Rivers State Governor, Siminalayi Fubara, has said the newly inaugurated Ndele-Agba/Ndele-Otari/Omaraka Road and Bridge will make it easier for candidates of his political party, the All Progressives Congress (APC), to campaign in communities previously cut off by poor infrastructure.
Fubara spoke on Wednesday while inaugurating the 14.5 km road and bridge at Elegedi Junction, Agba-Ndele, in Emohua Local Government Area.
The governor recalled that Boniface Emerengwa had told him how difficult it was to campaign in Ndele in 2014 after securing the ticket to contest the House of Representatives because residents felt disconnected from the local government and the state.
According to Fubara, the completion of the road and bridge has changed that situation and will give APC candidates easier access to the people during elections.
He said, ‘I believe what we have done here today will make it easy for candidates that will be representing us in the forthcoming elections that when they come here to campaign, especially in Emohua, they will tell them, ‘My party did this and that,’ and it will be easy for us to win elections here’.
Fubara charged the chairmen of Emohua and Abua/Odual local government areas with protecting the newly inaugurated road and bridge against vandalism and criminal activities.
‘You are the most impacted people. So please, while the security agencies are aware of these complaints, you should also set your own security arrangement to ensure that these people passing under to destroy it are stopped,’ he said.
The governor consequently charged the two council chairmen to act as ‘the new security officers’ of the bridge and ensure that the infrastructure was adequately protected.
Fubara also thanked the people of Ndele for their cooperation with the contractor, urging them to take ownership of the project.
The governor said the infrastructure was conceived to provide an alternative and easier connection between communities in Abua/Odual and other parts of the state, while also helping to curb criminal activities in the area.
He explained that his administration did not initiate the bridge but inherited and completed it because of its importance to the people.
‘Government is a continuum. So when you see something that will benefit the people, it doesn’t matter who started it. What is important is to complete it and put it to the use of our people,’ Fubara said.
According to him, the administration discovered during an inspection of the deplorable Abua road that completing the bridge without providing an access road would limit its usefulness.
He said, ‘While we were on this bridge project, we found out that what is the beauty of this project without an accessible road? It was at that point that we then conceived this 14.5-kilometre road that we are seeing today.’
Fubara said the project would ease transport for residents of Abua and communities along the Ahoada axis who had been struggling with the old Abua road.
He added that the new infrastructure would also improve access to the East-West Road and help address criminal activity in the area.
The governor commended the contractor for delivering a project he described as valuable to the people, stressing that his administration was committed to projects that would directly impact citizens’ lives.
‘I am not interested in just doing anything. I am interested in doing something that adds value and changes the lives of our people,’ he said.
Fubara also expressed concern about damage reportedly caused to the newly completed bridge by vessels passing beneath it, saying the state government had been forced to spend an additional N2.5 million to repair it.
He said the infrastructure would also strengthen political and social integration, recalling that residents of Ndele had previously felt disconnected from their local government and the state.
The governor expressed appreciation for the support and goodwill shown by the people, saying the large turnout at the event demonstrated their ‘genuine love’ for his administration.