Youths resort to prayers over Calabar-Itu Road

Youths under the aegis of the South-South Youth Crusaders for Change, on Wednesday, shelved their plan to stage a protest and instead opted for spiritual intervention to draw the attention of the President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.) and Minister of Works and Housing, Babatunde Fashola; Minister of Niger Delta Affairs, Godswill Akpabio; and Senior Special Assistant to the President on Niger Delta, Ita Enang, to the deplorable condition of the Calabar-Itu Road.

The youth said they would not relent in their prayers until the Buhari regime redeemed its promise on the road.

Leading the prayer session, which was held at the Oku Iboku junction, Apostle Idoreyin Godwin, said the youth resorted to prayers because they believed that God would eventually heal the land.

“Many lives have been lost on this road and we are here to seek God’s intervention because we believe that God will heal our land,” Godwin stated.

During the session that lasted about two hours, the youth displayed placards with various inscriptions such as ‘We are not protesting, we are praying’, ‘Buhari help us on this road’, ‘We are cut off from other parts of Nigeria’, and ‘Why to neglect Niger Delta/South-South’, among others.

In his remarks, President of the group, Mr Iniobong Edem, called on Buhari and his aides not to play politics with the road as many lives had been lost already.

He wondered why work had yet to commence on the road, alleging that the President in a national broadcast in 2016 had announced that work had commenced already on the road.

Edem stated, “The President, ministers of Works and Housing, and Niger Delta Affairs, and Senior Special Assistant to the President on Niger Delta, we will not rest until our prayers are heard concerning the completion of the abandoned Calabar-Itu Road.

“We call on them to do away with all excuses and mobilise the construction company, Julius Berger, which they earlier awarded the contract to, for peace to reign at Aso Rock.”

The President of the Association of Ibom Contractors, Lawrence Bassey, who claimed that he impressed on the youth to shelve their protest, noted the frustration on the road and called on the Federal Government to fix the road before it was too late.

He lamented that the road, whose contract was awarded at the same time with others in the country, was still suffering neglect, while thousands of lives were being lost daily on the road.

Earlier, the Secretary, Association of Ibom Contractors, Mr Victor Matthew, said it was worrisome to watch the progress made on other projects, while the Calabar-Itu Road continues to suffer neglect.