July 17th, 2007
By Felix Uka

Correspondent, Abakaliki

Describing the situation in these vital areas as ‘national disaster’, Agbo argued that wasting time and money on maintenance of the roads would not solve the problem, as according to him, "there are no roads to be maintained".

Agbo who spoke to newsmen at his Abakaliki residence, said: "although the Senate has passed a motion asking the Federal Government to rehabilitate the roads, to me, the situation has become a disaster that demands declaration of a state of emergency".

He continued: "In this country, you cannot get a 200-kilometer road that is smooth; the Senate views this with seriousness; it has gone beyond the bureaucratic process of ministries. It has created a lot of problems and the economy cannot get really better when it takes two days to freight goods from Lagos to Onitsha and such other places".

The Senate, he said, would not stop at raising the motion, but monitor how the executive arm goes about ensuring that the current situation of roads and electricity supply is reversed.

"Many fellow Nigerians have lost their lives on account of the terrible state of the roads; it is not just a matter of saying that the South-East or Northern roads are deplorable; it is a national problem. You see Nigerians stranded on the roads everyday and armed robbers have been taken advantage of the situation", he lamented.