As the Anambra State Governorship election is coming closer, the Okpokolo Ruling Council of Anam in Anambra West Local Government Area of Anambra State has urged Governor Chukwuma Soludo to provide a good access road for farmers in the area.

The council noted that farmers in Anambra West have been unable to transport their farm produce due to the deplorable state of their roads, adding that there is an urgent need to address the suffering of the people in the area.

Chairman of the Okpokolo Ruling Council, Chief Udorji Okeke Ezeagbo, while addressing journalists on Wednesday, shortly after a brief meeting of the council in Anambra, stated that July and August are the months when the people of Anambra West typically harvest their farm produce; however, there is currently no access road.

According to him, those who harvested their farm produce could not transport it to the major cities in Anambra State, such as Onitsha and Awka, because there are no access roads. This was as he pleaded with Governor Soludo to take urgent action.

He said, “It is still surprising that in this 21st century, farmers are still complaining of a lack of access roads through which they can transport their farm products to markets.”

He urged the state government to provide access roads, as there are still men and women willing to feed the nation, but access roads are now becoming a major challenge for them.

He said if Governor Soludo can provide access roads for the farmers, the credit goes to him. “Our people obviously are suffering so much because the government, both Federal and state, have not given them priority attention,” he lamented.

Ezeagbor, while enumerating the plights of the people, said the communities affected by the poor state of roads include Onono, Umuikwu Anam, Umudora Okpala Ukwu, Oroma Etiti Anam, Umuenwelum Anam, and other neighbouring communities in Olumbanasa wards 1 and 2.

He said these communities were known for producing large quantities of yams, cassava, vegetables, and rice.

One of the farmers who has been in the area for 15 years, Chief Okechukwu Nnoka, lamented that successive governments have abandoned farmers in Anambra State, especially in the Anambra West Local Government Area of the state, adding that farmers have not received the necessary assistance they deserve from the government.

He said, “It is very unfortunate that governments in Nigeria don’t care for farmers. The plight of farmers has been a disheartening one, but nobody seems to care. To solve the problem of food scarcity in Nigeria is very simple, but our leaders are only interested in themselves.”

He, however, called on the Anambra State government to see how the ordeals of the farmers could be ameliorated.