Previous Govts Have Not Been Fair To South-East — Ikpeazu

Abia State Governor, Okezie Ikpeazu, has decried the poor state of infrastructure in the South-East, saying that previous governments have not been fair to the region.

In a recent interview on Channels Television’s Roadmap 2019, the governor blamed the infrastructure deficit on the perceived abandonment of the region.

“Successive Federal Governments, this one inclusive, have not been fair to the South East. For instance, if I want to go to Aba from Port Harcourt today, it is unfortunate that I will have to go through Muangwa that would take me two and half hours, whereas it is a journey of 45 mins,” he said.

According to the governor, if the inter-states routes are rescued from their poor state, commercial activities will thrive.

He also stated that if the roads, specifically the Aba-Port Harcourt expressway are repaired, the state would collaborate with the Rivers State Government in installing street lights which he believes would reduce the activities of armed robbers who take advantage of the situation.

“Assuming somebody returns from America with his family and wants to go to Enugu, if unfortunately, he leaves Aba at 7:00 pm, in an hour 30 minutes, that person cannot make that journey alive because you will get to a point where you wouldn’t know and then you have to give a retreat.

“The hoodlums are there, people that will capture you and lay an ambush. And this is a journey of 45 mins. I would have told Governor Wike (of Rivers State) to collaborate with me so that we can do street light on that road to extend business hours,” he said.

Mr Ikpeazu also spoke on his administration’s achievement in reviving the education sector saying that the state government has built over 350 ultra-modern schools within the past three years.

Beyond that, he said the state has recorded improved performance in the West Africa Senior School Certificate Examinations (WAEC) since 2015.

The governor further stated that his administration launched the school feeding programme for both teachers and pupils even before the Federal Government started the policy.