ABANDONED OGURUGU AIRPORT AND JETTY:
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 d coastal town of Ogurugu in Uzo-Uwani LGA, for on-the-spot assessment of what is left of the only Sea-Port used by d Colonialists in Northern Igbo Land and d Airport, initially started as an Aerodrome by the Military Regime of OBJ

What our delegation discovered in the course of the voyage was heartbreaking

Ogurugu, a coastal town which, if it had been handled differently by the succeeding govts, should today be at similar level of development and city awareness with Onitsha Anambra State..

This is because Ogurugu has a historical connection with the early European 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 Uzo-Uwani may sound like story from the space or a fairytale but it's empirically true and real

It was an Airport said to have been awarded by the Military regime of OBJ

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 shocking finding at the Airport was the conversion of d Aerodrome facility to personal use by the former Minister of Comm. & Indu. , 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.

During our chat with a community leader, ONWUEME MOSES who happened to be the son of the Eze Ala that donated the land to the Fed Gov for the construction of the Airport between 1977 and 1978...

we were informed 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 found out 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 who worked at the Airport in the 70s, he noted that work stopped at the OGURUGU Airport when a new civilian govt came in 1979

We, in IGBO NSUKKA UNITED FRONT, have resolved to take further steps and get clarifications on how d Land was acquired by d Fed Gov, and why such an expanse of Land given to the govt by d community for developmental purposes should be converted to private use by the Fmr Minister

THE OGURUGU JETTY

Another big modern facility in OGURUGU town that has been abandoned is d Ogurugu inland Port from where d Colonialists entered Northern Igbo Land,where entire Igbo nation on ds side traded their goods& moved agric products to d outside world esp, thru 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...

... was attracted by our Gov Ifeanyi UGWUANYI when he was the Chairman, House of Representatives Committee on Marine and Ports Authority

UGWUANYI ensured that the devpt of the sea jetty commenced in earnest with some construction on the ground

However,d locals we chatted with, stated that work was no longer going on at there & that they do not know why such life-saving and sustaining facility shld be abandoned.

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.

IGAH OIL FIELDS

It's heart-rending that Oil Fields situated under Igah 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 Igah Land

Till today, Ndi Igbo Nsukka nay Ndi Enugu State are yet to be told why Fmr President GEJ commissioned the Oil Fields at Igah Community & Anambra State is enjoys the dividends, & 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 Govt to rise and take a critical look

.. Into this outright intimidation and unlawful siphoning of our natural resources at Igah 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

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