Good governance advocate and son of Arondizuogu in Imo state, Mazi Onyekachi Humphrey has expressed displeasure with the state of infrastructure in the community, describing it as shameful.
Humphrey noted that the bad state of roads in the community has largely affected commercial activities especially a largely agrarian community where the people require good road network to transport their farm produce to the market where they are needed.
He said, “Arondizuogu is one of the food baskets of the state, the town produces rice, palm oil, cassava, yam and all types of grain foods.
“The roads linking the community to Anambra, Enugu and Abia states are all in deplorable state.
“Worst affected are the Oba-Arondizuogu-Okigwe federal road, stretching about 22 kilometers, cutting across 100 communities of Anambra, Imo, Rivers, Ebonyi and Abia states.
“Our famers spend all their earnings on transport fare due to the bad road. This is unacceptable and has the tendency of dampening the morale of our hard working farmers who are responsible for virtually everything we consume in the city.
“This is even more dangerous at a time when food insecurity has remained a cause for worry, not only in Nigeria but in neighboring African countries” he said.
Mazi Humphrey, an Ndiuche Izuogu born philanthropist further stated that the community also lives in perpetual fear following persistent cases of kidnapping and armed robbery in their domain.
“No day passes without an incident of armed robbery and kidnapping on this all important but dilapidated road, which slows down vehicles and provides the opportunity for hoodlums to attack their victims.
“We are tired of begging, we want the government to intervene. I am calling on government, relevant bodies, security sector to demand the contractor to fix the road. We can’t sell our farm produce anymore, our economic activities are crumbling, our tourism life is almost non-existent. Government should please save our souls” he appealed.
He said Arondizuogu Road, is the gateway to other communities in the South East, maintaining that the situation has become so worrisome and frustrating to the natives
He added that filling stations and some other businesses along the route have all packed up due to poor patronage.