By Ikeugonna Eleke
The Provost, Anambra State College of Health Technology (ASCOHT), Obosi, Mr. Daniel Ezeobi, says Governor Chukwuma Soludo’s 64th Birthday is not only auspicious and epoch-marking but eventful because of his great strides in many sectors of the state’s economy.
Mr. Ezeobi who spoke with Fides, remarked that by his good programmes and policies and their robust implementation, Governor Soludo had endeared himself to the majority of Ndi Anambra and well-meaning Nigerians who cherished good governance.
Ezeobi recalled that Soludo, immediately after his swearing in, went to work and visited Okpoko in Onitsha and successfully cleared the age-long mountains of refuge and the vast slump that had constituted a great hindrance to development in that area, and embarked on aggressive road construction and reconstruction to the extent that his administration, in a little over two years, had completed the construction of over 600km of roads and rehabilitated more than 800kms.
He also lauded Soludo’s strides in agriculture, education, tourism and health sectors, noting that people were feeling the impact.
‘Soludo knows most of the major problems facing Anambra like unemployment, food insecurity, lack of good health care facilities and inadequate infrastructure and took appropriate measures to mitigate them.
‘The employment of over 10,000 youths, engagement of more than 2000 teachers and the recruitment of more than 2000 health personnel so far; as well as his administration’s great boost to small and medium enterprises (SMEs) and entrepreneurship studies with the establishment of 1 Youth, 2 Skills programme that has advanced to 1 Youth, 20-30 skills that has trained over of 1,600 youths who have been equipped with start-up tools and funds and have for long gone into private business ventures to be useful to themselves and contribute their quota to nation building,’ Ezeobi said.
He also lauded Soludo’s encouragement of local products and manufacturers as seen in his patronage of Innoson vehicles and wearing of local akwete fabrics and said such would enhance production, boost employment and conserve scare foreign exchange.
The academic noted that even in education and particularly at the Anambra State College of Health Technology, Obosi, Soludo had emplaced all that was required to give the college the much desired lift, thus entrenching quality service delivery in the college and stimulating teaching and learning.
On internally generated revenue, Mr. Ezeobi said the governor had introduced necessary measures to curb siphoning of public funds and also applied the principle of prudent management of scarce resources for optimum result.
The Provost observed that an in-depth assessment of the workings of the State Administration showed a government that was determined to satisfy the people, working assiduously for the betterment of society, no matter whose ox was gored, for the general good.
The ASCOHT boss said a leader who carried his people along in all he did must be loved by many and pointed to what he called the positive reactions seen in the way many celebrated his birthday.
Ezeobi recalled how Soludo positively revitalized most government agencies like the Anambra State Physical Planning Board; Anambra Business Agency (ASBA); Anambra State Traffic Management Authority (ATMA); OCHA Brigade; Anambra State Waste Management Authority (ASWAMA); and Anambra Capital Territory Development Authority (ACTDA).
He posited that now, Anambra’s roads were cleared of hurdles and shanties, with free movement at markets, such as Eke Awka, Nkwo Nnewi and Onitsha Main Markets, where, he said, government officials were stationed at strategic positions to ensure that nothing hindered free movement of people. He commended him for choosing competent candidates when making appointments to positions of authority.
Ezeobi remarked that government had done a lot in training and retraining personnel of those agencies to ensure that they performed their duties diligently, adding that right from the outset of the administration, human capacity building had been at its front burner.
While wishing the governor more happy birthdays in future, he assured him of the unalloyed loyalty of the Management, staff and students of his College, to his administration and enjoined all Anambra citizens to support the Governor, irrespective of political and religious affiliations, to enable him to achieve all his set goals, particularly those of transforming the state to a Smart Mega City, and ensuring that every employable youth in the state became employable and also employers.
