From Akunwa Nwaokedi
The people of Awlaw community in Oji River LGA of Enugu State say they can no longer cope with the dilapidated state of two secondary schools and a health centre that have remained in ruins for years.
Under the umbrella of the Awlaw Strategic Community Development Initiative, (ASCODI) community leaders expressed concern over the uninhabitable condition of Awlaw High School, Community Secondary School Awlaw, and the Awlaw Health Centre and Maternity, which they said have been taken over by rodents and other dangerous animals.
The Coordinator of the Initiative, Mr. Imah Felix, who is also the Founder of Center For Strategic Leadership and Youth Orientation (CENSTLEYO) alongside Mr. Agusi Levi, Mr. Okafor Chukwumah, and Ichie Uche Christopher, Hon Donatus Maduka led journalists on an inspection tour of the schools and health centre to assess the level of decay.
Speaking after the tour, Mr. Imah lamented that politicians only remember the community during electioneering campaigns with, promises that are never fulfilled.
He also alleged that an alumnus of Community Secondary School based in Turkey Chief Desmond Ofu had agreed to reroof one of the school, Community Secondary School following his intervention, Imah however claimed that the President General(PG) of the community, Chief Samuel Ejike Umeh has held onto the donated twenty bundles aluminium roofing sheets for the past six months.
Imah particularly called out Sen Osita Ngwu who he claimed had an agreement with the community when he attended the ASCODI to partner with the them to address the infrastructural needs of Awlaw through the funds from the Zonal Intervention Project.
He however said with dismay that in an unprecedented and uncharacteristic manner, Awlaw community for the first time since the exit of the former Deputy Senate President, Sen. Ike Ekweremmadu from the Senate, was not reflected in the zonal intervention budget.
“We belong to Oji River LGA. We have someone representing us in the Enugu State House of Assembly, Hon Osita Eze and we also have representatives in the House of Representatives, Hon Anayo Befford Onwuegbu and the Senate, Distinguished Senator Osita Ngwu. Unfortunately, they have all abandoned Awlaw to her fate since their emergence to represent our community since 2023,” he said.
“It is in the public domain that every community in Nigeria is entitled to at least N100 million Special Intervention Fund annually in Zonal Intervention Project, ZIP. Someone must have been collecting Awlaw’s intervention funds for the past four years,” he added.
Mr. Imah further noted that Awlaw shares boundaries with Anambra and Abia states, but the linking roads are in a deplorable state. “Something must be done to open up our community economically and aid ease of movement and doing business,” he said.
The ASCODI Coordinator and the Founder of CENSTLEYO alleged that government representatives have been shortchanging the people by diverting hundreds of millions of Naira yearly that should have been used to revive critical infrastructures in Awlaw.
He said the group developed a Strategic Plan and organized town hall engagements with political aspirants to extract commitments and facilitate funding through Zonal Intervention Projects and Constituency Projects.
“Unfortunately, these politicians agree to our proposals only to renege immediately after assuming office,” he stated.
Mr. Imah further alleged that instead of honouring the Memorandum of Understanding signed with the community, some politicians return to distribute token amounts to individuals to cause division in the community.
He also claimed that an aide to a Sen. Osita Ngwu threatened that plans have been concluded to assassinate him for mobilizing residents to demand their rights.
Reaffirming his commitment to ensure Awlaw competes favourably with other communities, Mr. Imah said anyone who has criminally undermined the community will face Nigeria’s anti-graft agencies.
At the end of the tour, he trained over 300 Awlaw indigenes at the GTN Tabansi Civic Centre, Ubaha Awlaw on how to facilitate ***hold duty bearers accountable. He also called on Awlaw people in the diaspora to “think home.”
Efforts to get the Awlaw PG to present his own side of the story as concerning the twenty bundles of roofing sheets that is alleged to be in his custody for the past six months proved abortive as he couldn’t take his calls, when called by our Correspondent.
Attempts made to get the reaction of Enugu State Commissioners for Education and Health over issues raised by ASCODI, also proved abortive.