 Oguni youths have shut down the Alema O'Nea area of East West Road over the alleged failure of the federal government to mobilise contractors to fix it. They complained that the road had remained deplorable for years, while the Allato Bridge, which serves as the only route to O'Nea oil and gas-free zone, pot-hack-up refinery, and other multinational companies, was collapsing. The youths had earlier given the federal government a 14-day ultimatum to mobilise contractors to the site, or face a shutdown of the nation's oil and gas activities. Brandishing placards, the use under the aegis of Oguni Youth Federation, took to the streets before 7 a.m. barricaded the Aleto Junction and Pot-hack-up Refinery Junction. While joining us to discuss this is Celestin Alcobarri. He is the national coordinator of Oguni Solidarity Forum. Thank you very much, Mr. Celestin, for joining us. Thank you for having me. Go ahead and bring the adjuvants. So, I know that stretch because I have lived in Pot-hack-up for years and I have known of cases of robberies, even early hours of the morning when people are trying to ply that road. It's been bad for years, but I'm wondering why it has taken this long for the people in those areas to appeal to the senses of the federal government and of course the Ministry of Works. We know that every year, every budget cycle, monies are allocated for these federal roads to be fixed or to be reconstructed. What has your organization been doing to follow up the progress reports coming from the Ministry of Works? Why has it taken so long to get any explanation whatsoever? Well, I need to correct the impression. The protest is being carried out under the auspices of Oguni People's Assembly, OPA. So, OPA, Oguni People's Assembly is an umbrella body, a coalition of every other organizations within Oguni, including the organizations that are in need. Yeah, that's taken this long for us to react because the government constantly tells us that the contract for that road has been awarded and actually the contractor is doing that 15 kilometer stretch, the arrow CC. They have a plant in Oguni. So, you have to give them a chance, you know. And so, we have got them pushed to the wall. We are tired of waiting. And the road has become so bad, terribly bad that a journey of 25 minutes from Potakata to Oguni now takes people 24 hours, 48 hours from 24 to 48 hours, especially at the trucks, any of the trucks fall on the road because of the bad sports. So, it's been terribly bad, terribly bad. I mean, you can just imagine the pace that will go through each time this thing happens. So, that's why we decided that you can see the bridge, tankers and trucks fall into this bridge from time to time. And these tankers are not owned by Oguni people. They are owned by other Nigerians that convey petroleum products from the refineries or trucks that are carrying heavy metals from the seaports or the petrochemical plants. And these are all federal government investments. This same road leads to Aqaibom and Cross River. So, all the trucks from Aqaibom and Cross River also pass here. And so, we've been pushed to the wall. The river has got into our neck and we can no longer breathe. And that's why we are acting now. I'm curious because now that your people are on that road, and don't get me wrong, protests are okay, but you have barricaded that road, meaning that it's difficult for people to go to work, people who are going to walk in a limit petrochemical, the refinery, people cannot go, people who are traveling cannot ply that road. Yes, we know it's a difficult journey. But of course, economic activities also have been halted on that stretch, meaning that the government is not necessarily affected by this, but it's your people, the people in river states that are really adversely affected by this move of yours. So, how do you get the government attention if it's the people themselves that are feeling the heat? Well, that's really very unfortunate. But that is a price you have to pay for every good thing. You know, that road is for all of us. Since government has refused to do anything about it, we have decided to shut down economic activities within that region. And unfortunately, a lot of people have to pay the price. But I can tell you that just like food, when it is being cooked, you can see, you know, the conflict between the fire and the food and everything. But when it is done, people enjoy the meal. So I think that's exactly what is happening. When they fix this road, all of us will enjoy it. We'll forget the pains. But it is better to suffer a little discomfort, you know, to fix these things once and for all. How many memos or how many petitions have been sent to the members that are representing the part of river states on the national assembly? How many have you sent? How many times have you picketed the federal ministry of works to deal with this issue? Like I said at the beginning, monies are devoted to the refurbishing or the fixing of these federal stretches. I mean, if we start to open the books on the East West Road and the federal highways that are yet to be fixed, but monies are still, you know, given out every budget cycle, we probably would not end this show. But in your case, because this one concerns you and concerns your businesses and your economic activities, how much pressure have you put on the federal government? Because it's not enough to do a protest on that axis and block the road. How much information has been going back and forth between your people and the federal ministry of works and members that are representing your constituency on the floor of the national assembly? Well, let's let's let's put the record straight. All the roads that falls under section one to four from Warren to Calabar, section one to four on the East West Road, they are under the Ministry of National Data, not the Ministry of Works. Okay. But graciously, Mr. President, in September 2018, after the visit of some of the Goni leaders from Mr. President, graciously, Mr. President, gave this route to transfer the route from the Ministry of National Data to PTRDF. That is Presidential Infrastructure Development Fund. They are the people funding the Kano Abuja Road. Normally, it was 155 billion, now over 900 billion. They are the people funding the Lagos Abaddon Road, 600 billion. They are the people funding the Second Niger Bridge. It was 200 billion, now over 400 billion because of the access route. So, Mr. President, graciously, transfer this route to PTRDF. Now, the Minister for Niger Data goes with Acrabio. When they are asked PTRDF to transfer the money meant for the road, so it's, and PTRDF knows we pay money to contractor directly. That is why people are working in their minds under us. So Acrabio, we do the roads. That's the problem we have. But we are saying that Prote Miameji is borrowing money to build a way across the country. Build money that they are borrowing will be paid with oil from the Niger data. For Shula, you're building about 800 roads. The money he's using will be taken from Niger data. So, I have come because Acrabio cannot get money from anywhere to build these roads. And why take it from PTRDF in the first place? Because all the roads under PTRDF, they meet every fortnight with Mr. President being represented by the chief of staff. So, they meet from 9 o'clock in the morning to 5 p.m. in the night. Every month, they meet to reassess and look, evaluate what's happening. And that's why work is going on there night on these roads that I tell you. And that was what, you know, Mr. President, ambition for the Niger data roads. And that's what would have happened. But he took the roads back. And that's why we are protesting, asking that the roads be sent back to PTRDF. Because we are tired of waiting. You say you are looking for money, you are looking for money. When there are costs of money, where this road, what to be fixed? And you took it from there. So, that's what, but from our interaction with them recently, we observed that it's like, God, we are trying to change the contractor. That is not our business. You can bring any contractor you want or you have. But we want our road to be fixed. So, that's just the thing. And you have said that you have had interactions with them. You gave an ultimatum. That ultimatum seems to have expired. You're still here protesting. Do you think that Senator Goswyl Okwabi will bulge anytime soon? Is he going to find the money that he's looking for anytime soon? I mean, I'm wondering where he's going to find money. But if you have said that there was money allocated and he went to get it, the onus is on him to get the money back from wherever he took it and, you know, to fix your road. But do you see him doing that anytime soon? And don't forget that these protests that you are protesting is at the expense of your people and the economic activities. And don't forget the cost of living in Nigeria is rising high and everybody's trying to survive. So where does this all end? Well, incidentally, Chief Goswyl Okwabio is a protocol boy. He's from Okwabiom. He's an anti-debtant. These people pass through that road to protocol and to everywhere. So, he has written for a meeting with us. But he couldn't come. The pump said, and I discussed with our leadership, but we insisted that he should come. And I expect that he will come. But if he doesn't come, our people have decided to remain on that road. Don't forget that as long as that road is stopped down, no activity will go on in the two refineries, the petrochemical plant, the fertilizer plant, the two sepots, the oil and gas free zone, and several other economic activities in the area. And I can tell you that this road, contributes trillions of naira on the daily basis into the coffers of Nigerians and the government. The border upon the road that has been built, we empty onto this road. So that's why we are asking that this road should be fixed. If it is for the benefit of not only the Ghana people, but also the people of Persia, Kyrgyzstan people of Persia, and the people of Persia, all of them of Persia. Okay. Is the government of Governor Newsom Wike strongly behind you? Are they in support of this protest? Because the governor is known as Mr. Projects. He's been developing a lot of roads in the States. Has he said anything about this protest? And what's his position in closing? Well, I'm not to hate anything from him, but I know that when he took over power as governor of River State, I hate that the companies in this region contributed money. So give to him to fix the road. And we were thinking that it would fix the road. But we are where we are. I know the temporary measure we are carrying out. Some of the people, the road was fixed in some bad spots. But it was not up to three months and we got back to where we used to be. And so this time we need a permanent solution. So he means that whoever the government asked to patch the roads did a showdy job because you're saying that in three months everything collapsed all over again? No, I mean, I would say that it did a showdy job. If you know the volume of traffic on that road, do you know how many trucks, you know, that convey heavy metals from the two sepals to neighboring Amo, Abia or the Eastern States? So, but the construction person should have known that that's a heavy traffic. I mean, every construction person, whoever's constructing a road would know that this is a heavy duty road. This is a highway that has trucks because there are refineries on that stretch. They should know when they're patching up or they're trying to fix the road partially. They should know what they're doing. But again, I say maybe he did a showdy job and that's why in three months the road has gone back to worse. Well, I can't defend the contractor, but it's different between rehabilitation and reconstruction of the road. I think if they are constructing this road now, it would be quite different from mere patching for people to, for not filling the portals for people to pass. So, I think we are asking that, and I mean, we shouldn't even beg government to fill this road because it is, it is, it is, it is the trucks and the attack cars that use the road, even more than the... And you pay taxes, don't you? Even more than our neighbors. What? And you pay your taxes, so your taxes are supposed to fix the roads? Of course, we do, we do, we do. So, but this one, graciously, Mr. President, transfer this road to PRDF. So, our brother Attabio, to take this road back to PRDF, we want to see contractors on site. All right. We want to end this madness once and for all. Okay. This approach must leave. Well, Celestina Poveri is of the Ogoni Solidarity Forum. Thank you very much for speaking with us. We appreciate it. We'll keep our eyes on what's happening on that stretch. And of course, you keep us informed on the recent developments as the days go by. Thank you very much for speaking with us. Thank you. Thank you all for being part of the conversation. It's been a very interesting one. I am Mary-Anna Connell. I will see you tomorrow on Plus Politics. Have a good evening.