Utugwang cries out over two-year power outage, bad roads

By Okpashi David Odama

The Utugwang Nation, comprising eight clans in Obudu Local Government Area of Cross River State, has appealed to Governor Bassey Otu, the electricity distribution company and other elected representatives to urgently address the total power outage being experienced in the community.

Residents said the community has been without electricity for more than two years, a situation they said has worsened economic hardship and insecurity while making it difficult for households and businesses to operate effectively.
Similarly, the major access road linking Utugwang through the hometown of the Deputy Speaker of the Cross River State House of Assembly, Hon. Sylvester Agabi, is said to be in a deplorable and inaccessible condition, worsened by the heavy rains this season.
According to residents, “No government has given this road any attention for more than two decades now.”
Traders and artisans have lamented that the absence of electricity is severely affecting businesses and market activities, with many counting losses as perishable food items continue to spoil due to the inability to preserve them.
Expressing frustration over the prolonged situation, the National President of Utugwang Solidarity Group, Professor Moses Agana, said the appeal had become imperative because of the untold hardship, increased insecurity and other challenges confronting the people.
He said, “We therefore want to call on the Governor of Cross River State, our elected representatives, and other appropriate agencies to intervene without further delay to restore stable electricity supply and ease the hardship being experienced in the area.”
The community, he added, hopes that swift action would be taken to prevent further economic losses and improve the living conditions of residents.
“It is disheartening to note that Utugwang Nation, which shares a boundary with Benue State to the North, Boki Local Government to the South and Bekwarra to the west, with a population of over 700,000 out of about 5 million, is surviving without electricity, adequate portable water supply, accessible rural roads and other social amenities,” Agana said.
He lamented that the prolonged neglect was driving people and businesses away from the community.
“Strangers who came to live among us are packing and leaving. Businesses that feed families are shutting their doors. Houses that once rang with laughter now stand empty.
“We are not asking for charity. We are asking to be seen. We are asking our leaders and fathers, those who carry the responsibility of this nation, to look at Utugwang Nation and feel the shame of what we have been reduced to.
“To every leader, every representative, every father with influence, we are on our knees appealing to you. Act now, before there is nothing left to save our people,” he appealed.
Speaking further, Professor Agana challenged the illustrious sons and daughters of Utugwang Nation to rise to the urgent need to restore the community’s culture, values and traditions, which he said were fast disappearing.
“We owe it a duty to our generation yet unborn to preserve our culture, tradition and values fast going into extinction. We must stand up and change the narrative for the benefit of our people,” the university don declared.