By PAMELA EBOH, Awka

A human right and pro-democracy group, Human Rights, Liberty Access and Peace, Defenders’ Foundation (HURIDE), has called for immediate declaration of state of emergency on Anambra State roads.

The roads include Port Harcourt Road, Niger Street, Zik Avenue, Bida Road, Modebe, Arondizuogu, Orlu, Creek, Niger-Main Market, Vein Road, Okwe Street, Oguta Road, Oduwanu Street to Fegge Police Station, Miss Elems, and Obodo-Ukwu – now cut into two.

Others are Ede Road (now a death trap), dualisation of 33 Road, Construction of Akpaka Forest Road to College, Nsugbe College Road, an Ugwu nwa Asike Road – all in Onitsha and environs – among many others.

A statement made available to journalists in Awka on Sunday by the chairman of the HURIDE, Dede Uzor A. Uzor, insisted that the State Governor, Willie Obiano, has no excuse for not doing the roads in the state, which he assured Anambra people of working on before the Yuletide.

The group enjoined the governor to wake up from slumber in providing democracy dividend to the people of the state so as to be able to sell his party and candidate during next year’s election.

HURIDE said: “The people of the state are in agony for electing Obiano as the Governor. He has not tarred up to 250km of roads in the state and this is his seventh year in office.

“I wonder how he would convince the people of Anambra State to vote for his party/candidate in the forthcoming Governorship election.”

The group challenged Obiano’s supporters to organise project tour for journalists and human rights groups as his predecessor, Peter Obi, did if they disagreed with the position of the group. According to HURIDE, the tour would help to prove otherwise the abysmal performance of Obiano.

It wondered why the roads scrapped before last year’s Christmas have been abandoned.

HURIDE regretted that opposition is dead in the state, saying that some have been bought over, while some are waiting to be put in power to continue the ‘cycle of endemic corruption going on in the state.

It lamented the lack of public water supply in the entire state, especially the capital city of Awka and the commercial city of Onitsha, adding that borehole and River Niger water, which are acidic and disease infected have led to the sickness and outright death of some people.

“Borehole is the major source of water supply in the state. The high rate of kidney, liver failures and other related diseases are traceable to poor water supply in the state,” HURIDE said.

While stressing that Onitsha still remained the dirtiest city in Nigeria, the group called on the opposition to rise up to their responsibility.

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