STATE OF AFFAIRS IN ANAMBRA STATE.

Valentine Obienyem



In his column of June 8, 2012 in Thisday Newspaper, Mallam Nasir El Rufai analysed Anambra State through her budgets.



We welcome people trying to beam searchlights on what we are doing in Anambra State. As far as I am concerned, such acts contribute to good governance. But the danger inherent in this is that some Nigerians, rather than employ such opportunities to make unattached assessment almost always end up with some motives that are far from altruism and good governance.



I did not know what motives prompted El Rufai in the analyses of Anambra State, but from things on ground in the State, he was everything but objective.



Sometime in the past, we took the trouble of publishing what we have done in Anambra State, which 30 pages of the newspapers could not accommodate. Since we did it nobody came out to say it was a mere claim. Today, we are not relenting. Those projects at various stages of completion have been completed and more started.



I am not here about to enter into a wrestling bout with people that make what I consider as incorrect assessment of Anambra State since it could be out of mere lack of information. What I want to do is to present to you what we are doing for you to make informed conclusion about governance in Anambra State.



THE ANAMBRA STATE WE KNOW

Although we do not pretend that all is perfect in Anambra State, the state has come a long way in the last four years in terms of development, as we have relentlessly pursued our vision for the improvement in the quality of life of our people. The vision of Anambra State under the present Administration is to achieve the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). Because the MDGs are multi-sectoral, the State has adopted a multi-sectoral approach to achieve this vision. Christened Anambra Integrated Development Strategy, this approach is designed to orchestrate development in all MDGs-related sectors which, in effect, amounts to working to develop all sectors of the State economy simultaneously. For this, we moved our planning and budgeting from being supply driven to being demand driven. It is on record that we invite the people through the town unions for pre- budget meetings.



An overview of the State’s efforts to achieve some of the specific MDGs referred to in El-Rufai’s analysis will help educate him on our work in Anambra State and, hopefully, enable him to appreciate the enormity of the damage which many people believe he has done to himself as an ‘expert’ columnist without expert knowledge of a subject-matter on which he has staked his reputation with such flawed categorical pronouncements.

MDG 1: EXTREME POVERTY AND HUNGER

To effectively tackle extreme poverty, we began with a poverty mapping of the State (the first ever in Nigeria), supported by one of our international development partners – The European Union – through its Support to Reforming Institutions Programme (SRIP). Having thus established the poverty profile of the State, poverty reduction strategies were put in place to specifically target the poorest Local Government Areas of the State, but without neglecting other parts. Part of this strategy was based on our recognition that one of the strongest tools for poverty reduction and economic growth is access through good roads. Today, Anambra has an impressive network of roads, particularly in rural areas. With this strategy, we have provided roads and bridges to remote communities where no previous administration had shown any government presence. Typical examples are the 45-kilometre Anaku-Omasi-Ifite Ogwari-Igbakwu Road in Ayamelum LGA ; the 43-Kilometre Amansea-Ebenebe-Awba Ofemili Road in Awka North, with a bridge (5Billion Naira); the 67-kilometre Onitsha-Atani-Ossomalla-Ogwuikpele Road in Ogbaru LGA, with three bridges (N17.8 Billion); the Umueze Anam-Mmiata Road in Anambra West LGA, with a bridge; the Nibo-Umuawulu-Awgbu-Amaokpala-Umunze Road, with the famous Odor bridge etc. Incidentally, most of these communities are food producing. Understandably, therefore, the effect of this intervention on poverty reduction, food security, and overall economic growth has been remarkable.

I am not an armchair Governor; I try as much as I can to serve my people. If suddenly somebody tells me that the reader of this piece has the capacity to do magic for Anambra State, as a Governor I will go to him. I have not shied away from pursuing anything that will better the lives of my people. I visited the former National Co-coordinator of NAPEP, Dr. Magnus Kpakolo in his office. After one of my visits, he said: “Governor Obi was the first to visit my office to discuss how to fight poverty in his State and remained determined and dogged by initiating effective economic empowerment programmes.” I have visited BRAC, the most effective poverty-alleviation organization in the world, in Bangladesh to understand how they work. I visited their remotest villages and interacted with their local populace. I did this conscious that remote areas need salvaging even more than the towns because they always have higher poverty prevalence.



But beyond statistics, Anambra cannot relatively be said to be poor by any stretch of imagination. In terms of employment, let it be noted that we have one of the States with highest literacy levels and therefore more people seeking employment.



Anambra is only State you can see higher number of millionaires per square kilometre. Wealth is more evenly distributed in the State than elsewhere.



For the purposes of making my point clear, I can shout it from the rooftops that Anambra is relatively not poor. Anambra has more Bank branches than all the other South-East States or two geo-political zones in the North put together. What determines Bank branches is the amount of money available in given areas and not by landmass. Manufacturers and international businessman will tell one that Onitsha market remains the first choice as far as Africa is concerned.



MDG 2: EDUCATION

At the commencement of this administration, we met an Education system that was near total collapse. Our efforts to turn things around began with short-term interventions to refurbish and equip science laboratories in secondary schools, construct primary school classrooms in all 177 communities of the State. We have equipped over 150 schools with laboratory equipment; established Microsoft academies in over 150 schools with 50 laptops and 10 desktop computers to them. We have distributed over 150 buses to schools in the State as well as generators, boreholes and provision of internet connectivity. The records and names of schools are there for anybody to see.



Currently, our medium to long-term measures revolve around our acceptance that government has no business managing schools, and that the rot in the Education Sector stemmed largely from mismanagement and poor supervision of schools. I have personally visited over 200 primary and secondary schools in the State and observed these things first hand. This led to our landmark return of primary and secondary schools to their original missionary owners – a widely acclaimed bold step which no previous administration could find the courage to take. The hand-over signalled the beginning of a partnership with the Church in which the State Government will continue to pay the salaries of teachers and non-teaching staff, in addition to providing strong financial support to the Church for the running of the schools. I remember that when the returning back ceremony was being performed, the Anglican Archbishop Christian Efobi was almost near tears. Short of words, he said “this is what happens when the righteous are in control.” He was expressing his joy at witnessing what he perhaps thought an impossibility.

In addition to providing strong financial support to the Church for the running of the schools. In the coming years, Government will provide as much as N10 billion for this purpose, N1 billion of which has already been disbursed. This intervention will last for 10 years. The last letter I received a few days before El Rufai said we are not doing enough on education was from the three catholic Bishops in Anambra State, Archbishop Valarian Okeke, and Bishops Hilary Okeke and Paulinus Ezeokafor. Part of the letter entitled Gratitude for Subvention for reconstruction of returned Primary Schools reads:


“We, the Catholic Bishops of Anambra State, thank you in the name of all Catholic clergy, consecrated persons and lay members of Christ's faithful in Anambra State. You have demonstrated in no uncertain way your commitment to good governance and you are making us very proud of you and your government. Your decision to return all schools taken over forcefully by government remains the boldest step taken by any government in Nigeria to secure the lasting good for the citizens of Nigeria. You are convinced, and rightly so, that education is a potent vehicle for moral development and that the government takeover of schools built and run by the Church was a retrogressive step. Against all opposition from self-seeking elements both in your government and in the society, you did the right and just thing by returning both primary and secondary schools to their rightful owners who you believe can manage the schools for the good of the children of Anambra State. Generations will appreciate your wisdom and courage.”

Our intervention on the Education sector has extended to the tertiary level where the State University and College of Education have undergone remarkable transformation in infrastructure, accreditation of programmes and general welfare. When those that came before me were only interested in locating one arm of the State University in their home towns, I assumed office determined to do the right thing. We started the development of the permanent site of the campus of our State University at Igbariam, which is the first real work the school is witnessing since the State was created. Only the perimeter fencing covered an area of about 9 Kilometres. While the landscaping of the complex is on, we have completed the Senate Building, the Faculty of Agriculture and the Faculty of Law. The library and some classroom blocks have been constructed. The giant Faculty of Management Sciences is on-going. At the school of Agriculture, Mgbakwu, it is from zero to the construction of over 10 buildings. We are also building many structures at the Nwafor Orizu College of Education, Nsugbe. We have also constructed the roads to Igbariam, the University at Uli and the College of Education.

It may sound incredible, but the last Library built in Anambra State was in 1966. Today we have built a modern E-library, the Prof. Kenneth Dike Central Library at Awka. It is currently being equipped. Before the end of the year we shall commence the construction of libraries in our secondary schools.

MDG 3: EMPOWERMENT OF WOMEN

Generally, Government’s efforts to empower women are multi-faceted. Economically, the empowerment of Anambra women has been done largely through the State Ministry of Women Affairs and Social Development using the State Poverty Eradication Programme, Women in ANIDS Micro Finance Scheme and in collaboration with National Poverty Eradication Programme (NAPEP) and development partners like UNICEF. In this regard, numerous pro-poor programmes have been implemented, targeted mostly at vulnerable women such as widows, poor women, and female care-givers of orphans and vulnerable children (OVC) etc. We have Anambra State Poverty Eradication Programme (ASEPEP); women in ANIDS Micro Finance Scheme; Women Fund for Economic Empowerment (WFEE), among others.



Specifically:

· Revolving loans worth over N330 million have been made available to hundreds of women cooperative groups and women wings of Town Unions to establish poultry farms, fish ponds, piggeries etc.

· Between 2007 and 2010, a total of N49 million was given out as cash grants to 10,559 less privileged women and widows to enable them either expand their trade or start petty trading or farming.

· Micro-enterprises equipment worth hundreds of millions of naira have been distributed to individual women and women groups, including: computers, hair dryers, sewing machines, shoe-making machines, welding machines, vulcanizing machines, ovens, cookers, grinding machines, polythene-sealing equipment, motorcycles, palm oil processing machines, palm kernel cracking machines, garri processing machines, soap making machines and electricity generating sets. Capacity building to equip beneficiaries with the necessary skills is also part of this empowerment programme.

· The establishment of community cottage industries by women has also been encouraged in 50 communities with the purchase of complete rice hauler and processing machines.



Additionally, we founded the women wing of the town unions through which meetings with women are better coordinated and facilitated.



The women empowerment programme in Anambra State has benefited immensely from the activities of my wife, Mrs Margaret Peter Obi. On assumption of office, I pleaded with her on the need to embark on activities that would be of great benefit to women and the vulnerable and not the customary Office of the First Lady and it has remained so. I thank her for her understanding. What my wife does is to go round the State meeting with women, the needy and the vulnerable. Till date, she has visited each of the 177 communities in the State at least three times. It is on record that no previous Governor’s wife in the State had ever attempted not even local Government tour. During the visit to each community, she provides financial support (and empowerment to at least 50 persons per town), food stuff, micro enterprises equipment etc to widows and other vulnerable women, all of whom are usually selected by the communities themselves. Apart from the financial/economic benefits, the psychological benefits of this personal attention by Her Excellency is unquantifiable, in terms of encouraging the beneficiaries to endeavour to better their lives. Politically, Anambra is very gender-friendly in terms of appointing women to policy-level positions. This has resulted in the present situation where a good number of women have worked with me as Commissioners, Permanent Secretaries, Judges, Special Advisers etc.

At grassroots level, women have been given a strong political voice through the establishment of Women Wings of Town Unions for grassroots political participation; this was unique and virtually unthinkable under previous administrations.

MDGs 4, 5, 6: HEALTH

This is one sector where the Government has done so much with a lot of financial support from her development partners, which is not usually captured in the State’s Budget: UNICEF intervention in maternal health, immunization and infant health generally; World Bank support for construction and equipping of health facilities etc; DFID support for the Roll Back Malaria programme; MDGs funding for the construction, renovation and equipping of health facilities at primary and secondary levels, capacity building for various categories of health personnel, provision of boreholes and toilet/sanitation facilities in health centres, and construction of hostels in Schools of Nursing and Midwifery. The State has budgeted as much as N5 billion for her 2011/2012 MDGs programme; much of this will go into the Health Sector.

Like the Education Sector, our Health Sector is reaping the benefits of the State’s partnership with the Church whose health facilities and training institutions have acquired state-of-the-art equipment and achieved accreditation with the strong financial support from Government. The sum of 3 Billion Naira has been set aside. Right now, the construction of 10 hostel blocks in Church-owned Schools of Nursing, Midwifery and Health Technology by the Government, is ongoing at N60 million per hostel making it a total of N600, Million Naira. No issues of Government doing this or that since the money is released directly to the Churches.

On assumption of office, I promised I would have two hospitals accredited; we have achieved that for – Anambra State Teaching Hospital, Awka and Onitsha General Hospital. The third one is even in the offing, Ekwulobia General Hospital. A visit to the New Teaching Hospital, with concurrent accreditation of its College of Medicine, will show that we did 18 new giant buildings there such as the House Officers’ Quarters, General Outpatient Department, Consultants’ Clinic, Pathology and Mortuary Building, Pharmacology Building, Administrative Block, Laboratory Complex, Male, Female, Special and Children’s wards as well as College of Medicine Building Pharmaceutical stores, Catering building, among others. These are all there for verification. We are presently doing landscaping of the complex.



We have also taken delivery of 12 40-feet containers of hospital equipment.



The same goes for Onitsha General Hospital, where we did 7 new buildings and rehabilitated the old ones. Besides, we rehabilitated 15 General Hospitals in the State, rebuilt some like Umueri and Anaku General Hospitals from scratch. Some health institutions in the State like the school of Nursing and Midwifery, Nkpor and school of health Technology, Obosi have all gained accreditation.



Our partners who are offering this support monitor what we do. The head of one of our partners and the EU Ambassador to Nigeria, HE, David MAcRae said interesting things about our Government: “European Union has always emphasized on proper management of money, that is why it is important to have people of high integrity as we do in Anambra State”. This assertion could only come from those satisfied with the partnership.





MDG 7: THE ENVIRONMENT

The MDG on the environment is undoubtedly one of the most difficult to achieve. In spite of the daunting challenges of gully erosion all over the State, flooding in Onitsha and a number of other threats to the environment, the Government is achieving verifiable results in its effort to ensure environmental sustainability. Work on many erosion sites, 30 in all, is either completed or ongoing some of them are; Ebenebe, Umuchiani (Ekwulobia) Umuchu, Adazi-Nnukwu, Utuh, Agulu, Nkpor, Onitsha, among others. Huge sums of money and energy are being spent on proper designing of roads with good drainages to minimize the appearance of new erosion sites. The dredging of the Sakamori and Nwangene creeks to prevent flooding in Onitsha is progressing; the opening up of the Iyiagu flood channel in Awka saved the State capital from the imminent danger that faced it when this administration took off in 2006 etc.

Part of the MDG on the environment has to do with access to safe water and basic sanitation. In 2006, all public taps in the State were dry. As an interim measure, the Government quickly began to provide boreholes in schools, health facilities and other public places in communities, with support from her development partners. Today, hundreds of boreholes have been provided in this way. However, current government effort to provide water is being scaled up from boreholes to small town and medium water schemes in various parts of the State, 20 in all, some of which are Nibo, Agulu-Aguiyi, Enugwu-Ukwu, Ukpor, Nimo, etc.

Under our long term planning on water, we recently put up advert inviting corporation interested in the rehabilitation of Onitsha Water Scheme under Public Private Partnership initiative to express interest.

Again, the Water Sector is one in which the huge expenditures made by the Government and its development partners have not been captured in the State’s Budget. For instance, UNICEF has spent hundreds of millions of naira to give water to schools and communities, especially in the 5 UNICEF Focus LGAs of Aguata, Anambra East, Idemili South, Nnewi North and Ogbaru. So has the European Union on water projects like the Obizi Water Scheme in Uga, the Udoka and Arroma Water Schemes in Awka, the Amawbia Water Scheme in Amawbia, as well as water projects in Nnewi and other parts of the State.



MDG 8: GLOBAL PARTNERSHIP FOR DEVELOPMENT

In view of the meagre resources of Anambra State, collaboration with development partners (global, national & local) is of utmost importance. Our Administration has been outstanding in attracting and sustaining such strategic partnerships. Unlike the situation in the past when Anambra was a pariah state and a no-go area for international development partners/donor agencies, many of them are operating in Anambra State today because we have left no stone unturned to create an enabling environment for their operation: UNICEF, UNDP, DFID, EU, the World Bank etc. Some of our efforts in this regard include regular payment of Government Counterpart Cash Contribution (GCCC) for development partnership activities; accountability and transparency in the management of funds from development partners by using the money strictly for the purpose it was provided for, that is, for the development of the people; willingness to undertake the necessary reforms to engender confidence in our partners etc.



OTHER ISSUES : INSTITUTION OF GOVERNANCE

On the question relating to infrastructure, it was clear he wrote out of ignorance. The Anambra I inherited was deficit in infrastructure. Within 6 years, I can proudly reel out what our Government has done and these things are open to verification by any serious enquirer even at our expense.



I started by repairing all the infrastructure that were burnt down in 2004, except Ikenga Hotels, for, in addition to some encumbrances, we have a better vision we want to put the place into, which will commence this year. When I assumed office, I had no Government House, Lodge, House of Assembly, but I have all of them now and will, in a few weeks time, commence the building of Anambra’s permanent Three Arms Zone to comprise Government House, Judicial and House of Assembly complexes.



Today, we have built the first two Secretariat complexes which together accommodate almost all the Ministries, including some World Bank and Federal Government agencies. Today, unlike in the past our Permanent Secretaries, Department, Agencies, Magistrates and Judges all have brand new vehicles. All Ministries, Departments and Agencies have over four operational vehicles.



Since 2006, we have increased workers salaries five times. From N5, 000 we met, we increased it to N6, 000; the N7, 000; effected the 12.5%; 15% and the current minimum wage of I8, 000. Today we are among the few States paying the minimum wage. Our Government have also spent over 10 Billion Naira in clearing arrears of pensions and gratuities owned since 1999 across the State. Toady retires in Anambra State collect their gratuities within three months, unlike when it took years. We have so organised ourselves that I can pay the salary of almost one year without going the Abuja.



It is only under our Government that the Civil Service Commission, Post Primary School Service Commission and the Judicial Service Commission now have unfettered discretion to conduct promotion exercise for entitled officers. In the past all this were not possible because of “inadequate funds” to bear necessary consequential effects.



This administration has also employed over 4000 persons into her service, more than what all the past Governors employed since the State was created in 1991. In 2011 alone, 600 junior workers, 200 computer teachers and over 1000 (One Thousand) teachers were employed. The corresponding approval for the senior staff is currently with the Civil Service. It was only delayed because we wanted to sort out the issues surrounding minimum wage first.





SECURITY

Some people have had reasons to question what we are doing on security. On assumption of office, I noticed Anambra State had no relationship with any security agency. It was the dark era of militia reign in the State. I rejected to go that route knowing fully that creating militia groups is like creating a Frankenstein Monster that would turn around some day and devour its creators. As I speak, even the guns bought for them then were not properly accounted for. My philosophy is that it is infinitely better to deal with legitimate security agencies with clear command structures such as the Police, Army and Civil Defence, among others. Until I became Governor, nobody bought any security vehicle for security agencies, but it is on record that we have bought over 300 vehicles, communication gadgets, Armoured Personnel Carriers (APCs) and offer logistics support to security agencies in the State. As we speak, we have ordered and paid for 500 vehicles from INNOSON Motor Manufacturing Company at Nnewi, which are yet to be supplied. Some of the vehicles will be for the 177 communities in the State for security. In my last interaction with the communities, we agreed that Government would assist them through grants for the payment of emoluments of about 20 vigilantes members from each community. We also give quarterly subvention to the communities for security and community work, which no past Government did.

Away from alarm-raising, check your records and you will see that there has not been bank robbery or incidence of violent crimes in the State for more than one year now. Anambra today, from the reports of security agencies is among the safest States in the country. Even when my bothers are killed in El Rufai’s part of the country, his brothers are safe in Anambra State.



EXPANDING THE INDUSTRIAL BASE OF THE STATE

In the area of expanding the industrial base of the State, we have performed creditably. In the last 8 years before I became the Governor, Anambra did not have new industries even as old ones collapsed. The State was a theatre of war that no investor looked her side. Today, new industries are springing up. One of the first things I did on assumption of office was to get the State have an Industrial Policy.



We have attracted foreign direct investment in excess of half a Billion Dollars in the State. The second largest Brewery in the World – SABmiller will commence production in August/September, 2012. When their Global Chief Executive Officer Mr. Graham Mackay, visited Anambra, he thanked us for making their investment in Anambra a reality and said that what attracted them was the presence of a strong Government in the State.



I laid the foundation for the INNOSON Motor Manufacturing Company. I invited the President to commission it as a way of encouraging people to go into industrialization. Till date, we have bough vehicles of over 2 Billion Naira from them. We placed an order for 500 vehicles, paid 75%, though they are yet to be delivered. Which place has the government offered such as massive support to local industries?



Other multinationals are building their facilities in Anambra. Juhel Pharmaceutical Company started and completed its factory in Anambra under my Government, so are many others. We support them by providing them with necessary infrastructure. We built the road within Onitsha Habour Industrial Estate, where SABmiller is. We build the road to INNOSON, Cutix Cable, among others. All these facilities employ the people of the State and are surely contributing to the expansion of industrial base of the State. If amidst all these, somebody says we are not doing enough on industrialization, I honestly cannot understand what he means.



The Managing Director of the Bank of Industry, Mrs Evelyn Oputu would avail any confounded soul of what Anambra is doing with the Bank of Industry.





ON EXPLORATION OF NATURAL RESOURCES IN THE STATE

On the issue of some natural in Anambra State, which El Rufai made allusion to, I ask, were those minerals discovered yesterday? Which one of them has been given due attention in the past and by whom? However, today, I am working hard with Orient Petroleum to see that our reserves of petroleum are exploited.



The Government of Anambra State under my leadership is seriously making provision for the rainy day. From Zero investment, we have invested over 10 Billion Naira in different businesses for the State. We invested 4 Billion Naira in orient petroleum and we are currently constructing the road to the place at the cost of over 1 Billion Naira. We invested over 2 Billion Naira in SABmiller, among other investments.



AGRICULTURE

On agricultural sector which he said was underfunded, our Government secured a loan of I Billion Naira for that sector. In my last meeting with farmers in the State, we worked out modalities for the disbursement of the loan. We are also doing very well in other Agricultural projects such as FADAMA, where we are best in the South-East, having committed over 500 Million Naira as counterpart funds. These are not captured in the budget.



We have built roads leading to agricultural areas. We have completely turned around our neglected School of Agriculture at Mgbakwu, with 8 new buildings put in place there.



We have also pursued and got the Omor Rice mill handed over to us. We are partnering with the private sector for its management.















OTHER INFRASTRUCTURE

On road infrastructure, apart from federal roads in the State, State roads are in excellent condition. In six years, we have constructed over 600kms of roads. The statistics are documented. The Federal Ministry of Works said that we had the best network of roads in Nigeria. We are also working on over 22 Bridges out of which Ogbonabo, Odor, Umuodu, Aghomili Ebenebe, Otuku, Okpuno bridges, among others, have all been completed.



El-Rufai may not see the type of billions he sees in other state budgets in our own, because we are cutting cost in the provision of all manner of infrastructure.. For example, when I assumed office, about 300 Million Naira was budgeted to rehabilitate the burnt Government House, but I did it with less that 40 Million Naira and delivered the same result.



One can go on and on and name other things this Government has been able to achieve in different sectors. We completed the giant State Emergency Management Agency’s complex, Awka and equipped it with fuctional fire fighting vehicles; 2 mini stadia; Business Park, Phase 1 and 2; Onitsha Governor’s Lodge; Ministry of Justice buildings at Onitsha, Ekwulobia, Otuocha; Customary Court of Appeal Building at Awka; Court complexes at Nnewi; Judges’ Quarters at Awka and Onitsha; Hotel and Convention Centre at Onitsha (on-going); massive pavilions at Ekwueme Square; expansion of ANIDS Transport from 99 Vehicles to over 200 vehicles in less than two years, among many others. Today, there is no town in the 177 communities in the State that will say our Government has not done one thing or the other in their town.



It is instructive that we achieved all this in spite of our poor federal allocation and in an era when it has become the trend to go for loans and bonds. I have refrained from travelling such routes, not because I do not believe in them, but because I believe that one should only borrow to support projects that have the capacity for repayment.



El Rufai or any interested party is welcome to carry out research on Anambra, but the person will be doing everybody good by visiting the State, talk to the common people and not the elite, to know exactly what is happening. The Anambra elite who were sent packing from the State before 2007, when mayhem was the order of the day are gradually coming back. Some of them under the present dispensation ran out of the State on their own because the new order blocked their access to the treasury.



It will be sad if some of the analyses we see in print are sponsored. When I was standing for election for my second tenure, I saw my fellow candidates conscripting organisations of doubtful competence to carry out surveys for them at which they came out as star candidates. I did not fall for such gimmicks. Those hiding behind people to propagatel falsehoods should better be advised to come out openly and like men, pursue their ambition, agaghi azute ya na ohi!



Bye and bye, the State is getting better and better.

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/IgboWorldForum/message/137256

El-Rufai should have at least visited the state before writing his rubbish. Smh at those that feel nigeria ends in abuja. If according to el-rufai anambra is in poverty, how come the beggers here in anambra speak only el-rufai's language??

Well main looking at the man El rufai or what he called him self you will notice that he has made himself to be the watch dog of the nation since he became jobless,again look at all his criticism you will noticed that him el rufai never criticised any northan state all he do is to talk about GEJ Govt and Governors out side North.Now my question is which state among the whole nothern states that can be compare with Anambra despite that Government of Nigeria nelected the eastern states still the people of east keep developing their region with their hard working without fedral Government infastructures.Anyway it will be a waste of time for anyone to worry him/her self over el rufai's baseless and bais accusations against GEJ and other regions out side north.

Please! moderators i think this topic deserve to be on front page.
This is what many people have been demanding for Gov. Obi to come out and defend El-Rufai's accusations.

My dear i posted this thread since last night and was expecting moderators of this nairaland to put it on front page as they put the el rufai accusation, hell no they won't put it since it did not suit their tribalistic nature,all they care to put on front page is things that work against eastern region.Many of those who have speaking ill of obi and anambra state have distant them self from this thread why because obi came out in a different form they don't expect,well i still maitain my stand as long as anambra is concerned no state in northern part that can be compare with anambra despite it lack federal presences.RUBISH

I love the responses , Obi might nt be the best governor for Anambra state, but I think this response is better than the "he's insulting the entire igbo race" mentality.

Imagine this, who would have believed..

Some people have had reasons to question what we are doing on security. On assumption of office, I noticed Anambra State had no relationship with any security agency. It was the dark era of militia reign in the State. I rejected to go that route knowing fully that creating militia groups is like creating a Frankenstein Monster that would turn around some day and devour its creators. As I speak, even the guns bought for them then were not properly accounted for. My philosophy is that it is infinitely better to deal with legitimate security agencies with clear command structures such as the Police, Army and Civil Defence, among others. Until I became Governor, nobody bought any security vehicle for security agencies, but it is on record that we have bought over 300 vehicles, communication gadgets, Armoured Personnel Carriers (APCs) and offer logistics support to security agencies in the State. As we speak, we have ordered and paid for 500 vehicles from INNOSON Motor Manufacturing Company at Nnewi, which are yet to be supplied. Some of the vehicles will be for the 177 communities in the State for security. In my last interaction with the communities, we agreed that Government would assist them through grants for the payment of emoluments of about 20 vigilantes members from each community. We also give quarterly subvention to the communities for security and community work, which no past Government did.

I hope the bold portion was indeed true, if it is, which I believe, I'm proud that our own governor patronizes made assembled in Nigeria (like some like to put it. The man touched key points, while some are not satisfactory, others like security, investment and savings was great. On the contrary to what elrufai said about healthcare, I'm surprised that Gov. Obi did indeed budget more than what mallam elrufai claimed.

9ja_I_hail: My dear i posted this thread since last night and was expecting moderators of this nairaland to put it on front page as they put the el rufai accusation, hell no they won't put it since it did not suit their tribalistic nature,all they care to put on front page is things that work against eastern region. Many of those who have speaking ill of obi and anambra state have distant them self from this thread why because obi came out in a different form they don't expect,well i still maitain my stand as long as anambra is concerned no state in northern part that can be compare with anambra despite it lack federal presences.RUBISH

Don't mind those moderators, am sure if this topic is about any of those South West states under ACN they would have moved it to home page.

Anambra is only State you can see higher number of millionaires per square kilometre. Wealth is more evenly distributed in the State than elsewhere.

For the purposes of making my point clear, I can shout it from the rooftops that Anambra is relatively not poor. Anambra has more Bank branches than all the other South-East States or two geo-political zones in the North put together. What determines Bank branches is the amount of money available in given areas and not by landmass

interesting , that looks like the next state i will be looking into in terms of buisness.

Anambra and the southeast by extension have the highest GDP in Nigeria. The average 25yr old is easily worth 500k.
On the other hand, the north is desperately poor, diseased, illiterate and plagued by islamic fanatics. The average 25yr old northerner isnt
worth sh1t!

El-Rufai can Shove his accusations very deep up his a55, I know there is enuff room up there.

El rufai is a desperate jobless politician.Like i said on my previous post on this thread all accusations el rufai made so far was either GEJ govt or other states outside north,He sees nothing wrong with his poverty region.Some id!ots on this forum are easily get carried away with all this fake politicians in Nigeria who usually made them self watch dog of the nation any time they ran out of office and seem like their voice had been supressed.

El rufai should keep deceiving himself until north turn to afghanorthern naija.RUBISH JOBLESS MAN

htajz:

interesting , that looks like the next state i will be looking into in terms of buisness.

It is actually a great environment for business. Our family started a business in Anambra, onitsha about 2 years ago and the income coming from there exceeds the income from other states in which he created business in as well.

9ja_I_hail: My dear i posted this thread since last night and was expecting moderators of this nairaland to put it on front page as they put the el rufai accusation, hell no they won't put it since it did not suit their tribalistic nature,all they care to put on front page is things that work against eastern region.Many of those who have speaking ill of obi and anambra state have distant them self from this thread why because obi came out in a different form they don't expect,well i still maitain my stand as long as anambra is concerned no state in northern part that can be compare with anambra despite it lack federal presences.RUBISH

Ya'll honestly have not realized NL moderator.

One_Naira:

Ya'll honestly have not realized NL moderator.

HMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM LET US JUST BELIEVE THAT THEY HAVE NOT SEEING IT.

Good one. The response right on time. Where are those elrufai dogs, please release them from their caves

chino24: Good one. The response right on time. Where are those elrufai dogs, please release them from their caves

Do you mind the fools that buy every craps from jobless politicians who are trying to make them self to be noticed.

Finally, it makes the frontpage.

BORINGGGGGGG!!

TechRev: El-Rufai should have at least visited the state before writing his rubbish. Smh at those that feel nigeria ends in abuja. If according to el-rufai anambra is in poverty, how come the beggers here in anambra speak only el-rufai's language??

I am not a fan of El Rufai, but he has been reviewing budgets of states all over the country.
Better to hear both sides of every story
You will agree that this response is more befitting than the accusation of insulting the Igbos that Gov Obi initially came up with

BetaThings:

I am not a fan of El Rufai, but he has been reviewing budgets of states all over the country.
Better to hear both sides of every story
You will agree that this response is more befitting than the accusation of insulting the Igbos that Gov Obi initially came up with

I think El Rufai should have restricted himself to reading budgets and not going about saying what he knows nothing about. He made some points that i agree with but his article was laced with lies and insults.

Can somebody help i̶̲̥̅̊n̶̲̥̅̊ summarizing

Going by the comments on this thread, I can see Nigeria has a long way to go.

An opposition leader is doing what opposition leaders do. Someone even said he has been reviewing all budgets in the Federation.

In that case, kudos to El-Rufai for holding Government to account and kudos to Peter Obi for responding to him in the spirit of democracy, unlike other governors who are not bothered and do not feel themselves accountable to social critics.

El Rufai seriously needs help ASAP. He is fast loosing it.

9ja_I_hail: Well main looking at the man El rufai or what he called him self you will notice that he has made himself to be the watch dog of the nation since he became jobless,again look at all his criticism you will noticed that him el rufai never criticised any northan state all he do is to talk about GEJ Govt and Governors out side North.Now my question is which state among the whole nothern states that can be compare with Anambra despite that Government of Nigeria nelected the eastern states still the people of east keep developing their region with their hard working without fedral Government infastructures.Anyway it will be a waste of time for anyone to worry him/her self over el rufai's baseless and bais accusations against GEJ and other regions out side north.

El rufai beamed his search light on four states and that includes benue and bauchi. Last time i checked, these states are in the north.

Joey82:

El rufai beamed his search light on four states and that includes benue and bauchi. Last time i checked, these states are in the north.

And zaria his state has been managed well is that what you are trying to say or do u want to tell us that he did not see anything wrong in his own state.As i was old by my parents you have to start been good from home before outsiders will notice you.Just accept the fact that el rufai is jobless and he want to be relevant by all means.

Some id!ots on this forum are easily get carried away with all this fake politicians in Nigeria who usually made them self watch dog of the nation any time they ran out of office and seem like their voice had been supressed.
[img]http://www.demama.info/g.gif[/img]

TechRev: El-Rufai should have at least visited the state before writing his rubbish. Smh at those that feel nigeria ends in abuja. If according to el-rufai anambra is in poverty, how come the beggers here in anambra speak only el-rufai's language??

Nice one.

. .and the summary is?

[quote author=9ja_I_hail]STATE OF AFFAIRS IN ANAMBRA STATE.

Valentine Obienyem



In his column of June 8, 2012 in Thisday Newspaper, Mallam Nasir El Rufai analysed Anambra State through her budgets.



We welcome people trying to beam searchlights on what we are doing in Anambra State. As far as I am concerned, such acts contribute to good governance. But the danger inherent in this is that some Nigerians, rather than employ such opportunities to make unattached assessment almost always end up with some motives that are far from altruism and good governance.



I did not know what motives prompted El Rufai in the analyses of Anambra State, but from things on ground in the State, he was everything but objective.



Sometime in the past, we took the trouble of publishing what we have done in Anambra State, which 30 pages of the newspapers could not accommodate. Since we did it nobody came out to say it was a mere claim. Today, we are not relenting. Those projects at various stages of completion have been completed and more started.



I am not here about to enter into a wrestling bout with people that make what I consider as incorrect assessment of Anambra State since it could be out of mere lack of information. What I want to do is to present to you what we are doing for you to make informed conclusion about governance in Anambra State.



THE ANAMBRA STATE WE KNOW

Although we do not pretend that all is perfect in Anambra State, the state has come a long way in the last four years in terms of development, as we have relentlessly pursued our vision for the improvement in the quality of life of our people. The vision of Anambra State under the present Administration is to achieve the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). Because the MDGs are multi-sectoral, the State has adopted a multi-sectoral approach to achieve this vision. Christened Anambra Integrated Development Strategy, this approach is designed to orchestrate development in all MDGs-related sectors which, in effect, amounts to working to develop all sectors of the State economy simultaneously. For this, we moved our planning and budgeting from being supply driven to being demand driven. It is on record that we invite the people through the town unions for pre- budget meetings.



An overview of the State’s efforts to achieve some of the specific MDGs referred to in El-Rufai’s analysis will help educate him on our work in Anambra State and, hopefully, enable him to appreciate the enormity of the damage which many people believe he has done to himself as an ‘expert’ columnist without expert knowledge of a subject-matter on which he has staked his reputation with such flawed categorical pronouncements.

MDG 1: EXTREME POVERTY AND HUNGER

To effectively tackle extreme poverty, we began with a poverty mapping of the State (the first ever in Nigeria), supported by one of our international development partners – The European Union – through its Support to Reforming Institutions Programme (SRIP). Having thus established the poverty profile of the State, poverty reduction strategies were put in place to specifically target the poorest Local Government Areas of the State, but without neglecting other parts. Part of this strategy was based on our recognition that one of the strongest tools for poverty reduction and economic growth is access through good roads. Today, Anambra has an impressive network of roads, particularly in rural areas. With this strategy, we have provided roads and bridges to remote communities where no previous administration had shown any government presence. Typical examples are the 45-kilometre Anaku-Omasi-Ifite Ogwari-Igbakwu Road in Ayamelum LGA ; the 43-Kilometre Amansea-Ebenebe-Awba Ofemili Road in Awka North, with a bridge (5Billion Naira); the 67-kilometre Onitsha-Atani-Ossomalla-Ogwuikpele Road in Ogbaru LGA, with three bridges (N17.8 Billion); the Umueze Anam-Mmiata Road in Anambra West LGA, with a bridge; the Nibo-Umuawulu-Awgbu-Amaokpala-Umunze Road, with the famous Odor bridge etc. Incidentally, most of these communities are food producing. Understandably, therefore, the effect of this intervention on poverty reduction, food security, and overall economic growth has been remarkable.

I am not an armchair Governor; I try as much as I can to serve my people. If suddenly somebody tells me that the reader of this piece has the capacity to do magic for Anambra State, as a Governor I will go to him. I have not shied away from pursuing anything that will better the lives of my people. I visited the former National Co-coordinator of NAPEP, Dr. Magnus Kpakolo in his office. After one of my visits, he said: “Governor Obi was the first to visit my office to discuss how to fight poverty in his State and remained determined and dogged by initiating effective economic empowerment programmes.” I have visited BRAC, the most effective poverty-alleviation organization in the world, in Bangladesh to understand how they work. I visited their remotest villages and interacted with their local populace. I did this conscious that remote areas need salvaging even more than the towns because they always have higher poverty prevalence.



But beyond statistics, Anambra cannot relatively be said to be poor by any stretch of imagination. In terms of employment, let it be noted that we have one of the States with highest literacy levels and therefore more people seeking employment.



[/b]Anambra is only State you can see higher number of millionaires per square kilometre. Wealth is more evenly distributed in the State than elsewhere.



For the purposes of making my point clear, I can shout it from the rooftops that Anambra is relatively not poor. Anambra has more Bank branches than all the other South-East States or two geo-political zones in the North put together. What determines Bank branches is the amount of money available in given areas and not by landmass. Manufacturers and international businessman will tell one that Onitsha market remains the first choice as far as Africa is concerned.[b]

FACT.i love my governor, i love my state.

9ja_I_hail:


And zaria his state has been managed well is that what you are trying to say or do u want to tell us that he did not see anything wrong in his own state.As i was old by my parents you have to start been good from home before outsiders will notice you.Just accept the fact that el rufai is jobless and he want to be relevant by all means.

well, zaria is not a state, its only an ancient city in Kaduna state.
dont get me wrong, am no fan of el rufai, i only try to correct a comment u made about him only concentrating on southern states.
i'm trying to explain that its not a ethno-political divide as u are trying to paint it.
finally u are permited to also beam ur own search light on his state kaduna.
we'll be glad to read ur findings and learn from them

Truth is hard to believe, kudos to ma governor Obi. Lng live Anambra

9ja_I_hail:

HMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM LET US JUST BELIEVE THAT THEY HAVE NOT SEEING IT.

What da f**k.....


but on a serious note.. hell rufai dey jones