As Obiano shapes new Anambra...
By LOUIS ACHI On 22/02/2016
With the national economy in a tail-spin and a political environment antagonistic to governance focus, Gov­ernor Willie Obiano of Anambra State, two years on the saddle has proven from his developmental trajec­tory that transforming Eastern Nigeria’s industrial-economic hub is a project dominating his executive focus and energy. LOUIS ACHI reports

Emerging The SUN Gov­ernor of the Year, 2015, over the weekend, out 36 state governors gives a sense of the sweep and scope of gover­nance positives the Anambra State chief executive, Chief Wil­lie Maduaburochukwu Obiano recorded in the year of assess­ment. Beyond his recent award, with little question, Governor Obiano’s achievements have also in recent times attracted the recognition of important sons of Anambra State and be­yond.
At a stakeholders forum, in Muson Centre, Lagos, last Fri­day,. Dr. Ifeanyi Ubah, CEO of Capital Oil and publisher of The AUTHORITY Newspapers Group gave Governor Willie Obiano a thumbs-up, affirm­ing that Governor Obiano is working. For a business mogul impatient with non-performers, his endorsement of the Anam­bar State chief executive clearly indicates that he is fully behind Obiano and his administration and is indeed impressed with what the governor has achieved within .It also worthy of note that Dr. Ubah, during the last Ofala Festival, also affirmed the good works of Governor Obiano.
Two years on the saddle of one Nigeria’s most sophisticated and industrialised states, what really has the urbane banker who becam governor of Anam­bra State achieved? The emerg­ing consensus from diverse stakeholders is that two things stand Governor Willie Obiano’s government out as remarkable. One is improved security and welfare. The second crucial fac­tors are infrastructural develop­ment and investment. Here, the grounds Obiano has covered, deploying the four pillar devel­opment thrusts and their en­ablers, is noteworthy.
On the security front, Obiano cleaned up the state with a com­bination of decisive strategies that turned it into one of the country’s safest state.
Onitsha, the epicentre of commerce and entrepreneur­ship in Eastern Nigeria had assumed the unenviable sta­tus of the crime capital of the region. Upper Iweka had be­come the axis of vicious crime. Obiano incepted innovations that turned the table on crime. The donation of 25 smart cars to the Police in December last year and the zigzagging fight of surveillance helicopters across Anambra skies throughout the Yuletide season are indicative of the security transformation of the state.
On the investment front, he added one noteworthy chap­ter to the narrative of the New Anambra with the export of vegetables valued at $5m to the UK and other European coun­tries. Conjuring this innovation at a time when Nigeria’s econo­my is on its knees speaks to the measure of the chief helmsman. Indeed, while other governors are wringing their hands and wondering where the depleted federal finances had left them, Obiano has carved out several revenue pathways that would keep Anambra running on for some time.
Recently, Anambra State held a highly successful Summit on Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) in partnership with Fi­delity Bank Plc. Among the star cast of facilitators was Ben Akabueze who has just been ap­pointed as Special Adviser on Planning by President Buhari. The Summit was part of Obia­no’s efforts to figure out how to raise the state’s IGR to N2.2bn per month this fiscal year with­out increasing taxes.
In June last year, the state had also organised a Special Retreat for EXCO members which, was facilitated by renowned economic analysts, Bismark Rewane and Eileen Shaiyen among others to seek ways of creating new revenue sources. The result of Obiano’s far-sight­ed search for solutions for the realities of running a complex state as Anambra in a dwindling economy is that he has shored up IGR from half a billion naira to N1.3bn in less than two years without raising taxes. The direct consequence is that while some states groan under the indignity of prowling around Abuja with begging bowls, Anambra is in­creasing salaries and executing legacy projects.
According to development analyst, Ejike Anyaduba, Obia­no’s government has improved with great commitment on the issue of welfare. The adminis­tration has increased workers salary both civil and political. It has also provided comfortable, but cheap, transportation ser­vices, first for civil servants, and now other commuters. A build­er, Rockland, has been commis­sioned to build over a thousand units of houses for civil servants in the state. Arrears of salaries owed some categories of civil servants like Anambra Water Corporation workers and “out-of-favour” public servants, run­ning into billions, were offset.
The construction of the Awka Capital to meet, and possibly surpass, any state capital in Ni­geria is in the offing. As a man of cosmopolitan bent, the gov­ernor has charged the board, Awka Capital Territory Devel­opment Authority (ACTDA), to spare nothing, including mon­ey, in giving the state the best. The construction of a hanging bridge at ARROMA junction and two more others within the city will help decongest traffic and add to the aesthetics.
There is also the architectural delight that is the Three Arm Zone under construction at Isiagu, amongst various hinter land roads and bridges which, when completed, will give more impetus to the economy of the state.
In the area of investments, a prodigious pool has been at­tracted to the state within the past one year. Investment inflow in the state since March 2014, is in the region of $2.2bn, over­shooting the projected $1.9bn target. This new IGR scenario is hugely encouraging and inspir­ing many other revenue-related innovations.These investments are in agriculture, health, enter­tainment, trade and commerce etc. In agriculture, for exam­ple, about five agro-investors like Coched farm, Ekcel farm, Delfam, Songhai farm, Joseph agro Ltd etc have moved base to Anambra. When on stream, the farms will create well over 200,000 jobs, thus scaling down unemployment rate in the State.
The good thing about this is that these investments span across the other sectors of the economy. Anambra is gradu­ally transforming into inves­tors’ destination having played host to a consortia of business developers. To this effect, an international trade centre is un­der construction at Ogbunike in addition to corporate mar­kets being constructed in Awka, Onitsha and Nnewi. There is no doubt that if the pace of devel­opment is sustained, Anambra will witness, in the next three years, a holistic transformation.
At press time, all the signs in­dicate that Anambra’s current banker-governor may afterall turn out to a social engineer who has finally discovered his niche in changing and leverag­ing society.

willie is really working

Chukwu Nna biko gozie ndi ochichi anyi n'ile na Anambra ma n'ala Igbo n'ile. Nye ha ubulu, amamihe na obi ume ani e dozi obodo anyi!

Biko napu ekwensu ike okachasi ndi ochu anumanu negbu umu mmadu n'oru ugbo ha! Wepu ndi obi ojoo n'ebe ihe gbasara ndi Igbo na umu nne anyi na mba mmiri.
Iseeee!

kenny987:
Chukwu Nna biko gozie ndi ochichi anyi n'ile na Anambra ma n'ala Igbo n'ile. Nye ha ubulu, amamihe na obi ume ani e dozi obodo anyi!

Biko napu ekwensu ike okachasi ndi ochu anumanu negbu umu mmadu n'oru ugbo ha! Wepu ndi obi ojoo n'ebe ihe gbasara ndi Igbo na umu nne anyi na mba mmiri.
Iseeee!

Ekpere gi kwu oto! And I say a very BIG AMEN.

kenny987:
Chukwu Nna biko gozie ndi ochichi anyi n'ile na Anambra ma n'ala Igbo n'ile. Nye ha ubulu, amamihe na obi ume ani e dozi obodo anyi!

Biko napu ekwensu ike okachasi ndi ochu anumanu negbu umu mmadu n'oru ugbo ha! Wepu ndi obi ojoo n'ebe ihe gbasara ndi Igbo na umu nne anyi na mba mmiri.
Iseeee!

Amen oo

Aku ruo ulo. Pls lets join hands and make a sustainable region, make it a duty to bring investment home, no matter how small.
#Aku ruo ulo...

I'm proud of my governor.
Chukwu Gozie Willie .
We've been blessed with great men as governors.

From Ngige to Obi to Willie..
All o them were hits #BackToBack.
Except that our first efulefu..
God bless Anambra.
God bless Nigeria.