For the past 8 years, Chief Dr. Sir Willie Maduaburochukwu Obiano, Akpokuedike Global, Ogugua Ndi Olusi, Otunba Atayese, Man of the Year, Knight Commander of the Pontifical Order of Saint Gregory the Great, has demonstrated that he is a proactive, visionary, kind hearted, compassionate, humble, reliable, sincere, simple, altruistic and foresighted leader. He has positively touched all sectors of the state economy, leaving nothing unattended to.
It has been 8 years of sustained investment in security to a point where the country’s security establishment unanimously declared Anambra the safest state in Nigeria. Before he came on board, Ndi Anambra in the diaspora dreaded visiting home. Most of them conducted burials, marriages and other traditional ceremonies outside Anambra. Even those at home slept in churches and police stations for fear of kidnap and armed robbery attacks, which were not spared.
On commerce, Obiano constructed a digital shoe making factories at Ogbunike in Oyi, which Vice President Yemi Osinbajo personally commissioned as well as other markets across the state. Electricity Power Supply equally improved tremendously under Obiano, owing to some pockets of transmission lines constructed. World Bank rated Anambra among the Top-5 Most Improved States in ease of doing business in Nigeria. The state was given a presidential award for this achievement. Thus, foreign investments have been flowing into the state, thanks to ASBA and ANSIPA, established by the Obiano administration.
The most distinctive of Obiano’s building bricks of greatness so far is in the fight against poverty. The National Bureau of Statistics reports that the level of poverty in Anambra State declined from 53% in 2010 to 14% on national average.
Meanwhile, the crowning glory of the Obiano years is the Anambra International Airport (after 30 years of the state creation); the FIFA-standard Awka City Stadium; the 13,000 sitting capacity International Convention Center in Awka, the first of its kind in the South East and three magnificent and flood light adorned flyovers with street lights in Awka capital territory. These are audacious legacy projects that have given Anambra a sturdy foot into the future. Recreation parks for relaxation have been created at strategic points in the capital, Onitsha and other parts of the state. Youths were equally empowered through job creation and political appointments.
On Agriculture, Anambra state has advanced remarkably towards food sufficiency. Under the Governor’s watch, rice production in Anambra state increased from 80,000 metric tons in 2014 when he took over to about 625,000 metric tons yield in 2022. Indigenous brands of Anambra rice have dwarfed other products, including foreign rice, in the markets.
What is more, increased yield in cassava, fish, yam, maize, bitter leaf, vegetables and ventures in livestock and fisheries have revealed that Obiano’s agricultural revolution in Anambra state is not only strategic but also holistic. Governor Obiano provided irrigation facilities in farm settlements to promote dry season farming. Even during the peak of COVID-19 pandemic, Obiano yet championed another novel idea for agricultural advancement titled Ugbo-Azu-Uno to encourage productivity, even at a subsistence level.
Akpokuedike equally believes in stomach infrastructure; hence his “Ana Alu olu Ana Alu mmadu” mantra. Graciously, the alert Governor and the Most Worker-Friendly Governor in Nigeria has been living up to his promise of paying salaries by 25th of every month, while workers and pensioners receive a bag of rice each in every Christmas. As he leaves tomorrow, no worker is owed salary arrears.
Anambra, under Obiano, has so much empowered persons with disabilities that the records are unequalled in any part of the country. Night life has also returned to the state, thanks to the glimmering street lights in all communities, making it a one-community-state, while roads and bridges have been constructed.
The Obiano administration also introduced a health insurance scheme, ASHIA in order to enhance the living standards of the citizenry. Anambra is the first state in Nigeria to initiate and implement a health insurance scheme (ASHIA). With ASHIA, treatment in both private and public hospitals is almost free, including lab and drugs. Akpokuedike constructed the biggest oxygen plant at COOU Teaching Hospital as well as equipped our hospitals with modern health facilities and personnel. He extinguished out of stock syndrome of drugs in our hospitals.
Again, for the first time in the country, a government started a people- oriented program known as “Community Choose Your Project Initiative”. Under this arrangement, each of the one hundred and eighty-one communities in the state is annually given twenty million naira to execute any project of its choice. Sir Willie also attracted Appeal Court and other federal agencies to Anambra.
On education, the Willie Obiano administration has taken the sector to an enviable height. Anambra has recorded the most impressive feats in education by any state in Nigeria. Anambra comes first in almost all internal and international examinations The robust motivation given to school teachers in Anambra State by Obiano has put Anambra teachers up for national honours and awards for exemplary performance. Students and pupils from Anambra state are today shining starts in national and international examinations and competitions as a result of Obiano’s midas touch in education.
It is gratifying that Governor Obiano has so far changed the face of Anambra in diverse ways in 8 years. He touched all tangible and intangible sectors concurrently–MDAs, parastatals, security, erosion, commerce, sports, empowerment of youths, pensions, women, children and the disable community as well as environment, industrialization, roads, bridges, employment and road infrastructure. In 8 eight years, he built over 18 bridges and many roads, including the longest bridge in the south east. Under Obiano, Anambra was made an oil producing state, which eluded it for years.
For 8 years, Governor Obiano maintained cordial relationship with the state legislature, judiciary, labour, religious, traditional and town union leaders as well as market executive, youths and women organizations and many more.
No doubt, if not for constitutional constraint, Ndi Anambra would have wished Akpokuedike to continue to steer the ship to Eldorado. However, transition is one of the most inevitable and natural part of life. Above all, change is the only constant thing in life. Your Excellency, we wish you well in your future endeavors. Indeed, you have made Anambra the true Light of the nation. You came, you saw and you conquered. To God be the glory.
WRITTEN BY DR. NNAMDI NWADIOGBU
Comments are closed for this post.