An apolitical group, Anambra West Liberation Front (AWLF), has warned those planning to negotiate away the overall interest of the people of Anambra West Local Government Area in the forthcoming gubernatorial election to desist from it as such attempt would be legally resisted.
The group, during a world press conference at Umueze Anam, warned that Anambra West LGA is not a private estate of any person or group of persons. “The LGA belongs to every citizen and peaceful residents in the area. Therefore, anyone dealing with any individual or group of persons on behalf of Anambra West, should understand that they are on their own. The local government is an independent council of free people, not subjects of anyone,” the group noted.
Chairman of the group, Chief Edochie Onuora, who read the statement, said; “Thirty years after the creation of the local council, Nzam being the headquarters of the local government, has not been successfully connected to the rest of the state by road. As at today, only two communities have ever been connected to municipal electricity and tarred roads. This is a result of the efforts of the immediate past governor of the state.”
Chief Onuora alleged that as a result, the local government secretariat is always locked and empty without workers, yet, salaries are reportedly paid every month, leaving the people wondering who the staff working in the local government are, and where they do the work.
“For basic healthcare services, a vast majority of residents of Anambra West travel to Delta State or make tortuous journeys to Onitsha or Anambra East. Most times, the patients die on their way to the hospital and mothers have no place for basic care during and after pregnancy.
“The people have been observing and hoping time after time, that the Government of Anambra State will know that Anambra West is in the state and that we are also stakeholders in the Anambra project. The people of Anambra West are humans too, who deserve services and dividends of good governance. But unfortunately, the present administration, which we had welcomed as our very own and voted for twice, totally abandoned us. Nothing significant has been added to Anambra West in the last seven years and seven months of the present administration.”
The group also called on the Federal Government of Nigeria, and the Anambra State Government, to resume work on the abandoned Anam-Ibaji Federal Road. “We were informed that N200, 000, 000 was budgeted for it in the 2021 budget. We have not seen the contractors working and the year is coming to an end, and the 2022 budget is already in the making. We are, therefore, requesting President Muhammadu Buhari and the National Assembly, to kindly consider having the Anam-Nzam-Ibaji Federal Road in the 2022 budget as a federal project, so it can get the attention it requires. This road will not only serve the people of Anambra West, but will also reduce the time of travel on road, from Abuja to Anambra State, and to the rest of Southern Nigeria.”