Gov Okezie In Trouble; Women Call Him A Liar, Promise a fight; Remind Him Of Aba Women Riot

By Gideon Njoku

In the months running to the 2015 Governorship Election, the electronic media was awash with advertisements on Abia State showcasing beautiful roads.

Who could forget the beautiful songs sang by lovely women, and men, with sonorous voices, flaunting Governor Okezie Ikpeazu’s achievements, especially, in Aba, and more especially, Aba roads. And there was also the one about a fly-over which the advert described the best in Nigeria. The advert was so good, so convincing, so believable. His flaunted achievements so refreshing.

But Aba Women, under the aegis of Women For Change Initiative And Equity Organisation have described those beautiful achievements, flaunted on Television, as fake. There is no such best flyover. There are no such roads.  They dismissed them as a fluke, and said the adverts were meant to deceive the people. They put a lie to Okezie’s claims. And told Nigerians they would believe anything if they believe the good Aba roads Okezie flaunts on Television exist.

The women insist Aba has become a junk, and has some of the worst roads in Nigeria. To show their seriousness, they have given the Governor a 100- day ultimatum to give some roads in Aba a facelift, or see their red eyes. They say they would stage a protest with a 10,000-strong women and, and lock down the State. To boot, they reminded the Governor of the historic 1929 Aba Women Riot.

In their hundreds, the women, dressed in their white blouses and blue wrappers marched, in protest, through some prominent roads, carrying placards.

Their spokesperson, Joan Ogbonna, expressed sadness, that even Ebonyi, which she described as the youngest state in the South-east, has overtaken Abia in terms of infrastructure.

Mrs Ogbonna told The New Telegraph:

“Aba Women are not happy. Anyone who lives in this city and still claims to be happy deserves pity. There is absolutely no motorable road in Aba to do business.”

She accused the government of telling lies to the people, using the media. “They are using some media houses to tell people out there that Aba has been fixed, which is a lie. We are not happy with what we are seeing in our state, and how people are telling us that the roads we are seeing everyday with our eyes have been fixed.”

She then referred to the 1929 Aba Women Riot. “This year is 90 years those before us did the Aba Women Riot, and we are not happy again. The women you are seeing today are just from Aba South and Aba North Local Government Areas, and Aba Women are scattered are scattered all over the 17 Local Government Areas”

Then, the  ultimatum: “The message of Aba Women to Governor Ikpeazu is that we are giving him 100 days to take actions on Ngwa road, Porthacourt road, and Opobo road.

“If he fails, and we did not see serious actions on those roads, we shall stage a 10,000 women protest, and lockdown the Abia state Government House and the Abia House of Assembly.”

They asked the Governor to tell them if he gets no allocation from the FG,  and if so, to tell them so they would channel their anger towards the FG.

Ogbonna also asked Ikpeazu to justify the votes given to him by Aba women, or, they would fight him, insisting,  ”We are not afraid of the DSS or SARS.”

Abia’s Commissioner for Information, Chief John Okiyi-Kalu, however, dismissed the women’s protest as sponsored.

The protest came on the heels  of a stinging criticism of Ikpeazu by Dr Alex Otti, the APGA Governorship candidate in the 2015 and 2019 elections, roundly defeated by Ikpeazu. Otti, at a press conference, dismissed Ikpeazu’s government as a ruse, and declared the Governor a failure, who has achieved absolutely nothing in office.

This magazine recalls that Aba roads have defied all regimes in the State, in spite of their claims to have fixed them. The questions are: What is the problem? What has stopped successive Abia governors from fixing Aba roads? Why are they stunting the economic growth of Abia, by not fixing the roads, knowing the economic importance of Aba to the economy of the State and that of the South-east in general? May be the Women’s ultimatum to Ikpeazu will, finally, do the magic.