Umuochi--Utchi community is a rich agricultural community in Ndokwa
East Local Government Area of Delta State... But in spite of its rich
agricultural endowment it is cut off from the rest of the world as they
do not have access road and other basic social amenities enjoyed by
citizens of a country.
The AUTHORITY correspondent who recently visited the community
described the living condition of these people as pitiful. The
government has completely forgotten about this community and they lack
all the basic necessities needed to live a good life
They live in mud and thatched houses with little or no protection
against the sun and heat, and to make matter worst they live by the
shore of River Niger where they are prone to flood all the time. They
depend on the river as their only source of drinking water and as a
result they usually fall ill all the time.
The people do not have a good healthcare center where they can take
their sick children to when they are sick. The women do not go for
anti-natal care because there are no hospitals there. Some of them have
to travel to Onitsha and Asaba to get good medical care whenever they
are pregnant. The only healthcare center in the village has been
abandoned by successive governments.
The community Head, Chief Richard Nzekwe, ( The Okpala-’Ukwu) who spoke
to The AUTHORITY called on the State Government to come to the aid of
the community, lamenting that they will soon be washed out of the face
of the earth if nothing is done.
Speaking on the lack of access road to the community, Chief Nzekwe
said, “We have been fighting for this road as far back as 1976 and a
road was approved from Asaba Head bridge, which is Oko junction down
here. We sent a delegation to Benin, to the then Governor of old Bendel
State in 1977 or so.
“We met with the then military Governor. He received us and we handed
our request to him and he said it is a good matter. As an Hausa man he
collected our letter and he told us to go and that we will hear from
him. In two weeks time he approved the road for us. He engaged surveyors
who planned out the road and they engaged the services of a road
construction company from Israel called Boni Soni. This company had not
started work before the government was toppled.
“We also met Professor Ambrose Ali who was the then governor of Bendel
State. One commissioner terminated the construction of the road. But
Prof. Ambrose Ali called them back and even paid mobilization to them.
They carried all their equipment to Oko junction in Asaba. Few days for
them to start work, the government announced that there was recession
and the company left with their equipment and since then we have never
seen anybody again.
“We have been meeting with successive governments concerning this road
but they never did anything. I met Governor James Ibori in 2001 or so
and we submitted our letter of petition to him and he told me that he
will look into the matter and get back to us. He convened a state
council meeting and there he made a statement that he will commission
this road before the end of his tenure. But till today we saw nothing”,
he continued.
Narrating how he met with their representative at the Delta State House
of Assembly, Hon Friday Osanebi, concerning the plight of the
community, the community head said, “Since then we have been trying to
meet all those who have been representing us. None of them have been
listening to us. Last November, I went to meet the man representing
us, Friday Osanebi, who is the Deputy Speaker. He told me to come back
again and that I should give him a day or two notice. At my age, I
deserve respect even though I do not have money.”
Continuing he added, “We need the access road now because the River
Niger is building up every day and soon it will cover the entire
community. When that happens everywhere will be filled with water and
it will make it impossible for our people to move their things away.
Our people take a lot of risk during these periods.”
Speaking on the deplorable condition of the only primary school in the
community, Chief Nzekwe lamented that those who collected the contract
for the rehabilitation of the school abandoned the project half way.
“Look at our only primary school. The contractor has abandoned the
building of the school project that was awarded to him. He just came
and did small work and left without telling us anything. Our children
who go to the school learn in that deplorable condition. There are no
teachers in the school. It is only headmaster that comes with one or
two teachers that teach the children. How can only three people teach a
whole primary school in the Community?
“We are forced to send our children to other places to go to school at a
very tender age. This has made our children to be what they are not
supposed to be because they lack parental care where they are because
we have to hire houses for them. Most of our children are outside and
many of them have joined bad gangs and they never come home with good
results to their parents.
“The lack of roads is killing our schools. We have children in this
community that can feed three primary schools. But they are all around
Onitsha, Kwale, Asaba and other places. Any where you have people you
send them to help you look at them for us. So how do you expect somebody
that has not been able to take care of his children to take care of
your children for you?
“Look at the health center that we have in the community. We built
that health center through communal efforts and we called the council
people to engage staff there, but they have refused to do anything.
The people they sent to come and manage the health center do not come
to work. They are only there to collect salaries. We do not know
whether the council does supply them with drugs or not because our
people are paying heavily to get drugs. We have become endangered
species.”
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