Anambra @ 31: As Soludo continues to raise the bar of excellence 

By Christian ABURIME

As Anambra State Government clocks 31 years, the Governor of the State, Professor Charles Chukwuma Soludo, CFR has expressed confidence that the vision of actualising a liveable and prosperous smart megacity, will be achieved.

Anambra State which is located in southeastern region of the country was created on August 27, 1991. 

The State is bounded by Delta State to the west, Imo State to the south, Enugu State to the east and Kogi State to the north.

Over the years, Anambra has been on the growing trajectory of development under a handful of former Governors.

From 1991 to 1992, Joseph Abulu took over as the State administrator, succeeded by Chukwuemeka Ezeife who was Governor till 1993. Dabo Aliyu later took over as Acting Administrator and was succeeded by Mike Attah as Administrator till 1996.

Between 1996 and 1998, Rufai Garba served as the State Administrator and later handed over to Emmanuel Ukaegbu who stayed in power till 1999. On May, 29th 1999, Chinwoke Mbadinuju served as a democratically elected Governor of the state till 2003 and was succeeded by Senator Chris Ngige who served till 2006. Mr. Peter Obi succeeded Ngige who was elected in 2006. He served two terms of eight years, though, at a time in his first term, he was impeached by the state’s house of assembly for alleged gross misconduct 

His Deputy, Virgy Etiaba who was appointed when he was impeached, later transferred powers back to Peter Obi three months later when an Appeal Court nullified the impeachment. Peter Obi served till 2014 while former Governor Willie Obiano mounted the saddle of leadership for eight years, having won the election second time.

On March 17, 2022, Professor Charles Chukwuma Soludo took over the reins of power, and has been in power for over five months.

There is no gain-saying the fact that during the present administration’s five months in office, Professor Soludo has succeeded to a large extent in laying the foundation for a more prosperous state.

He has improved the security situation in the State significantly and has restored law and order. His administration has begun the recruitment of about 5,000 teachers to kickstart the massive revolution in the education sector. Same revolution is coming to the health sector, with over 3000 doctors and paramedics on the verge of being recruited to improve the sector

The Agro-economic transformation along the oil-palm and coconut value chain economy is already taking firm root in all the 326 communities across the state. Renewable energy and rehabilitation of water facilities has been stepped up massively among other provision of social infrastructure to improve the well-being and living standards of every Ndi Anambra

But by far the area the Soludo administration has stamped its feet firmly within its brief period in office, is ensuring peace and security in the state. 

Coming into office at the time the state was challenged by the menace of armed gangs and the so-called unknown gunmen, he literally took the fight headlong to restore peace and order. The immediate impact of the climate of insecurity was the daily loss of lives of the citizens and destruction of property. 

Businesses were shut and life became difficult for the people. Consequently, many citizens and residents of the state were forced to relocate to the neigbhouring Delta and other states.

With deft strategic moves, the governor rose to the occasion and made the state hot for hoodlums and other classes of petty criminals. 

Town Unions and landlords were made to be partners in ridding the state of criminal elements by demanding the true identity and means of livelihood of the tenants and people living in their communities. Measured curfew was imposed on areas prone to security threats. In the same manner, commercial motorcyclists, otherwise known as Okada, were restricted from plying some parts of the state. The result has been drastic reduction in crime rate and rejuvenation of confidence on the people to go about their daily activities.

Urban renewal also attracted the interest of the governor. He has kept faith in clearing the blocked water channels and demolition of illegal structures in Onitsha. He has promised to extend the exercise to other cities in the state.     

Suffice to say that, Governor Soludo’s administration is living up to its promises made to Ndi Anambra, with the strict implementation of his manifesto which he described as an agreement with the people of Anambra

As the State marks 31 after its creation, Governor Soludo enjoins Ndi Anambra to join hands with him on the march towards building a livable and prosperous homeland for all, where there will be peace, security and progress.

Chris Aburime is the CPS to the Governor of Anambra state