A governorship aspirant on the platform of the Labour Party in Borno State, Capt. Ibrahim Mshelia has appealed to the federal government to repair the damaged Biryel Long Bridge in Bayo local government area of the state.
Mshelia who made the appeal in a statement sent to NewsGazette on Saturday said the damaged bridge which hitherto served as the only link between southern Borno with other parts of Borno and Gombe states, said its collapse “has isolated the people on that Borno axis” and would inflict more hardship on the people if it was not fixed on time.
Though no casualty was recorded when the bridge, Mshelia said certain parts of the state have been suffering economic hardships for nearly 20years as a result of dilapidated roads and other infrastructural deficits and neglect.
He, however, called for calm and patience stating that those infrastructural deficits will be strategically handled as there will be investment in infrastructure and people-oriented programmes once the people look beyond party names and vote right for those determined to get the state working again.
“My heart goes out to the people of Borno State, particularly the areas whose movement and economic activities are now affected as a result of the damage to the Biryel Long Bridge in Bayo Local Government due to the heavy down pour resulting in the flood yesterday which damaged the bridge.
“We understand the hardship it is going to cost especially for those who have to traverse between those points to meet up their daily economic and social needs. That is why we are calling on the federal government of our able President Buhari and indeed the governor of the state, Kashim Shettima to rush to the scene and fix the link bridge without further delay so as to forestall further hardship to the people.”
“Personally, I am also calling for calm as things are silently being done under the President Buhari-led administration, this is my personal believe and conviction because things have improved a lot security-wise in the state and the president is silently achieving certain goals, all he needs is the right support, our support as a people not just voting him but insisting he and those he appoints do what is right to get us out of the doldrums,” he said.
