Ochanja traders, Fegge landlords association protest against ‘desperate’ politicians

The new Ochanja roundabout constructed by Governor Charles Chukwuma Soludo, came alive this morning with placard-carrying marketmen and women from Ochanja market and residents of Fegge, a neighbourhood close to Ochanja market.

According to their spokesman, Chief Okwudili Obinwanne, they are protesting against the antics of desperate politicians who are sparing no effort in an attempt to discredit the good work that Governor Soludo is doing in Ochanja, Onitsha and Anambra State as a whole.

Obinwanne said that as far as they are concerned nothing is wrong with the road. 

He said the contractor was putting the initial layer of asphalt on the road when the very first major rain in Anambra fell with the attendant flood unseating the hot asphalt that is yet to settle on the stone base and cement stabilisation components that had earlier been compacted on the stretch of road. 

“And that as far as we know, nothing happened to warrant the recriminations and campaign of calumny being carried against Soludo and his government,” the spokesman said.

Obinwanne disclosed that for over four decades, subsequent governments have come and gone (including the current opposition government) without reconstructing or doing any meaningful palliative on the Ochanja road. 

He stated that before now, the road was one dusty and cratered stretch that had never crossed the previous governors’ minds. But within two years of Soludo’s administration, their story changed in a manner that beat their imagination. 

“Moreso, the quality of roads are Julius Berger standard, with street lights to match,” Obinwanne continued.

The Chairman said the people will not tolerate politicians who dare to play dirty politics with their welfare.

Mrs Imelda Akunobi from Fegge said that since 1999, the only governor who has remembered the road was Governor Soludo.

Akunobi, a retired teacher, recalled how harrowing it was going to work through that road. They would carry spare shoes and dresses to change when they arrived at their schools.

Another prominent orange merchant in the market, Mrs Eucharia Chukwuma (alias Nwanyi Achalla) said the governor, colloquially referred to as ‘Solution’, is a game changer. 

She said that flood water used to carry children when there was rain but all that has become history.

The excited marketwomen sang the praises of Governor Soludo as they matched up and down the Ochanja road under construction.