Communities in Oji River South and Mmam River Development Centres in Oji River Local Government Area of Enugu State have presented a list of their priority needs to the governorship candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, in the state, Dr. Peter Mbah, urging him to give serious attention to them 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.
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.
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, John Nnagbo, Mr. Ejike Okechukwu, Mr. Chijioke Nwana, Chief Godfrey Umeadi, Chief Osy Omah, and 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.