- Chief Nwodo called on President Buhari to focus on the south east
- The Ohaneze Ndigbo leader pointed out areas that needed development in the region
- He expressed optimism that this will be fulfilled
Chief John Nnia Nwodo who is the president-general of the Ohaneze Ndigbo has urged President Muhammadu Buhari to look into the infrastructural decay of the south east.
NAIJ.com had reported that the president was in Ebonyi state for a two-day visit to the south east.
Vanguard reports that Nwodo addressed the president calling his attention to the state of work on the Second Niger Bridge.
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He also pointed attention to the Akanu Ibiam International airport in Enugu which he said was in a terrible state.
He said: “The Enugu Port Harcourt road is in an extremely bad condition and tortuous to our people. The Ninth Mile Oturkpo road is a car raker. The Aba Ikot Ekpene road is largely unmotorable. Work on the Second Niger Bridge has stopped, while the river Niger itself remains unnavigable due to the non implementation of the approved dredging contract.
“Our exit by air is also threatened and the poor state of Enugu international runway a few days ago, Ethiopian airline tires were damaged as It was landing on that airport threatening the lives of the lives of the passengers there.
“The terminal building and the cargo warehouse have also been abandoned. Our local industries and small scale enterprises are folding up not only due to the little allocation of revenue due to our state and local government, because of the marginalisation in the creation of local governments and states, but also because only nine percent of nationally generated power is allocated to the South East.
“Gas reserves that abound in the South East are being piped to Lagos and Northern Nigeria without any of it… around the industrial clusters in our stated.
“Unemployment, hunger and starvation pervade our land. This is a very dangerous environment for peace owing to wide spread dissatisfaction.
“These problems predated your administration but has reached a quintessence under your watch. We believe as a general trained to access dangerous circumstances and equipped with courage to confront them decisively, you will seize the opportunity to give our people the much needed assurance of a quick remedial action.
“Our governors are doing their best giving their limited resources in view of the declining revenue of the country, we propose that the concession of federal roads in the South East be given to the South East governors so that partnering with the private investors, we can build the roads ourselves to our taste and standards, assuring you of its durability.
“This will therefore make it possible for the Federal Government to have enough funds to take up the railway task in the South East and expand and upgrade them to standard pages.
“Your Excellency, I have no doubts in my mind after our last discussions with you, that you will decisively and expeditiously address the many issues we presented to you and some of which I have highlighted today.”
Meanwhile, President Buhari assured Igbo people that he will fulfil all the promises he made to them especially in the area of infrastructural development.
In a statement by Femi Adesina who is the special adviser to the president on media and publicity, he said the president expressed gratitude for the warm reception he received.
Buhari also promised to fulfil all his promises he made to the people of the region.
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Source: Naija.ng