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The General Manager,
National Inland Waterways Authority,
(NIWA),
Lokoja, Kogi State.
Sir,
What Happened TO The Dredging Of River Niger in Kogi State?
The dredging of the River Niger in Kogi, the host State to the National Inland WaterWays Authority (NIWA) cleared the doubt of many Kogites as to why no major inland waterways activities happening in the state. To some of us, it is like a cassava farmer who buys cassava to eat after the farming season, hence it was thing of joy when the then late President Umoru Musa Yar’adua decided to dredge the river. The death of Yar’adua was a great loss to many of us in Kogi State, though we had hope that President Jonathan will complete the project due to the fact that he was the heroe’s Vice President, unfortunately the reverse was the case.
Even during campaign, he promised us that the water will be dredged. He finished his first term and during that tenure what we saw were heavy duty trucks moving the equipments meant for the dredging out of our dear state, hoping that they are going to bring bigger equipment, till date we are still waiting for those equipment that never returned.
With the coming of President Muhammadu Buhari, a man I have continuously voted for all my life, I had the believed that those machines will be brought back to site and the dredging will continue but as at the time I am writing this letter, none has returned and no body is talking about it.
Were the equipments sold? Where they relocated to other states? Why where they relocated to? All these questions and more no one have been able to give us answers to them but I know that your capable office will do justice to this questions in the interest of the development of Nigeria.
Sir, the dredging would have opened Kogi State for industrial growth and a ring state bordering over 9 States Nigeria would have generated a enough revenue from that dredging.
Some persons, even before the dredging commenced, bought lands in commercial sizes to build warehouses and create jobs. They did forecasting the business future of the state if the dredging was done, but all these thought and dreams where now shipped out the state.
Sir, I know there are lot of technicalities involved, technicalities that only your office can explain. I urge you to do justice for posterity purposes, so that history will vindicate you from this man’s inhumanity to man.
If the dredging was completed today many our youths would have been gainfully engaged.
The big Question in the heart of many Kogite is, why was the dredging of River Niger in Lokoja stopped?
Thank you sir believing that we shall have answers to our questions and the big question especially.
Esteemed regards.
Comrade A.A. Ismaila
Organization Secretary,
National Youth Council of Nigeria, Kogi State Chapter.
08061265674.
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