For more than three decades, the people of Mgbidi community in Awgu Local Government Area of Enugu State have struggled to complete a bridge project they conceived and funded through communal efforts.
The project has recorded about 55 per cent completion. After exhausting their resources and watching generations come and go without seeing the dream realised, the community is appealing to Governor Peter Mbah and lawmakers from the area to intervene and rescue them from decades of infrastructural isolation.
Speaking with SEV on infrastructural deficit in the community, particularly the stalled bridge project, President-General of Mgbidi Central Union (MCU), Barrister Tochukwu Nzeh, said the community had reached its limit. According to him, what began as a noble self-help initiative over 30 years ago has become too expensive for the people to sustain due to the astronomical increase in the cost of building materials.
“We have done our best as a community, but we can no longer continue. We are appealing to Governor Peter Mbah to come to our aid and help us complete this bridge,” Nzeh said.
The President-General lamented that despite its population, economic contributions and historical significance, Mgbidi has suffered what he described as years of neglect and marginalisation by successive governments.
“There is virtually no government presence in the two autonomous communities that make up Mgbidi. Even our health centre is in a deplorable condition,” he said.
Beyond the abandoned bridge, Nzeh drew attention to the community’s only access road — a seven-kilometre stretch linking Mgbidi to neighbouring Mmaku on the Awgu-Oji River Federal Road.
The road, he said, was originally constructed through communal efforts over a century ago and has remained in a deplorable state ever since.
The road traverses the entire Mgbidi community and terminates at Adani Ezioha village, host to the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) Orientation Camp.
According to him, rehabilitating the road and completing the bridge would not only benefit Mgbidi but also neighbouring communities including Nenwenta, Nkwe and Ezere, whose residents equally depend on the route for transportation and economic activities.
“Besides connecting the two autonomous communities in Mgbidi, this road and bridge, when completed, will bring immense relief to neighbouring communities and boost economic activities in the area,” he stated.
For the predominantly agrarian community, poor road infrastructure has become a major obstacle to economic growth. Mgbidi is renowned for the cultivation of vegetables, cassava, pineapples and other agricultural produce that supply markets in Enugu, Awka, Onitsha, Aba, Port Harcourt, among other cities. Yet, farmers continue to battle transportation difficulties, often losing income because buyers are unwilling to risk travelling through the deteriorated road.
Residents say the poor road network has made life difficult for traders, students, pregnant women and the elderly, especially during the rainy season when some sections become almost impassable.
Nzeh noted that with a population exceeding 52,000 people, Mgbidi remains one of the largest farming communities in Awgu Local Government Area and possesses enormous tourism potential.
The community is endowed with natural attractions, including caves, waterfalls, and other scenic sites capable of attracting tourists and investors if properly developed.
According to him, improved infrastructure would unlock these opportunities and contribute significantly to the state’s economy.
Many residents believe Mgbidi’s strategic historical importance and economic potential make its prolonged neglect difficult to justify.
The community is also remembered as the ancestral home of the late Chief G.I. Oko, one of the foremost leaders from the area whose contributions were instrumental in the creation of the old Awgu Division during the colonial era.
Several folks, including a community leader, Ichie Matthew Okpara; and a retired civil servant, Chief Festus Ifeji, believe that a community which produced such a distinguished patriot among other enterprising folks, deserves better than decades of abandonment.
“For years, the people have watched neighbouring communities benefit from government projects while Mgbidi remained on the margins”, Chief Ifeji lamented.
He said basic infrastructure was lacking and the road in a state of decay.
“The health centre is dilapidated. Economic activities are constrained. Young people continue to migrate in search of opportunities elsewhere”, he bemoaned, “yet the people have refused to surrender to despair,” he added.
Similarly, Ichie Okpara, 98, said his earnest desire would be fulfilled to witness the realisation of the bridge project in his lifetime. He passionately appealed to Gov. Peter Mbah to come to the aid of the people.
Early this year, an indigene of the community who visited home during last Christmas holiday drew public attention to the plight of the community through a viral video highlighting the deplorable condition of the road and the abandoned bridge project.
He recalled that construction of the bridge had already commenced when he was still in primary school, but lamented that decades later, the project remains uncompleted due to lack of funding.
While commending Governor Mbah for ongoing developmental projects across Enugu State, including the Smart School currently under construction in Mgbidi, the Facebook user appealed to the governor to extend similar intervention to critical road and bridge infrastructure in the community.
“I have not only heard about but have also seen the unprecedented transformation taking place across Enugu State under Governor Peter Mbah. I believe he will extend his magic touch to Mgbidi and bring an end to decades of hardship suffered by our people,” he said.
Similarly, Enugu -based Pastor from the community, Edwin Ogbonna, while appealing for urgent government intervention, said Christians from the community had already resorted to spiritual warfare for divine intervention.
For many residents, the appeal goes beyond the construction of a bridge and rehabilitation of a road. It is a plea for inclusion, development and recognition after decades of waiting.
Having struggled for over 30 years to complete a bridge project on their own and maintained a road built through communal efforts more than a century ago, the people of Mgbidi say they have done all they can.
Their hope now rests on the intervention of a government they believe can finally turn their long-awaited dream into reality.
