More and more royal fathers across Abia State have continued to break out of their cocoons of non-partisanship and silence imposed by government as they now openly express their desire for change in governance.
The latest group of traditional rulers to express their disillusionment at the present system of things came from Arochukwu Local Government where the monarchs said they were yearning for change in Abia.
To this end, the royal fathers under the aegis of Arochukwu Council of Traditional Rulers and Eze Aro-in-Council have
embraced the rescue and develop Abia(RADA) movement led by the governorship candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), High Chief Ikechi Emenike.
The royal fathers, who received the governorship hopeful when he paid them courtesy visit before his campaign rally i Arochukwu, ujanimously agreed that Abia was in dire need of a purposeful, development-minded leadership.
The Chairman of Aro Council of Traditional Rulers, Eze Linus Ntoh Mba and the Arianzu Arochukwu, Mazi Augustine Kanu Okoro both spoke the minds of the royal fathers, saying they were unhappy at the persistent bad governance in Abia.
They regretted the deplorable situation of Arochukwu in the northern fringe of Abia due to neglect by successive administrations in the state. The monarchs backed their lamentations by pointing to collapsed infrastructure, insecurity, youth restiveness and unemployment, among others.
Aside from that, the royal fathers also decried government’s neglect and impoverishment of traditional institution in the state to the extent that majority of the members now find it difficult to make ends meet.
They lauded Emenike’s well articulated plans to revamp Abia, adding that after listening to him, checking his antecedents and his manifesto, they were satisfied and convinced he was on a mission to position Abia on the path of rapid development.
The Aro monarchs, therefore, vowed to support Emenike’s agenda for Abia and mobilise voters in the grassroots to vast their ballots for candidates of the Abia main opposition party and appeaked to Emenike to work his talk when he assume office.
While congratulating the APC governorship flag bearer over the affirmation of his candidacy by the Supreme Court, mthe monarchs also expressed gratitude to the APC-led federal government for the infrastructure development it has executed in the area.
Emenike had while addressing the Aro monarchs, stressed the need for Abia State to be a key stakeholder in the APC “victory basket” by giving massive votes to the ruling party, adding that such gesture would attract huge democracy dividends.
Later at the campaign rally, the Abia APC governorship flag bearer promised to consign to the archives of memory the adage which says ‘there is no easy way to Aro’ by reconstructing the Umuahia-Ohafia-Arochukwu road.
Presently, the only accessible route from Abia capital city to Arochukwu is through Akwa Ibom State which has good road network linking the state to the neighbouring Abia community.
But Emenike assured the people of Arochukwu LG that the Umuahia-Ohafia-Arochukwu road which successive Peoples Democratic Party administrations have failed to fix would be among his signature projects.
“We will rehabilitate and build new infrastructure in this area, maximise the human resources, develop tourism, and boost agriculture,” he said, adding that limestone deposit in Arochukwu would be exploited to create employment opportunities for youths.
The APC governorship candidate renewed his clarion call for Abia to vote for the ruling party and move away from being in the opposition at the federal level, adding that he was optimistic that the APC presidential candidate, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu would win the poll in a landslide
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