The Ebira Youth Congress (EYC), a socio-cultural organisation of youth of Ebira nation has appealed to the federal government to urgently fix the deplorable and worsening condition of the Lokoja-Okene-Auchi federal road which it observed has become deathtraps for commuters, motorists and residents.
The body in a communique issued in Lokoja on Monday at the end of its general congress held at Okene, and signed by its President-General, Comrade Baba Abdulrazak and Secretary-General, Comrade Yusuf Ondeku Momohjimoh, lamented the “preventable accidents that have permanently” taken over the Okene-Lokoja express road due to neglect by successive governments of the federation in rehabilitating the road which serves as the gateway between the north and south.
EYC recalled that the said road has been awarded severally for reconstruction and dualization, but that the awards have always ended on the papers and never translated into any tangible work on the field.
The group noted that the recent collapse of the Jebba-Mokwa bridge which led to diversion of several articulated vehicles to the Lokoja-Okene road had further compounded the worsening condition of the road with its attendant negative consequences on lives and property of the residents of Ebira land and other road users.
The Congress decried what it described as the “lackadaisical and wobbling attitude of the federal government of Nigeria (FGN) towards the revival and completion of the Ajaokuta steel plant and the National Iron Ore Mining Company (NIOMCO) at Itakpe, which have potential of employing thousands unemployed youth and boost the nation’s economy.
The Congress commended Governor Yahaya Bello for his efforts in tackling security challenges in the Central senatorial district of the state, especially the recent inauguration of a Forward Operational Base at Achoze area of Okene.
Credit: Daily Trust
