How Chukwuma Soludo Has Fared As Governor Of Anambra State In Two Years

Now, for almost two years, professor chukum mar soludo, a former governor of nigeria's apex bank- that's the cbn has been on the saddle as the governor of anambra state. He was elected on a platform of the all progresses, grand alliance, aba, governor soludo, says his visionary. Leadership. Has brought peace, prosperity and stability to anambra state, but there are many who strongly disagree, but, however, tonight our focus is on the journey so far his achievements challenges as as well as the myriad of issues joining me. Vally from oka, the anra state capital is dr. Alex obu a political adviser to governor chukum masudo dr balu. Thank you so much for joining us tonight good afternoon.

It's my pleasure good evening. It's my pleasure! So let me begin by congratulating the people and government of anra state for selling the ship these two years. Um in your own opinion, how has the journey been so far? Well, uh one sentence will summ it up to god, be the glory I mean the transformation anra state has witnessed in the last 24 months is uh phenomenal phenomenal I mean uh. We have to remember where we are coming from and now where we are today upon assumption by march 17 2022 uh anra had one big problem that if you asked everyone was on their lips insecurity, there was a problem of the unknown da men holding siege. At least they held siege completely nine local governments. There were the mountain of refuges everywhere was filthy contractors, hadn't been paid for months to clear the refuges and everywhere was mountain of refuges. Everywhere there was the issue of schools: without teachers, parents under the opes of ptas had to recruit teachers that were paid as minal as 10,000 naira just to help teach their children. So you could understand the quality of teachers we were talking about and it had gone on for years there were hospitals without doctors without nurses, none of the uh phc centers were functional.

So this issue and then the most important was the collapse of the road infrastructure. The road assets in the state had gone katus even with the federal roots were also broken down. So what mr governor did, first and foremost, was to deal with security. You know, after the engagement with the young men, and then they went after them in the bushes, using uh vigilante services in combination with the security agencies and we're able to flush them out.

Today we hear of them mainly in two local governments, and these are the b loal arguments that bother us with imo state. Then you see that the security today, even the who were a threat to the commerce of the state to ne center abos, are ths sts, who come in extorting money and often times robbing people that the game is gone, is a thing of the past and then of course we went in from that security. He went into roads today, we have more than 450 km of roads have been awarded, as at the time we celebrated our second anniversary on 17th of march mr governor had missioned and completed 247 km of road 247 km, which is basically talking 10 km per month, which had never been seen in an state never been seen in anate, and these are quality roads that are bound to last for 20 years and then of course, it's not just only touching that we also went into the health sector we had over 500 health workers employed doctors and n, and today the governor is building five brand. New hospitals, general hospitals in the state five brand new ones, oko is about ready. Oko is a slum, which was not meant to be a slum. It was supposed to be housing sector supporting the industrial sector, but it turned out into islam. They had not witnessed any government intervention for decades and mr governor promised that he was going to turn it around today. Poo has 15 kilom of road and 14. 12.7 has been completed as fed completely. You have a d carriage on obu road and the road is pened completely from trade in street trading. Then you have the general to coming up that should be commissioned anytime soon. You have in places that before was difficult to reach. Anra state should be the only state.

I know that has a capital of a local government inaccessible by road inaccessible by road, and today they have already set forth in the next few weeks. We should be able to drive inam and commission that road dru, just permit me to come in here I know that you're really not what you you know, uh seem to be for you, the landmark achievement of the governor, but you mentioned earlier that um. What's what where you are now in an is phenomenon compared to um what it was before, where, where you're coming from that's the word that you used um, are you saying that, in the last two years of of governor soludo's government that he has done far better than the eight years of governor willo and governor pet alby, certainly certainly I mean which government has completed in two years, not in 8 years two years, 247 km of quality, road roads meant to last. You saw the former governor, the road master. At least he was one who held the title of road master, considering dr chr, considering that mr governor has done tremendously well on roads, I mean he was the only one who built roads that last so I mean I'm, not here, to compare them I'm here to basically tell you that what we have witnessed today is phenomenal.

I've, been in the state for 32 years, so I can tell you with all honesty now, apart from roads, the ability to touch lives also, this intolerance for poverty, the drive mr governor, is having for zero poverty, and what has he done in that, first and foremost, to deal with education and the issue of unemployment? We recruited 8,000 teachers. 5,000 were done late last year and another 3,000 are just been concluded now,

apart from the infrastructural development of the schools, he's giv grants to mission public schools, not just any particular denomination, all the denominations who have public mission schools, which have not been done in the past anyway, and then, of course, you know when you come to the issue of health sector, like I, said the employed health workers and then decided to empower the youths by this principle of productive at home exportable abroad. We looked at that. We needed to build a digital tribe, mr governor, said in his manifesto that he's going to build a digital tribe that will be productive at home exportable abroad, and what have we done with it? We have trained 20,000 people on this skills. Today, you have what you call the code, an umra where about 5,000, to 700,000 of them are been trained on coding, software development and then, of course, another one is the one2 skill where we we skilled graduates, we skilled people who had not been having any basic skill before in different sections and after killing 5,000 of them, they were given grants that span $ 500,000, each person, 2 billion, was spent on that another 2.5 billion was provided as sub micro credit loans to them. So when you talk about that, the fact that these youths have been touched, the fact that lives have been turned around not just in terms of skilling them, but in terms of empowering them and, of course another one. We doing is the palm oil coconut revolution. It intends to be able to provide 350,000 households with some form of empowerment that turns them into millionaires and I mean it million years, because you know the cost of w pump. Oil cake is p, canel, cake and palm oil, and what the state is doing is to empower homes. Some homes will get about 15 to 20, coconut sings and palm oil sings oil palm sings, and these ceilings are sings.

That will fruit in about 3 years, so we're expecting that that will the value chain system will also pro

propel some form of economic trans comm for them already last year, we've done 120,000 households this year we do another 100,000 households, and these are things that are aimed and targeted at achieving zero poverty for an amass. So when you and dru apologize again that I'm coming coming in as you reel out these achievements, but for every time either you or a member of the cabinet of dr um chaso speaks or even himself um. There are those who go on that such such um videos and comment and say some of these things are not true. Um they's say that look. He hasn't even done much when you compare him to someone like um, the governor of abas and I, know that you have said that you know you're not here to compare, but it's inevitable um. So they say: look for someone like governor ot of abia state. He doesn't even begin to compare not to think of you know. You have mentioned someone like the former governor of ab anra state u peter ob, who many believe is still the best best thing that has happened to the state today. Well, you see um, they will always

go position in politics and what I want to ask you is, since you are positioning or positing their own side, can you tell me what the governor of abia state, with all due respect, has done that when you put side by side with what we've done in an state, we say that he has done better. I mean what I see them showing on social media is the fact that he's using julus, begger and I don't mean to run down julus begger I mean we've seen the roads. They've also done the road, the on road that was done, we've seen parts of it go bad, so it's not about using a big name is about achieving much with less, and that is that mantra to achieve much with less and mr. Governor is insistent that we must promote local contractors. We must promote made in an um and that's why you see. From the first day, his official cars and the official cars of everyone in government is made in anra or made by anra man, who is in nigeria assembling cars, so I mean I like I, keep saying I, don't want to go into comparison. What we want to do is this is what we've done and when you said the these persons challenge, what we've done, what what have they challenged? I just mentioned 5,000 teachers recruited I, can give you their names and phone contacts. I've just told you that 3,000 more have been concluded this month, I've told you about the 500 medical doctors are nses. These are people who are alive the other day they couldn't contain what had been done. They said there was a road that collapsed and the one of them came and said roads were collapsing. Over number state I mean I've, sent you the clip late the very place. They said they collapsed, arent nonsense. So how do you then react to to the dru? How do you then react to the anab state chapter um, just a minute, dr bble? How do you they react to the anab chapter of the people's democratic party um? They they have expressed disappointment in governor solo performance for the last two years- and they have also described it as a disaster, and then they talked about local governments, they talked about security and the state capital ouar itself.

Well, you know in campaign when people why they've started this is that they started early campaign.

They believe I'm a politician also. They believe that in politics, with the amount of work mr governor has done that, if you don't start trying to stop him now that he will run away with a second time unchallenged. But what I am p about is the lies that they concort just to be able to dem market the opposition, which in this case is aba when I was there in pdp some of us, we never use this manner of campaign. This is a campaign of this. Is a campaign that I mean people who are irresponsible? They have forgotten that you want to run the state. You want to say you are a governor of anra state. Now what do you achieve when you finish running down the state and you assume office? What state are you going to govern? Who are the investors going to come? They started with insecurity, then they showed that records have shown that gun short reported wounds in hospital has gone up by 84%. Then they left security. They went to roads and then the roads are there, places that could not be reached before I'll. Give you an example: in 1992 when I went on campaign, I joined, mr governor, then the governor on campaign to it took us 3 hours. It was a three-hour journey from oka to today that same journey is 25 minutes with what mr governor has done. The man see from my road, you have another 26.7 km of am family. Road hadn't been assessed for years. They never seen any road since adam and eve was created.

Hello I can hear you go ahead. Yeah since adam and eve was were created. They had never seen any road. Are this the people you tell them that mr governor is not performing you go to aa oka that we always said was not befitting of a capital. Oka is transformed to today with d carriage roots I mean I need to invite. You it's not a question of saying nothing, you just say it on social media. The people the beneficiaries are happy, the beneficiaries are saying this is a governor, they have never seen I just send you video clips people expressing their joy and then can you imagine a state capital for 30 years. We don't have a lodge a government house and that jans has been broken. Mr governor is there in the next one year the government house will be ready with the lodge I mean. Where can I start from? Where look at? Let go to and walk on the stre of tell that hasn't done anything I'm sure they know what will happen to them. These are people have never seen street lights. The whole place is flooded with street lights. 25,000, solar street lights have been installed in nra state by mr government administration 25,000 come I.

Give you well I was in position in pdp in those days. My problem with some of these govern govern I, always told them. You say you are buil. Tell us the distance you have built, but this government will list the road and give you the distance. So I would like them to say that these 450 km, you said you have ed are false, or this uh 247 kilm, you said you have done- is false. That is kind of responsible opposition. They should be to create havoc where there no havoc talking about responsible opposition- and you also mentioned okoko um I, remember I- think it was last month when the government, the governor, talked about um.

Refusing to construct is w street in community because it's it was an area represented by I, think it was noble igu. Who then was in the opposition? Uh some would say. Look you are talking about responsible opposition shouldn't. The governor has had fixed that road, even before noble would defected to the governor's party when did no defect. No, as far as I'm concerned is still today, pdp I think he deputy minority leader and no believe is representing the whole of what six the whole of not just what six where he comes from, and it is where he's representing that the governor has put 15 km of road no believe I saw him the day the governor came to commission in 12.7. He was ecstatic, he was happy. He was elated a member of pdp my dear, mr governor is not interested in parting. He says that our is one agenda. One people, one state, no one should be left behind. That is the moto of you. Don't leave anyone behind. He is not from the north he's from the south, but the five general hospitals he's putting together is in the north, where his predecessor came from, because these are places that have not witnessed development is in the north is in the north. A is in the north. These are places that you saw him travel by river. He was the first governor since the creation of adam eve to step foot on alasa and he went on motorbike on k on foot to get to the, venue, so I'm, sorry, I know what it takes to be in the position.

I know that this is one governor one government that seems to be their mistakes are very few, but they just have to up there again, because at the end of the day, it's for the people of anra state. It's not for me, it's not for soludo. It's not for anyone person, it's for the people of anra state and my sister I can tell you that when I look back to anra in 1991 and anra of today, there has been phenomenal growth, phenomenal growth and more to still come with the new building code. A new oka 2.0, a new on 2.0 new cities being built planned and built. We have land banks. The governor has been picking up land banks to make sure that the future that government can still expand. There's a new industrial city in ai, there's the greatest largest indoor pharmaceutical warehouse in oba, and these are places coming up that will bring economic transformation for our state. Then you look at what we're doing like he said. He says he wants to turn an from a departure lodge to a destination lounge. Why do we say that? Because in the past people were living and droes today the cost of property in alra has gone up. People are listening because the governor has also started on what you call the ppcp model: the public private community partnership.

Where he's encouraging people of well, who are well to do to come in and help government and provide amenities also for their people, because government cannot do it alone, and people are answering the call. People are doing t 16 km of road in their town, one is doing 4 km, one is doing 1 kilm, and this is because that is what the governor is preaching to support the government. What they're doing yes, of course, not everybody will like it. Not everybody will be suppored. We understand that, but what we are saying to them is that we need to work together. Let the criticism be constructive. Let the criticism be constructive. Let's come on together because anra is a home. We have no other home than anra all right, so I dr will take a break now um when we return.

I have just one more question on the noble igu issue: we'll then talk about security um. Another development in an amra state uh stay with us. Everyone

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