The appointment of Dr. Anselm Onuorah as the Transition Committee Chairman of Anambra East Local Government Area by Mr. Governor, Professor Chukwuma Charles Soludo, CFR, on 2nd August, 2022 is a manifestation of the Governor’s belief that it is “Youth o’clock” in Anambra State governance. This is also in a clear understanding that every national and sub-national development begins from the grassroots, the quality, capacity, and character of the leader of the people from the grassroots, which the Local Government Areas in Nigeria represents, demands that round pegs should be placed in round holes.
This is why Governor Soludo’s vision of making Anambra State a livable and prosperous homeland is being led and implemented by a team of committed and goal oriented youngsters. Armed with a clear understanding of his mandate, the Anambra East Transition Committee Chairman, Dr. Onuorah has shown, in unmistaken terms, that he is leaving no stone unturned in making Anambra East the gateway to the world.
For the records, in less than one year in office, Anambra East has recorded tremendous progress in various sectors. This include the grading and palliative works of Eziagulu-Otu-Enugwu-Otu-Mkpunando Road; Nnadi-Nsugbe Road; Nneyi-Umueri-Anambra West Road; Ngene-Okwazi Road; Igbariam-Achalla Road; Nsugbe-Onitsha Road and many others totaling to over fifty kilometers, the rehabilitation of gully erosion sites at Umueri Road, rehabilitation of the collapsed Okwazi Bridge, and erosion site; and the embankment of Umueri-Nzam-Ngene Okwazi Road.
Beyond these rehabilitative works, the renovation of the Chairman’s office at the Council Headquarters, Otuocha; digitization of staff attendance register and general digitization of Anambra East Local Government Services with the successful creation of the Local Government website as a tool for interfacing with the global.
community have set Anambra East Local Government area ahead of her contemporaries in grassroots development.
Other significant achievements by the Dr. Onuorah’s led transition committee are the IoT-enabled Geospatial Intelligence mapping of the Council Area and the installation of Close Circuit Television, CCTV camera in the communities in the area with a dedicated control and situation room to curb insecurity.
Perhaps, the launch of the Clean and Green Initiative, CGI, in line with Governor Soludo’s Clean, Green and Sustainable Anambra to facilitate effective waste management followed by a street by street enumeration of houses in the local government with the ASWAMA Committee to ensure an efficient implementation and monitoring of the initiative is the icing in the cake. To that end, a Waste Management and Climate Action Committee; Waste Evacuation Committee; Waste Masters; Waste Collection Roadmap; and Tree Planting Committee were promptly created to achieve the set goals.
In the agricultural sector, the council ensured effective distribution of palm and coconut seedling provided by the State government to farmers at ward levels. So far, about two-thousand-eight-hundred-and-eighty coconut and four-thousand-eight hundred palm seedlings have been distributed.
The council is not also sleeping over perennial flood menace facing the area. They responded quickly in collaboration with development partners and the State Government to provide succour and necessary intervention to internally displaced persons during the 2022 flood disaster. They have also consistently engaged critical stakeholders in the area to know the people’s felt needs and collectively provide solution.
Above all, human capital development which undoubtedly will drive the grassroots development is not left out as the Council recently organized a three-Day retreat for the management staff and the Committee on Education, Economic and Community
Development, CEED led by Prof. Oguguo Ikpeze. The retreat was to fast track the smooth take-off of the Anambra East Special Economic City (The Gateway City) aimed at opening up the economic corridors of the Council Area and get management team on board.
These innumerable and verifiable efforts of Dr. Anselm Onuorah in Anambra East have not gone unnoticed as commendations have been flowing in from different quarters. The recent award to Anambra East by NYSC at 50 as the Best Local Government is unarguably a testament to the outstanding contributions of the Council to the promotion of national unity and integration.
While paying tribute to the solution led administration of Governor Soludo whose unwavering support and encouragement has enabled Dr. Anselm Onuorah to change the face of Anambra East Local Government Area; the committed team that has vowed to make Anambra East Area Council the pride of Anambra State in grassroots development also deserves commendation for driving the train in the right direction.
Written by DR. NJIDE EZEONYEJIAKU
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