Fides Media Living the Faith
If first signs are anything to go by, then Anambra State may already be on the threshold of consolidation of good governance, courtesy of the actions of the state’s governor-elect, Prof Chukwuma Soludo.
While inaugurating members of his transition committee recently Soludo once again reassured the people of the state of his desire to turn the fortunes of the state around.
His words, ‘We envision an Anambra that will be the preferred destination in West Africa to live, learn, work, relax and enjoy, and we will welcome any and every contribution to make this work. Of course, Anambra is a state in the South East, and is not an island unto itself, so we will seek the cooperation and collaboration of other states, especially South East and South South states. This will be critical for creating this prosperous homeland.
The times are hard and the immediate future will be challenging. Despite this, Ndi Anambra expect extraordinary outcomes, and literally expect miracles, and we can’t let them down and no excuses will do.
We are determined to give it our all, mobilizing the creative resources of our people all over the world to create a befitting homeland. It is our collective dream and assignment. Given the pool of human resources in this transition committee, Anambra people will expect an exemplary report; very illuminating one. I’m looking forward to using the report of this committee as a template to operate from day one.
At the inauguration he also appealed to them not to address him as ”His Excellency”, that title that has been abused in this part of the world by those who have nothing excellent in their attitude or behaviour. He asked them to simply address him as ”Mr Governor”. This may seem insignificant to some people but we feel it shows a man who is going to solely focus on his job and shun distractions that praise mongers can cause.
He had earlier said he would not be needing a crowd at his swearing in and that he would drive straight to the slums of Okpoko in the Onitsha area to assess the level of rot in that place. In other words, he is a man who is ready to hit the ground running.
These are early signs of good things to come and being that governance is serious business we believe that a Daniel may have come to judgement. The state can ill afford any distractions from unserious people. We urge the governor-elect to shun those who have nothing to bring to the table of governance. Governance should not be a family business or that of cronies. Government should also not be a Father Christmas that seeks to make all manner of unserious and undeserving people happy. Anyone who has anything to do with government must have something positive to offer.
Judging by his first few steps we are satisfied that Soludo is ready to do the real work to the glory of Anambra State and it behooves all men and women of goodwill to rally round him to take Anambra back to where she belongs. But Soludo should also be ready to take criticisms when they come and act on them to improve on his performance.
But for now, we have cause to be hopeful.