₦airaland Forum

The governance is not easy, the governor need to invest or attract more investment in power, our state need a power generation company and transmission too. We need to stop using national grid now.

Sometimes I wonder how old some people that talk here are, people are thinking how to make more money, invest so that your family can never be poor, someone will enter here and be talking nonsense no stop.

What of Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, what's app those are making money too.

oilykid:
Industries are currently being built there.?

yes

Anambra1stSonTV:
Ifitedunu road completed

yes I pass there last month, good one from Mr Governor, alot of projects is coming up there now, companies are coming to build small industry there, 1 plot of land now 6 million from 1 million two years ago.

Please you guys should keep yourself busy, look out for how to make money, stop comparing governor's of each eastern state, let wish other state more development, this things will not do us any good, if you don't know what to do let me know I will assist on things to do that will help you earn money,

Na their way always looking for ways to spoil other Nigerians if they believe their lives is better, but when table turn they look for pity.

Jonah507:
Benue state is blessed.

Middlemen are responsible for the inflation.

Op abeg dash me one na

Don't call middle man here , call insecurity and bad road.

If you are not ready to get married please don't adopt any child, children needs mother and father, not father alone, stay on your own until you are ready to get marry, don't use your own selfness and cause a little one his or her happiness of a mothers love.

It's high time Anambra state start taking public house serious, am not talking about private developer that will like to get his investment in short possible time, but if government is involved civil servants, teachers, government workers can get home and pay over or at the retirement time. Other states are doing it, Rivers state governor recently sign billions of Naria for public housing development.

I stay 12 years in Kaduna my friend try to convince me to build house, they did everything possible for me to build house there , I only managed to buy land, two plot of land, When I wanted to develop it, kidnapping started in Kaduna south my friends run with their families, nobody is staying in the well build house, I refuse to build house there again, now they want to sell it, nobody is buying it, I wanted to sell my land nobody is buying, we IGBOs don't want to hear words until this people destroy us finish, the land I bought in Enugu this year 6 million is now 8 million with begging. Investment in IGBOs land is not something you will ever regret.

Cjrane2:
I'm tired of crying for people who NEVER learn from anything! So they somehow deserve getting it until they finally get it. Whatever, i mean by that!

Dem bomb their houses in Abule Ado, they simply went back to rebuild it with all their resources!
Dem come back begin demolish your houses again, you will just buy the land back from their corrupt officials and rebuild again! So that they will have something to demolish the next time they show up!

Ask yourself where the Igbos of this generation left their brain Anyway, i no fit cry for anybody because they will always say "Thats impossicant" when you tell them to curtail their risks of building heaven and earth in Lagos and other places when they have next to nothing in their villages or anywhere in their state!

By the way, I am someone that left the madness of Lagos and channeled my resources to buy a fantastic house in Asaba. I have since relocated my business to Asaba! My quality of life has drastically increased since i started living in Asaba and left the mad life of living like a rat and staying many hours in Lagos. Its just sad that many Igbos who would actually do better outside Lagos think that Lagos is "abroad" for them. Unfortunately Lagos isn't even as developed as the least developed South African city! Not to mention Europe of Asia. But people will continue to die to live there. Maka why

No matter the kind of investment you are doing outside IGBO land, try to invest double of it in your state, IGBOs don't learn, we keep making the same mistake always, how can someone build a house worth 300 millions in Lagos ?.now the house is down. You can't fight Government.

Is about time we start to talk about housing development, we need public house development, workers estate.

Bestmanfornow:
21st November, 2023

“CHANGING GEARS: THE TRANSFORMATION AGENDA BEGINS”


CHARLES CHUKWUMA SOLUDO, CFR
GOVERNOR


AN ADDRESS TO THE ANAMBRA STATE HOUSE OF ASSEMBLY ON THE OCCASION OF THE PRESENTATION OF THE DRAFT 2024 STATE BUDGET; NOVEMBER 21, 2023.


PROTOCOL

Umu nne m Ndi Anambra!

1. Let me start by once again congratulating all of you, members of the 8th Assembly and the leadership of the House for your elections. Yours is a historic call to serve Ndi Anambra. As I always remind all of us: we have only one state and our development focus is summarized by the mantra, “One State, One People, One Agenda”. I want to thank you for your cooperation and collaboration so far. Together, we shall leave this state far better than we met it.


2. On November 10, 2022, I was here to present the draft 2023 budget, captioned budget of acceleration. It was our first full year budget in office. Over the past 20 months since our swearing-in on March 17, 2022, we have intentionally focused on judiciously implementing the budgets to address several of the foundational challenges and the results are beginning to show. Anambra is today ranked the number one among the 17 southern states on Ease of Doing Business; number two as state with lowest infant mortality rate; best performing students in JAMB and NECO are from Anambra, while BudgIT has recently also ranked Anambra among the top 5 states on fiscal sustainability.


3. During our second-year anniversary on March 17, 2024, we shall present a comprehensive scorecard to our people. Suffice it to say that Anambra is indeed on the march. Our security is getting stronger by the day, and the eight local governments that were in total control by the so-called Unknown Gunmen have been largely liberated. Anambra, by every measure, is certainly one of the safest states in Nigeria today. Over 400 kilometres of roads plus two flyovers are under construction in all the 21 LGAs and in a few weeks we shall embark upon commissioning of the finished ones. Anambra had a severe road crisis, and I promised during the electioneering campaigns to declare a state of emergency on roads. With the state of decay, even if we spend the entire year’s budget on roads in one local government, it would still be a scratch. We are strategic in the choice of game-changing roads that impact on the productivity of our people, especially in connecting hitherto neglected/abandoned people, LGAs and communities. We are breaking the 32-year-old jinx and Anambra will soon have proper and befitting government house and governor’s lodge at Awka. Power is improving; we are winning the war on waste management/de-silting of drainages, traffic management, anti-touting, law and order.


4. The Oba Open Drug Market (Africa’s biggest open drug market) is under construction, and Pharmaceutical Industrial Park, Ogboji is under development with 15 manufacturers out of expected 100 already signed up. Our regenerative agricultural revolution is on the move, and so far, we have distributed 1,100,000 hybrid coconut and palm seedlings to over 100,000 households in our drive towards zero poverty, neo agro-industrialization, and a green and environmentally sustainable state. We will distribute at least one million seedlings per annum in the coming years as we target 500,000 households with each earning millions of Naira per annum in a few years to come. Some 25,000 diesel powered streetlights have been converted into solar light--- saving cost and powering the night economy.


5. Our human capital remains Anambra’s greatest asset and we are very intentional in building a resource that is productive at home and exportable abroad. Basic education is now truly free of all charges and levies in all public schools in Anambra. We are ending the phenomenon of schools without teachers by recruiting 5,000 teachers within the first 9 months in office and ongoing recruitment of an additional 3,000 teachers. The target for our schools is smart education. Our schools, teachers and students won several national and international prizes this year. We are also ending the era of hospitals without doctors and nurses by recruiting almost 1,000 health workers—doctors, consultants, nurses, pharmacists, lab technicians, etc to power our general hospitals and primary health centres. Four new general hospitals are under construction and several others under reconstruction. Pregnant women now have free antennal and delivery services in Anambra.

6. Building the capacity and empowerment of our youths to take care of their future remains our priority. Our pioneering One Youth, Two Skills programme has just graduated its first batch of 5,000 youths and they have been empowered with N2 billion as seed capital to start their own businesses. We have also established the Solution Innovation District for digital skills, startups, research commercialization, and creative talents. Over 20,000 youths have been trained on different digital skills. Earlier this morning, the SID organized the Opening ceremony/Orientation for 2,500 youths selected out of the over 10,000 applicants for the training programme on coding, tagged “Code Anambra”. We expect tens of thousands of youths to go through our unprecedented menu of youth empowerment programmes each year. Our vision is to teach Anambra youths how to fish and turn them from job seekers to job creators. We are also resourcing the Anambra Small Business Agency (ASBA) to be able to provide required cheap credit to these budding entrepreneurs.


7. We are driving towards a more transparent E-governance system, with our mantra of “technology everywhere, and everything technology”. Our local government system is being reformed to strengthen its service delivery at the grassroots, while our tax administration is systematically going digital. Our land registry is going digital, and transfer of land titles can now be completed within a week rather than over six months previously. The environment remains Anambra’s number one existential threat. We have launched the Clean, Green and Sustainable Anambra project, and it will receive greater impetus in the coming years. The list is long!


8. Mr. Speaker, Honorable members, it is important to remind us that the government has implemented a far-reaching, comprehensive set of palliatives to ameliorate the economic hardship on the citizens as a consequence of the inevitable removal of petroleum subsidy. As you are aware, the Federal Government gave each state a loan of N2 billion (with a grant element of 52%) to assist in funding the palliatives.


9. Ours is a government on the foundation of the All-Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA). We are progressives, and the welfare of the ordinary Nigerians especially the poor and vulnerable, remains our primary focus. The motto is: “Be your brother’s and sister’s keeper”. For us, there is no better time to rise up to the full essence of our motto and ideological stance on behalf of ordinary people than now.


10. Consequently, even before the removal of subsidy, we had earlier increased the salary of public servants by 10% effective from January 2023, and this translates to over N2 billion in 2023 (excluding local governments and teachers). We also granted all public servants and pensioners (about 59,000 persons) a non-taxable cash award of N12,000 per month spanning September to December 2023. This amounts to about N2.83 billion. Beginning from today, 200,000 bags of 10kg bags of rice will be distributed to vulnerable persons across the 326 wards in Anambra (costing over N2 billion). Upon assumption of office, we met 4-year gratuity arrears for state and local government retirees. We have been systematically clearing the arrears while everyone who retires since our assumption of office is assured of prompt payment of gratuity. Pensions and salaries are paid as at when due. We have also exempted the highly vulnerable persons from all forms of taxation/levies: hawkers, wheelbarrow and truck pushers; vulcanizers; artisans, okada drivers, and petty traders with capital less than N100,000. Furthermore, we reduced by 20% IGR payments by all transporters—keke, minibus, etc. Our free education policy and free medical services programme were also announced during this period. As committed progressives, we are determined to let the poor not only to breath but also to stand up and run. This is the essence of our mission.


11. Hon Speaker, Honourable members, Umu nne m Ndi Anambra!
After 20 months of systematic programmes to take back our state from non-state actors and addressing key aspects of the foundational challenges, it is now time to change gear. I am here to present the draft 2024 budget. With this budget, we are making an announcement that Anambra is Changing Gear, and that the promised Transformation Agenda now begins…! The transformation agenda is one that intentionally executes a new Masterplan of the state designed to turn Anambra into a livable and prosperous smart megacity. We are determined to change Anambra’s narrative from its current status as a “departure lounge” to a “destination of choice”: preferred destination to live, work, invest, learn and relax and enjoy!

12. Evidently, Nigeria’s macroeconomic environment remains challenging due largely to the missteps of the past. Sub-national governments are obviously constrained by the larger macro environment. However, we are determined to maximize the limited headroom available to create value for Ndi Anambra.

13. Consequently, and in spite of the humongous need, we present a modest budget of N410,132,225,272 for fiscal year, 2024, compared to N258,984,875,905 for 2023 (about 57.8% increase). Recurrent expenditure accounts for N96.2 billion (23.46%) while capital expenditure is N313.9 billion (76.54%). Budget deficit is estimated at N120.8 billion. Relative to 2023, some key sectors have significant increases: Administrative sector (50.85%); Economic sector (103.43%); Judiciary Sector (72.9%); Social Sector (60.24%); Education (140.88%); Health (169.55%); Infrastructure investment (119.84%); overhead costs (34.1%); etc.

14. While consolidating and expanding the ongoing programmes and projects, the emphasis on the sectors as indicated above signal new vistas. Three new cities are part of the new Masterplan for Anambra: Awka 2.0; Onitsha 2.0; and a new Industrial City (with Export Emporium and potentials for a possible future airport). An industrial masterplan is being finalized while the railway masterplan/feasibility study is also being completed. The US$200 million project development, advisory and financing agreement signed recently with Afreximbank is part of this new agenda. We will continue to address the Ease of Doing Business. With the completion of the Fun City, the myriad of infrastructural development as well as the coming of a branded international hotel in Awka, both Awka 1.0 and Awka 2.0 will merge to give Anambra a befitting capital city . Urban regeneration will be aggressively pursued. The environment remains our existential threat, and under the 2024 budget, we will intentionally accelerate our agenda on Clean, Green, Planned and Sustainable Anambra. Smart, Green cities is our goal. Our infrastructural development will deliberately target the provision of transportation system that will serve the next generations by targeting the dualization of key highways and modernizing our mass transport systems. A new electricity market will be created, and our security operations will be upgraded with high technology applications even with barely 4% of the budget for security. The 2024 budget signals a significant investment in urban and semi-urban water schemes, and we expect Ndi Anambra to see taps running again in 2024.


15. Yes, in the 2024, our students and teachers will smile as never before. Our youths and Anambra students in tertiary institutions will smile even more. The poor and the vulnerable persons have their back covered. Another 100,000 households or more will receive 10 or more seedlings of coconut, palm, ukwa, pawpaw, soursop, etc per household. We are mainstreaming the sports economy, and the state football team will debut in 2024. Several creative sectors other than tech will also be promoted. Yes, we will deepen our structural reforms regarding the delivery mechanism that emphasizes public-private-community partnerships (PPCP) especially in service delivery to the grassroots including the zero-pothole programme.

16. Mr. Speaker, Honourable members, I don’t want to bore you with all the deliverables in the budget. The full document is before you now. Suffice it to note that the size of the budget is indeed small --- in real terms (purchasing power) or even in US dollars--- when compared to some years ago. Prices of critical inputs, especially for infrastructure delivery, are galloping. But in spite of this, we are determined to maximize value for Ndi Anambra as we are currently doing. Recall that the 7th Assembly approved in 2022 for us to borrow N100 billion for infrastructure. We didn’t do so in 2022. For the ongoing 2023 budget, it was assumed that we would borrow N90 billion to fund the budget. Up until now, we have still not borrowed a kobo, and won’t borrow until the end of the year. In the proposed 2024 budget, there is a deficit of N120 billion expected to be funded through a facility from financial institution(s). Be rest assured that we won’t borrow unless it satisfies two stringent criteria we have set: a) it must be a concessionary loan; and b) it must be deployed to projects that we can show how they would pay back the loan in the future. Even with an estimated 66% budget performance for 2023, we insist on not borrowing unless it satisfies our set criteria.


17. Our Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) remains a fundamental challenge. In the 2023 budget, we expected a monthly revenue of N4 billion. So far, we are averaging N2 billion, and we are still projecting N4.2 billion per month in 2024. This is a wake-up call to all residents of Anambra, and all Ndi Anambra wherever they may live. We can’t build the envisioned livable and prosperous homeland with our saliva. With the abundant resources that God has blessed Ndi Anambra with, there is literally nothing that we collectively set our minds to that we cannot achieve for our homeland. We have the Plan and the organization to execute. But we need resources. If each of us pays just 5-10% of our annual income as tax to the State, the Anambra of our dream will be fast-tracked.


18. Many people keep asking how we manage to fund the huge infrastructure projects and other programmes/projects without borrowing over the past 20 months given the state of treasury when we assumed office. The answer is simple: “Doing more with less”! It has involved extreme austerity and cutting cost of governance to bare bones.
As can be seen from the proposed 2024 budget, recurrent expenditure is only 23% while capital expenditure is 77%. This makes a bold statement. Yes, we have been in office for 20 months but we have not taken any salary and have not bought any vehicle for the First Lady of Anambra. Before we assumed office, it cost about N137 million to clean public offices per month, but it currently costs N11 million to do the same job, with a monthly savings of N126 million per month. That’s how we do it here.

19. I want to especially appreciate members of the Solution Team, the honourable members, members of the judiciary and all stakeholders for their sacrifice in the service of our homeland. You are the generation of public servants largely paying to serve. We will never take your sacrifices for granted. We appreciate all the stakeholders in the Anambra project: community leaders, traditional rulers, church leaders, the private sector, international community, federal government, the media, NGOs, the youths, women, students, etc for their support. Your continued partnership and support will be critical in the delivery of the 2024 budget outcomes. I want to assure Ndi Anambra that every kobo you entrust in our hands will be judiciously deployed to maximize value for you. You have employed Dr. Onyekachukwu Ibezim and I to serve you, and together with our Solution Team, we will continue to work 24/7 to do just that.


20. Mr. Speaker, Honourable members, Umu nne m Ndi Anambra! Let me end by reiterating that this budget is your budget. The agenda is about your future and the future of the unborn generations. For me, we are not just working for the present and next generation, we are planning for many generations unborn. Say “I will” and great powers will come to your aid. Today, and in 2024, let us agree that it will be done. The journey has only just begun!

May God bless Anambra State!

May God bless the Federal Republic of Nigeria!!
https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=pfbid02c6VnqaRsB4uQrHUqfAdTMsxqnF1tx8TZz1TUNc6prn4XWQeB7X1ha9PF3NPQ23Tnl&id=100069540374656&mibextid=Nif5oz

ProblemChild1:
Ongoing Road Construction At Ifite Dunu Anambra State.

This road is very important to me, which street or side is this one.

Most of them are anti Anambra state people, they don't want us to develop our state, I want Biafra to come but not with anybody blood, let it come peacefully, my state should not suffer because of it, either I.

Sistergal80:
So there was an election today at imo state and the whole place was/is calm. The leflendum no election crew have suddenly turned a new leaf..the ipob UGM have all become one Naijeriya.

When we tell pple that d edi0ts perpetrating violence in and outside Anambra are non indigenes dey begin to wail and call ndị Anambra anti Igbo unity..this and that🤨.

Let's wait for another Anambra elections. Biafla or dirt

That man really destroy kad, before I relocated the lands I bought I could not sell them, nobody is coming to buy, some of my friends that wanted to sale their houses, the house the bought land, dig water, spent almost 10 millions to build that time cement was 2500, someone will price you 6 million naira.

Straybullet:
El rufais 8 year politics of bitterness really dealt kaduna many blows

I have never seen depopulation and its effects real time like in this once glorious state.

From unleased malls at shoprite, to numerous undervalued and unsold real estate, to everyday meetings with people moving out and none moving in.

The midget had a politics of bitterly fighting to win.

He might have won his battles , but kaduna is losing the war of development.

Up and down, slums are all you see.

He only paved roads in the elite Muslim neighbourhoods, sited his economic projects like the now dysfunctional shoprite in the same neighbourhood, and only engaged the Southern areas with his famed bitterness.

I feel sorry for this state; once the political capital of Northern Nigeria, it is now home to capital flight, human resources flight etc.

Even Muslim kano knows to treat human beings better than Mr el rufai. And so kano took a chunk of our businessme n away. So did niger/abuja our second illistrous neighbour .

The bloodshed of many years was already doing us harm, el rufai completely interred our remains.

I fear for this beautiful state.

I have one piece of advice for Mr uba sani , the governor.

Completely divorce yourself from el rufai....his politics of hate, his economics of divisiveness, his religious bigotry, and all of his bad energy.

El rufais energy that we saw was bad, and evil.

Kaduna cannot take anymore of that without becoming yobe or zamfara.

Mr governor, let love lead. It will be hard to woo back those who have left and tasted the sweetness of other sane states, but you can stop the haemorrhage. You can prevent more people from leaving, and from there build something better than your failed predecessor.

There are some of us here for good. We will always be here to help.

That useless boy at Finland is stupid, if he try nonsense in Anambra state again, he will meet his death.

Is them them

See them, may God help Nigeria.

My Anambra is coming small small

Father4all:
RIP old man. Then, Nigeria was good. Now, a Northerner can't govern Southern University

can Southern govern north university??

Ok

When you add gas prices now we will know how far na

What are we benefiting from democratic rule, killing, corruptions, bad leaders, criminals political class.

rottable:
So coup is now a normal thing in Africa. Please don't bring it to Nigeria 🙏🙏🙏

Yes because politicians has make democratic rules no go area for their citizens.

Good

ShortBiscuit:
Why is it that a currency ($) that Nigeria doesn't own nor print keeps having such an insane influence on our local economy??

Please guys let try to do research before coming online to comment, even secondary school children knew that our country is import dependent nation, you can't use your local currency to import goods , it's most be international currency 💲 that is dollar.

FeelGoodAlways:
While senators are sharing millions to themselves, they forgot about ordinary Nigerians who cannot feed due to economic hardship.

Upon that, they still brought "subsidy thing" to suffer ordinary Nigerians the more, making life harder by the day.

So part of my meager salary which is 20k was taken by medical emergency earlier in the month.

That has stressed me out the more on survival, leaving me with a thousand naira as of this morning.

I could have prepared soup with it but what soup can I prepare with 1k and how long can it last? Soup wasn't the best option and so I decided to go for something more avoidable.

Anyhow, potatoes dey, red oil dey, man go survive.

It's well with the souls of struggling Nigerians most who do not even have a job or are underpaid.

go and work in block industry, or go to construction sit , if possible building project. They pay very well

Let keep voting for bad leaders , last last we go they alright

All this economy try be error is hitting the north badly, their people are 80 percent poor. With increase in school fees no northern children will be going to school again.

This is favor me and my family 💖

May this country favor me and my family