Constituency projects ought to be initiatives seeing to the development of rural communities, but reverse is the case in Ogbaku, Mbaitoli Local Government Area in Imo state where expectations of citizens on social amenities are not being met.
Tracka is a citizen-driven platform that allows people monitor capital projects in their communities, in a bid to strengthen transparency and accountability in governance whilst compelling elected representatives to improve service delivery in their constituencies.
The Tracka Team conducted a sensitization exercise in the Ogbaku suburbs of Mbaitoli to inspect the renovation of two classroom blocks at Comprehensive Secondary school Ogbaku, which was captured in the federal government’s 2017 constituency projects for N8 million. The said project is yet to commence as at the time of the visit. Ogbaku is made up of four autonomous communities namely Okwu, Ogbujioma, Nsokpor and Isi Ogbaku . The only public school serving the four communities is the Comprehensive Secondary School which is presently in a state of disrepair.
During the visit to Ogbaku, residents were sensitized and encouraged to engage with their representatives and demand updates on project implementation. The Chairman for Ezumezu, Ogbaku Association Inc, Prof. Uche Nkwogu disclosed to the BudgiT’s Project Tracking Officer, Maduwuba Smart Uzo that consistent calls made to legislators representing the constituency in the national assembly to report the abandoned state of the school had yet to yield the result.
He further mentioned that for two years running, the Junior block of the school has been a death trap, prompting the school authority to move junior students to a neighboring primary school to continue learning while the renovation of the dilapidated is being awaited. While awaiting the attention of government for project implementation, the Ezumezu Association comprising the four Autonomous communities have taken to a communal fund-raising effort in order to ensure work is started in the school.
Abandoned school building
Aside construction of classrooms, Prof Nkwogu listed other amenities required by the school to include boreholes, toilet facilities, renovation of fences, rehabilitation of staff offices, equipping of laboratories and security provisions.
Prof Nkwogu also mentioned that there is a high demand for potable water in some communities where residents cannot afford to sink boreholes to serve their water needs. He did not leave out the lapses in the power supply as well as the bad state of roads in some villages in Ogbaku.
Tracka is poised to ensuring service delivery through community sensitization and engagement of rural communities across Nigerian states by enlightening citizens of their rights to dividends of democracy.
