By: Ike Philip Abiagom
Youths from Igbuzo and Anyalabum communities have raised alarm over what they described as years of marginalisation and neglect by past administrations, calling on Delta State Governor, Rt. Hon. Sheriff Oborevwori, to urgently intervene in the ongoing Asaba–Achalla road project.
Speaking during a joint engagement by the Igbuzo Youth Council and Anyalabum Youth Council, the Anyalabum Youth Chairman, Comrade Steve Momah, lamented what he called the consistent short-changing of Anyalabum by successive governments over several decades. While commending the Delta State Government for awarding the Asaba–Achalla road project, Momah expressed deep concern over the manner in which the contractor is allegedly handling the Igbuzo axis of the project.
According to him, a visit to the Asaba end of the road reveals wide, double drainage systems, while the Igbuzo side, particularly around Anyalabum, has no drainage at all. He described the disparity as unacceptable and appealed to Governor Oborevwori to personally visit the site or direct the contractor to correct the imbalance without delay.
Also lending his voice, the Youth Chairman of Achalla-Igbuzo, Comrade Lawrence Nwanze, decried what he described as the total abandonment of Achalla-Igbuzo for many years. He noted that the community has been left without a motorable road, forcing residents to depend largely on motorcycles as their only means of transportation.
“Achalla-Igbuzo is completely cut off, especially during the rainy season. No vehicle can access our community. The contractor stopped work before reaching Achalla about seven years ago, and since then our people have continued to suffer,” Nwaje said. He questioned whether Achalla-Igbuzo is truly considered part of Igbuzo, given the prolonged neglect, and appealed to the governor to rescue the community from what he described as a long-standing calamity.
On the same vein, executives of the Igbuzo Youth Council, led by the Vice President, Barrister Augustine Elikwu, alongside the Secretary General, Comrade Vincent Ollimah, Comrade Emeka Okolo and other officials, lamented the continued neglect of the Achalla-Igbuzo road. They stressed that the road is long overdue for construction and warned that any attempt to deliver substandard work on the Igbuzo side of the Asaba–Achalla project would not be accepted by the youths.
Barrister Elikwu disclosed that the youth council would set up a monitoring committee to closely follow the project and ensure that the contractor does not short-change Igbuzo. He reiterated their demand that the Igbuzo axis be constructed to the same standard as the Asaba side, including the provision of double drainage.
The Igbuzo Youth Council also appealed to Governor Oborevwori to visit the project site in Igbuzo, as he has done in other parts of the state, describing him as an action-oriented and proactive leader.
The youths, however, commended the member representing the constituency in the Delta State House of Assembly, Hon. Frank Esenwah, for his consistent follow-up on the project. They noted that the lawmaker has visited the site several times on his own initiative to ensure that the Igbuzo and Achalla communities benefit fully from the road project as originally planned.
