Anambra and the choice that should be made

BY STANLEY ONWUCHEKWE

As Ndi Anambra go to the poll this November, there are certain things we ought to consider, there are some pertinent questions we need to ask ourselves. Are we comfortable with the way things are in the state? Are our hospitals more efficient than they were four years ago? Is our educational sector delivering as it should? Is the present state government working for us, or are the occupiers serving themselves alone? Are we richer as individuals and as a state than we were four years ago? Do we feel safer and more optimistic about the future than we were four years ago? Is our economy flourishing more than it was four years ago? Are our pensioners, those who served this great state faithfully and dutifully getting the dignified gratitude they deserve? Are our workers who serve us tirelessly getting enough remunerations and motivation they rightly earned? Are our business men, those in small scale businesses getting enough support to grow their businesses? Is the present government in our state creating an enabling environment that attracts investors and encourages the entrepreneurship spirit of the Ndi Anambra? Has our infrastructure improved or match up with the money coming from the federal government allocation yearly over the last four years?

If we honestly search our conscience and answer these pertinent questions, you will agree with me that indeed our prosperity as a state is in the balance. So also is opportunity for our teeming youths who are seeking for jobs and parents who are wondering whether their children will have an opportunity to tertiary and quality education. Today in Anambra state, there is nowhere a young school leaver will get a job —- equivalent to the education he/she acquired apart from few federal institutions in the state.
Today, more Ndi Anambra are out of work and more are working harder for less pay. More of our students’ tuition is beyond them. Businesses are closing down; Public infrastructure are dilapidating. This was not what we were promised four years ago.
To be fair, some of these challenges are not the present government’s entire making. But the failure to respond is a direct result of a broken politics in the government house and the failed policies of Governor Wiilie Obiano.
I wish Governor Obiano had succeeded because I want Anambra to succeed. But his promises gave way to disappointment and despair. This isn’t something we have to accept. Now is the moment when we can do something to remedy the situation.
The blame game is over, now is the time for all Ndi-Anambra to come together and save our dying state. Restoring our great state to her past glory requires a great amount of work- making a total new choice in November
The party now in the Government House is planning for a no-change election. They want to hold onto power in spite of their glaring failures. They want to clinch on with the same agenda that has not worked in the last four years. They want to continue with the looting, dereliction and crass ineptitude that brought us to this unacceptable level. They have offered an agenda that includes everything but progress. They are responsible for the slowest economic progress ever, the biggest debt increases in our state. As you can rightly see, we need to stop them because we deserve better.
I, for one, has decided and I am not eager to see what another four years would look like under this manner of leadership led by Obiano
All across Anambra, from Awka to Onitsha- Nnewi- Ekwuluobia and indeed all the nooks and crannies of this beautiful state, there is a consensus that we deserve a remedy from the status quo. If this be the case, then we must all participate actively in this forthcoming election. The surer part to a progressive state is getting involved in our elections. For elections have consequences.
We get involved by supporting a leader with vision and requisite temperament and antecedents to project our state in the right and progressive direction.
We get involved by supporting a leader that believes we deserve a government that will work for everybody and not just selected few.
We get involved by identifying someone with great accomplishments and the wherewithal to put this beautiful state of ours in the forefront of development again.
We get involved by rejecting those seasonal politicians that brought us to this mess in the first place.
The truth be told, of all the aspirants that have indicated interest in this election, only one candidate fits the description of the visionary leadership we deserve.

Ndi-Anambra, November 18th our day of reckoning is approaching, let us keep our eyes steadily on the goal of reclaiming our state and setting it on the path of progress. We will see a lot of distractions as the November election draw near. We will see those who will ask us to walk away from our civic responsibility- our right to shape the future of our great state by sitting at home on Election Day. We will see those who will want to scare us with hate campaigns. We will see those who will tell us that a particular party has a tribe. The present governor and his party will ask us to be patient. This governor will tell us that the failure we can see and feel was someone else’s fault.
He will tell us that the next four years he’ll get it right. These are the kind of shenanigans and lines of arguments you will be hearing in the coming days, weeks and months from the parties and groups who have no plans and abilities to reshape our state for a better tomorrow.
But we cannot get out of this present mess by sticking with the party and isolationism ideas that brought us here in the first place. Ndi Anambra have been patient enough. Ndi- Anambra have supported this governor in good faith and he has betrayed that support and trust woefully. Ndi-Anambra has been cut off from the mainstream politics at the center enough. What Anambra state needs are industries creating jobs, well-equipped hospitals, security, wealth creation and etc.