Imo Youth Centre in Ruins: Former Owerri Zone Vice Chairman Opara Cries Out, Blames Uzodimma’s Youth Leadership Tussle
By Anselem Anokwute
The Imo State Youth Centre, originally built to serve as a secretariat for youth-based organisations across the state, has fallen into a state of ruin, dilapidation and abandonment, raising serious concerns among stakeholders.
The once vibrant facility is now described as a shadow of its former self, allegedly due to prolonged internal conflicts and unsettled leadership tussles between the Special Adviser to the Governor on Youth Affairs, Hon. Eric Uwakwe, and the Commissioner for Youth and Talent Hunt, Dr. Emeka Mandela Ukaegbu.
Condemning the continued neglect of the centre, youth leaders say the abandonment reflects a broader disregard for young people, who constitute a critical segment of Imo State’s population only remember and used during the election.
Speaking with visible emotion, Hon. Justice Opara, former Mbaitoli Local Government Area Coordinator of the National Youth Council of Nigeria (NYCN) and Owerri Zone Vice Chairman, lamented the deplorable conditions of the facility.
“I was almost in tears when I visited the centre,” Opara said. “Our collective past efforts have been reduced to ruins. The building is no longer fit for human habitation, still yet parts of it are being used as offices by Uwakwe without any effort to restore it for proper use in the overall interest of Imo youths.”
He further accused political office holders of using youths merely as tools during elections, only to abandon them afterwards.
According to Opara, the ongoing rivalry allegedly between the Commissioner for Youth and Talent Hunt and the Special Adviser on Youth Affairs has worsened the situation and should be resolved amicable without allowing the youth to notice or suffer their bitterness and rubbles.
“This centre should not be used to display personal feuds and political bickering,” he stated. “Both officials must set aside their differences and work together for the interest of the state and in loyalty to the governor who appointed them.”
He described it as “appalling” that the sacrifices of past leadership of the NYCN appear to have been rendered futile, while youth groups across the state continue to suffer neglect and hardship.
Opara appealed directly to Governor Hope Uzodimma to intervene decisively.
“I call on our hardworking governor, Senator Hope Uzodimma, to take urgent and decisive action to restore the dignity of the Imo State Youth Centre,” he said. “Anyone found wanting should be held accountable, no matter whose interests are affected, so that the lost glory of the centre can be restored for the overall interest of the state.”