The Etsu Bassa-Nge, His Royal Majesty, Brig. Gen. Abu Ali Mopa lll (Rtd), has appealed to the Kogi state government to rehabilitate the Shintaku–Gboloko–Oguma-Dekina road to boost economic activities in the areas.
The monarch made the appeal Friday in his palace at Gboloko in Bassa local government area while receiving an award as the best traditional ruler in health care delivery in Kogi state bestowed on him by the Nigeria National Volunteer Service, an umbrella body of all registered non-governmental organisations in the country.
The paramount ruler of Bassa-Nge Kingdom stated that the road from Shintakum to Dekina, which is about 50 kilometres, had been abandoned for many years.
He stressed that the same road had played a significant role during the Nigeria Civil War when Asaba Bridge was blown off.
“The irony is that if not for this road the Nigerian Army could not have won the Civil War of 1967 to 1970 because when the Asaba Bridge was blown off; it was this very road that became the only alternative for the Army to reach the eastern part of the country.
“This road has played a vital role that its rehabilitation or reconstruction should not be allowed to delay and I am optimistic that Governor Yahaya Bello in his usual magnanimity will come to our aid to do the road for us so that economic activities can improve in communities along the road,” he said.
He commended Nigeria National Volunteers Service for bestowing an award on him, assuring that the award would spur him to do more for the people of his kingdom that believed in peace and unity.
The state’s coordinator, Nigeria National Volunteers Service, Ibrahim Itodo, said the aim of the establishing the body in 2014 and domiciled in the office of Secretary to the Federal Government of Nigeria was to identify people that were making an impact in humanitarian activities.
Itodo, the senior special assistant to Governor Yahaya Bello on special projects, said a medical doctor at the Federal Medical Centre in Lokoja nominated the monarch for the award based on the effort he put in place to give back to his people through free eye treatment and supply of eye glasses to the people of Bassa-Nge Kingdom.
“This is the first time in Kogi state a monarch approached a health institution and invited them to come to his domain to treat his people on eye related challenges such as cataract, glaucoma among others and he solely funded the project. I am using this medium to charge other traditional rulers in the state to begin projects that will impact positively on their subjects,” he said.
