It is the 365th day of 2022. In a matter of hours, the year would have become part of the past. The year was a significant one especially for those in Anambra and Nigeria at large. It has taught us its bitter but great lessons that we are supposed to glean their positives and negatives as we journey into the new year.
One of the most significant events of the year is the baton change in Anambra State government. After eight years of purposeful governance, former Governor Willie Obiano handed over to Nigeria’s former apex bank Czar, Professor Charles Chukwuma Soludo, CFR in a well reported event. Prof. Soludo had been elected earlier in November, 2021 on the platform of the All Progressives Grand Alliance, APGA. The change of power brought renewed hope to the citizens of the state as they ruminated on the words and promises of the new government.
And so, in the past nine months, Professor Soludo has shown himself to be of differently clothe from the usual Nigerian politician. He may not be given to the sing songs of elephantine promises but every word of his promise, he keeps. He promised to renew Okpoko. He is doing it. With over fourteen kilometers of roads that will be adorned with streetlights, there is no better way to begin to return hope to the residents of the “inner city”. He promised to reform the Anambra education sector. He is doing it. The recruitment of five thousand primary and secondary school teachers remains unprecedented in the annals of history of the state. He promised to declare a state of emergency on Anambra roads. Today, Over 250 kilometers of roads have been flagged off in the state. Health, agriculture, and ease of doing business through land administration reforms are receiving the midas touch of the Soludo Solution agenda. So, is the new Anambra State Government House where work is speedily going on after being abandoned for over thirty years.
Another significant event of year 2022 was the devastating flood disaster which engulfed the entire nation, displacing over four million and killing about six hundred and sixty persons. Anambra also received a fare share of this unfortunate incident. For months, over four local governments in the state were under water, while three others
were hugely impacted. Several families were evacuated to sleep in the flood displaced persons camps located in schools, churches, town halls and even in residential buildings of philanthropic Ndị Anambra who donated such houses to be used for the purpose. Others who didn’t want to stay in such IDP camps made for themselves make shift apartments in different forests, roads and even markets. Some slept on their boats.
Regrettably, what the flood taught us was that, ten years after the last huge incident in 2012, the country is never ready for emergencies. Despite the early warnings issued by the Nigerian Meteorological Agency (NiMET) and the Nigeria Hydrological Services Agency (NIHSA), several impacted states were still unprepared to meet the flood disaster. Residents of riverine communities resorted to self help to escape the deluge. Internally displaced persons camps were not ready until few weeks into the deluge while others were submerged as a result of neglected impact assessment of the flood following early warnings.
While we seek permanent solutions to the flood, governments at all levels must be strengthened on preparedness for emergencies. It is flood today, who knows what it will be tomorrow? The states’ emergency management agencies should be well funded to manage larger disasters and to be effective and efficient. These agencies should no longer be run as semi-adhoc agencies.
One cannot finish talking about 2022 without highlighting the enormous threat of insecurity in the country. The March train attack on the Abuja-Kaduna rail line and the Owo church massacre in Ondo state are not easily forgotten. In Anambra, despite the laudable efforts made by the state government to stem the tide, the ugly monster continues to rear its head. While so many of the Anambra forests where the miscreants made their hideouts were raided and their occupants sent packing, other places in the state remain no-go zones and everything must be done to reclaim such areas from the fangs of these criminal elements. The capacity of Mr Governor, Professor Charles Chukwuma Soludo, CFR to deliver on this expectation is unquestionable.
2023 presents us with a clean slate to write a new story. A clean slate to give hope to the hopeless and wrest the nation out of the hands of those who seek to destroy it.
Happy New Year, Ndi Anambra.
Written by DAVID OKPOKWASILI
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