    The riverside community, it was gathered had been in existence for over a century, as the inhabitants were said to have originated from the ancient town of Oyo.

    Before the creation of Osun State from the old Oyo State 22 years ago, the villagers were living harmoniously, with their neighbouring communities of Owu and Ife-Odan.

    But shortly after the creation of Osun State in 1991, the Olori villagers maintained their origin of Oyo State, while Owu, Ife-odan and four other communities were ceded to the new state. However the decision of Olori villagers to remain in Oyo State did not go down well with their neighbours who, it was gathered wanted them to be part of Osun State. All efforts to make the villagers change their minds and opt for Osun state, it was gathered fell on deaf ears hence tension began to rise between the hitherto peaceful neighbours.

    Angered by the uncompromising stance of Olori villagers and apparently considering the fact that the village is located in the Forest Reserve richly endowed with natural resources like gold and other tourist attractions, both Owu and Ife-Odan communities it was gathered considered the option of violence, in order to force the villagers to be part of Osun State.

    The simmering tension reached a climax in 2008 when hoodlums allegedly fro m Owu and Ife-Odan communities invaded Olri village and wreaked havoc.

    On that fateful day, the unsuspected villagers, who were predominantly farmers, had gone to their farms when the hoodlums, numbering about 100 and armed with dangerous weapons like guns, cutlasses and knives invaded the village.

    Many of the villagers, including the aged were attacked and sustained serious injuries, while properties estimated to be worth several thousands of naira were destroyed by the hoodlums. That was a huge loss by village standard.

    One of the villagers, Jimoh Adejare, a security guard attached to the maternity centre by the Local Government, who has just returned home from work that fateful day, was murdered  in cold blood by the hoodlums as he was preparing to go to his farm.

    Before ending their dastard mission, the hoodlums abducted 15 of the village elders and held them hostage for four days without food. They were later released on the orders of the Nigeria Police, Zone 11, Osogbo, Osun State capital.

    Three of the elders who narrated their ordeals in the hands of the hoodlums described their experience as saddening and horrible.

    One of them Yekini Ayanfemi aged 70 years displayed to The Nation five of his teeth forcefully removed by the thugs with a big stick after which according to him he was tied with a rope like a ram and severely injured with machete.

    “The hoodlums asked me to lie down and one of them went to the bush and brought a big stick and hit me on the cheek. It was indeed very painful. I was also tied with rope and seriously hit with machete, but God did not allow the cutlass to cut me”.

    Two other elders, Shadiat Oseni (60 years), and Kareem Olawale (80 years), who spoke in the same vein explained how they were abducted.

    Shadiat said “Immediately after abducting us, the hoodlums took us to the Palace of Head of Ife-Odan community, who ordered that we be kept and tortured without food for four days.. On the fourth day, the head of Ife-Odan Community, whose traditional title is ADIMULA, directed the leaders to take us to Ejigbo Divisional Police Command Headquarters, and tell the D.P.O that we came to invade their community”.

    Pa Olawale, who narrated in tears said the Ejigbo Divisional Police Officer turned down the allegation and refused to detain them after which they were also taken to Okefia Divisional Police Headquarters at Osogbo where both the Divisional Crime Officer and the D.P.O refused to accept the allegations levied against them.

    “Thank God, it was at the zone 11 of the Nigeria Police headquarters in Osogbo, where we regained our freedom and were saved from the hoodlums. In fact, one Deputy Commissioner of Police, Ajiboye came to our rescue, as he provided us with delicious food and ordered that four of those who brought us be detained for wrongful and unfair allegation. The Divisional Crime Officer refused to believe that as aged as we are, we can invade a community”.

    Two motorcycles and five grinding machines were reportedly taken away by the hoodlums from the village.

    Also commenting, the widow of the slain security guard, Idiatu Jimoh Adejare ,who was in tears throughout the interview described the murder of her husband as wicked.

    Reigning curses on the perpetrators of her husband’s death, Mrs Adejare said “i am now at the mercy of God with four under-aged children still in school. I have no other means of sustenance, except subsistence farming. I have not been receiving any assistance to take care of the children.’’

    The invasion happened during the tenure of the immediate past administrations of Otunba Adebayo Alao-Akala and Prince Olagunsoye Oyinlola in Oyo and Osun States respectively.

    The two former governors were said to have sought the intervention of the National Boundary Commission in Abuja, which ceded Olori village to Oyo State.

    Following this development, the Akala administration, it was gathered pledged to provide the needed infrastructures like school, primary health care centre, potable water supply, rural electrification and canoe with rudders for the village.

    The Oyo East Local Government was also directed to include in its budget certain amount of money for the well-being of the villagers.

    Besides the establishment of a primary school, all other pledges by both the immediate past administrations at the State and Local Government levels did not materialise.

    The problem in the village is compounded by a long river, Oba, that passes through the community but which had been a threat to the villagers, especially during the rainy season, as movement to and from the area is usually hindered.

    Consequently, a wooden canoe was provided by the villagers, but this has proved inadequate, unreliable and unsafe especially after heavy rains which often increase the water level in the river, leading to its overflow.

    A couple of years ago, ten villagers reportedly drowned in the river when a canoe in which they were crossing capsized when the paddle broke. Some of those that could be rescued were later taken to the hospital for medical attention.

    The incident brought the State Deputy Governor, Moses Adeyemo who represented the Governor to the village on sympathy visit , while the entire members of the State House of Assembly led by the Speaker, Monsurat Sunmonu also paid similar visit.

    Both the Deputy governor and the Speaker, who is from the village pledged to come to the aid of the villagers by ensuring budgetary allocations for the construction of a bridge across the river, and provision of other essential needs for the downtrodden villagers.

    The local government also pledged to provide another canoe to the villagers.

    All these promises are yet to be yet to fulfilled.

    Interestingly, both the former Secretary to the State Government during the last administration, Chief Layiwola Lakojo, and the present Speaker, Oyo State House of Assembly, Alhaja Monsurat Sunmonu are from the village.

    Speaking with our correspondent, Head of the community Chief Teslim Adekunle II, said ‘’ our immediate need now is how to construct a bridge across the river.  Without this, the community will be cut off from the rest of the neighbouring villages. We find it difficult to reach our community. Our children are finding it difficult to go to school. We can’t get to where our sources of income are due to the rising water level in the river whenever there is heavy down pour. We urge the state government to come to our aid by fulfilling all the promises made for us.’

    Chief Adekunle however enjoined the state government to investigate the N157million allegedly earmarked to the Local Government for the construction of a bridge across the river by the Otunba Adebayo Alao-Akala administration, but which has not been executed.

     

  • Kokori: A community replete with abandoned projects

    Kokori: A community replete with abandoned projects

    One of the oil wells in Erhoike-Kokori community of Ethiope East Local Government Area of Delta State is reputed to produce the second best grade of crude oil in the world. This reputation was earned by the 52-year-old oil well after laboratory analysis carried out in Vienna, Austria. The test also proved that crude oil from the facility has the least cost of production because of the shallowness of the well.

    But, it was the activities of a suspected kidnap kingpin and leader of the controversial militant group, Liberation Movement of Urhobo People (LiMUP), which brought unwanted focus to the Urhobo community.

    The people of Kokori, a sub-clan in Agbon Kingdom, said with 35 other oil wells they expect that their fortune should reflect on face of the town in the form of abundant government presence, infrastructures and other basic amenities. However, our finding revealed that the reverse is rather the case. Leaders of the community told our reporter that Kokori has been abandoned by successive federal and state governments.

    “What could be seen as blessing to other oil bearing communities in and around the country has turned out a mere pipe dream in the case of Kokori community. We produce the second best oil in the whole world do not have a single development to show. In spite of the huge sums of money the federal government is mining from this land every second of the day,” one of the leaders said.

    In fact, a tour of the Kokori community with some members of the Council of Chiefs and Elders revealed the appalling state of affairs. Dozens of abandoned projects litter the community. Apart from the major road reading to the town, all streets and roads are either completely impassable or propped by broken blocks and pieces of wood.

    It was a stark contrast to the picture painted in one of the national dailies by a top government functionary. The impression created by the politician (names withheld) was so contrasting that our reporter asked the community leaders if there was another Kokori.

    The cry of neglect, marginalisation and the call on both the state and federal government by the community youths, women, elders to change to the plight of the people has been raucous. They called for development to be brought closer to the people in order to meet the yearnings of both the old and the young.

    “The community today has suffered a lot of pains that emanated from the gas flaring and oil pollution, thus, causing farmers not to have good harvest and depriving fishermen of their livelihood since the rivers in Kokori have been destroyed by oil pollution and no aquatic lives can dwell in them. Yet the state and federal government have never seen the agony the Kokori people are passing through,” our source lamented.

    Our findings revealed that projects that were said to have been awarded by state agencies, Delta State Oil Producing Areas Development Commission (DESOPADEC) others were either left at the foundation stage or abandoned without completion by the contractors.

    One of such project is the construction of Ofuoma/Anaka/Kokori road, awarded to Wokson Construction Company. Two aged women were said to have drown in their attempt to cross a wooden bridge constructed by the community because of the bad road. They were returning from their farms when they met their untimely deaths.

    Leaders of the community, chiefs James Eyefia, Fredrick Eumofo, Pleasure Ogbe, Sunday Onochodjare, Chairman, Community Development Committee, Chief Ochuko Umukoro, Chief John Irikefe and Chief John Oghenejobor, who led the tour, said the pipe borne water which is the least basic amenity every community should enjoy do not exist. Although there are three water projects, none was producing at the time of our visit.

    The Secretary of the Kokori Council of Chiefs and Elders, Chief Pleasure Ogbe, listed the abandoned projects to include fencing of Ibruvwe Grammar School, Samagidi, Kokori at N15m; Delta State Integrated Rural and Industrial Programme at the cost of N45.5m; Co-operative shopping center at the cost of N25m; Reinforcement of Electricity/Installation of Transformers from Egbogho to Ikhukhu at N94m.

    Others are provision and installation of transformers and changing of wooden electric poles to concrete poles at N86m; construction of modern markets at N105m; construction of ring road at N12m; Construction of Kokori/Oshesheri/Okpara lnland road at N105m; construction and fencing of Youths Development and Skill Acquisition Centre at N85m; Women Training center for N20m and Kokori township roads at N32m.

    Similarly, there are the construction of Oria-Abraka, Egbo-Kokori/Eku-Imodje road for N650m; Construction of Concrete Drain along Kokori/Eku road at N50m; Kokori/Ugono/Orogun road at N200m; Construction of Emeyese Crescent at N45m; Renovation and fencing of Kokori Grammar school at N80m; Renovation and fencing of Egbo Grammar School at N40m; Construction and Equipping of Public Library in Kokori at N30m; Construction of Ofuoma/Anaka/Kokori road at N200m; Installation of Street lights at N50m; Rehabilitation of Pipeline extension of Water scheme in Kokori at N50m and so many others that have either abandoned or not started at all.

    Ogbe said the people of Kokori community do not need to cry out before they would be developed and provided facilities like higher institutions, standard hospital, pipe borne water, good roads network and most importantly relocating the host community, Erhoike from its present location and to give them a facelift because of the Gas flaring and the oil pollution in the area.

    The President General of Kokori Progress Union, Chief Gabriel Avwunudiogba, said when he assumed office as President General, he moved round the community and that surprisingly he did not see any presence of government in Kokori at all.

    Avwunudiogba said: “We are appealing to the state and Federal Government to come to our assistance over some of our needs like College of Education, polytechnic, College of Agriculture. We also need standard hospital equipped by government and good road network. Another one is the building of the new boys secondary school, which we have provided a land and had surveyed it as requested by government with all and all the papers we have submitted to the state government but till date the children still trek about four kilometers every day to Egbo for school because their parents, who are peasant farmers, cannot afford the outrageous school fees fixed by the Catholic mission since they have returned the Kokori Boys Grammar School to Catholic mission school which is today know as St Kelvin Boys Grammar School. They cannot afford to live like this.

    Throwing light on the issue of water, Chief Avwunudiogba explained that though there is water and swamp around them but that the water are no longer drinkable because of pollution caused by oil exploration.

    He also said their fishing swamp where their people go for fishing are no more and particularly decried the failure of the Federal Government to relocate them from the direct impact of gas flaring as planned decades ago.

    Avwunudiogba stated that government cannot continue to ignore the geese that lay the golden egg.