Angry youths of Odot 3 Ward 1 in Nsit Atai Local Government Area of Akwa Ibom State, Monday, staged a peaceful protest to condemn the long years of neglect and marginalization against the community since the return of democracy in 1999 till date.
Youths of the community which hosts the headquarters of Nsit Atai Local Government Area as early as 10 a.m. stormed the PDP Secretariat with placards demanding their political inclusion in the politics of the area.
Some of the inscriptions on the placards read: “Odot 3 Has Been Neglected Politically and Infrastructurally,’’ ‘‘Odot 3 Is the Least Developed Local Government Headquarters in Akwa Ibom State,’’ ‘‘Retire Hon Lawrence Udosen From Politics Now,’’ ‘‘Odot 3 Is Not An Individual’s Property.”
Speaking with our correspondent on the protest, the Youth Leader of Odot 3 Ward 1, Comrade Ubong Edemikoh attributed the political woes of the community to bad leadership and high handedness of Hon. Lawrence Udosen, the State PDP Deputy Chairman in Akwa Ibom State.
The youth leader lauded the leadership style of Governor Umo Eno who in his magnanimity had instructed party leaders to adhere strictly to the zoning arrangements in their respective local government areas.
Edemikoh accused Hon. Udosen who doubles as the ward leader of the party of playing selfish politics, citing a recent case of which he said the party leader singlehandedly nominated the Councillorship aspirant for Odot Ward 1, without considering the interest of other political stakeholders in the ward.
According to Edemikoh, lack of political inclusion in the Ward has raised a lot of tension ahead of the forthcoming local government elections.
He called on the party to address the perceived injustice by offering more people of the area other appointments including the office of a Vice Chairman, Council Secretary and Supervisor.
Doing this, the youths leader reasoned, would engender peace and stability in the local government area, as well as compensate the people of the ward for the long years of neglect since the advent of PDP in the state.
Also speaking, Mr Dan Edemikoh said the leaders in the area have failed to carry members of the party along at the just-concluded Ward congress in Odot 3 Ward 1, accusing them of being sentimental in deciding who gets what ahead of the forthcoming local government polls in the state.
He said the people have not felt the impact of their leader who doubles as the State Deputy Chairman of the party in the State, hence their agitation for the party to retire some sit-tight politicians to allow the younger persons to fill in such positions in the future.
Edemikoh maintained that the development has hindered the expected development of Odot 3 hence their agitation for more political inclusion in the politics of the local government area.
He used the forum to call on Governor Umo Eno to upgrade Central School, Odot to a model primary school in the area, since, according to him, the school has been used as the venue for all political activities in the area since 1979.
Also speaking during the protest, a Community Leader, Mr E. B. Okon lamented about the completion of the Methodist Primary School Odot, a project he said was awarded to the political leader of the Ward, stressing such actions have the community backward.
He, therefore, appealed to the State Government to work towards the completion of the project to enhance the educational development of the children in the community.
Reacting to the weighty allegations, the State Deputy Chairman of the Party, Hon Lawrence Udosen described the protesters as greedy, adding that the protesters were those who recently joined the PDP from the All Progressives Congress (APC).
In a telephone interview with Udosen on Monday, he explained that the aggrieved party members had approached him as the political leader in the Ward for people of Odot 3 Ward 1 to produce the next Councillor in the Ward, of which after due consultation have produced an aspirant which appears not favourable to protesters, of which he said are from a particular family.
According to him, the party stakeholders could not yield to their demand because the recently nominated Councillorship aspirant was deservingly compensated for his past sacrifices in the party, adding that the Edemikoh family should queue behind and not be dissatisfied, or should look for other alternatives rather than resort to blackmail.
