Nneka Asoluka’s Lament, the Nekede–Ihiagwa–Obinze Road, And The Bitter Truth Owerri’s Leaders Must Own Up To

By Kennedy Eweama

In the midst of deep sorrow and mourning, Lolo Nneka Chris-Asoluka stood with grace and courage before the crowd gathered to honor her late husband, Dr. Chris Asoluka. Her words, though laden with grief, rang with undeniable truth and searing pain—the pain of a woman who watched her husband die in a state that failed him when it mattered most. Her account of how a vital road became an instrument of suffering rather than service is not just a widow’s testimony—it is a moral indictment of the political failure that has plagued Owerri for decades.

With quiet dignity, she reminded us that the tragedy of her husband’s final moments was avoidable. His dying wish, as she recounted, was not for himself but for his people—that the Nekede–Ihiagwa–Obinze road be fixed, that something be done for his suffering community. That this simple and long-standing request remained unanswered, year after year, speaks volumes of a political class that has mastered only one thing: betrayal.

The late Dr. Chris Asoluka warned his Owerri brothers and political leaders against truncating Ohakim’s administration, but they never listened. Instead, they ignored him. He supported the Ohakim administration with unwavering commitment, but his people, driven by selfish interests, abandoned both him and the vision he stood for—only to now return in death to cry over the consequences they themselves orchestrated. From how invested he was in the Ohakim administration, working hard and supporting its policies, it wouldn’t have been surprising if he had succeeded Governor Ohakim in 2015 as the first Imo governor from Owerri Zone in the Fourth Republic. Even his grieving wife recalled how close Dr. Asoluka was to Ohakim’s government. Some of the hypocritical mourners now shedding crocodile tears know this simple truth—it was plain to them then and it is haunting them now.

To the so-called political leaders of Owerri who now pretend to grieve alongside the family, let this be clear—you have yourselves to blame. The very road that now tortures your conscience and stains your white agbadas was under active reconstruction when you betrayed Dr. Ikedi Ohakim and sabotaged his administration. With cruelty and short-sightedness, you aligned with Rochas Okorocha and sold your birthright to political scavengers. You handed over power to a regime that turned its back on all ongoing infrastructural projects designed to uplift Owerri and its people.

Let us not forget: Jude Agbaso, Deputy Governor under Rochas, and his brother—the APGA party leader in Imo State—presided over the political structure that hijacked power and terminated Ohakim’s people-focused projects. They drove away contractors. They mismanaged funds. They allowed the Naze–Nekede–Ihiagwa–Obinze road to rot. For eight years, they presided over nothing but neglect, deceit, and deliberate underdevelopment. Every single infrastructural project initiated under the New Face of Imo was either abandoned or vandalized by these men and their co-conspirators.

The Owerri Senator who connived with others to bring in the military to disgracefully oust a sitting governor, Dr. Ikedi Ohakim, must hang her head in shame. She helped destroy a government that had Owerri’s best interests at heart and handed it over to a cabal with zero regard for the people’s welfare. The outer ring road that would have transformed access to these communities was abandoned. The inner ring road and its planned flyovers were discarded. Critical roads like Orji–Ukwuorji–Mbaitoli, the erosion control project in Works Layout, the Orji Town Water Scheme, and the Egbeada Ultra-Modern Water Project—commissioned by no less than President Goodluck Jonathan—were all left in ruins due to your wickedness and lack of vision.

So, before you throw stones at Governor Hope Uzodimma, who is now struggling to clean up your mess with massive investments in arterial roads across the state, remember this: the people’s suffering today is rooted in your treachery yesterday.

Madam Nneka Chris-Asoluka’s cry for justice must not go unanswered. But let the world know: it was not Governor Ohakim who failed the people of Owerri. It was not even Governor Uzodimma. It was Owerri’s own so-called leaders—intellectually bankrupt, selfish, and dangerously petty—who destroyed what could have been a legacy of progress.

Let history record this moment. Let every heart that truly loves Owerri bow in repentance. And may the soul of Dr. Chris Asoluka rest in peace, knowing that his pain was not in vain—and that someday, the truth will finally triumph over falsehood.