WRITTEN BY C DON ADINUBA
The first thing, which struck new members of the Willie Obiano administration in Anambra State, as they assumed office on Monday, March 25, was passion writ large.

In fact, the passion thing had become manifest three days earlier, on the first day of the two-day retreat to prepare the members for the task ahead. The governor arrived at the retreat when most of the commissioners, special advisers, permanent secretaries and heads of the agencies were still eating. Because he uses no siren, the governor took most people by surprise. On the second day, he also arrived ahead of the time.
Obiano sat throughout the two-day retreat, taking notes, contributing to every discussion on the scintillating presentations. Passion was also on display on the day the new appointees were inaugurated. Just before the inauguration, a short ceremony was conducted for those who worked with Obiano in his first term. Chinedu Emeka, the Anambra State deputy governor from 1999 to 2003, who served under Obiano as the Commissioner for Science and Technology, moved the audience with his soul-stirring speech, which was apparently spontaneous. Emeka told Obiano: “I will cherish participating in your government every day of my life. People of Anambra are proud of you. This is why they voted for you overwhelmingly in the last governorship election.”
Turning to the new members of the council, the ex-deputy governor said: “You must prove your mettle from Day One. He is accessible and amenable. He wants you to disagree with him because he knows you are no robots; he likes good, healthy debates.” Like other members of the outgoing council, Emeka received a certificate of merit, a lapel pin of the state and all his entitlements right there.
The inauguration was followed immediately by the first Executive Council meeting, which the governor led, and he spoke for about four hours on various topics without leaving his seat for a second. He surprisingly remembered the minutest detail of discussions held at the last Exco meeting. Throughout the long hours the first Exco meeting lasted, he left no one in doubt that he genuinely believes in his mantra of “achieving more with less” for the state.
The governor was passionate in his meeting with the board of the Anambra Broadcasting Service (ABS) two days later.  Having succeeded in building the most technologically-advanced radio and television stations in Africa, he demanded that the channel must go digital in less than three months and that it must do 24-hour broadcasting, which has to be available on DStv. Expressing disgust at the quality of buildings at the ABS, he said work would soon begin on the construction of tall and elegant buildings there.
The meeting with the ABS board had hardly ended when he entered the weekly Security Council meeting, where he dominated the environment, displaying great passion. Obiano invites some other people to participate in the Security Council meetings depending on the issues for deliberations. This time, a representative of the traders’ unions attended because of some market issues. The governor takes security so seriously that he counts the number of roadblocks by security agents and the number of soldiers and policemen manning each at any point. He even noticed that some sandbags are used by the police in remote riverine communities sharing border with Kogi State and ordered their replacement.
The next day, he went straight from Onitsha, where he was attending the Maundy Thursday mass, as part of the Christian Holy Week of Easter, and headed straight to the Alex Ekwueme Square, Awka, where he handed over 40 vehicles from Innoson Vehicles Manufacturing firm in Nnewi to the security agencies. He promised an additional “100 made-in-Anambra vehicles soon to the agencies to ensure our state remains the most peaceful in West Africa.” 
Val Ntomchukwu, the Deputy Inspector-General of Police, who represented IGP Ibrahim Idris, on the occasion, said, quote: “Other states should emulate Anambra, which has become the country’s safest state. The governor means every word he utters.” No doubt, we have never seen Ndi Anambra so optimistic of their state as they have been in the last few months. Again, Babatunde Fashola, Minister of Power, Works and Housing, calm, cool and very measured as ever, spoke about Obiano the way we have never heard him praise any other governor. For sure, Anambra State provides a glimmer of hope for Nigeria.

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