From UCHENNA INYA, Abakaliki
The people of Ameke Ishiagu in Ivo Local Government Area, and those of Ukawu in Onicha Local Government Area, both in the southern part of Ebonyi State, have some things in common. They are farming communities that experience difficulty in transporting their products to markets including connecting their neighbouring communities.
Each of the two communities is divided by a river such that people who live on both sides are disconnected. For Ameke, the community has had to make do with a makeshift bridge built with bamboos and woods by the natives.
In the case of Ukawu, an expansive bridge constructed by the then Governor Martin Elechi over 10 years caved in some two years ago, thereby making life unbearable for residents of the area and visitors alike.
The case of Ameke is worse because its road has never been paved. So, as predominant farmers who produce cassava, rice, yam, maize and other crops in large quantities, they find it difficult to earn a living from their toils.
Because of the nature of the Ameke Amboo Bridge, the people no longer go to their farms nor live around the area.
Saturday Sun was told that some farmers had drowned in the river while crossing the bridge to evacuate their produce.
This might have prompted the immediate past House of Representatives member for Ohaozara, Onicha and Ivo Federal Constituency in the National Assembly, Chief Livinus Makwe, to attempt to construct the bridge. The project was abandoned midway as only the beam was erected.
A resident of the area, Nwite Friday described the lack of a connecting bridge there as life-threatening and called for its construction.
He said: “This bridge has been an ancient one that we have been passing through to our farmlands. It connects us from Ndiabor village in Enugu State. The bridge is life-threatening and sometime, if you are not careful, you might fall into the river while walking on it. So, whenever you are walking on the bridge, you have to be very careful.
“There was an attempt to construct the bridge. They constructed the first beam and abandoned the project, they were not ready to complete the project. Government should come to our rescue by constructing a befitting bridge so that we will be able to transport our produce because this is the area that we farm most. The other area is not vast like this area the bridge cuts across. This is the area that we have very vast farmlands,” he stated.
Another resident, Mrs. Goodness Osi told our reporter that the wooden bridge has adversely affected her agricultural activities.
She confirmed that some unspecified number of farmers had drowned in the river. She called calling on the state government to come to the aid of the people.
Osi lamented: “This wooden bridge has been like this in this community. We have suffered a lot in our farming activities which is our source of livelihood. We have lost some members of this community in the river. If you are walking on this bamboo bridge, you must be praying to God to help you to pass safely.
“Some of us can’t walk on the bridge when it rains because it is usually slippery and that is when people usually fall into the river and get drowned. The bridge is not strong. It is not good at all.
“The road that leads to the bridge is not also good. You knew what you passed through on the road before getting to the bridge. The road is very narrow and rough. It is very bad and needs serious attention.
“So, the road and the bridge need to be constructed. This will reduce our suffering and promote food sufficiency because when the road and the bridge are constructed, we will have access road to be evacuating our agricultural produce.”
But respite might come their way this time around as the current federal lawmaker for Ohaozara, Onicha and Ivo Federal Constituency, Nkemkanma Kama, recently visited the area and inspected the bridge.
He appealed to Governor Francis Nwifuru to construct the bridge for the community, noting that because of its condition, the people of Ndiabor in Enugu State, neighbours to Ameke, were encroaching on their (Ameke) land.
“I was wondering why we were going that deep on our way to the Ishiagu Bridge. What is the economic value? What is the economic value of this bridge and why are people getting so interested in this bridge? It boils down to land grabbing. But that bridge disconnects us, the Ameke people from Ameke, that’s the problem, it demarcates Ameke people from Ameke and what happened is that the other side of it happens to be Enugu State.
“So, the Enugu people are encroaching on that land because nobody is there anymore, so, they are taking the land that belongs to our people just because of lack of access road which is making it very difficult for people to go there and live, farm there and everything. That’s why I am also appealing to the governor too on that bridge so that we will not be losing our lands,” Kama said.
The legislator also called on the Governor to reconstruct the collapsed Ukawu bridge to reconnect the communities in the area. Kama, after inspecting the bridge, observed that its collapse has gravely affected the community.
He said: “I just want to appeal to the governor who has the mind of changing the narrative of Ebonyi State to seek his presence on that bridge in Ukawu community because it has divided the community. This is dividing Ukawu from Ukawu. A place that is naturally supposed to take you a minute is taking you like 40/50 minutes because you have to go round. So, we are pleading with the governor to come and bridge that gap by rebuilding that bridge and making life easier for our people.
“I wouldn’t say that I can get it done. I really need the governor’s intervention and that’s why I went there to see things for myself because my constituents have talked about it and I wanted to go there and see for myself and bring the attention of our governor to it and I know he listens.”
He expressed concern over the poor state of some of the primary health care centres in the community and promised to collaborate with both the state and federal governments to ensure the people enjoyed constant access to health care.
Kama disclosed that he will liaise with the National Primary Health Care Development Agency in the revitalisation of the primary healthcare centres.
“The primary health care centre in Ukawu for instance is mind-boggling and I can’t understand why that community would not have such centre functional. We intend to handle about five of such centres across the constituency with available resources. It is not about the quantity but quality as delivering adequate health care to the people remains the primary objective,” he said.
The federal lawmaker expressed satisfaction with the projects he attracted especially as many of them have been completed while several others were at various stages of completion.
“We hope that the projects which include water boreholes, solar streetlights, primary healthcare centres among others, would be completed by December 2024.
“We are constructing 13 boreholes for 10 communities of the constituency with each getting one and some two boreholes.
“We are installing 50 solar streetlights for each of the 34 wards of the constituency and we are committed to completing the installation,” he enthused.
