Eze Michael Ifi Njoku Kalu, traditional ruler of the Amaiyi Okpo community in Ihechiowa, Arochukwu LGA, Abia State, has pleaded with the state government to finally address the town’s 30 years of neglect by previous administrations.
As he bemoaned the awful state of the roads in his community, Eze Njoku Kalu said that the indigenous people no longer own cars and hence no longer utilise them for transportation.
After pleading with Governor Alex Otti to prioritise the Okpo-Achara route in his current infrastructure initiative, the traditional ruler expressed sadness that
Despite residents having to walk lengthy distances to reach nearby settlements, he said that the road project had gone unfinished for almost 30 years.
The nearly-crying monarch told reporters that the highways in his realm were inoperable, preventing his citizens from accessing basic necessities.
The road project has languished in the government’s glare for more than three decades. Up to Umuchiakuma Junction we go on foot. Because cars aren’t allowed to enter the village, he claimed, there isn’t a single car in the neighbourhood.
According to Eze Njoku Kalu, Amaiyi Okpo is still undeveloped and underserved by the government, even though it is a border town between the states of Cross River and Akwa Ibom and has a big voting population.
Please, Dr. Alex Otti’s administration, come into the neighbourhood and assist us; we’re begging you.
Repairing main roadways is beyond the scope of what a town can accomplish, despite its best efforts to improve mobility on internal routes. A crisis has befallen us, he pleaded.
Additionally, Eze Kalu bemoaned the lack of community amenities that were supplied by the government, noting that the indigenes had toiled to create the little that were there.
Cletus Torti Oleh, a former chairman of the Okpo Ihechiowa Development Union (OIDU), voiced his concern for the community’s situation and said that getting to the area is now a major hassle.