The people of Akumazi Community, in Ika North East Local Government Area, Delta State have cried out to the governor of the state, Dr. Ifeanyi Okowa over the poor state of their major road (Akumazi to Owerri Olubor Road).
The people of the community who are known for their peaceful disposition and large support for the state government decried the deplorable state of the major road linking their community and other communities in the area.
Speaking on the sad development, the President General, Akumazi Progressive Union (APU) and the Eka Ekpuchi Owan of Akumazi, Chief Henry Okenyenbunor Meye said, “Our people of Akumazi Community for the past four years have been passing through difficult times due to the bad state of the major road in our community.
“The road, at the moment has been cut off with poles everywhere. Vehicular movements in our community have been greatly affected. The situation is getting worse each day, particularly now that we are in the rainy season. We have registered our complaints to the state government yet, no action has been taken to address the challenge.
“Our greatest surprise was that construction work on the road stopped at Umunede, a neighbouring community. We wondered why it was so because Akumazi Community and her people have been very supportive of the state government.
“We are therefore using this medium to seriously appeal to Governor Ifeanyi Okowa to come to our rescue. We thank our sons and daughters who have been contributing in different ways towards ensuring that movements in our community are not impeded by the challenge of the poor road network.”.
A youth leader in the community, Mr Osekwuta Chukwuka while expressing his view on the issue of the deplorable state of the road said, “We are still to know why the Delta State Government has not deemed it fit to construct our road despite all the requests and complaints we have made.
“It’s shocking that up till this moment, Akumazi Community has no single tarred road. The construction work that was done stopped at Umunede thereby, leaving Akumazi Community behind. Another road project was done at Ute-Ogbeje and it ended at Owerre-Olubor , a community under Akumazi.
“Another road project done by the state government started from Ekwuoma and stopped at Akumazi. We did not know what we did to the Delta State Government as it keeps awarding and executing road projects in other communities in the state excluding Akumazi.
“We are strong supporters of PDP and the government of Governor Ifeanyi Okowa, unfortunately, our community has not benefitted from the massive on going road projects across the state. Regrettably, our fathers and mothers who are mostly peasant farmers and pensioners are the ones contributing money to sandfill our major road so that they will be able to gain access.
“We are calling on the government to come and construct our road because we are part and parcel of the state”.
A former lawmaker from the community, Hon Wallace Okafor who spoke to Ika Mirror said that Akumazi deserves good road network as it has paid her dues in terms of her huge support to both the PDP and government.
He appealed to the appropriate authorities in government to urgently, address the road menace .
When Ika Mirror reporters visited Akumazi Community during the week, they discovered that the pot holes ridden road are seriously posing difficulty for vehicular movements.
There were fears among the people that they may be completely cut off from their neighbors if urgent action is not taken now by the government to remedy the situation.
Some of the aggrieved residents who expressed their views thanked concerned indigenes of the community who contributed their hard earned money to grade and sandfill the road.
They noted that the palliative measure will not survive this year’s rainy season, hence, the clarion call on government to intervene.
Credit: Ika Mirror|Facebook
