i decided to create this thread after reading through a thread where Peter Obi the incumbent Anambra state governor was accusing el rufai of insulting the Igbos.
now, the first thing that comes to mind as an Anambrarian is how disgusting el rufai could be and the urge to call him all kinds of name and detest him follows. but then, i happened to also read further and saw how el rufai insulted ndi Igbo. All i saw was constructive criticism with facts and figures. My igbo brothers please before you feed on my flesh, hear me out.
i happen to know peter Obi after he claimed his mandate (not personally). I attended a lecture he gave and truly i loved the man. he seemed to have vision. i saw the spark in his eyes while he spoke.i felt the passion he exuded. he was good. years later (more like many months) i began to have doubts. what was happening? before i get carried away with my thoughts, back to the topic at hand.
the worst that could happen is we judge ourselves based on the pointers el rufai gave and seeing that we are better off than he gave us credit for, like the proverbial lizard that jumped down the iroko tree, we will praise ourselves if non would. but brothers, facts and figures don't lie.my questions are these

how would you access peter's performance so far?
why did peter ignore all that el rufai say and focus on an insult that didn't exist?
are these claims by el rufai true?
Anambra, what's the way forward?

if you have something constructive, please share with us...no tribal bashing...below is what el rufai said...its long but you can take pains to read

Anambra's budget of misplaced priorities

08 Jun 2012




We continue our budgetary analysis with the South-eastern state of Anambra, with a view to analyse how the state’s budget plans to address development challenges within the state. The state is bounded by Delta to the West, Imo to the South, Enugu to the East, and Kogi to the North. It has a total land mass of 4,416 sq km, situated on the eastern side of the River Niger and has 21 local government areas. Its major towns are Awka, its capital city, the commercial town of Onitsha, and the industrial city of Nnewi. Anambra has a population of 4.2 million and is the nineth most populous nationwide. Most of Anambra’s population is rural. However, as is with every major state, rural-urban migration poses serious burdens for the state’s resources. This pressure is evident in Onitsha where amenities like decent housing, potable water and electricity are in short supply.

Old Anambra State was created in 1976 from part of the East-central state, and its capital was Enugu. Following further state creation in 1991, it was divided into two new states, Anambra and Enugu. Anambra now has its capital in Awka. Governor Peter Obi of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) resumed office in March 2006, after the removal of Dr. Chris Ngige by a Court of Appeal judgment in Enugu which ruled that Ngige’s election in 2003 was defective. Obi was impeached in November 2006, but was reinstated in February 2007 after the impeachment was overturned. Although a fresh election was held in April 2007, he returned to office in June 2007 after a court ruling decided that he should be allowed to complete his four-year term. He was re-elected for a second term in 6 February 2010.

Obi has a BA degree in Philosophy from the University of Nigeria, Nsukka (1984) and enjoys the title of being the youngest Chairman of Fidelity Bank. Considering Obi’s career achievements, and the fact that he has been to the Supreme Court successfully three times to reclaim his electoral mandate, the people had high hopes that he would improve on the stellar performance of Ngige, sadly, this has not been the case, as his administration has seen increasing crime rate, infrastructure deficits, a number of strikes over minimum wage, higher tax burdens, and exodus of elite, among other challenges.

Unemployment rate in Anambra is among the highest in the South-east zone, at 21.3 per cent, it is higher than the national average of 21.1 per cent. Imo’s unemployment rate is 29.9 per cent and Enugu is 15 per cent. The state has tried to reduce unemployment through its Anambra Integrated Development Strategy (ANIDS) and the Anambra Youth Reorientation and Empowerment Program (ANSYREP), but the problem with these programmes is that they contribute very little to the production base of the state.

The incidence of poverty in the state is very high – actually disappointing. The South-east has a food poor incidence of 41.0 per cent of which 60.9 per cent is absolutely poor, while 66.5 per cent is relatively poor and 56.8 per cent live under a dollar a day. Anambra has a poverty index of 22.8 per cent, the third highest in the zone, and shares the sixth lowest position in Nigeria with Rivers State which also has 22.8 per cent. About 47.6 per cent of the state’s population is core poor, 45.0 per cent is moderately poor and only 7.4 per cent of the state’s population is classified as none poor. Income inequality as measured by changes in Gini co-efficient between 2003 and 2010 increased slightly by 7.6 per cent as against 18.1 per cent for Ebonyi and Enugu States 7.5 per cent increase.

The people of Anambra State are known to be brilliant, enterprising and resourceful. Most of Nigera's brightest professors, writers, public servants and politicians hailed from the state. One would expect that given this enterprising spirit, the state would create conditions conducive to innovation, business and development. This is not the case, out of the five South-eastern states, Anambra has the fourth lowest ranking for ease of doing business; it was at a distant 35th position out of the 36 states and FCT in 2010. Starting a business involves nine procedures that may span 39 days. Enugu with the best doing business ranking in the zone, takes the 30th position of the 36 states, while Imo is ranked 36, as the most difficult state to do business both in the South-east and nationally.

Anambra State is not much endowed with mineral resources and the few known to exist are not exploited. For example, Tungsten at Oba, and large deposits of lignite in Onitsha, Idemili, and Nnewi councils are yet to be exploited. Kaolin is mined in the Ukpor lhembosi axis for the ceramic industry at Umuahia in Abia State; while the deposits at Afuleri are not exploited. Sandstones of Ameke Formation are quarried in several places, particularly at Abagana and Nsugbe for construction purposes. Natural gas has been discovered at Ebenebe Ridge, southeast of Ebenebe town, and preliminary prospecting indicates that crude oil exists in commercial quantities in the state. Cash crops in the state include coco yam, cassava, rice, maize and oil palm.

The 2012 budget for the state is N82.5 billion as against N66.9 billion in 2011, representing a 23.2 per cent increase. N46.8 billion (57%) is apportioned for capital expenditure, and N35.7 billion (43%) is for recurrent expenditure. Analysing the recurrent budget further, N9.2 billion or (26%) is set aside for Consolidated Revenue Fund Charges, N16.3 billion (45%) for personnel costs, N7.4 billion (21%) for overhead costs and N2.8 billion (8%) as subvention to parastatals/ tertiary institutions. Anambra’s total IGR for 2012 is projected at N12 billion, the same figure as was projected in 2011. This means, while its expenditure has increased, the state has not enhanced its capacity to collect or expand its tax base.

The two major contributors to IGR in 2012 will be N6.7 billion from taxes and about N4 billion from fines and fees. If this IGR is measured against the states projected personnel costs of N16.3 billion, Anambra cannot pay its staff salaries without reliance on federal allocation; this means it is one of those ‘dependent’ states and is not economically viable for independent existence.
The 2012 budget will be funded by projected capital receipts of N47 billion, N12 billion as IGR and N36 billion as FAAC allocations, bringing total revenues to N95 billion, out of which N12.3 billion would be transferred to Capital Development Fund. In sectoral terms, N28.2 billion (34.2%) is allocated to the economic sector, N24.2 billion (29.4%) to the social sector, N9.7 billion (11.82%) for the environmental sector and N20.2 billion (24.52%) for general administration.

The education sub sector is allocated N10.99 billion. The state has a longstanding reputation of being an educationally advanced state: it has at least nine institutions of higher learning, its literacy rate is comparatively high, in a 2010 NBS literacy survey, youth literacy in the state was said to be 92.9 per cent and adult literacy at 74.0%. However, compared to its South-east neighbours, the state has the third lowest adult literacy amongst the five states, Abia has 78.2 per cent, Imo 80.8 per cent, Enugu with 64.6 per cent and Ebonyi with 69.8 per cent. This means that in education terms, Anambra is performing poorer than most other states in its region. From this regional perspective, it means investment in education urgently needs attention and ought to be ramped up.

A meagre N1.4 billion is budgeted for health, and considering that health should be the core focus of any state government, this amount is barely adequate. From this sum, it is evident that the government has misplaced priorities, apportioning only 1.7 per cent of the entire budget to a sector that directly affects the livelihood of all of its populace.

Another major problem of the state is roads and soil erosion. In a bid to tackle this, the government apportioned N10 billion to continue the construction of several intra-state highways and bridges, targeting the completion of about 100km of roads this fiscal year. However, only N1.696 billion is allocated for drainage, erosion control and sewerage. This we believe would not address the challenges in that area.
Water supply which also is a major problem will get only N800 millio: of this sum, it is hoped that expansion works on major water schemes would be carried out, and new ones built. This sum is little, and may not amount to much improvement in water supply in the state.

Agriculture is apportioned N1.4 billion, an evidence of misplaced priorities: with figures like these, it is no surprise that unemployment in the state is high. How can a state government allocate only 1.7 per cent of its entire budget to agriculture in a rural state? Unemployment can be tackled effectively with agriculture if the value chain challenges in food and cash crops production are tackled.
The housing sub sector will get N1.8 billion, the government plans to partner the private sector in providing more residential accommodation, a core focus will be on completing all existing projects. This is commendable.

What is clear from this analysis is that the state like most states of the federation is not allocating funds to adequately address the key social challenges that confront its people. It should slim down the size and cost if its government, learn to prioritise its budget allocations, expand its revenue base from taxes by attracting Federal Government and private sector participation in mineral exploration, improve its business climate by easing the starting and running of a business.

The state like other South-east states must address the security challenges arising from violent crimes and kidnapping that has scared the elite and investors from the state. The state should leverage its human resources by refocusing the priorities of government on SME and industrial development, investing in infrastructure, agriculture and human capital. It needs to capitalise on the enterprising nature of its people by tackling unemployment, poverty and infrastructure deficits. Until that time, it will remain a state with big prospects and very little growth.

Not holding fort for Obi's under-performance but the statistics El Rufai is brandishing makes no sense .
Unemployment, poverty rate, worst of all is the rating on ease of doing business; 35 of 36 in the federation, so states under the fire of Boko Haram have better business climate than Anambra? Has he ever visited the state in the first place?

I have very little to say about Peter Obi and his administration except that job creationin sustainable sectors is 0%, strategic vision and planning is 0%, investments in human capacity building (how much did he invest in education?) 0%, security nko 0%. Anambra state deserves better than this. Na condition make south east adopt omata levels to survive. While the likes of chime and rochas (as far as I can see) show glimpses of far reaching impact, I honestly can't see anything to praise peter obi about.

To crown it all the man, the youngest bank chairman for petes sake responds to a write-up with limp ethnic blackmail.

I tire

truly like you have said, i think that he is wrong in a lot of his claims, take housing for example, how could he say that?
But what i expected Obi to do was match stroke for stroke, swing for swing instead of crying and beckoning the igbo nation like a sisi.
In case you didn't notice, that man is banishing facts and figures which is a very potent cutting edge.
Obi should come and discredit his sources and tell them how impotent they are or is he scared of something?

Obi's govt is a failure first and foremost. Even him knows. The reason he refered to mallams comments as insult to ndigbo is because he wants to whoop sentiments. He has no facts to prove otherwise.
What can we do? Vote somebody with a track record for performance and with big vision in 2014.
Mallam may be wrong by saying we are the sixth poorest but governance in the state has deteriorated highly that it is affecting the micro and macro economics. People base the dissentment on the superficials which has no skeletons. Am a proud igbo son and say mallam is right. I will wait on God for 2014!

were other eastern states not judged too?
Why didn't chime, rochas, orji and the likes beckon on ndi Igbo?
He claims to be one of ANAMBRA's most successful business men. Is this how he got to the top?

Obi, we see you following Goodluck jonathan everywhere eating his shyt. Feeling fly. Thinking you are brilliant and got mouth like Obama. God de see you and i can almost touch your disappointment.

^
very embarrasing of the woman oriented governor. That in itself is an insult to the igbo race. He is more PDP than the PDP

dubem3: Obi, we see you following Goodluck jonathan everywhere eating his shyt. Feeling fly. Thinking you are brilliant and got mouth like Obama. God de see you and i can almost touch your disappointment.

obi told him exactly what he was doing , this is how another foolish governor from south west claimed that enugu is the poorest state till governor chime tore him apart, these foolish politicians should mind their regions and states that are already failures and stop pokenoosing into what happens int he south east , it is igbos like u backing them up that gives them the morale to keep doing so . if u see nothing wrong with branding anambra the worst state to do buisness in nigeria then u are yet to wake up and smell the cofee, el rufai knows what he is doing and it has nothing to do with caring about anambra people.

Peter Obi is right on this one thing though.
El-Rufais crtisism is a slap on the face of Ndigbo and Anambrans most especially.

The fact that citizens of the state have turned a blind while while their governor got away with being the WORST in Nigeria
says a lot.
Hes not even getting half the flak of Orji and Uduaghan even though he has a worse record.

You should all be grateful to El-Rufai for speaking on you behalf!
SHAME ON ANAMBRA !

bashr8: obi told him exactly what he was doing , this is how another foolish governor from south west claimed that enugu is the poorest state till governor chime tore him apart, these foolish politicians should mind their regions and states that are already failures and stop pokenoosing into what happens int he south east , it is igbos like u backing them up that gives them the morale to keep doing so . if u see nothing wrong with branding anambra the worst state to do buisness in nigeria then u are yet to wake up and smell the cofee, el rufai knows what he is doing and it has nothing to do with caring about anambra people.

what am asking peter to do is not to stumble into the road with blind men but rather show them that he who has sight is superior in some way. Like a learned easterner. Show him his folly. Quote him facts and figure too.
Not to cry like a sisi. Each time i remember that i am an Igbo man, i remember that i have a reputation to protect. I will not run away from from the man who has brought trouble to my house instead like the proverbial man who the dance has been brought to his father's house, if i cannot dance, i will start jumping up and down

dubem3:
what am asking peter to do is not to stumble into the road with blind men but rather show them that he who has sight is superior in some way. Like a learned easterner. Show him his folly. Quote him facts and figure too.
Not to cry like a sisi. Each time i remember that i am an Igbo man, i remember that i have a reputation to protect. I will not run away from from the man who has brought trouble to my house instead like the proverbial man who the dance has been brought to his father's house, if i cannot dance, i will start jumping up and down

el rufai deserves no response, obi or anambra people are not accountable to him , anybody that wants to compare anamnbra performance with other states can easily go round the country and see for himself or consult statistics tru google , we have discussed state statistic here on nairaland several time , elrufai is a buffon . nobody have ever claimed that anambra is heaven but it is still among top performing states all round in nigeria so for elrufai to come and brand it worst state to do buisness even with the biggest market in the world situated there and industrial city of nnewi and of course anambras own oil refinery then something is wrong with him

bashr8: el rufai deserves no response, obi or anambra people are not accountable to him , anybody that wants to compare anamnbra performance with other states can easily go round the country and see for himself or consult statistics tru google , we have discussed state statistic here on nairaland several time , elrufai is a buffon . nobody have ever claimed that anambra is heaven but it is still among top performing states all round in nigeria so for elrufai to come and brand it worst state to do buisness even with the biggest market in the world situated there and industrial city of nnewi and of course anambras own oil refinery then something is wrong with him

then Obi should just have ignored him, shouldn't he?

RoadStar: Peter Obi is right on this one thing though.
El-Rufais crtisism is a slap on the face of Ndigbo and Anambrans most especially.

The fact that citizens of the state have turned a blind while while their governor got away with being the WORST in Nigeria
says a lot.
Hes not even getting half the flak of Orji and Uduaghan even though he has a worse record.

You should all be grateful to El-Rufai for speaking on you behalf!
SHAME ON ANAMBRA !

very sad my brother. I have regularly ranked obi as the worst governor in Nigeria here on nairaland. Its sad that there are many anambra columnist on newspapers who has failed to call the man out except okey ndibe but you know how peter obi buys the media. He lives on propaganda, paid publicity agents.. Thats why some people have failed to see the bad nature of his failures. For an outsider to tell us the truth about our state is embarassing. El rufai is not after Anambra, he is after peter obi and that I agree with 100 percent

bashr8: el rufai deserves no response, obi or anambra people are not accountable to him , anybody that wants to compare anamnbra performance with other states can easily go round the country and see for himself or consult statistics tru google , we have discussed state statistic here on nairaland several time , elrufai is a buffon . nobody have ever claimed that anambra is heaven but it is still among top performing states all round in nigeria so for elrufai to come and brand it worst state to do buisness even with the biggest market in the world situated there and industrial city of nnewi and of course anambras own oil refinery then something is wrong with him

And what about if this statistic is based on d deteriorating state of d economy due to Obi's adminsitration?
@@just saying@@
If he wouldnt respond with facts, instead of those lame points, then he has no reputation to secure.
Im still surprise to hear that Anambra is like the least in commercialization......Onitsha alone is.....
Obi should come and defend himself with facts, or else he is purported to be a failure, and he will regret not defending today in yrs to come.
I know Ibo men to be business oriented, as I can live in place where Ibo man exists not.
Or could it simply mean that they are leaving their states to go empower other states.
Obi, pls we need ur cogent points laced with facts and figures if ur administration has been a success!

dubem3:
then Obi should just have ignored him, shouldn't he?

....then what is his reputation going to be like? The worst Anamabra Governor so far?
He will regret ever being silent over this issue raised by El Rufai.

Mr. Globe:

very sad my brother. I have regularly ranked obi as the worst governor in Nigeria here on nairaland. Its sad that there are many anambra columnist on newspapers who has failed to call the man out except okey ndibe but you know how peter obi buys the media. He lives on propaganda, paid publicity agents.. Thats why some people have failed to see the bad nature of his failures. For an outsider to tell us the truth about our state is embarassing. El rufai is not after Anambra, he is after peter obi and that I agree with 100 percent

''.....El rufai is not after Anambra, he is after peter obi and that I agree with 100 percent''
U can say that over and over.
People of Igboland shldnt take it personal, El Rufia wants d man to do his job, and he needs to prove himself right!

Obi has taken Anambra State 10 years backward . . . . .

Obi should be ashamed of himself . . . . He has also disappointed his AGULU people and APGA has a party

Who made upthe statistics and "facts" mr rufai used in criticising the government?
Because I'm wary of any statistic that claims that anambra is a "rural state". In Nigeria, I don't trust any statistical report because they overtly twisted to suit the political egos and needs of the "statisticians". Also, to collect and organise statistical data in nigeria is an extremely difficult task.

It is easy to criticize from doctored statistics that looks "pleasing to the eye", while you are totally oblivious and ignorant of facts that matter. If el rufai wants to criticize, he should go to anambra state first and criticise from what he sees on ground. That is what true criticism is in naija.
Obi is one of the few governors who will be able to a full account of his government after he leaves office. He is not as bad as people here make of him, he's not the worst performing governor in the south east. I wonder where that would leave Mr martin elechi of ebonyi state.

you know, the things isn't really as if Obi is doing or has done nothing but when you get to compare his performance with how much he talks, how big and beautifully coloured his sign posts are or even what he has the capacity to and should be doing he will come out really poor. All what these tell me is that the man knows what he should be doing. Why he ain't doing it is what baffles me.

Just like some one rightly pointed out above. What is the source of these statistics?
Who gathered this data?
How reliable are they?

We know how difficult it is to gather such data down here and we equally know how much these data are manipulated. El Rufai can talk as much shyt as he wants to but if we want to help ourselves, let's take this supposed shyt and use it to judge ourselves point by point

There were criticisms, but not constructive. Notice his statistics on education gives Anambra a very high score. But he was all too willing to talk about adult literacy - which is less important than youth literacy - in the state as the lowest in the region (despite it's high score). He claims Anambra is doing worse than other states in the region and yet gives stats of those doing worse than Anambra, examples:

"Unemployment rate in Anambra is among the highest in the South-east zone, at 21.3 per cent, it is higher than the national average of 21.1 per cent. Imo’s unemployment rate is 29.9 per cent and Enugu is 15 per cent. The state has tried to reduce unemployment through its Anambra Integrated Development Strategy (ANIDS) and the Anambra Youth Reorientation and Empowerment Program (ANSYREP), but the problem with these programmes is that they contribute very little to the production base of the state."

"The education sub sector is allocated N10.99 billion. The state has a longstanding reputation of being an educationally advanced state: it has at least nine institutions of higher learning, its literacy rate is comparatively high, in a 2010 NBS literacy survey, youth literacy in the state was said to be 92.9 per cent and adult literacy at 74.0%. However, compared to its South-east neighbours, the state has the third lowest adult literacy amongst the five states, Abia has 78.2 per cent, Imo 80.8 per cent, Enugu with 64.6 per cent and Ebonyi with 69.8 per cent. This means that in education terms, Anambra is performing poorer than most other states in its region. From this regional perspective, it means investment in education urgently needs attention and ought to be ramped up."

I am not in support of turning the debate into an ethnic bashing fest, but a lot of what was written seems too eager to point out the bad, that is not constructive. Much of the criticism wreaks of schadenfreude. The analysis should be objective and focus on trends of the indices - have they improved over time or have they remained the same. El Rufai's piece is more political than analytical. The references to the budget does not explain how he came about his talk of misplaced priorities and suggests he believes solving problems require throwing more money at it, absolutely false.

Anambra is heading in the right direction. We should be talking about sustaining and building on the good work that has been done (read http://www.thisdaylive.com/articles/cbn-ranks-anambra-third-in-deposit-mobilisation/137412/ ). No people become great overnight, it starts with sustained little improvements over time.

@@
yes

FHOOLS

^^^am sorry man, i couldn't find a bigger goat anywhere...you out did 'em all...accept my congratulations

What those from Anambra should be bothered about now is the call for zoning of the seat of the governor to the Northern senatorial district. This is highly unhealthy for the state. We should not allow Anambra to be infected by the Nigerian disease of zoning and enthroning mediocrity.

Obi don cast Las Las...
I no actually believe in am before or any other.
9ja is always doom to fail, humans are. Whoever you vote next yr will not change anything so better still vote for yourself

All these comments from 2012 dey fear me oo, this Obi na scam. He will pan worse than Buhari if he's lucky to get to Aso Rock.

MrGlobe:
Obi's govt is a failure first and foremost. Even him knows. The reason he refered to mallams comments as insult to ndigbo is because he wants to whoop sentiments. He has no facts to prove otherwise.
What can we do? Vote somebody with a track record for performance and with big vision in 2014.
Mallam may be wrong by saying we are the sixth poorest but governance in the state has deteriorated highly that it is affecting the micro and macro economics. People base the dissentment on the superficials which has no skeletons. Am a proud igbo son and say mallam is right. I will wait on God for 2014!

Interesting

Only fools doesn't know that Obi is a known failure

He is also a crook who has nothing to lose after the election

He will obviously continue his importation business after the election

Only daft person doesn't know how he failed as a governor

dubem3:
Obi, we see you following Goodluck jonathan everywhere eating his shyt. Feeling fly. Thinking you are brilliant and got mouth like Obama. God de see you and i can almost touch your disappointment.

After opening a thread sounding like you were objective and concerned ab initio, perhaps this particular reply shows how kindergarten you are as a person.....



If you have scores to settle with Obi, better come straight....

Ironically, the almighty writer will be rounding up as a two termed governor.......his state is still designated as most insecured state In Nigeria under his nose ....

Many defunct industries vibrant during the military eras are still in camatose....

Now, as he is leaving, juxtapose the average per Capita income and unemployment rates in Kaduna state with Anambra State despite the heavy presence of Federal angencies and institutions domiciled in that state and proximity to FCT.....?

Despite your moniker, it is obvious that even if you are Onye Anambra as inferred, you weren't residing in Anambra state during Peter Obi's era.... perhaps you would had observed a quer academic rendition in El Rufai 's piece..

Another one. Interesting!