Assemblyman Laments Lack Of Access Road To S’Ijaw

A member of Baye1sa State House of Assembly, Mr Kobowei Benson, has lamented that after 50 years of Independence and 14 years, since Bayelsa state was created by late General Sani Abacha on October 1, 1996, more than 90 per cent of comunities in Southem Ijaw local govemment area are yet to be accessed by road.

The chairman, House Committee on Information, Culture and Tourism, in the Assembly, Mr. Benson, stated this during a courtesy call on him by a socio-political group, the Southern Ijaw Initiative for Equal Co-existence, at the Assembly Complex. According to the lawmaker, representing Southem Ijaw Constituency IV, dividends of democracy should be evaluated based on the standard of living of the electorate and not necessarily on the number of physical structures in an area.

He, therefore, called on political office holders to always put the collective interest of the people above their personal gains, while assuring that he would remain focused in his development initiative for the people of the constituency.

The  honourable member stressed that his develomental initiative for his constituency go beyond the normal constituency projects, adding that he was using part of his allowances to embank on people-oriented projects in the area in a bid to give the people a sense of belonging.

He also called on the federal govemment to commence massive infrastructural development in the Niger Delta region in line with the amnesty programme, to give the people at the grassroots the assurance of govemment’s sincerity in implementing the amnesty programme for ex-militants.

Mr Benson maintained that only a well crafted development agenda could assuage the younger citizens of the nation from anti social vices, adding that the period of militancy brought a lot of set back to the country, resulting in the dwindling oil revenue.

He regretted that after fifty years of political independence, most rural communities in the Niger Delta were still wallowing in abject poverty, even as there were not commensurate social amnesties  to show for the huge oil revenue that was being generated from the region.

He commended the leadership of the Southern Ijaw Initiative for Equal Co-existence, for the visit and promised to carry every body along in this political agenda.

Earlier, the leader of the group, Mr Kemepaomene Fawei, had declared the group’s support for the Lawmaker, in his bid to contest for the state House of Assembly seat, come 201l.

According to him, findings by the group about Mr. Benson showed that he was the most reliable among the aspirants that have indicated interest to contest the Southern Ijaw Constituency IV House of Assembly seat.

He added that despite the daunting challenges, the lawmaker was still able to attract several development projects to communities in the constituency.