ABANDONED OGURUGU AIRPORT AND SEA-JETTY (SEA-PORT)

ABANDONED OGURUGU AIRPORT AND SEA-JETTY (SEA PORT):  

TALES OF THE ABANDONED TREASURES & GLORY OF IGBO NSUKKA

In our quest to revitalize rejuvenate and re-galvernize Igbo Nsukka to reclaim all her lost glory and treasures, IGBO NSUKKA UNITED FRONT sent a delegation to the coastal town of Ogurugu in Uzo-Uwani local government area of Enugu State for on-the-spot assessment of what is left of the only Sea-Port used by the Colonialists in Northern Igbo Land and the Airport, initially started as an Aerodrome by the Military Regime of General Olusegun Obasanjo.

What our delegation discovered in the course of the voyage is enough to make a giant break down in tears. 

Ogurugu, a coastal town which, if it had been handled differently by the succeeding governments, should today be at similar level of development and city awareness with Onitsha Anambra State because of its (Ogurugu) historical connection with the early European (whitemen) traders, the UAC, JOHN HOLT etc who traded in local produce like Palm Oil, Palm kernel, timber logging, fishes etc. All these goods/wares were either produced or brought to OGURUGU port from all over Igbo Nsukka from where they were shipped to Onitsha, Lokoja and outside world.

 

Today the OGURUGU town is a ghost of it's itself, artifacts of European presence littered the town.

THE OGURUGU AIRPORT

Airport in OGURUGU Uzouwani may sound like story from the space or a fairytale but it's empirically true and real.

It was an Airport said to be awarded by the Military regime of Gen Olusegun Obasanjo. At the airport, we found solid structures in a vast expanse of land. We found the runway, the tarmac, the control stations and other things that make up an Airport or Airstrip with a glaring evidence, that the facility has suffered total abandonment, deterioration and looting. 

The most surprising finding we made at the Airport was the conversion of the Aerodrome facility to personal use by the former Minister of Commerce and Industry, Mr. Charles UGWU. It was revealed that he was using it for milling and re-bagging of rice, using his Company name, Tara Agro Company Ltd.

In our chat with a community leader named ONWUEME MOSES who happens to be the son of the Eze Ala that donated the land to the Federal Government for the construction of the Airport between 1977 and 1978, we were made to understand that a man named CLEMENT CHINEDU from Imo state claimed that he bought the facility from the Federal Government  and sold it to the Fmr. Minister, MR. CHARLES UGWU, the Director of TARA AGRO COMPANY LTD.   

We also got privy information that the Fmr Minister doesn't want people to know about the existence of such a facility. 

In our interview with one of the Supervisors that worked at the Airport in the 70s, he noted that work stopped at the Airport at the inception of a new government in 1979 and the then civilian government shifted focus away from OGURUGU Airport.

We, in IGBO NSUKKA UNITED FRONT, have resolved to take further steps and get clarifications on how the Land was acquired by the Federal Government,  and why such expanse of Land given to the government by the community for developmental purposes should be converted to private use by the Fmr Minister. (See below, the picturesque of the Airport facilities)

THE OGURUGU SEA-JETTY(SEA PORT) 

Another big modern  facility in OGURUGU town that has been abandoned is the Ogurugu inland Sea Port from where Colonialists entered Northern Igbo Land and where the entire Igbo nation in this side of the world traded their goods and  transported their agricultural products to the outside world especially, through Onitsha.

We were also shown debris of what is left of the Commercial Bank used by Colonialists and Igbo Traders at the Port for transactions in Ogurugu.

From the facts we gathered, the proper reconstruction of the Sea Jetty and the proper dredging of the Omambala/Mabolo River

was attracted by our Govnor, Rt Hon Ifeanyi UGWUANYI when he was  the Chairman, House of Representatives Committee on Marine and Ports Authority. UGWUANYI ensured that the development of the sea jetty commenced in earnest with some construction on the ground, however, the locals we chatted with, stated that work is no longer going on at the Sea Jetty and that they do not know why such life-saving and sustaining facility should be abandoned. (as you can see from the pictures below)

We shall endeavor to interrogate the cause of the abandonment and interface with the relevant Authorities and individuals in order to get the sea-jetty re-started all over again for the economic growth and development of our area and empowerment of our people.

IGGAH OIL FIELDS

Its heart-rending that Oil Fields situated under Iggah Land in Uzo Uwani LGA of Enugu State are today said to be in Anambra State and Anambra State indigenous Oil Company, ORIENT extracting Oil under the Iggah Land.

Till today, Ndi Igbo Nsukka nay Ndi Enugu State are yet to be told why Fmr-President Goodluck Jonathan should commission the Oil Fields at Iggah Community and Anambra State is enjoying the dividends and at same time  declared an Oil Producing State, instead of Enugu State where the Oil fields are located! The benefits of an oil producing state can never be over-emphasised and such benefits should indeed come to Enugu State and not Anambra State. 

We therefore call on all well-meaning sons and daughters of Igbo Nsukka and also the Enugu State Govermnent under our able Leader and our own brother to rise and take a critical look into this outright intimidation and unlawful siphoning of our natural  resources at Iggah and also draw attention into the abandoned OGURUGU Airport, OGURUGU Sea Jetty and other similar projects. 

It's not yet too late in the day to do the needful and properly interrogate what actually happened in those aforementioned abandoned projects.

©️Igbo Nsukka United Front.

(Source: https://www.facebook.com/110389167354007/posts/148143646911892/?app=fbl)