Agba, Ahmed, the duo uplifting Edo North infrastructure

By DADA AYOKHAI

 

A mere alarm raised about the lack of any meaningful ongoing infrastructure projects in Edo North senatorial district by the state government, by the former APC national chairman, Comrade Adams Oshiomole, has stuck out like a sore thumb.

The comrade governor, who ruled Edo State for eight uninterrupted years, between 2008 and 2016, drew the  attention to his esteemed audience to the obvious neglect of the district which produced the deputy governor of the state under the present dispensation 

He made his displeasure public while addressing top APC chieftains at an enlarged Edo North caucus meeting. 

Sounding blunt and unrepentant in his characteristic manner of saying it as it is, the import of the comrade governor's assessment was not lost on his audience. 

Some of the few landmark projects currently ongoing in the district and which has helped to propel the district's urban  renewal drive, are those facilitated either by APC lawmakers or  some federal appointees of Edo North extraction.

 Basically, the only semblance of government attention the district enjoys is the one which is coming from the federal government in terms of roads, bridges, provision of water and other infrastructural projects. 

Two Edo North illustrious sons, the duo of Engr Saliu Ahmed and Prince Clem Agba, have been most pivotal in trying to rewrite the history of the district and ensure it is not completely left behind in the race for development.

Prince Clem Agba is the minister of state for budget and national planning, while Engr Saliu Ahmed is the managing director of Benin - Owena River Basin Development Authority, BORDA. 

With a string of life impacting projects scattered all over the senatorial district, these two men have done so much to fill the gap as well as give the people a sense of belongingness.

Since Prince Agba burst onto the political scene, pulled out of the private sector by the former comrade governor and appointed a commissioner, he has lived up to billing. 

Prince Agba's big heart and his untiring effort to accelerate the district's development via the construction and the rehabilitation of numerous rural roads and bridges which serves as vital links in the evacuation and transportation of farm produce and people, has made some Edo North indigenes refer to him as the minister of works irrespective of the ministry he occupies.

 Engr Ahmed, on the other hand, is a top APC chieftain who enjoys massive popularity in the district. He was a top contender for the deputy governorship slot to Pastor Osagie Ize Iyamu   in the September 19 Edo state gubernatorial election.

 

His headship of BORDA has been  quite eventful. If he is not busy turning the sod, he is somewhere within the district initiating projects which will impacts positively on those who fall within the catchment area of the Authority. 

 

 BORDA is now a household name courtesy of Engr Ahmed. He breathed new life into the sleeping giant  from and ensured it delivered on its mandate. 

From the construction of earth dams, bridges, public water works, youth empowerment, roads and others, BORDA is deeply involved in the race to change the face of Edo North.

 For some political reasons, whilst the state government may have somehow tactically decided to shift their attention away  from  the district but the duo of Agba and Ahmed have picked the gauntlet and are making all the difference. 

Both men have not only brought their vast clout and federal might to bear, they have also equally ensured that whatever the district lacks in terms of patronage by the state government is filled by federal presence.