Udu Groups blast commissioner Aniagwu over comment on Udu protests
‘He is an arrogant opportunist’
Following the reaction of the Delta State Commissioner for Works (Rural Roads) and Information, Mr Charles Aniagwu to the protest staged by a coalition of Udu civil society groups over the shoddy state of Udu roads, convener of some of the groups have taken a swipe at the commissioner over his dismissive reaction to the protests warning that the type of Aniagwu and his arrogant posture are the problems government face over the years.
In a statement signed by Mr. Famous Akpojotor for Udu Kingdom Initiative for Development, Comrade Goodluck Mukoro for Emancipation Movement for Udu Progress and Chief Onoriosen Tataunu for Save Udu Forum, the Coalition stressed that the dismissive and arrogant remarks by the Commissioner reaffirm its position that the neglect and marginalisation of Udu by successive state governments was deliberate.
The Coalition carpeted the Commissioner for attempting to justify the neglect under the guise of 'lack of overwhelming support’ for the Governor in the last election, noting that such rhetoric by the Commissioner, whom they described as an opportunist, was an act of putting a wedge between the Governor and the Udu people.
Countering the ‘malicious claims’ by the Commissioner, the Coalition highlighted that Udu polled more votes than many local governments, including Ika, Uvwie and Ethiope East, in the last governorship election, whereas several landmark projects have been initiated and completed for those LGAs in the last two years.
The Udu groups stated that Udu votes for Governor Sheriff Oborevwori were nearly equal to those from Okpe and Ukwuani, which are 11th and 12th on the scoreboard, respectively.
The Coalition insisted that the failure of the Commissioner to mention a project initiated and completed in Udu in the last two years further affirms the allegations of neglect and marginalization, insisting further that Udu was deserving of what it was demanding from the state government.
‘’Rather than sit in Asaba issuing misleading statements, Aniagwu should conduct an evaluation visit to Udu to assess the level of work in the listed projects. Some of the projects, which happened to be under the purview of Mr. Aniagwu, are only on paper, while others have been abandoned since the beginning of the year. The Udu Harbour Market he mentioned has been under construction for over a decade, during which time, the state has completed similar markets in the other local governments’’, the group said, calling on Governor Sheriff Oborevwori to call his ‘arrogant commissioner’ to order and act fast to address the concerns to avert the imminent mass protests, which is gaining momentum across Udu communities.
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