2 June 2018
On the 29th of May 2018, while Nigerians celebrated 19 years of democratic rule, Cross Riverians also employed the opportunity to also celebrate Sen. Prof. Ben Ayade's achievement in three years as the Executive Governor of Cross River State.
Lot's of projects were listed as achievements in different sectors, ranging from health, road construction, agriculture, amongst others. However, road construction caught my attention as Ovukwa road, a rural road in Obubra Local government area was also mentioned as "constructed". With lots of joy in my heart, readiness to also join the praise singing that at least I have a reason to celebrate democracy, I quickly thought I should ask questions to confirm the already celebrated achievements, lo and behold the case was different and absolutely not true that it has been constructed! This could be one of such many projects.
While I must state categorically for purpose of avoiding misunderstanding, I don't have any grouse with the His Excellency The Executive Governor as I believe that maybe he has never been there, but am sure he must have called through a representative to confirm the state of the road and got confirmation as "Completed".
Sources revealed that a representative in the state ministry of works called some political leaders in Obubra to confirm the state of the road, and it was confirmed "completed".
The question then becomes, why would a "leader" misrepresent the state of affairs in such magnitude to deprive his/her people the right to access road? This is my honest quandary.
Again, there is a possibility that whatever is meant to complete the construction of the said road would never resurface; after all, it has been confirmed "completed".
It should be emphasised that, this is the first time in the existence of Ovukwa, a small community in Obubra local government area that it came close to having a tarred access road.
Pointedly, why would a contractor say a road that is yet to be completed is completed and the leaders are not saying anything about it?
Be that as it may, I'm not surprised if this is one of the reasons why the youths in Obubra are agitating for generational shift and a need for a new Obubra. Some have even gone as far as accusing the old politicians in Obubra as responsible for the underdevelopment in Obubra because we give so much as support and get too little in return with lots of evidence to prove this point (that is a story for another day).
I hereby urge all political leaders in Obubra local government area to shun party lines and work for the development of Obubra irrespective of their political parties. It's a clarion call.
The pictures below show the present state of the road (Ovukwa road) and a picture showing that the road is completed.
Okan Peter
Is an On-Air Personality (OAP) with CRBC
