Mbah, the traditional ruler of Ata-Igbo Ukwu autonomous community, Umuzomgbo, Ihechiowa in Arochukwu Local Government Area, Abia made the appeal while speaking with newsmen on Saturday.

The monarch, who decried the poor state of roads across the country, especially in the South-East, said that it had remained an impediment to agricultural practice.

Mbah, who is also the Chairman of Linto Farm, said that the inaccessibility of road had become a setback to farming.

“We are appealing to the federal and state governments to come to our aid.

“We cannot transport our farm produce to the places where they are needed because of bad roads,” he said.

The Newsmen reports that the monarch, who celebrated this year’s New Yam festival, used the event to distribute palliatives to about 600 indigent citizens of the 17 villages in Ihechiowa.

He said that the gesture was to cushion the effect of COVID-19 among the widows, citizens with disabilities, the aged, and the downtrodden in the community.

Mbah said the organization decided to make the event low-key in order to observe all the COVID-19 precautionary directives from the government.

Tubers of yam, cartons of instant noodles, vegetable oil, bags of salt, garri, rice, and stockfish and clothes and cash gifts were distributed to the beneficiaries at the event.