By: Kelechi Eke.

It is no longer news that Senator Samuel Anyanwu is, today, the most sought after governorship aspirant across all the political parties in Imo State, even though he is of the Peoples Democratic Party(PDP) brand. This position did not come out of nothing. In life, reward for hardwork is more work. Hardwork surely pays.

From a humble beginning, Samdaddy, as he is fondly called, has overcome all challenges and has emerged the highest political office holder in Imo State on the platform of the People's Democratic Party (PDP). His political profile is rising like a hurricane because of his rich democratic credentials which have made Imolites to admire him. His humility, accessibility, charming charisma and enormous goodwill have attracted the movers and shakers of Imo politics to his side. With his resilience embedded in political optimism and realism, Samdaddy is poised to smile home with victory as the next Governor of Imo State.

Today, there are ongoing discussions to present him as the governorship consensus candidate because of his personality and the sustained credible performances he has recorded for himself. He has a dogged fighting spirit that never chickens out in the face of opposition, propaganda and blackmail, which distinguishes him to merit the status of a consensus candidate. He is tested and trusted in democratic struggles and building bridges of friendship. Senator Samuel Anyanwu is indeed a quintessential democrat and a performance-oriented and consummate politician.

If Senator Samuel Anyanwu emerges the People's Democratic Paty (PDP) governorship flagbearer and the next Governor of Imo State in 2019, which are the most likely things to happen, it will provide him the opportunity to build a new Imo of his vision, as he has, before now, shown competence and capacity to deliver on any given mandate.

He was the secretary of Imo Youth Organization in 1983, a platform he used to learn the ropes as a politician. His emergence as the executive chairman of Ikeduru local government area in 2004 came to many as a surprise. This was as a result of his late declaration of interest for the executive chairmanship position when others had almost completed their consultations. But he still went ahead to beat them all, a situation that is similar to the present scenario in the guber race.

Instructively, Senator Anyanwu's administration as a local government chairman was not only impactful but was also memorable. He built a four kilometer road from Afor lolo in Inyishi to Amaimo. The import of this achievement will be better appreciated when one recalls how difficult it is for local government chairmen to construct roads in the State due to paucity of funds. He also constructed the Chairman's office, the perimeter fencing of the council secretariat, dug boreholes, trained youths in a revolutionary computer training program, amongst others.

More importantly, Sen. Samdaddy was the hero of workers in the Council which earned him "Action", a name he still bears till date as far as civil servants in Ikeduru are concerned. This name was due to the manner he handled the welfare of the workers.

In the State Assembly, Sen. Anyanwu was the chairman of Owerri Zone Caucus. He was the only member, at a time, to head two House Standing Committees of Commerce and Industry and that of Finance. Recall also, that he sponsored the customary court amendment law which was the flagship law of the sixth House of Assembly. This is among other bills and motions he sponsored and co-sponsored. His views were not only respected, he was one of the critical members of the State Assembly. The role he played alongside Prof. Fabian Osuji and Sen. Christy Anyanwu in ensuring that the main campus of Imo State University remained in Owerri still attracts encomiums to him till date.

In the Senate, Sen. Anyanwu has shone like the stars. He was among the few senators in the current Senate to head a Senate Standing Committee even as a first time opposition member. He has since gone ahead to deliver on his three key election promises of offering a strong voice, attracting projects, and women and youth empowerment. These excellent performances have also attracted awards and commendations.

It is also important to note that Sen. Samuel Anyanwu achieved all these with the limitations associated with these above positions.

Now that he has expressed his ambition to be the next governor of Imo State, he has designed clear cut strategies to transform the fortunes of the State and bring back smiles on the faces of Imolites.

As elucidated in his policy document, Sen. Anyanwu's vision for Imo State is to assuage the sufferings of Imo people through wealth creation when he is elected, generate employment and reduce poverty. He is set to introduce principles that will promote respect for rule of law, justice, fairness and integration of all stakeholders, run a government that focuses on developing the economy of the state and making it the hub of South East market by identifying and developing viable areas of comparative advantage, create an enabling environment that will attract investors and encourage private sector participation in developing the State economy and having a government that will liberate the State from the dependency on federal allocation.

His vision also includes to grow the Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) of the State by activating robust private sector business engagement, increase earnings of the people and get them to pay taxes and duties effortlessly, engage in aggressive sectoral audit of infrastructure available and also upgrade same in order to channel the energies of the people from civil service jobs to private sector businesses, restore Local Government system and town unions, giving them every necessary support that will bring about grassroots development, make security of lives and property a top priority, guarantee a qualitative and holistic free education, with a clear path on sustainability of funding, reposition agriculture as vehicle for job creation, wealth generation and food security, guarantee the decentralization of the healthcare sector in preparation for a universal health care system, as well as embark on a comprehensive infrastructural development, while upgrading the existing ones.

The task, no doubt, is going to be daunting, but it is heartwarming to note that Sen. Samdaddy has over time built enough confidence for the citizens of the State to trust in his capacity to deliver on this vision. This vision is indeed clear and definite in the mind of Sen. Anyanwu. His antecedents can attest to this. The burden, therefore, lies on the PDP delegates to set the State on the road to recovery by ensuring that Sen. Anyanwu gets the Party's ticket. These delegates can actually immortalize their names by choosing to be pencils in the hands of God for us to have an Imo State of our shared dream.