The leadership of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ), South East zone, has called on the federal and state governments to declare a state of emergency on dilapidated South-East roads.

Rising from its two-day Zonal Working Committee (ZWC) meeting held in Owerri, Imo State capital, the union also condemned the attack on the Nigerian Television Authority (NTA), Onitsha and urged security agencies to fish out the perpetrators.

A nine-point communique issued at the end of the meeting and endorsed by the Vice President, Zone C, Comrade Chris Isiguzo, and the Zonal Secretary, Comrade Kenneth Ofoma, said: “The meeting noted with dismay the grossly dilapidated state of roads in the South-East and, therefore, called on the federal and state governments to declare a state of emergency on these roads.”

The meeting observed that with their worsening conditions by the day, almost all federal roads in the South-East have collapsed. They include Awka – Enugu Road, Umuahia – Ikot Ekpene Road, Aba – Ikot Ekpene Road; and Umuahia – Arochukwu Road.

The meeting equally expressed worry on the harm being visited by herdsmen on the people of the South-East region and “called on the Federal Government to take holistic measures to stop the activities of herdsmen in the South-East zone following cases of killing, raping of women and wanton destruction of farmlands by these herdsmen and their cows.”

It wondered what may have warranted the deadly attack on NTA Onitsha last Wednesday.

“The ZWC condemns the attack on NTA Onitsha by gunmen for whatever reason and called on security personnel to fish out the culprits and make them face the law,” the communique stressed.

To improve Nigeria’s tottering economy, “the meeting called on government at all levels to diversify the nation’s mono economy with greater attention on mechanised agriculture, development of agricultural value chains as well as supply of fertilizers and other agro inputs to real farmers.”

The communique also said that “the meeting noted with dismay the negative state of the economy on the people and called on the federal, state and local governments, as a matter of urgency, to come out with some palliatives to cushion the effects on the people.

The meeting, according to the communique, harped on the need for the prompt payment of workers’ salaries, gratuity and pension by all employers of labour, especially the Southeast state governments.

Similarly, “the meeting called on all employers of media workers both government and private, to clear the arrears of salaries owed to media staff while states governments in the zone should revive all print media outfits in their states.”

In a bid to discourage indiscriminate leasing of NUJ properties across the zone to businessmen, the “NUJ Zonal leadership warned that henceforth any such transaction without the endorsement of the National Secretariat as represented by the Zonal leadership would be null and void.”

The communique added that the meeting commended Governor Rochas Okorocha for the massive infrastructural development and transformation taking place in Imo State and urged him not to relent in his vision and resolve to further implement his transformation agenda.

The meeting was attended by national officers, chairmen and secretaries of Abia, Anambra, Ebonyi, Enugu and Imo states.

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