The performance of Dame Anengi Wilcox as Chairman of Bonny Local Government Area in her one year in office has justified Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike’s decision to have women as Vice Chairmen across the 23 LGAs and also to assume office as Chief Executive at the demise of her boss, late David Irimagha.

This was the opinion adduced by the Chief of Staff to the Governor, Emeka Woke, Leader of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Bonny LGA, Dr Rodaford Longjohn, Rivers State Commissioner for Sports, Christopher Green, a former Commissioner for Transport in Rivers State, George Tolofari, and PDP House of Representatives candidate for Degema/Bonny federal constituency in the 2023 elections, Cyril Hart, during commissioning of the various projects on Saturday, October 22, 2022 at different locations in Bonny, Rivers State.

Among the infrastructural footprints unveiled or commissioned to mark the One Year Anniversary of Dame Wilcox as LGA Chairman were the renovated Bonny Coal Beach and Motor Park, the renovated and furnished Customary Court Complex, the Local Government Council Store, the newly constructed Bishop Gabriel Pepple Road, and the Abraham-Hart Motorable Bridge, Abalamabie.   

Woke, while commissioning the Abraham-Hart Motorable Bridge in Abalamabie Community surmised that the Bonny LGA Chairman had become a replica of Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike in terms of projects delivery which was made possible because of his non-interference policy in local government administration, imploring her to continue to be at her best and satisfy her conscience.

Earlier in her speech at the Bonny Coal Beach, the Bonny LGA Chief Executive said the consideration of the many collective challenges faced by her constituents was the motivation for the projects, announced that more was yet to come in phase two of the projects commissioning and flag-offs which would include the unveiling of free school buses for students and delivery of commuter buses.

She explained that these people-oriented initiatives were geared towards empowering the people and ameliorate the nagging land transportation constraints being faced in the LGA, assuring that the coming months in the LGA would be colourful and bright.

The Leader of the PDP in Bonny LGA, Dr Rodaford Longjohn commissioned the reconstructed Local Government Council Store, remarking that the facility will foster productivity amongst staffers of the Council, adding that he remained impressed with the pace of progress in the LGA.

In his remarks while commissioning the renovated and furnished Customary Court Complex, the State Commissioner for Sports, Christopher Green said the unhindered administration of justice was an inevitable component in societies that prosper, describing the revived Customary Court Complex as a heart-warming compliment to the forward-march of Bonny LGA.

On his part, a former Commissioner of Transport in Rivers State, George Tolofari said the rebranded Bonny Coal Beach and Motor Park was a milestone for the tourism potential of the LGA, while the PDP House of Representatives candidate for Degema/Bonny federal constituency in the 2023 elections, Cyril Hart, who commissioned the Bishop Gabriel Pepple Road, said the once inaccessible community had taken a revolutionary transformation to the envy of many.

Highpoint of the various stopovers was the award of scholarship for the son of Mrs. Mercy Apara-Bluejack, whose late husband was the first inhabitant of the now Bishop Gabriel Pepple Road by Dame Anengi Wilcox.

Also, at Abalamabie shortly after the commissioning of the Abraham Hart Motorable Bridge, the host, Abraham Hart Community, which is also home to the Chieftaincy House bearing same appellation, held a special reception for the LGA Chairman and her distinguished guests, wherein they expressed their appreciation for the newly commissioned bridge.

Speaking with Kristina Reports, Deputy Press Secretary to the Bonny LGA Chairman, Boma Waribor, said his boss was demonstrating unprecedented intentionality in changing the development paradigm of the LGA that has for years yearned for a pro-people governance template.

He noted that with the broadbased consensus within the PDP in Bonny LGA for a development-driven governance trajectory in the area as exemplified by the array of party leaders in attendance at the event, Bonny LGA should set its sights on better days ahead.