The Okoroiti community in Eastern Obolo Local Government Area of Akwa Ibom State has lamented that for seven years now its residents had yet to have access to clean drinking water.
This was made known during a community dialogue on “Wellness and resistance building” organised by an Ecological Think Tank, Health of Mother Earth Foundation, at Okoroiti village hall, Eastern Obollo LGA.
Speaking with our correspondent on Tuesday, one of the participants, Bathelomew Araguja, decried the level of government’s absence in the community, despite being a host to three oil companies in the area.
He said despite their huge contributions to both the state and national economy through their natural resources, they lack basic social amenities such as clean water, electricity, access roads, and hospitals among others.
While calling on the government to urgently look into the plights of the community, Araguja noted that the absence of electricity supply had slowed down economic activities.
Araguja said, “Our community has been neglected for a long time, we don’t have any access road, what we have is only track roads, no clean water over seven years now or more we don’t even have light in our community. So many of us need light to do our work like salons, joints, photocopying, etc. We want the government to look into this and help us
“We have graduates in our community but no employment even some of us have skills yet we won’t be employed in these companies because we don’t have anybody.”
Also speaking, Rose Donald Ogwunte, said the people over the years have suffered poor yield in their farms and fishing activities due to oil exploration and spills.
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She noted that both the oil companies and government have failed to play their part irrespective of repeated calls from the community.
In his remarks, the Program Manager, HOMEF, Stephen Oduware in an interview wondered how a community that hosts three oil companies and has abundant natural resources could be so economically backward without basic social amenities.
He, however, pledged HOMEF’s readiness to partner with them and other CSOs to amplify their voices to address some of these nagging issues.
The Coordinator of Peace Point Development Foundation (PPDF) Umo Isua-Ikoh, wondered if there were politicians or government representatives from that area adding that it was high time the government began to give a human face to the plights of the people and address some of these challenges.
“It is high time the government began to do their part so that we give the community a human face, it is even a pity that politicians coming out of this community once they win the election, they turn their eyes the other way,” he observed.