Speaking to Ika
Weekly recently concerning the deplorable condition of roads and glaring
Governments insensitivity to the plight of the Ika people, the Chairman of the
Association, Mr. Vincent Arimokwu whose office is at 13, Prof. Ebie Street,
Agbor, said that the Landlords and Landladies are becoming more worried,
embarrassed and aggrieved as a result of the abandonment of various projects in
Ika land which has resulted in the
protest march that the Ika North & South Association embarked upon to Asaba
recently, where they visited the Government House, the State House of Assembly
and other government establishments in the State. “As we are waiting for
government to respond to that our protest against the abandonment of Ika nation
and marginalization of the land, our sons and daughters who are supposed to be our true representatives are
busy campaigning for various positions for the next election, instead of paying
attention to our protest demand which include marginalization and abandonment.
In that protest, we demanded that our representatives should come and give us
an account of their stewardship during the period of their stay in government
before asking for another mandate. They are supposed to be our true
representatives who will liaise with the indigenes of Ika nation to put their
heads together from time to time and see to the problem of the land,” he said. He stated that the most annoying part of the situation is that many of the representatives in the
corridors of power do not visit home to see all the abandonment. But yet, they
pretend not to see it; and that all is well in Ika land”. That is why the
Landlords can no longer bear this marginalization that started about 15 years
ago. We have not been enjoying the dividends of democracy since inception of it
in Nigeria,”
he added. Mr. Arimokwu maintained that the problem with the representatives in
government is that the communication gap between them and the people is too
wide and needed to be bridged. He posited that the Landlords Association has
never had any opportunity to interact with these representatives in government
in order to form a think tank towards the development of Ika land. “Since 1999,
there has not been any meaningful project that has been commissioned in Ika
land, as compared with other sister local government areas in the State. “Since
1999, water pipes were laid everywhere in Ika land. Up till today there is no
water for us. Our Governor His Excellency, Dr. Emmanuel Eweta Uduaghan has good
intentions for us. He promised to dualize the Old Lagos-Asaba road for us. But
today it is disappointing to note that the project has since been abandoned. In
some cases, where they managed to tar the roads, they reduced the thickness of
the asphalt, thereby making the road not to last long as they should,” he said. He submitted that the Orogodo River
dredging which is a combined federal and state government project has since
been abandoned, and that after some time, the Association is going to embark on
another protest march through the major streets in Ika land after they must
have secured the necessary prerequisites from law enforcement agents and other
bodies, also saying that if nothing is done, the protesters will further move
on to Abuja to press home their demand. “We are using this opportunity to
appeal to our amiable Governor, to prevail on the contractors handling the
different projects in Ika to mobilize to
site. We also emphasize that our sons and daughters who are in government and
are seeking fresh mandate, should come home and give account of their
stewardship. We want them also to bridge that communication gap between them
and the people they are representing,” he concluded.
It could be recalled that on Wednesday, April 28,
2010, Ika Landlords and Landladies Association staged a protest march to Asaba
in order to register their displeasure on the attitude of government toward the
development of Ika land. That protest march was led by the Chairman of the
Association within Ika North-East and
Ika South Local Government Areas, Mr. Jacob Onyemaka.
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