The people of Takete Ide, in MopAmuro Local Government Area of Kogi State have called on the federal and Kogi State governments to come to their rescue, lamenting that the community has been cut off from the National grid and been living in darkness in the past 10 years, with little or no respite in sight yet.
Prince Richard Fiki, President, Takete Ide Progressive Union, who made this distress call on behalf of the community recently at the annual socio-cultural festival tagged ‘Takete Ide Day’, explained that the community’s “major burdens include the collapse of power supply to our community.”
“Yes, we are connected to the national grid on paper, but our community has been in darkness for the better part of the last decade,” Fiki agonized, adding that the construction of a city and other self-help projects are part of the community’s efforts to make life meaningful for residents.
He, therefore, appealed to the State government to come to their aid for rapid infrastructure development of the area.
Fiki, who described the festival as the power of what love can do, charged the people not to extinguish the light of unity and brotherhood that binds them, urging them to be security conscious at all times.
“We do not seek to take your interest in our affairs for granted. However, like Oliver Twist, who always wanted more and at the risk of sounding like a broken record, we want to appeal to you to help find permanent solutions to our infrastructure needs,” he said, addressing the State government.
“The Effo-Takete Ide-Aghara and Takete Ide- Aiyedayo-Iya Roads are in need of total reconstruction. The first road was awarded by the Ibrahim Idris administration in 2008. Unfortunately, it was still ongoing when that government expired in January 2012.
“That was more than a decade ago, and the road has gone from bad to worse.
“Our burdens also include the collapse of power supply to our community. Yes, we are connected to the national grid on paper, but our community has been in darkness for the better part of the last decade,” he lamented.
“We are not unaware that government resources are not unlimited. Thus, our people have always demonstrated commendable zeal for community service. Proceeds of the funds raised included in this program will be ploughed into the completion of our civic centre, a project that we started many years ago, under the leadership of my predecessor, Elder Sam Orunmbe,” Fiki continued.
“As you can all see, our fatherland is in dire need of development. Kindly contribute your own quota. We assure you of the integrity of our financial process. Your money will not be misappropriated.”
The Olude of Ide, Oba Philip Ebilakun, thanked the government for renovating some classroom blocks in the secondary school in the community and approving palliative works on the road and called for more government presence in the area.
Kingsley Fanwo, Commissioner for Information and Communication, who hails from the area, reeled out interventions of the government and reiterated Governor Ododo’s commitment to rural development.
He assured that the requests would gain the government’s attention.
“This community is known for honesty, industry, and transparency. We must promote these wherever we are. People who come from this place are not likely to have problems wherever they are because this community has groomed us to be able to survive wherever we find ourselves.
“We express our strong belief in Gov Ododo’s administration to fix our community access roads. We are also confident in the government for more development infrastructure in our community. One of the things we are proud of is that the government is already fixing our secondary school.
“We are already doing a lot of work there to make it a beautiful one. The project would be completed in no distance. But we want more government presence. I am part of the government, but I will continue to campaign for that,” Fanwo said, affirming Takete-Ide as the centre of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Yagba Federal Constituency.
The ceremony, which featured cultural dances, traditional wedding display, presentation of awards, recitation and quiz, among others, ended with a banquet.
