Delta communities task Okowa on institutions, infrastructure development

The people of Bomadi and Ughelli communities of Delta State yesterday urged Governor Ifeanyi Okowa to build more institutions of higher learning and additional infrastructure in their domains.

They made the demands at a town hall meeting with the governor.

The town hall meeting is an initiative of the Okowa’s administration to interact with the grassroots and exchange ideas on how best to develop the communities and make them benefit from the dividends of democracy.

Okowa first met with the people of Bomadi, believed to be the most populated Ijaw town in western Niger Delta.

Chairman of Bomadi local council, William Angadi, told Okowa that before his administration came into office, there was almost no government presence in Bomadi and adjoining communities.

He requested for the establishment of a campus of the Delta State Polytechnic in Bomadi to boost learning in the area, saying the youth were restive because there were no institutions where they could engage in learning and other meaningful activities.

He said in spite of the fact that Bomadi delivered the third largest votes that brought Okowa into office in 2015, the community was yet to experience any development projects.

Angadi said Bomadi was always flooded during the rainy season, a situation that and has made living burdensome, adding that in view of Bomadi’s strategic location to communities in Delta and Bayelsa states, the general hospital should be upgraded to a central hospital.

He urged Okowa to help to build a shoreline protection around the sea area and roads in Bomadi.

However, representatives of Ughelli communities requested for more roads, saying some of the water projects, which were begun by the Okowa administration had been abandoned.

They also noted that hospitals in the council were not properly run, especially the Agbaro General Hospital.

Ughelli people also demanded for a polytechnic and urged the governor to instruct his security agencies to monitor areas in the council where suspected herdsmen reside.

Responding, Okowa told the communities that it was not ideal to establish more polytechnics in the state, saying the existing ones were having accreditation problems and that he wouldn’t want to establish polytechnics that won’t be accredited.

On ill-equipped hospitals, he said his new commissioner of health had visited most of the hospitals and had promised to address the issue when he got to Asaba, the state capital.