By Chris Onuoha 

The governor of Anambra State, Prof.Chukwuma Soludo has said that his vision is to make Anambra State a destination centre and not a departure lounge.

He also said that upon the massive developments that is going on in Anambra State in the last years, he has not borrowed a kobo from any financial institution.

Speaking at a Town Hall meeting in Lagos, where he presented his score card in the last three years, he said that though Anambra is among the least with regards to the allocations coming from the federal government, he has been very frugal in the management of resources.

According to him, his vision is to make Anambra a destination centre instead of a departure lounge.

He said that a lot of wealthy  Anambra indigenes now use the State as where they return to, for burial rather than a place to live.

Speaking further, he said that what he is doing is to turn the state to mega city that would be attractive to people in the diaspora to come live and work.

His words, “The vision of my administration is to make Anambra State a destination centre instead of a departure lounge. We are like the Jews. Before the holocaust the Jews were prosperous and scattered everywhere but without a homeland. But after the holocaust, they decided to have a homeland, a place that they could call their own and that led to the present State of Israel. 

“Anambra people in the same vein are prosperous and scattered all over the world .They use their home State only as where they return to at death, a burial place. But I want to change that narrative. I want to build a liveable place for the people of Anambra State. It is also a personal vision for me because at the end of the day I want to retire to Anambra State.”

On the incessant misunderstanding between Igbos and their host communities in diaspora, the governor said that as an itinerant people, there would always be clashes between settlers and the owners of the land, adding that this is not particular to the Igbos.

He said that what is important is that settlers should be thinking home and working towards having a place they would proudly call their own just as the Jews have done.

According to him, his administration have five pillars that would help them to achieve a mega city.

The governor said that it is very important that Anambra people should begin to think home, adding that if care is not taken, in the nearest future, non-indigenes living in Anambra State would outnumber the indigenes.

According to him, one of the foundational steps is one people, one agenda.

“ I am not working with the mindset of Anambra North, Anambra South and Anambra Central. As far as I am concerned, Anambra is one. I see Anambra as one mega city. For instance, out of the 20 kilometres of road in Okpoko, we have completed 16.I have built five general hospitals and all of them are in Anambra North. I don’t really see the things that I have done. What I am thinking about is the are the ones that I am yet to do. The Onitsha 2.0 which is to make Onitsha an industrial hub and Awka 2.0 which is to turn Awka into a smart city are already in progress. We are looking at building trade free zones .The Fun City is almost completed and very soon people will be coming to Anambra for holidays from different parts of the world. The truth is that God did not make mistake by creating us Ndi-Anambra. So, we must all join hands in making it a liveable place.”

Some of the achievements of the governor including the 700 kilometres of roads in 21 local governments, with 410 kilometres set for commissioning.

Again,400 kilometres of roads have been rehabilitated through zero pothole initiative.

Large scale erosion control projects addressing major challenges at critical locations like Ebenator, Nnobi, Ezi-Oko, Akwa, Onitsha-Owerri road in the Oba axis,near Rojeny hotel, while Onitsha-Owerri (Ozubulu axis) is currently in progress.

Others include revival of abandoned projects, renovation of existing public building, new urban development initiatives, renewable energy solutions, expansion of electricity infrastructure.

There are also water sector transformation, power meter production, firefighting capability boost and enhanced emergency response, traffic congestion reduction, pharmaceutical distribution and manufacturing hubs, among others.