The indigenes of Mgbowo Town in Awgu Local government Area of Enugu State, have becried over a certain uncompleted Mgbowo dam.

UGAMATV gathered this, in the course of the delegatory visit to from the town to the Enugu Residence of the Deputy Minority leader, House of Representative, Rt. Hon. Toby Okechukwu, on Monday.

Heading the delegation, were the monarchs of the two autonomous communities of Mgbowo town, Igwe Engr. John Ibeh (Ohabuenyi II of Ekpulambo Mgbowo) and Igwe Gregory Ituma (Onyima II of Ekpulato Mgbowo).

The Mgbowo dam, has always been the major economic source of the Agrarian Mgbowo town, providing a wide range of irrigation options for their farms, fishery, Source of water and Economy generation.

In 2004, the Construction project of the dam was attracted by a reputable son of Mgbowo, Dr. Casmir Ojioke, former perm. Sec of the ministry of water resources, however, it was barely completed, hence hampering the economic activities going on therein.

As a former director of the Federal ministry of works, Igwe Engr. John Ibeh reiterated that those rumors mongers do so out of ignorance of the steps in procurement of contracts.

In his speech, Igwe Gregory Ituma, recalling the ancestral bond between the Ugbo and Mgbowo towns, thanked Barr. Okechukwu for his constant interest in the welfare of his constituents.

He also appealed to him to ignore every manner of rumor by their indigenes and continue with his good works in their town, particularly in the Mgbowo dam.

In an Interview with our correspondents , Prof. Jude Udenta explained that they made this visit to explain their stand in the ongoing spread of rumors about the dam on social media.

In his words, he said, ” it is important that we disentangle our selves from those social media rumors, as Rt. Hon. Toby, has been nothing but a good and exceptional representative to all of us in Mgbowo.”

Also, to appeal to the Honourable to neglect the horrendous rumours and continue his intervention on the construction of the dam.

He however, said that the dam provides an economic hub for the area, given that Fishery,  Agricultural and other economic activities are completely linked to it.

Again, they dissociated themselves from the social media campaign by some of their sons, stating that the whole community should not be subject to the consequences of one man’s crime.

Recall, that the youth of the Afore mentioned town had also identified with the lawmaker, seperating themselves from any possible affiliations with those rumors.

They also pledged their undying support and allegiance to the eminent lawmaker, with the hope of continually partaking in the dividends of democracy.

It is noteworthy, that Barr. Okechukwu, attracted construction of the National Biotechnology research center Mgbowo, the school buildings at the community primary school, Ngelelator Achala Mgbowo, amongst other developmental feats.

In his reply, Rt. Hon. Okechukwu, reiterated that prior to his emergence as the constituency representative, he assumed the Dam Construction was completed, given that it has since been awarded in 2004. However, this notion Change, when the project was brought to his notice by some Mgbowo indigene, in Abuja.

He then, Intervened in 2017/2018, in the construction of the speedway and other necessities in the dam. 

“Also, given the process taken before the procurement of a contract, those rumor mongers obviously operate with lack of information”, he said.

However, neglecting the baseless assumptions on the social media, he enjoined them to liaise with the contractor of the dam and get an actual estimate, then Write a letter to the Ministry of water resources, copying his office. Then, he can continue from there.