A leading civil society organization in Africa, (CODE), has drawn the attention of the Rivers State Government to the deplorable conditions of people in the state rural communities, due to total neglect and lack of infrastructural development.
CODE, therefore, urged the State Government to urgently mitigate the situation by addressing some of the infrastructural decay and deficit impeding development in the oil-rich state.
In a press conference addressed by Rivers State Lead CODE, MS Evelyn Williams shortly after a town hall community meeting it held at Landmark Hotel, Port Harcourt, on Thursday, 27th October, 2022, CODE noted that, as one of the States in the Niger Delta, a major region for Nigeria’s oil and gas industry, Rivers State has suffered prolonged conflict resulting from the negative impacts of oil exploration and tension between host communities and oil-producing companies.
It recalled that, in 2021, with support from Ford Foundation, CODE initiated the second phase of the project “Empowering Oil-Rich Communities for Improved Service Delivery (EMOC)” in Rivers State aimed to amplify the demands of oil-rich communities through reinforcing their evidence-based advocacy strategy.
It further noted that, after an appraisal to ascertain the state of social infrastructure in the region, the report shows that the Primary Healthcare Centres (PHCs) in Rivers State are in appalling conditions capable of undermining or sabotaging the well-being of rural dwellers and consequently, the local economy.
“Majority of the Primary Healthcare Centers (PHCs) lack potable water, an overwhelming majority (83%) of the PHCs are disconnected or unconnected from the power supply, and a significant proportion of the PHCs across the local Government areas lack proper waste disposal points. The fact that large populations of the grassroots depend on these facilities without adequate environmental assets highlights the urgent need for intervention.
“Also, schools are unable to meet the requirements and standards of education in the twenty-first century which breaches the human rights of the citizens of Rivers State by purposefully or unintentionally preventing them from receiving basic education.
Furthermore, Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) are underfunded, which restricts their capacity to execute and complete initiatives that benefit rural areas.
The citizens should benefit from strategic infrastructure investments to compensate for the overt and covert effects of oil exploration since they suffer the brunt of oil extraction, loss of variety and other natural productive assets”, it stated.
CODE, therefore, called on the Rivers State government to address personnel and infrastructural gaps in the hope of positively impacting health outcomes and the education profile of the state.
It also advocate for a comprehensive audit of social infrastructures in Rivers State, beyond the oil-producing communities to support the transparent and efficient deployment of public resources and consequently improve health and education outcomes.
