An Appeal to Distinguished Senator Hope Uzodinma, Governor of IMO State
Your Excellency, as a Concerned Citizen of Onuimo Local Government Area of Imo State, I wish to use this medium to congratulate you on your victory at the November 11, 2023 governorship poll as well as your victory at the three layers of the tribunal. Congratulations.
I also use this medium to appreciate your determination which saw the conclusion of the Okigwe/Owerri Highway which was last constructed during the headship of Imo State’s greatest son, Dee Samuel Onunaka Mbakwe PhD. To say that there is ease in movement of people and goods on that particular road is stating the obvious. No governor has touched the very core of the zone like you did via the commencement and early completion of the road. Today, as a concerned citizen I can report with a smiling face that it was a dream come true in such a manner and from such a source never anticipated by many. You saved Onuimo from a trauma better imagined than described.Thank you sir.
It’s instructive to shower praises on you for the harmonious relationship existing between you and sons and daughters of the area especially the Rt. Hon James Esile representing Onuimo State Constituency, a man whose Midas touch is gradually changing the narrative in the area owing to his impactful representation as well as High Chief Major Emenike, the Hon. Commissioner for Environment and Sanitation who has distinguished himself creditably in the discharge of his duties. I doff my hat for your recognition of Rt. Hon. Paul Emeziem and the wife Hon. Mrs. Chinyere Emeziem in their appointments. Recently I also received with utmost joy the appointment of
Mrs. Chikaodi Emenalom as the Acting Head of Service, HoS, Imo State. Onyeisi nkea togburu anyi bad. Imela. Thank you Onwa Oyoko.
place on record with great excitement your desire for the progress and sporadic development of Onuimo Local Government Area. You have stated this several times during meetings with different segments of leadership and followership and during your campaign visits to the area especially your discontent with the state of the major roads in our area.
In fact during one of those meetings, you assured that some of these roads would receive immediate attention after the election.
Your Excellency sir, I want to humbly let you know that the dilapidation of the roads the last time you visited has worsened and the despair of the people of Onuimo Local Government area is better imagined than described. There is hardly any part of the roads in Onuimo Local Government area that you can drive through without the shaking of the head
Onyeisi, when I heard of the Press Conference of the indefatigable Commissioner for Works, the adrenaline rush in the body of the people of Onuimo Local Government was immeasurable and I had hoped that the time of reprieve from despair, fear and unspeakable hardship occasioned by long suffering was at hand. But alas, throughout the speech of the Hon. Works Commissioner there was no mention of at least one road in Onuimo.
Onyeisi Onuimo people have been through a lot of harrowing experiences worthy of medieval history even in this modern world. The Umuna/Okwe/Umuduruegbeaguru road had begged for attention even before the creation of Onuimo as a council area, despite the fact that this particular road is the only access to the agrarian communities in that axis. Without sounding immodest, the produce emanating from the communities linked by this road is so massive that Imo State would have had no reason to lament of food shortages. However, the farmers have had to decry their fate and count their loses year in year out because vehicular movement in and out has become practically impossible. The two strategic markets on both ends of the road namely Afor Umuna and Afor Umuduruegbeaguru have become shadows of themselves. The people have resigned to fate.
Same is the sorry story of the Ezelu/Eziama/Umucheke/Okohia Umuduruegbeaguru road all strategic roads that should have helped alleviate the food shortages and drastically brought down the prices of commodities were the farmers provided access to transport the produce out of the hinterlands.
Onyeisi, I make bold to assert that these areas of Onuimo were largely known for production of yams, cocoa yam, cassava and majority of the farmers had won in several competitions organized within and outside Imo State. But the desire to up the ante is increasingly ebbing because the return on investments ROI has shrunk owing to lack of access to markets.
Sir, I am are satisfied with the determination of our representative in the Imo State House of Assembly, Rt. Hon James Esile to draw State attention to the plight of Onuimo people through his motions and bills on the floor of the Imo State House of Assembly, his appeals and strategic visits to critical stakeholders in the State.
Sir we are pained. Our House member is pained. Our traditional rulers are pained. Your appointees from Onuimo are pained. I know you feel our pain. This is why I have come to you, the Hope of the oppressed to come to our rescue. Perhaps, the none recognition of any road in Onuimo during the conference may have been an oversight, I urge you sir to save our souls and bring us out of this doldrum. There are many other roads in the area but I implore you sir to remember the above roads as soon as the rain recedes.
I hate to mention this, but the truth is that Onuimo is the worst in terms of roads in the entire Okigwe zone and even beyond especially among those created last in the country.
Having noted your expertise in those roads already completed, we cannot wait for another to come. We know that whichever you undertake to do now will stand the test of time. We vouch and our Hope is intact.
Anayochukwu Duru wrote from Okwe, Onuimo LGA
