Some of the Dignitaries at the Inauguration of NDU, Abuja Chapter.
By Victor Chukwuemeke
The people of Ndokwa East had called on the relevant authorities’ in the country to develop the area, and make it part and parcel of Nigeria.
The call was made at the formal inauguration of the Ndoshimili Development Union (UDU), Abuja Chapter on Saturday 12 September, 2015 as the Ndoshimili Development Union (NDU) with an interim committee setup to pioneer the affairs of the body.
According to them, despite the various contribution of the region to the economic development of Delta state, and Nigeria, the area had suffered lack of infrastructural attention, as virtually all the roads in the area are not motorable.
His Royal Highness, Emmanuel Obiechina, the Ako of Akai Kingdom
They also used the occasion to ask for bridges across the rivers in the area, so that their farm products can be easily evacuated.
In the course of the event which was held in the Palace of His Royal Highness, Emmanuel Obiechina, the Ako of Akai Kingdom, the Ako thanked everyone for sacrificing their precious time in a most crucial time where every minute is important to everyone.
HRH Obiechina appreciated and emphasised on the commitment of the NDU Lagos which has been in existence for years and further appreciated the likes of Dr. Titus Obiora, Ifeanyi Ogiriki Daniel amongst other prominent sons and daughters of Ndokwa East for their ceaseless efforts in drawing the attention of the relevant authorities to the challenges facing the area using the social media as a tool.
He used same opportunity to call on everyone present to reach out to other persons around the FCT to attend the NDU meeting as that will be the only avenue through which they will learn to know one another and get use to the challenges facing them back home and profer solution to them through one voice.
The Royal Highness briefly enlightened the gathering about how the word NDOWKA came about, he said
“I want to thank everyone present for your time and I want to encourage everyone to spread the good news of what happened today, indeed, today is a remarkable day in the history of Ndokwa Easterners in Abuja. It is when we come together like this that we can discuss the future of Ndosumili and learn about the development of the place, for instance, a lot of us never knew how Ndokwa came about. Ndokwa is a combination of Ndosumili and Ukwuani, while Ndosumili are people living in riverine areas, the Ukwuani are people living on a dry land.
As part of the agenda for the gathering, some prominent sons and daughters present expressed concern over the under-development that has rocked the area and that they are yet to attract the attention of the government despite their contributions to State and National Economic Development.
In an interview section, Dr. Titus Obiora who hails from Abala-unor retereited that the essence of setting up the Abuja Chapter is to ensure that the Abuja sons and daughters add their voice to the development of the area.
“The idea is to activate the Abuja Chapter of Ndosumili Development Union, to give an edge to the NDU national activities in Lagos and also to lend support to the efforts of the youths and encourage them for demanding accountability from the various elected officials. He said.
He lamented that, despite the level of agricultural productivity of the people, the Ndosumili have never had the opportunity of good roads amongst other infrastructures that will aid their struggles for a better living.
Others who aired their views lamented abandonment and total neglect by the government through their elected representatives both in the LGA, State and the Federal.
Among the dignitaries that graced the event are Mr. Ndudi Larry Ossai, a Senior Civil Servant at the State House Abuja, Dr. Aisha Nonye Obodoike, a US-based Health Specialist and Consultant to NAFDAC, Dr. Titus Obiora, an ICT Consultant.
