Nwodo Worried Over Disunity Among Southeast Governors, Dilapidated Roads

Chief Nnanwike Nwodo, a chieftain of the Peoples Democratic Party in Enugu State, Tuesday, expressed worries over lack of synergy among Southeast governors in the pursuit of the Igbo agenda.

Chief Nwodo, a former council chairman of Igboetiti Local Government Area of Enugu State, said the inability of the governors to work as a team is depriving development in the region.

He bemoaned the state of federal roads in the region, specifically the Nsukka–9th Mile expressway that has become a death trap, according to him.

He said, “When you start talking about how the Igbo are being maltreated, many people may never appreciate it. But you find that when you leave this part of the world, there is no other place you will see a federal road as bad as the ones in Igbo land.

“Occasionally, a trailer will fall in the middle of the Nsukka-9th Mile dilapidated expressway, and no other vehicle would pass for some hours or days. It is unfortunate. It is a clear indication that the Southeast is not being treated as part of the country.

“Be it because we fought the Biafran war, but how many years did the Biafran war end? Why must the punishment for the war remain? Even in the Bible, after the fourth generation, people can be forgiven for the sins of their father. What is the sin that the Igbo man committed that this type of road will answer a federal road in Southeast region? If you raise that matter, people will say the contracts were given. Let them expose the contractors so we can know who our problem is.”

He called for unity among Southeast governors to refocus the region for the better.
Quoting him, “The question is: these governors, what is their stake? They are just happy because they have become dictators within their little circles. But they cannot influence anything outside.

“When a majority of these states were in the control of the PDP and the federal government was under the control of the same PDP, many had thought that the governors and even individuals could go there and get so many things achieved. It didn’t happen.

“It is never the same today with the current government where you belong to the PDP and the federal government belongs to the APC. In those days, you can take note of areas where governors can do the roads and get repaid by the federal government. Today, nobody is ready to pay you back, and that is why the governors are running away from repairing such roads for the common good of the people it. It may not be the fault of the governors, but in terms of galvanisation, they are not doing anything in any form.

“Hope Uzodimma of Imo State is a wonderful governor because he came fourth in the election and eventually became the governor. That is an African magic. Along the line, the governor of Ebonyi State who was in the PDP jumped out because he wanted to become the president of Nigeria. He believed he could only achieve that by joining APC. Ever since then, what is happening?

“Sincerely speaking, he has done very well in Ebonyi, but after moving from PDP to APC, what has been achieved? Nothing. I have not been in Abia for a time, but social media paint Abia bad. As an Igbo man, I had expected that a good governor of Abia ought to take care of Aba because it is the centre of commercial activities in this part of the world. Anambra is doing well. They have been in APGA. We hail them for what they are doing. They have their own way.

“But in terms of planning together as a team, it is completely empty among the governors of Southeast. That is the way I see it and I have no apologies to anybody. If they had united, a lot of things would have happened. You can equally see the disunity among them. It is the same formula the British people taught the Hausa—divide and rule. It is divide and rule that is causing our problems in the East.”