Viewpoint

On Oyebanji’s remark on Soludo’s sterling performance

January 25, 2025 7:11 am

A few days ago, the governor of Ekiti State, Biodun Oyebanji, after a tour around Anambra State, jokingly remarked that it seems that there ‘’were no villages in Anambra anymore because it seems like all the communities are built-up with state-owned infrastructure and investments’’. Governor Oyebanji’s comments bring to the fore Governor Chukwuma Soludo’s intentional and very deliberate urbanization agenda in AnambraState. There is no community in Anambra that has not being heavily impacted in the last 34 months of Governor Soludo’s administration.

Governor Biodun Oyebanji is a very progressive and performing governor as well. He is well-loved by the people of Ekiti andPresident Bola Ahmed Tinubu because of his statesmanship and track record. His words and observations carry enormous weight. “I must commend the governor of Anambra State, Professor Charles Soludo, for this massive transformation in Anambra. I was here like 6 years ago and driving into the city today I couldn’t believe what I saw and I can say that Anambra people are very lucky…’’, Governor Oyebanji remarked at the end of his recent tour of Anambra State.

In some states of the country, massive developments are normally seen at capitals and maybe in the town where incumbent governors come from. But this is not the case in Anambra. Today, almost all the 177 communities in AnambraState have seen massive road, water and human capital revolution under Governor Soludo’s watch.

This writer’s village has been significantly transformed in the last 34 months of Governor Soludo’s administration. This massive transformation has resulted in over 800% increase in the value of lands in my village because of the massive road infrastructure that was built by Governor Soludo. There are records of young people who have started their own big businesses with their own share of the proceeds from the sale of parts of their family lands in what used to be remote villages.

Anambra is known to be one of the most urbanized states in Nigeria, as per UN Habitat. As at 2009, the UN Habitat reported that the state had the second highest population density in Nigeria with a value of 700 people per square kilometer. The organization projected Anambra’s population growth at 2.21 percent per annum and reported that 60% of Anambra’s population were living in urban areas. This implied that cities like Ekwulobia, Nnewi, Awka and Onitsha were under massive population-induced strains and would have been unlivable in the next 50 years.

But luckily for Anambra, Governor Soludo has pursued the regeneration of Anambra with clinical precision in the last 34 months. Take the city of Ekwulobia for example. This is the 4thlargest city in Anambra and traffic in this city was a nightmare during Christmas seasons – even in normal periods. But today, as a result of Governor Soludo’s regeneration of the city which is based on a 100 years population growth forecast, the city now has the largest prestressed concrete flyover bridge in the south east and a major dualized road traversing it. In the coming months, a world-class stadium, country club, shopping malls,recreation centers, a tourist tower and other facilities being constructed would be commissioned. Note that Ekwulobia is not even the capital of Anambra State. This reinforces Governor Biodun Oyebanji’s observation that there seems to be no ‘villages’ in Anambra anymore. (In colloquial Nigerian language, a village is taken as a place that is grossly underdeveloped).

The same goes for Onitsha. In recent times, Onitsha had been under enormous pressure because of its population growth.Because of this, low-income earners have moved to suburbs and some of the city’s middle-class inhabitants have also moved to neighboring Asaba because of the high cost of accommodation in Onitsha – a city that has one of the highest concentrations of high-rise buildings in Nigeria. One of the suburbs that attracted low-income earners was Okpoko, which used to be the biggest slum in the south east. But today, Governor Soludo has changed Okpoko. The community now has good roads, schools, a general hospital and pipe borne water. Soludo has changed Okpoko forever. (In 2012, Germany’s Heinrich Böll Foundation described Okpoko community as a community that had not had any formal governance structure in the last 16 years. The community used to be a terrible slum). Major roads in Onitsha town have been given a new look.

Let us not even talk about the regeneration of Awka in the last 34 months. The city has had major roads and erosion ridden areas regenerated. In the coming weeks, a new government house in Awka will be commissioned. The new government house is on 23 hectares of land that had been seriously degraded by gully erosion before the coming of the Governor Soludo-led administration. A new fun city which houses massive waterparks and amusement parks will also be commissioned in the coming weeks. This column estimates that this fun city will attract over 3 million visitors to Awka on a yearly basis. There are other signature projects coming up in Awka. This includes the massive innovation district being constructed, the ten-story Marriot Hotel, the total revamping of the state-owned teaching hospital (a world-class trauma center is being constructed in this hospital) and the massive water projects in Awka.

The story is the same in Nnewi. There are massive road construction projects going on and some have just been awarded. A massive dualization project is underway that would connect Nnewi to the state’s capital. There are massive water schemes also going on in the city.

There are massive dualization and road construction projects going on in every nook and cranny of Anambra State. Hospitals and schools are aggressively being built in every community. No community is left behind. Today, Anambra cannot be regarded as that type of state with state-of-the-art infrastructure only in its capital.

Governor Soludo’s agenda to urbanize and industrialize Anambra is on course. The development of 3 brand new cities, including an industrial city which already has a free trade zone license is on course. As of today, the master plan required to properly plan Anambra has been developed and it is being fine-tuned. There have been many unsuccessful attempts to develop this document in the past and this had led to poor development control in Anambra in the past.