Book Review Of Governor Willie Obiano: 7 Years Of Delivering Good Governance In Anambra State (2014-2021)

This interesting book, titled: Governor Willie Obiano: 7 Years of Delivering Good Governance in Anambra State (2014-2021), is a compendium made up of 244 pages and 54 Chapters of serious and all engaging articles from renowned prolific writers, published by the Anambra Broadcasting Service (ABS) and printed by CEEFO Press, Enugu. It was edited by two prominent Mass Media experts and veteran journalists, Dr Uche Nworah and Dr Emeka Arinze; One is the born-fire and game-changing Managing Director and Chief Executive of Anambra Broadcasting Service, ABS, while the other is an economic and management analyst who has really touched the life of the society through critical media administrative acumen and socio-political turn-around commentaries.

It is a critical sectoral compilation of the various inexhaustible media commentaries written by some social commentators and analysts who were committed to documenting for posterity, what they unanimously called ‘the overwhelming giant strides of His Excellency, Chief Dr. Willie Mmaduaburochukwu Obiano, the Executive Governor of Anambra State, in the past seven years’. One must commend the Editors and Printer for the appealing book cover, the choice of colours and cover picture. The picture of The Governor on the cover page is not only natural but a great expression of His Excellency as a man who is not only in love and at home with the tradition of his people but also, at peace with nature and his gifts. The ABS Logo, strategically located at a corner of the cover, is systematically alluring. With those Colours and picture, Governor Obiano can easily win any beauty contest without qualms.

The book starts with an interesting Preface by Uche Nworah. It introduces the many magnetic paraphernalia of the book. With straight-to-the-point approach, coated in simple English language, the preface is not only apt, but incontestably, one of the book’s greatest attractions.

Another beautiful thing about the book is that its contents begin with the inaugural speech of no other person than the great Ijele Masquerade himself, Governor Willie Obiano, on March 17, 2014, in which he succinctly outlined his government’s organizing principles and priority areas quoting Max de Pree as his philosophical inspiration. He outlined electricity supply, secured environment for life and property, redesigning of Awka capital city, etc, and a new economic development base rooted in four cardinal pillars of aggressive Mechanized Agriculture; Oil and Gas; Trade and Commerce and Industrialisation; all centered on family, which he described as a social hurricane anchored in the timeless dictums such as Onye aghana nwanne ya, Igwe bu ike, Izu ka mma na nne ji, etc, as his unshakable priorities.

Thus, it is on the pedestal of this critical excitement that Emeka Arinze, Uche Nworah, James Eze and Ikenna Aniagboso collectively exclaim that for the past seven years, Chief Dr. Sir Willie Obiano, Knight Commander of the Pontifical Order of St. Gregory the Great, has demonstrated that he is a proactive, visionary and foresighted leader who knows the way, goes the way and shows the way by the provision of what they called ‘water-tight security’, elevation of the state to top 5 World Bank most improved States in ease of doing business, the building of the Anambra International Cargo and Passenger Airport, the International Conference Centre, increase in, and prompt payment of workers’ salaries, massive construction of bridges and roads which have made Anambra the number one in road network in the country, etc. Nnamdi Nwadiogbu goes a step further in Chapter 51 to provide the necessary statistics. Hence, a total of 12 bridges including the untra-modern jet-age Fly-overs in Awka and Amawbia, and 800Km of roads have been delivered by the Obiano administration.

Striving on the potency of mastery of expressive language, C. Don Adinuba in Chapter 5, succinctly eulogizes the courage of the political Field Marshall, Chief Wille Obiano to embark on one of the two biggest airports in Nigeria as well as, the most modern, built without a loan from any financial institution anywhere in the world. With strong evidential input and the instrumentalism of what he calls ‘historical accuracy’, he debunks the widespread insinuations on the ownership of the airport, stressing it is 100% owned by Ndi Anambra. Jame Eze in Chapter 4 argues that when the imposing 10,000 capacity International Conference Centre in Awka is added, the two become the audacious legacy projects that have given Anambra a sturdy foot into the future.

On Governor Obianor’s security achievements, the authors, James Eze, C. Don Adinuba, Obi Ochije and Duro Onabule unequivocally agree that this is where Governor Obiano has done exceptionally well, providing as the case may be, a concise but technically detailed rehearsal of a very glorious outing. They all agree that aside divine arrangements, Governor Obiano remains the only leader too experienced and disposed to manage extremism and ‘madness’ in men. This, according to James Eze, he is able to achieve through his Security Summit, launch of Operation Kpochapu 1 and 2, Arial Surveillance with helicopters, etc; his massive support to security agencies in the State with 60 security–gazetted vehicles in 2018 and 111 vehicles in 2019. Hence, in the mind of every Policeman in Nigeria, Anambra is the ‘’Correct State”, a concrete position which migrated the state security architecture from the usual brick and mortar backbone to a much more sophisticated and digital super-structure that has made Anambra the safest State in Nigeria. Obi Ochije’s Chapter 16 agrees in toto with the above, adding that to fight crime, governor Obiano inaugurated for the first time in Africa, the supper Smart Closed-Circuit Cameras (CCTV) with ultramodern hitec,-surveillance equipments. The discourse becomes more interesting with the input of a non Igbo veteran journalist, Duro Onabule, who in Chapter 41, extolled the bold steps of Governor Obiano’s CCTV arrangement which according to him, has ‘helped in reducing President Buhari’s burden on the crime situation’.

If the above discussions are captivating, Victor Ike Oye and Nobert Obi’s submissions on the same man are classic, arguing with convincing litany of evidence that as APGA leader and Governor of the State, Dr Willie Obiano has done very well in all sectors. In his usual undiluted glamorous assertiveness, Oye says that ‘’ his meteoric rise and ascendency to the political firmament have stupefied even his worst critics, and contrary to the orchestrated shenanigans of his rabid critics, he has remained unfazed in his commitment to transform the state into a new world’’. Nobert Obi agrees with the Christian finality of Amen to the above, and added that apart from being nicknamed ‘’ Alert Governor” by workers, describing the administration as possessing a magic wand with which it gets on very well with other arms of government such as the legislature and judiciary. Azubike Nkala’s ‘’Appreciating Governor Obiano’s Enduring Legacy Projects’’ in Chapter Eleven, concurs with the above.

On education, C. Don Adinuba in Chapter 8, catalogues the numerous achievements recorded by schools in the State and Anambrarians in WAEC, NECO, National Common Entrance Exams, JAMB and other national and international competitions. He concludes by saying that ‘’in a society marked by crass materialism, it is reassuring that there are persons like Governor Willie Obiano leading the charge to change our national values, so that we can begin to pay homage to knowledge and enduring values rather than mammon’’. Uche Nworah (in Chapter 21) strongly believes that apart from other giant strides in the education sector, that the Anambra Teaching on Air introduced by the State government during the COVID-19 lockdown is an unparalleled teaching and learning process.

As a matter of fact, each of the fifty-four chapters of the book is as interesting as it is revealing, thus, cannot be critically reviewed in one straight slot without a dose of divine miracle. Imperatively, I could only do a few. From Ejike Anyaduba’s ‘’Anambra Under Governor Obiano, Living Above the Margins of Poverty’’, Tony Onyima’s ‘’Anambra: New Politics, New Thinking’’, Emma Madu’s ‘’Executive and Legislature Synergy, Nnamdi Nwadiogbu’s ‘’Governor Obiano: Providing Health Insurance for Ndi Anambra through ASHIA’’, Chuks Ezewuzie’s ‘’Governor Obiano: the Progressive, Proactive, Precautionary and Prophetic Leader’’ to Willie Nwokoye’s ‘’Obiano: Reconstructing the Anambra Value Curve’’, etc, the collective verdict is very clear and loud: Governor Obiano has incontrovertibly done very well and the indices are as glaring as they are convincing.

Obviously, the arrangement and packaging of the book are superb and most attractive while the contents are not only topical, germane and inspirational; it is a wonderful and uncommon effort at putting into genuine academic perspective, the achievements of a government led by Chief Dr. Willie Obiano. The Editors, Dr. Uche Nworah and Dr. Emeka Arinze, did an excellent work to the extent that it is difficult to pinpoint any typographical error or grammatical somersaults common with many edited compendiums. This is a paradigm shift.

However, may I observe that the book would have been an easier read if it was arranged thematically than ‘sectorally’. Secondly, based on the book title which is on the achievements of Governor Obiano, Chapter Twenty (on the birthday of the Governor’s mother), though very interesting, seems to be a little away from the supposed contents of the title. However, that little mix-up may be exonerated by the statement of the Governor himself, when he proudly explained that ‘my mother is the bone of my spine, keeping me straight and true. She is my blood, making sure it runs, rich and strong. She is the beating of my heart…’’

May it be noted also, that C. Don Adinuba’s brilliant submission on “Anambra, Excelling in Education Under Governor Obiano” (in Chapter 8, is a very good one, but its critical academic examination shows that the author only identified the achievements of the schools and students without pinpointing in strong terms, specific efforts by the Governor in assisting the students and institutions to achieve those, which would have given the piece better intellectual landing.

In addition, one observes that there seems to be contradictory data presentations in the articles of Sir Norbert Obi and Nnamdi Nwadiogbu (Chapters 12 and 51 respectively) on the number of projects executed by the Governor. One says about twelve bridges and 800km of roads, while the other says about eighteen bridges and 900Km of roads. This type of contradiction in same book may not be a wonderful one. Nevertheless, a consideration of differences in times of writing by the two authors, may nullify the strength of this observation.

From the heartbeats of all the articles in this wonderful book, the man Chief Dr. Willie Mmaduaburochukwu Obiano must be a super politician, soldier and ambassador of Christ, great achiever, and a leader with sacerdotal inspiration. However, I am convinced he can still do more before the end of his administration through roads construction and maintenance especially, in the Capital City, and should also act quickly against the raging killings in Awka and the State by those who have vowed to destroy all the good works His Excellency has done over the past years.

The book will go a long way to helping the State keep excellent records of what Governor Obianor has done with a view to helping subsequent governments in the State to know where to start. To the academia, it is very expository and a good database for research on good governance; to the students of all disciplines, an encouragement to be the best in future political engagements; and the politicians, a call to deliver good governance, in spite of, all odds, bearing in mind that posterity takes records. There is no doubt that the book is ‘an extraordinary read from cover to cover…informed and informative, thoughtful and thought-provoking, inspired and inspiring’ and a political catechism for all politicians and Anambrarians. I strongly recommend it to all and sundry.

To order copies of the book, contact 07067582838.

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