Chairman of Khana Local Government area, Martins Nwigbo has declared that his administration would accord top priority to issues of security, empowerment and restoration of power to Khana local government area, especially Bori, the Council headquarters.
Nwigbo, who made the commitment during the first stakeholders meeting of his administration held at the Council Secretariat, Bori, said the move is in line with his administration’s resolve to improve the quality of life of the ordinary Khana people as well as make the area conducive for socio-economic activities.
He decried massive looting and vandalization of Council’s properties, saying it would take resources that would have been used to provide other basic facilities to replace vandalized and looted items.
“We came in to meet a Council that is not in good shape at all. This place cannot be habitable by anybody. There are reptiles and grasses all over the place. To worsen it all our people came here, looted the place and turn everything upside down. This calls for concern. How can we as a people continue like this. This is the only thing we have and our people will come here to loot it”, Nwigbo lamented.
He regretted that while other local government areas where similar skirmishes occured did not record incidents of looting and vandalization, that of Khana was unprecedented.
“Is it because of the level of our own poverty that we will steal our own thing. So I want us as a people to reason together and take ownership of what we have “, he charged.
The Khana Council boss also decried the absence of electricity in Bori, headquarters of the LGA, promising to restore light to the city and Khana communities in phases.
“Bori as a Local Government Headquarters and Traditional Headquarters of the Ogoni people has no light. It has been like that for sometime and nobody seems to care. I think that has to change. We have to install light in Bori in the next one week. If there is no money, I will go and borrow money and start the light”, Nwigbo assured.
He observed that most of the transformers have gone bad and need replacement, but noted that it may be impossible to replace all at the same time.
He also promised to effect work on the Council’s premises and the entrance into the Council to make it conducive.
The Khana Council boss who noted the difficulty in eradicating poverty, said however that poverty could be reduced to the nearest minimum he would do.
He promised to introduce an empowerment program that would provide skills for the youths and make them useful to themselves and society.
“So what I think is some kind of empowerment program, something that they will use their hand to do. Something that will feed them for life. I am not prepared to dash people fish, I am prepared to give them net to catch fish”, he said.
The Khana Council Chairman warned that he would not tolerate a situation where someone somewhere would arrogate the powers of running the Council to himself, asserting that he remains the chairman of the Council and incharge of the affairs of the area.
According to him, “Martins Nwigbo is the Chairman of Council today, if you didn’t want him to be yesterday, he is today. So you have a choice as a people. I will not want a situation where we feel that somebody somewhere else is running the affairs of the Council. I am saying it very clearly and that is the truth”.
He thanked the stakeholders for turning out enmasse for the meeting and solicited their continued and collective support and cooperation .
Stakeholders at the forum included former Council Chairmen, Former members of the Rivers State House of Assembly, former and serving commissioners, members of the academia, business moguls and other professionals, youths and women.
