After many years of suffering from deplorable the road which slows traffic, academic, social and economic activities, residents of Naze/Nekede/Ihiagwa Road, have taken to the streets, protesting and requesting the Imo State Government to urgently rehabilitate the road to save them from untold hardship and excruciating agony.
The protesters voiced out that the link road has never been thoroughly rehabilitated by the previous governments, despite that it houses three federal institutions; Federal Polytechnic, Police Training College and Federal University of Technology.
The protest was staged on Monday, October 19, along the bad road, stretching from Poly Junction to Naze Junction and Ihiagwa area.
The protesters were mainly students of Federal Polytechnic, Nekede and Federal University of Technology, Owerri, who carried placards with divers inscriptions as: “Work Our Road. We Need Good Road. End Bad Road”.
The demonstrators also carried the Nigerian flag, wore white clothing, rolling themselves in the muddy road, chanting as they marched aggressively.
One of the leaders of the protesters, Ikoku Odinaka, who spoke to journalists, said that they were “only asking government to urgently work the road to ease movement, promote economic and academic activities, as well as save them cost”.
Odinaka added that “due to bad state of the road, commercial transporters now charge #200, #300, #400, #500, #600 depending destination, as against #50 or #100 they normally charge.
This anomaly leaves us suffering, pain and empoverishment.
“We are bitter about the bad state of this major road. We are disappointed in the government. APC promised us good governance, but we are seeing bad governance, driven by sheer greed and wickedness.
“Federal government should hasten up to fix this road which houses three federal institutions to reduce suffering and poverty”.
The demonstrators maintained that social
/basic amenities such as regular electricity supply, functional and affordable healthcare centres, standard and affordable education, neat market and good road network, including employment and youth empowerment should not be denied people who produce the wealth of the state.
They appealed to Governor Hope Uzodimma to fulfill the promise he made to Imo people upon assumption to office.
Recall that the Naze/Nekede/Ihiagwa Road was contracted to a construction firm, China Harbor, by the Emeka Ihedioha led administration, which constructed drainage system from Naze Junction to Waterside, Nekede, before the contract was terminated by the Uzodimma administration.
