Ndi Anambra udo dili unu!

Exactly two years ago today, I assumed office as your governor on a cloud of hope. Umu nnem, two years down the road, I am proud to announce to you that we have laid a very good foundation for a better Anambra State. After two years of applying myself to the service of Anambra State, I am happy to look back at what we have achieved and thank you all for your support and prayers.

Ndi Anambra, before I tell you exactly what we have done, it is important to remember that in the past two years, our country Nigeria has passed through one of the worst periods since independence. Oil prices have crashed to the lowest possible point and the Naira fell with it. Most of the allocations from the Federation Account have dried up and left huge gaps in the revenues of states. The consequences are severe and unpleasant. But the good news is that our story is different in Anambra State. We foresaw the impending storm and made adequate preparations for the rainy day. The fact is that when I took over the leadership of Anambra State, my first impulse as a financial expert was to organise a Strategic Retreat for my Executive Council Members to prepare my team for the task at hand. It was at the Retreat that we brain-stormed on the economy and detected the impending fall in oil prices. We have also had more retreats and a Summit on IGR. All these prepared us for the tough times at hand. The result is that while other states are grappling with this new reality, we are not only increasing salaries but we are busy building bridges.

Now, the basic question to ask is ‘how did we do it?’ The answer is simple. We began by defining our Vision and Mission in Anambra State. I stated that my Vision was to make Anambra State the 1st Choice Investment Destination and a hub for industrialization and commercial activities. I also declared that my Mission was to make Anambra State a socially stable, business-friendly environment that would attract both indigenes and foreigners to seek wealth-creating opportunities. To guarantee the realisation of these two Statements, we crafted a Blueprint known as the Four Pillars of Development which revolves around Agriculture, Industrialization, Trade and Commerce and Oil & Gas. The Vision and Mission Statements come together in a perfect synergy with the Four Pillars of Development to make up my dream for Anambra State.

However, from the very beginning, it was clear to me as daylight, that the major obstacle that stood in the way of my dreams for Anambra State was the challenge of Security. The undeniable fact before us was that since the end of the Biafran War, Anambra State had been the theatre of crime and criminality in the South East of Nigeria. I figured out that there could be no meaningful progress in this state without a successful attack against crime. I knew that no investor would go to a crime-ridden environment. So, we launched an all-out war against kidnappers, armed robbers, drug-dealers and child-traffickers. We smashed crime syndicates and pulled down the warehouses used for keeping kidnap victims. We donated smart cars to the police, a gunboat to the Navy and last Christmas, we launched police helicopters to watch over our skies. And so, for the first time since the creation of this great state, we made sure that Anambra was effectively covered on the land, in the waters and in the sky! With that effort, we achieved 360 degrees security coverage of the state! Not only that, we also solved the 46-year old puzzle of crime in Anambra State! With that effort too, it is no longer in doubt that Anambra is the safest state in Nigeria. And for the second time since the creation of Anambra State, we celebrated Christmas last year without a single incident of crime! Ndi Anambra, that is how far we have come on the journey to a safer Anambra State.

Opening Anambra up to the World

The immediate benefit of ridding Anambra State of crime is that we have also opened our dear state up to the world. We have made our state attractive to our great sons and daughters and to wise investors. However, to harness the opportunities created by our emergence as Nigeria’s safest state, we established the Anambra State Investment Promotion and Protection Agency (ANSIPPA). This Agency has the mandate of attracting investments and fast-tracking the process of investing in Anambra State. To date, ANSIPPA has attracted investments valued at $3.2billion to Anambra State. All the investments we have attracted so far cut across Agriculture, Trade & Commerce, manufacturing, hospitality, housing, electricity generation, waste management, health and oil and gas. More investments are coming.

The Employment Values we have created so far.

Ndi be’anyi, when I asked for your votes in 2013, I promised you that I would give you jobs, jobs, jobs! Today, I am proud to declare that with the quality of investments we have attracted so far, the unemployment problem we have in the state will be drastically reduced in no distant time. Here is our projection for the jobs that will be created from the investments we have attracted –

Agriculture – 27,000 direct jobs and 100,000 indirect jobs

Industry, Trade & Commerce – 12,000 direct jobs and 45,000 indirect jobs

Real Estate & Hospitality – 11,000 direct jobs and 39,500 indirect jobs

Power & Transportation – 2,000 direct jobs and 8,200 indirect jobs

Health – 500 direct jobs and 1,900 indirect jobs

Total number of jobs expected – 52,500 direct jobs and 200,000 indirect jobs

For the complete text, follow the link:
http://www.anambrablog.ng/2016/03/full-text-of-governor-obianos-2-years.html

Anambra kwenu,
kwezenu,
rienu
Wuonu