Raymond OzojiLawmaker representing Ayamelum constituency in the 8th legislature of Anambra State House of Assembly, Bernard Maduabrochukwu Udemezue, has intensified his lamentations and public outcry concerning what he perceives as the outright marginalization, neglect and abandonment of his constituency by the Anambra state government. Udemezue who has been in the news recently for exposing lawmakers’ constituency empowerment funds and other issues he considered atrocious in the current 8th assembly which he deemed detrimental to Anambra citizens, maintained that the blight cast on his constituents as a result of the absence of social amenities in his constituency, invoked empathy and concern for his people because they are suffering injustice, inequity and political servitude.Udemezue, in a chat with Newsmen, decried the deplorable and devastating condition of his constituency, stating that apart from Dr. Chris Ngige and Peter Obi, no other government has remembered Ayamelum.The lawmaker also expressed dismay that there is no single bank operating in Ayamelum Local Government Area because there are no roads. He further regretted that there has been no government project in the constituency in the last 12 years not even a pole of street light. According to him, after he moved a motion calling on the governor to direct the Commissioner for Works to extend the Amansea-Awbaofemili road construction to Ayamelum to enable his constituents convey farm produce to Awka to reduce cost of food stuff in the capital territory, Governor Chukwuma Charles Soludo asked him to go and scope Achalla-Omor road which he did and reported back to government, but no action has been taken on the road in question till date. The lawmaker further revealed that there is no functional hospital in his constituency and no functional school and teachers in the council area as teachers reject posting there and would always seek immediate transfer upon posting due to absence of infrastructures that make life worth living.According to the lawmaker, teachers posted there are ready to pay any amount to leave with “immediate alacrity”. Udemezue disclosed that he has submitted the charter of needs of Ayamelum state constituency officially and several times to the governor but, according to him, he has remained adamant and insensitive to the sufferings of his constituents. He equally alleged that when he met the governor concerning the construction of a bridge in his constituency as part of efforts to addressing the most pressing needs of his people, the governor claimed that the state government could not afford construction of the said bridge at the time. The lawmaker said he suggested construction of alternative roads in Ayamelum since the bridge was too expensive for government to construct yet his pleas and suggestions fell on deaf ears.
