Whoever thought up the idea of displaying pictures of some of Anambra State’s iconic figures on the walls of Awka’s flyovers certainly came up with a brilliant idea. It is safe to say that it was an idea conceived by the current Regime of Gov Chukwuma Soludo.
Those icons include past and present leaders like the late Dr Nnamdi Azikiwe, First Republic President and Governor General; Sir Alex Ekwueme, Second Republic Vice President; Dr Chris Ngige, one time Governor of Anambra State, Mr Peter Obi, another former Governor of Anambra State; the late Prof Mrs Dora Akunyili, a former Minister; and now Prof Chukwuma Soludo, current Governor of Anambra State.
As stated earlier, it was a brilliant idea as it sought to etch the names of those personalities on the minds of current and future generations and serve as an inspiration to current leaders and public servants to replicate the services of those icons.
However, one noticeable feature of those pictures on the flyover walls is the total absence of names underneath them. What this means is that many of those born after the regimes of those icons may never know them. Same for the illiterate population in the state who may know only a few.
We believe that such an omission threatens to obliterate the good intention and great idea behind the decision to have those pictures. To make amends, the names of each and every one of them should be put under their pictures for everyone to see and know. Not only that, the periods of their stewardship should equally be written.
For example, under Sir Ekwueme should be written: Vice President of Nigeria (1979-1981). After this is done for every one of them, they will be of value to students and others who come across them and will also serve as an opportunity to teach them the state’s History. This will indeed serve as the icing on the cake, for, as it is said, what is worth doing at all is worth doing well.
This is even as we urge the State Government to include other of the state’s icons like the late Prof Chinua Achebe; Venerable Iwene Tansi; Mary Onyali; Emmanuel Okala; etc.
While we thank the State Government of Prof Chukwuma Soludo for paying attention to details, we urge the hardworking team of the Awka Capital Development Authority (ACTDA) led by Mr Ossy Onuko, to swing into action and effect the correction in order to complete the good work already begun by the current government. And in doing that, they should engage the services of those well versed with the history of the state and the country to ensure that no mistakes are made.
We look forward to the implementation of this suggestion.
