Addressing development challenges of border communities
It was, therefore, not surprising to see the entire villagers trooping out to receive the august visitors from Abuja on that day. The community’s opinion leaders and traditional ruler were on hand to listen to the news about the good things to expect after many years of neglect. It is said that the people have […]
It was, therefore, not surprising to see the entire villagers trooping out to receive the august visitors from Abuja on that day. The community’s opinion leaders and traditional ruler were on hand to listen to the news about the good things to expect after many years of neglect. It is said that the people have suffered neglect not because they failed to fulfil their civic obligations such as payment of taxes but because they are residents of border communities. It is, therefore, little wonder then to note that the villagers’ spirit was visibly rekindled when they learnt that the federal government had finally remembered them and has established the BCDA to rescue them from the shackles of underdevelopment.
Mr Adeniyi Farinto, the Chairman of Iwajowa Local Council told the BCDA officials that the border communities in his domain were glaringly deficient in social amenities in the last 50 years. Farinto recalled that citizens in the area always travelled to the Republic of Benin to receive medical treatment in the past before the local government authorities sited a primary health centre in Ayegun.Farinto moaned that construction works at the only federal government health institution in the area had been abandoned by the contractor a couple of years ago, urging the BCDA to compel the contractor to return to site. He called on the federal government to construct the road from Idiko Ago/Ayegun Wasimi to the Nigeria-Benin border to boost agriculture and commerce.
The traditional ruler, Oba Emmanuel Alao, the Alayegun of Ayegun, who was visibly delighted to receive the visiting BCDA officials, noted that their presence would herald a lot of goodies for the border communities. Oba Alao, who spoke on behalf other traditional rulers in the neighbourhood, urged the BCDA to build a secondary school in the area, while constructing a modern bridge on the Opara river.
In response to the communities’ demands, Wills said that the level of neglect suffered by the country’s border communities was appreciable, citing his experience of having to travel on the 45-km road to Ayegun for four hours. He told the people that the BCDA team was touring border communities to have on-the-spot assessment of the myriad challenges facing the inhabitants. Wills explained that the agency was on a mission to identify short-term projects that would have a positive impact on the lives of the people, pledging, however, that the BCDA would only embark on the execution of those projects that were approved by the benefiting communities.
The executive secretary said the BCDA would build schools, provide water and electricity for the people in that order of priority, adding that each of the projects would have a six-month completion period. Saying that state and local governments could not shoulder the responsibility of catering to the development needs of border communities alone, Wills said the federal government had realised the need to become more involved in the communities’ development. “Our experience on the way to Ayegun has made it clear that the construction of good roads was fundamental to the success of other projects in the border communities,’’ he said.
The people were quite happy to listen to Wills’ assurances that they would soon have some life-changing projects but they expressed scepticism about the promises, saying that they had a lot of unfulfilled promises in the past. Wills, however, allayed their fears, adding that such cynicism had no basis this time around since the entire nation’s ministers were on the board of the BCDA. He pledged that issues relating to road construction would be addressed with all seriousness at board meetings, where the minister of works would be adequately briefed about the poor condition of the border communities’ roads.
The plan of the BCDA officials to visit the site of the proposed international market in Okerete in the Saki West Local Government Area was, however, aborted by the terrible state of the road, as the pilot car got tuck in the mud at Eguegun village. The story of Okerete is, however, different from that of Ayegun, as it is not a tale of neglect but that of the improvement of existing facilities to enable them to become functional.
Mr Waheed Adewale, the Chairman of Saki West Local government Area, told the visiting BCDA officials that the federal government had built a standard hospital in Okerete, while the state government had sunk a borehole in the hospital’s premises. He, nonetheless, bemoaned the dearth of hospital equipment, adding that whenever the hospital was adequately equipped, the state and local governments would post health workers there. Adewale said the local council had built a primary school for Okerete community, while funding the perimeter survey of the area. He particularly appealed to the BCDA to help in constructing roads from adjoining communities to Okerete.
The Okere of Saki, Oba Olatoyese Olarinre II, told the BCDA team that his domain was renowned for food production, stressing, however, the need for good roads in the rural communities to encourage farmers to produce more food and guarantee food security. The Okere expressed confidence in the competence of the BCDA to end the sufferings of people living in border communities, urging the agency to revisit abandoned electricity projects in Okerete, Mohan, Owode and Onigbongbo communities in the Saki West Local Government Area of Oyo State.
Wills earlier assured the traditional ruler that the BCDA, which was set up in 2009 to fast track the development of border communities, would provide social amenities for the communities and discourage their inhabitants from crossing to neighbouring countries in search of better life. He said that the construction of Okerete international market would begin very soon, pledging that the BCDA would partner with traditional rulers in bringing relevant projects to the communities. Wills expatiated that the partnership was to enable communities to be fully involved in projects’ execution, as the communities would be able to monitor the contractors’ work, while forestalling projects’ abandonment.
Mr Lawal Adisa, a commercial motorcyclist in Ayegun, said that the agency’s plans and promises should speedily translate into tangible projects that would aid the transformation of the people’s living standards. Mr Timothy Omotoso, a carpenter in the community urged the agency to build police stations and posts in the border communities to check the menace of armed robbers in the neighbourhood. Omotoso advised BCDA to demarcate the border points with brick walls so as to reduce the influx of illegal foreigners into the country.
Mrs Mary Shabi, a trader, and Mrs Benedits Abiola, a beautician, urged the federal government to make the border communities more attractive to tourists by constructing an international market and a modern hotel in the area. They urge BCDA officials to conduct regular assessment visits to border communities to enable them to be acquainted with the challenges facing people living along the borders. (NAN)