A member of the House of Representatives, representing Ado/Okpokwu/Ogbadigbo federal constituency of Benue State, Hon. Francis Otta Agbo has pledged to donate his four-year salary to his Constituents who are mostly widows and orphans for their upkeep.
Hon Agbo who is also the Chairman House Committee on Narcotics made the pledge in Abuja during an interactive session with a delegation of Ijigban/Ulayi/Ekile Communities of Ado Local government area of Benue State, led by Hon. Emmanuel Ogaba.
The lawmaker who said the token would assist in ameliorating the plight of the people of the area who have been totally neglected by successive administrations pleaded for the urgent need to address the neglect of Ado, Okpokwu, Ogbadibo Federal Constituency in the area of infrastructure and Federal appointments.
Hon. Agbo regretted that though over one million of Ijigban/Ekile/ Ulayi people were contributing immensely to the economy of the State, especially in Agriculture, they remained the most neglected, in terms of infrastructure and employment in the state and federal civil service.
“I want to use this medium to tell the world, how marginalised the Enone people are and particularly the people of Ulayi, Ekile and Ijigban. I agree with the leader of the delegation who just said that the Nigerian state has forgotten the Ulayi, Ekile and Ijigban Community. I can not agree less! My people are still in darkness
“These communities are the only ones in the whole of Nigeria, without electricity, roads, water and development of any kind; there is no single person in this communities, employed in the Federal civil service, no officer in the Nigerian military, Police, the Customs, Immigration, Fire Service, and the Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps”, he decried.
The lawmaker pleaded with the Federal government to “intervene and save my people from backwardness.
He commended Governor Samuel Ortom of Benue State, for appointing an Ijigban son, Mr Sunday Agbaji, as a Commissioner for Benue State Independent Electoral Commission (BSIEC).
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The lawmaker hinted that he had already lobbied for the inclusion in the 2020 budget, projects in Okpokwu, Ogbadibo and Ado local governments including the Rijo-Ekile road, hospital in Ijigban, and so on, and hoped that the government of President Buhari would release adequate funding for the projects to be executed
Earlier, Mr Ogaba, the leader of the delegation had said that the courtesy visit became necessary in order to encourage the lawmaker to lobby for the mass employment of his Constituents in the state and federal civil service and the security agencies.
According to Ogaba, ” it is very unfortunate to point out here that you can not find a single officer in the nation’s security forces from this locality, either serving or retired or even dead
“This is in spite of the numerous graduates that have been produced by these communities through their sweat. We, therefore, need deliberate urgent action that will produce officers in the forces from this area”
and then