Some traders in Aba, Abia State have lambasted Governor Okezie Ikpeazu over the sorry state of the Ariaria International Market .
The Ariaria International Market is an open-air market located in Aba, a city in Abia State Southeast Nigeria. The market is one of the largest markets in West Africa and nicknamed “China of Africa” because of its versatility in the making of wears and leather works.
However, a visit by 9NEWS NIGERIA has shown that the traders are suffering because of bad roads and lack of conducive environment for their businesses to thrive.
Speaking with 9NEWS NIGERIA, a trader who identified himself as Mr Joseph Okeh described Ikpeazu as a failure and pleaded with the Federal government to come to their rescue.
“Ikpeazu is only good at demolition of buildings. He will demolish but won’t be able to rebuild them. Look at Osisoma centre table that he has been building for years now, he hasn’t been able to complete it”.
“At this point, if he cannot complete one flyover after years of being in office, is it the International Market that he will be able to fix?.”
“We are pleading with the federal government to come and help us. We need good roads so that our goods can come in and also good infrastructure”.
Other traders also decried the sorry state of the Ariaria International Market and pleaded for the roads to fixed.
Meanwhile, Governor Okezie Ikpeazu of Abia State has blamed God over his inability to complete one flyover which his administration started since he assumed office.
In a statement obtained by 9NEWS NIGERIA, signed by his Commissioner for Information, Ikpeazu said an “act of God” (force majeure) involving the expatriate supervisor of the project who was involved in a fatal robbery incident in Umuahia that led to the killing of his driver and mobile police security attachee along Mission Hill is one of the reasons the flyover has not been completed.
According to the statement, “the Ikpeazu administration planned to commission Osisioma Flyover on May 29th, 2021, but the finishing suffered two challenges that necessitated the postponement of the already mapped out commissioning programme:
