Chinenye Anuforo
The people of Ukwa in Abia State have called on the Federal Government to look into the 12 years of neglect of the area by successive governments, stressing that only a ministerial slot can help address the people’s grievances.
Addressing newsmen at the weekend, a prominent son of the oil rich area, ThankGod Ntaku, said if an Ukwa son or daughter is appointed a minister in President Muhammadu Buhari’s government, it will address the 12 years economic deprivation and neglect the people have faced.
Ntaku said that is the only way the oil rich community would feel the impact of government. He allged that the two interventionist agencies, namely, the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) and Abia State Oil Producing Areas Development Commission, set up by the federal government and state government, respectively, have been hijacked by those who helped their sons get appointments into the commissions.
The Port Harcourt-based communication expert said if an indigene of Ukwa is appointed minister, it would help guide the government in making appointments into the boards of the agencies, adding that it would avail the people the opportunity of taking their destiny into their hands.
He alleged that many contractors who were awarded contracts by the NDDC are not from Ukwa, stressing that the situation is worsened by the fact that the contracts have been abandoned.