The Enugu State Government has broken its silence over a viral video accusing it of neglecting Ugbene community in Uzo Uwani Local Government Area, insisting the claims are false and that it was the community that rejected an intervention project.
The General Manager of the Enugu State Community and Social Development Agency (CSDA), Monday Diamond Ani, in a detailed response, said communal crises within Ugbene frustrated efforts to execute a proposed water project in the area years ago.
According to the Agency, during a sensitisation visit and Participatory Rural Appraisal exercise, officials met stiff resistance from some youth groups amid deep internal conflicts. The situation, the CSDA said, made it impossible to proceed.
Ani further disclosed that Ugbene declined to pay the mandatory counterpart contribution — a standard requirement for all CSDA-assisted projects. Additionally, the Community Project Management Committee (CPMC), which was elected to handle documentation and processing of the Community Development Plan (CDP), failed to complete the steps required for funding approval.
While acknowledging that a section of the Ugbene cluster missed out, the CSDA Boss clarified that development has not eluded the wider Uzo Uwani area. It pointed to a functional CSDA-assisted borehole currently serving Ugwugbene Ajima, which, though geographically elevated, falls within the same community cluster as Ajuona Ugbene.
CSDA Lists Over 20 Projects in Uzo Uwani
To underscore the government’s development footprint in the LGA, the Agency released a comprehensive list of projects executed under its CSDA-CARES and Additional Financing windows.
Beneficiaries under CSDA-CARES include:
· Nimbo: Water borehole and toilet facilities
· Ukpabi: Water borehole and toilet facilities
· Nkpunator Nkpologu: Water borehole
· Ojjor: Water borehole
· Ugwugbene Ajima: Water borehole
· Nrobo: Water borehole
· Asaba: Water borehole
· Iggah: Borehole project pending funding (earlier delays recorded)
Under CSDA Additional Financing, projects include:
· Nkpologu: Borehole and electricity extension
· Adani: Town hall and box culverts
· Adabaa: Town hall and toilet facilities
· Ogbosu Umulokpa: Double-cell box culvert, road construction, secondary school blocks
· Awkunibor: Borehole and school desks
· Amagu Umulokpa: Road, box culverts, transformer installation
· Iggah: Town hall and electricity extension
· Ogurugu: Open market stalls, electricity extension
· Uvuru: Electricity extension
· Akiyi Umulokpa: Town hall and road construction
The Agency said these interventions, funded through State, Federal, World Bank-supported, and NG-CARES programmes, demonstrate a measurable and sustained commitment to rural transformation in Uzo Uwani.
Community-Driven Model Requires Cooperation
Monday Diamond Ani reiterated that CSDA operates a community-driven development model, which demands active participation, internal cohesion, and counterpart contribution from benefiting communities. It stressed that where these conditions are met, projects are delivered and sustained.
He revealed that videos and pictures of the projects carried out during his inspection tour of Uzo-Uwani will be released to the general public.
Observers note that while the frustrations expressed in the viral video over water access are understandable, the claim that Uzo Uwani LGA has been abandoned by the Enugu State Government is inconsistent with the volume of documented interventions in the area.
The Enugu State Government assured that it remains open to dialogue with any community willing to engage peacefully and follow structured development processes, pledging that no community will be deliberately left behind.