*Monarch, indigenes cry for government attention
Enugu State governor, Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi
Ugwuanyi Mother to Infant child
mortality is very high in the community since there is no single
maternity, health center or hospital in the community.
Many are the afflictions of Amaja
people, a border community in Enugu –Ezike, Igbo-Eze North Local
Government Area, Enugu State. Buffeted on every side by
underdevelopment, insecurity, lack of all the basic amenities of life,
the people are lying prostrate praying that someday, they will be
remembered by the government and their story will change for the better.
Situated twelve (12) kilometers North
East of Igbo-Eze North local government area, Amaja shares common
boundaries with Ofante in Kogi State in the North, Adupi, Benue State in
the East, Okpo in Igbo-Eze North in the South and Igogoro, Igbo-Eze
North in the West. The community is comprised of six villages namely
Etema, Idobe, Nkpunato, Idoko Ochi, Odu and Ogene.
Known as the last Igbo speaking
community in Enugu –Ezike before Igala in Kogi state, analysts who
describe the community as the end of Enugu State may not be far from the
truth judging by the dearth of any amenity to make life meaningful.
Visit the community and you will be forced to shed tears.
The community was in the news recently
for the wrong reason-the midnight invasion of the homestead of Marcel
Abba Ossai by yet to be identified killers who slit the throats of the
couple with a sharp knife in their separate bedrooms.
Though, three months after, the
perpetrators of the wicked act have not been found, the gruesome murder
of both husband and wife turned the rustic village into a destination
point for newshounds and law enforcement agents.
It was in the course of monitoring
events over the killings that the reporter visited the community and saw
firsthand the sufferings of the people occasioned by long years of
government neglect.
Ordinarily, driving from Ogrute, the
headquarters of Igbo-Eze North local government area to Amaja community
under good road network may not take more than twenty minutes, but owing
to the deplorable condition of the roads, it takes about 1 hour 40
minutes to enter the community through so many detours and turns with
the use of motorcycle. The bulk of the people of the community residing
in various towns outside the community park their vehicle either at
Ogrute or another neighbouring community and either trek home or board a
cyclist.
The road to Amaja is dotted with many
gullies, shallow rivers occasioned by flooding that never dries up even
in the dry season before the next rainy season catches up with it.
But for the luxury of few people from
the community who were able to purchase the small generators popularly
known as I beta pass my neighbour, many children, elders and youths from
the community that have not travelled outside the community have never
seen an electric light in their lifetime not to talk of knowing that
it’s possible to use light from the public source without the noise of a
generating set.
The network service providers also
rejected the Amaja people that most phone users in the community climb
trees to access network and call their loved ones with a cell phone.
Portable water supply is also a rare
commodity in the community. According to the United Nations Children’s
Fund (UNICEF), about 66 million people in Nigeria do not have access to
safe water, while over 110 million lacked access to improved sanitation.
As a result, about 150,000 children under the age of five are estimated
to die annually largely due to diarrhea related diseases that are
mostly associated with unsafe drinking water.
In Amaja community, after many years of
relying on water sourced and preserved during the rainy season, the
reporter was told that under the local government administration of
Chief Chijioke Ugwu, a borehole was dug for the community but the shoddy
manner in which it was done at the twilight of the administration makes
the engine nonfunctional most times of the year leading to acute water
scarcity.
Mother to Infant child mortality is very
high in the community since there is no single maternity, health center
or hospital in the community.
Narrating the predicament of the people
in relation to health matters, Linus Asanya, a middle aged man who lost
his beautiful wife, Regina to the cold hands of death on 13th March 2015
told Oriental News that life is hellish for them in Amaja village.
“My wife was pregnant and the only
option was to go to Ogrute the local government headquarters for
antenatal care. We went there to register but knowing the terrain of our
community in terms of access roads and means of transportation, it is
like warfare whenever any emergency situation occurs.
“Such was my wife’s case because she
suddenly went into labour one evening like that. Before we could seek
for a commercial cyclist, she started bleeding. We ran helter-skelter in
search of help but to no avail. There was nowhere or nobody to rush to
for quick medical attention. When we finally found our way to Ogrute
with all the gullies, gallops, and swimming on the road we had to
undergo, my beloved wife died and we came back with her corpse for
burial.
When the reporter visited the moribund
Amaja Community Basic Health Centre, it was a pitiable sight to behold.
The hospital built in 1983 has been in total ruins for almost two
decades now. Already swallowed with a thick bush, the place is now an
unhindered breeding ground for wild animals and rodents.
Taking a guided tour of the abandoned
hospital, one is apprehensive of being bitten by snakes and other
dangerous reptiles since the entrance, Doctor’s consulting rooms,
laboratory section, maternity, conveniences, dispensary section, and
antenatal clinic and so on were in total ruins. It evokes tears seeing
once beautiful structures reduced to monumental effigy while the people
are dying for lack of medical attention.
Traditional Ruler of the Community, Igwe
(Amb) Ignatius Atlas Idoko, the Ohabuike 1 of Amaja told Oriental News
in an emotion laden voice said that apart from Regina Asanya earlier
reported to have died of complications from childbirth because of
absence of medical facilities, another woman, Blessing Ojobor also died
recently in such circumstance and they represent many including men and
children suffering the same fate.
He said that the most painful aspect of
the whole situation was the fact that despite many years of the health
centre being moribund, some government staff that doesn’t even visit
their community reportedly collects salaries claiming to be staff of the
centre.
Giving a holistic view of the situation
in the community, Igwe Atlas made a passionate appeal to His Excellency,
Governor Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi to put Amaja as one of the topmost community
in his priority list.
The traditional ruler said that the
community needs at least two police posts for security, at least one
tarred road that will link them to the local government headquarters
because according to him, driving into their community is an invitation
for migraine headache and fixing of the community health centre.
He said that school facilities is
another issue in the area and acknowledged the fact that the neglect of
their community has been a long standing phenomena from all the past
regimes both military and civilian in Enugu and Old Anambra State but
expressed optimism and confidence in Ugwuanyi’s leadership to change the
situation.
He noted that there was serious
political reawakening among his people during the electioneering
campaign as they voted massively for Ugwuanyi during the polls and that
they have started counting the day their story will change under the
present administration.
The Youth leader of the community,
Charles Onuh, an Abuja based businessman while adding his voice to the
situation said that there were times when they were asking questions
whether they are really part of Enugu state. He noted that it is not a
crime to be in a border community and gave example of another Enugu
-Kogi border community called Etteh whom he said that despite the fact
that some section of the community are agitating to belong to Kogi, all
the basic facilities like schools, health center, courts, police
station, electricity and water were provided for them by the
government.
But all hope is not lost as there is
really a flicker of hope in the horizon for the people going by what the
Chief Press Secretary to the Governor, Uwakwe Abugu said when contacted
by the reporter. Abugu in a chat with Oriental News pleaded with
various communities to have faith and wait for the governor who is
barely six months in office.
He noted that there are almost 400
communities in Enugu state with various challenges facing each of them
too but disclosed that the Ugwuanyi administration is already tackling
rural development gradually as part of his four point agenda.
He disclosed that the administration has
already began road construction across different parts of the state
even in this time of dwindling revenue but assured that Amaja just like
other areas will not be forgotten.
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