Uzodike Urges Soludo To Prioritise Public Interest Over Legacy In Making Project Choices
Uzodike has commended Soludo for his effort at improving infrastructure in Anambra and urges him to ensure the projects addressed the existential needs of the majority of common people.
Uzodike made the commendation while speaking to journalists in his Awka Etiti country home in Idemili South Local Government Area on Tuesday
The former commissioner for Information urged the governor to consider constructing roads that linked communities instead of demolishing residential and business structures to dualise existing ones.
He said the benefits of projects were valued in terms of their monetary and social costs, adding that the administrators must prioritise social impact over legacy when making project choices on behalf of the people.
He cited an example with Nkpor Nnobi road as a strategic and functional road with heavy traffic which was not dualised.
“When government say it wants to execute a project, it should announce the cost and expected date of completion but we have not been hearing mich of that these days.
“Most of the roads that are being dualised now are quite unnecessary, instead we can maintain them like Nkpor-Awka road which is one of the busiest roads in Anambra even though it is two lanes.
“The social cost of that project is not commensurate with whatever benefit people will get, houses and businesses have been destroyed and displaced.
“You can not be pulling down three and four storey buildings just for vehicles to pass Agulu to Nnewi or Nnewi to Okija, which vehicles go there ?
“As I am talking to you, the five kilometres road in front of my house in Awka Etiti commenced by Peter Obi has not been completed and it is not up to five kilometres.
“This road road reduces travel time between Awka and Nnewi by about 20 mins, and people going to Nnewi from Ekwulobia do not have to get to Nnobi, they will just bypass it from here,” he said
Uzodike said Anambra was once rated as the best in terms of road interconnectivity but regretted that most of the roads had collapsed due to lack of maintenance.
“It is not a question of doing gigantic projects that cost money, projects must address the needs and wellbeing of the people,” he said.
Uzodike, a lawyer, said that the security environment in Anambra has improved significantly in the last three months.
said the recent killing of Mr Ifeanyi-Rolex Iloakasia, a legal practitioner by yet to be identified assailants, was unfortunate.
He commended Gov. Chukwuma Soludo for introducing the Udogachi Security Initiative saying it had been effective but regretted that it came rather a bit late than it should have.
According to the Elder Statesman, some diehard criminals want to make statement like killing a lawyer to prove a point that they are still around
“Anambra used to be terrible security wise, but since the last three months, maybe after Udogachi was formed, there has been a bit of a quietude, nobody can deny that things have changed.
“I believe the recent Security issues of the last few days are exceptions, but I must say that people are freer to move about in the state.
“My only worry is that it took so long for the governor to act, because if the measures were started long ago, by now, we would have had total eradication of insecurity in Anambra,” he said.
