The infrastructural transformation of Anambra State by Governor Charles Soludo has received commendation from Reuben Abati, a renowned Nigerian journalist, politician, and former Special Adviser on media to President Goodluck Jonathan, who was overwhelmed with the unprecedented achievements of the governor within a short time in office.
Abati, who described Soludo as Mr. Solution, during a recent visit to Anambra, was taken round several projects, including the Solution Fun City, a sprawling multi-purpose entertainment centre, sitting on 27 acres of land in the heart of the state capital.
According the veteran journalist, “the place looks like another version of Disneyland. It has a Country Club for the elite, a Games village for parents and their children: three cinemas, games rooms, with ultra-modern facilities, swimming pools, a roller coaster, and playgrounds, all built with state-of-the-art equipment”.
The project which also include a CAF-compliant stadium for sport, he said, is already in place and to be ready for use by the end of March.
Amazed by what he saw, he asked what motivated the governor to embark on such transformative project, and Governor Soludo explained “I needed to provide a special meeting point for Anambra people at home and in diaspora such that when they come home, they will have a place, that is safe and comfortable where they can relax with friends and family. He wants Anambra to be a destination of choice.”
Soludo added “Candidly it is by mixing everything properly that we can attract investments. This state has many billionaires. I want them to see that they can invest in their state.” The senior journalist also stated that Soludo also plans to build a new Awka City.
Abati, who went round the new Government House Complex as part of the tour was astonished, saying, “What a project.” The sprawling complex houses the new government house, the state secretariat, governor’s lodge, Deputy Governor’s complex, a Presidential Lodge, State House Hospital, a 1,000-seater Banquet Hall, and a 1,000-seater Amphitheatre, and 28 other buildings.
Asking Soludo if he would risk putting up such a masterpiece for another governor to come and occupy, considering the next gubernatorial election in Anambra is in November this year, the governor affirmed he wasn’t thinking of who will occupy the Governor’s Lodge, but simply leaving a legacy of a proper Government zone, similar to the Three Arms Zone in Abuja, something that Anambra can be proud of.
For 34 years, Anambra has not had a proper Governor’s Lodge or an administrative zone. Soludo wants to change that and what he has done is bold and impressive.
One of Abati’s attraction was the major markers around Awka titled “The Solution is here,” which brought to his reminiscences what he had in mind during Soludo’s tenure as the former Central Bank Governor when he wrote a piece titled “The Soludo Solution”.
“In his career either as an economist, technocrat or politician, Governor Soludo has always talked about finding solutions to the people’s problems, ” Abati avowed.
The frontline Columnist averred that Soludo’s fiercest critics accuse him of arrogance, claiming he alone knows the solution to every problem. But according to him, what cannot be denied is the impressive transformation the man has brought to Anambra.
In three years, despite the naysayers, there is clear evidence of what Soludo has been able to do in terms of infrastructure, and education, where the state leads, with the lowest out-of-school children rate in Nigeria with 2.9% according to UNESCO).
“There is free education for all public primary and secondary schools, pensions are being paid, salaries of civil servants too, potable water available for people of the state, three brand new cities are springing up due to the government urban regeneration projects, hospitals are being built, and there is a new state security architecture called Agunechemba and Operation “Udo Ga-Achi’ meaning peace shall reign, working with technology-driven surveillance systems” .