Akwa Ibom community vows to resist realignment of East-West road

The people of Oron ethnic group in Akwa Ibom state have promised to resist any attempt to realign and alter the original plan for the East-West road which was designed to cross from Oron River in Akwa Ibom State to Calabar in Cross River State.

The out- going president general of Oron Union, Dr Effiong Edunam who spoke at the 2017 Annual General Meeting/Conference (AGM) of the union held in Oron civic centre yesterday, said the original plan and designed of the road must be maintained, because any alteration will amount at spoiling the essence of the road.

Edunam, a former commissioner for education in Akwa Ibom State said, “Most of us are familiar with the infamous attempt to drastically alter the alignment of the East-West road from Oron town.

We stalwartly resisted the attempt and reached a compromise for a take-off point behind the Oron Museum, the consequence of this needless diversionary pursuit is that the job is delayed as the new route is being designed.”

He however lamented that all the oil companies operating in Oron territory have completely short-changed the people, because the people have already been tired of the idea of giving token and meretricious gifts, when they are exploring the area, even with hazardous effects they always left in the environment.

He challenged all the oil companies operating in the area to prove the benefits of their operations to the people in the last 40 years, adding that already, the union has taken the case to the Nigeria Content Development and Monitoring Board in Yenagoa, Bayelsa State and found out that all the oil companies operating in the territorial waters and lands of Oron were in breach of the law.

The erudite academics accused the board members who made a trip to the Council of Oro Traditional Rulers, (COTR) for trying to collude with the oil companies in order not to produce any report on their trip since last year, adding that the people of Oron have no other option than to make a case to the National Assembly for remedy.

He said the struggle of the people earn the implementation of the 2012 resolution of the National Assembly classifying the five local governments of the area as oil producing is still ongoing and will yield a positive result, because Oro the highest major oil producing areas in Akwa Ibom State which makes the state number one oil producing state in the country.

The Managing Director of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), Obong Nsima Ekere who was the special guest at the conference, explained that the commission has invested more than N221,78 billion in 1068 projects covering roads, infrastructure.

Education, water supply, shore protection and information technology since 2002 in Akwa Ibom south senatorial district where Oro belongs.

Ekere who was represented at the occasion by Chief Okon Osung, a former Chairman of Akwa Ibom state local government commission, said in 2018 alone, NDDC is budgeting more than N4billion for the renovation and upgrade of learning environments across the Niger Delta states, which Akwa Ibom will also take a lion share as the number one oil producing state in the country.

He promised the resolved of the commission to upgrade the foremost secondary school in Akwa Ibom State and then South-Eastern state, the Methodist Boys’ High School, Oron to a centre of learning excellence, as it used to be when the early Methodist missionaries established the institution in 1905.

Ekere explained that the school in early 90’s was seen as a national pride, where prominent Nigerians were trained, adding that NDDC cannot just sit and see the institution dying.

During the conference, a keynote address on the topic, “Restructuring Nigeria: Implication and prospects for Oro Nation” was presented by associate Professor of Communication Arts, University of Uyo, Dr Peter Esuh.

Bassey Willie, Uyo