Open Letter To Governor Uzodinma Of Imo State

His Excellency, the Executive Governor of Imo State, Senator Hope Uzodinma,

I write this open letter with deep respect, but also with pain, disappointment, and urgency, on behalf of the good people of Amauzari Ancient Kingdom, whose cries over the deplorable condition of the Amaraku-Amauzari-Amandugba Road have lingered for far too long without the attention they deserve from your government. This letter is not written out of malice or political bitterness. It is written from a place of anguish by a people who feel forgotten, neglected, and unfairly abandoned in the development agenda of the state they have supported with loyalty and sacrifice.

The Amaraku-Amauzari-Amandugba Road is not a minor footpath that can be ignored without consequence. It is a critical road that serves over 2 million commuters daily, connecting communities, supporting livelihoods, and sustaining movement for traders, farmers, students, workers, and families. Yet, this same road has deteriorated into a shameful and painful symbol of neglect. It has become a route of suffering, frustration, economic hardship, and daily danger for the people whose lives depend on it.

Your Excellency, it is especially heartbreaking that the people of Amauzari Ancient Kingdom, who voted overwhelmingly for the All Progressives Congress and stood firmly with you through difficult political moments, cannot point to one structure on their land that they can attribute to the APC-led government in Imo State. Not one. This is a painful truth that weighs heavily on the hearts of our people. They ask in sorrow and confusion: what have Amauzari people done wrong? Why has a community that gave its trust, loyalty and support to the APC government been left with nothing to show for it in return?

This question becomes even more troubling when one considers the visible contrast between Amauzari and neighboring areas. On the opposite side of this same road corridor, from Amaraku to Ugiri and Obollo, down to Obowo, every stretch of road is tarred. Development is visible. Government presence can be seen and felt. But on the Amauzari axis, the story is entirely different. Here, the people face dust in the dry season, mud in the rainy season, broken vehicles, delayed journeys, commercial losses, and a deepening sense of exclusion. It is difficult for our people to understand why one side enjoys the dividends of governance while the other side remains trapped in abandonment.

The situation becomes worse whenever it rains. Even a small rainfall is enough to flood the entire Amauzari market square. Roads become impassable. Afor-Amauzari which should be a thriving commercial hub for the 14 vibrant villages that make up Amauzari Town turns into a place of hopeless struggle and despair. Instead of a full and bustling market, one finds only a few desperate men and women, determined to survive, trying to sell and buy under miserable conditions. Businesses suffer. Farmers cannot move produce easily. Transporters avoid the route. Buyers stay away. Economic life is crippled, not because the people lack industry or enterprise, but because the infrastructure that should support them has failed them completely.

The tragedy of this road is not only in its physical condition but in the way it has damaged the social and economic life of the people. Vehicles that ply the road for the first time often do not come back. Drivers warn others against using it. Transport fares rise because of the risk and wear on vehicles. Families spend more than they should just to move from one place to another. Sick people face delays in reaching healthcare. Students endure difficult and unsafe journeys. Pregnant women, the elderly, and children bear the heaviest burden of this neglect. A bad road is never just a bad road. It is a chain of hardship that touches every part of human life.

Your Excellency, development should not be selective. Government should not create the impression that some communities matter more than others. The pain in Amauzari today is not merely about the absence of asphalt. It is about the painful feeling that a loyal people have been overlooked, as though their support, their votes, and their humanity do not count. This feeling is dangerous because it weakens public trust and creates bitterness where there should be Hope. No government should allow faithful supporters to feel abandoned on their own ancestral land.

The people of Amauzari are not asking for luxury. They are not making impossible demands. They are simply asking for fairness, inclusion, and the basic infrastructure that every responsible government owes its citizens. They are asking that the Amaraku-Amauzari-Amandugba Road be given urgent attention. They are asking that the market square be properly drained so that rainfall does not continue to destroy commercial activity. They are asking to be remembered as part of Imo State, not treated like an afterthought in the map of development.

Your Excellency, time is moving, and tenures are not forever. As your administration advances toward its final stretch, history will remember not only the roads built and projects commissioned, but also the communities that were heard when they cried for help. Amauzari is crying today. The cry is loud, genuine, and justified. It would be a noble and compassionate act for you to answer to this cry by fixing the Amaraku-Amauzari-Amandugba Road as a parting gift to a people who always stood by you. Let this be your goodbye gesture to Amauzari Ancient Kingdom. Let it be said that before your tenure expired, you wiped away the tears of a neglected people and restored their faith in government.

This appeal is not made in anger but in hope. Hope that you will act. Hope that you will prove that no part of Imo State is too small or too distant to deserve development. Hope that Amauzari will no longer remain a painful exception in a state where other roads have received attention. Hope that our market will live again, our people will move again, our businesses will breathe again, and our children will grow up knowing that government did not completely forget them.

Your Excellency, please do this for Amauzari people. Repair this road. End this hardship. Remove this long-standing stain of neglect. Give our people one visible reason to believe that their loyalty was not in vain. Let Amauzari also have a place in the story of your administration.

May compassion guide your decision, and may justice move you to act without delay.

Yours faithfully,
Chief Sir Emeka Asinugo, PhD., M.A., KSC
Patron: Amauzari Progress Union (UK & Scotland Branch)