Stephen Ukandu, Umuahia
There was eruption of joy at Asa in Ukwa West Local Government Area of Abia State, when the locals were informed that the the Niger Delta Development Commission, NDDC, has announced the award of contracts for road and power projects in oil producing communities of Abia State.
Some of the projects include the renovation of Ngwaiyikwe/Ogwe Road which leads to Ogwe and other communities from the Aba/Enugu Port Harcourt Expressway; the reconstruction of Owazza-Imo River Road; and the Ozuaku-144 Barracks Road, all in Asa land.
Abia Representative on the NDDC Board, Chief Dimgba Eruba, who disclosed this during a grand civic reception in his honour at Central School Ogwe, said work would commence on the roads.
Chief Eruba also announced that NDDC had awarded contract for the restoration of Ukwa West Power station.
He said NDDC was poised to give states in the Niger Delta a sense of belonging, assuring that no project initiated by the commission will be abandoned.
Eruba re-stated the commitment of NDDC in helping Mr President to drive his eight-point agenda.
He commended his Asa people for organising the reception in his honour, and promised not to disappoint them and the state.
Earlier in a remark, chairman of the planning committee of the event, Hon. Solomon Nwoko, thanked President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, for appointing Eruba as Abia representative on the NDDC Board.
He said Eruba was fit for the job considering his antecedents, and expressed confidence that he would deliver.
Speaking on behalf of Ogwe Town Union, Mr Stephen Nwoloziri, decried infrastructural deficit in Asa land despite being the only oil producing area in Abia State.
He regretted that there had been no public power supply in Ogwe for the past five years while the condition of roads and other infrastructure in the area was very deplorable.
He appealed to NDDC to give the people a sense of belonging.
Meanwhile, the chieftaincy title of Odoziobodo 1 of Asa land, was conferred on Chief Eruba by the traditional rulers of the various communities in Asa at the ceremony.
