Securing the Dream of a new Anambra State
AN ADDRESS PRESENTED BY THE EXECUTIVE GOVERNOR OF ANAMBRA
STATE CHIEF WILLIE OBIANO AT THE FIRST SEURITY FUND RAISING IN LAGOS ON FRIDAY,
SEPTEMBER 26th 2014
Protocols
The importance of this event can be seen from the fact that
humanity is threatened by insecurity all across the world. There is the ISIS
challenge in the Middle East and the threat of Boko Haram in Nigeria and
neighboring West African countries. In cities, towns and communities across
Nigeria, the threat of violent crimes and kidnapping has caused a lot of
sleepless nights among our people. Happily, in the last six months of my
administration in Anambra State, Ndi Anambra have slept with their two eyes
closed.
Ladies and gentlemen, we are gathered here tonight to secure
the new atmosphere of freedom in Anambra State and to ensure that our people
sleep even better at night. We are gathered here to secure the Dream of a New
Anambra State.
Ndi Anambra, another reason why this event is also important
is that it is the first time that Anambra State is holding a ceremony in Lagos
under my watch. So, this is an opportunity to say “thank you” to Anambra
Communities in Lagos for your support and prayers during the elections that
brought me to office. Some of you people in this audience left your businesses
to come back home to vote for me. I am very grateful for your efforts then and
the support you have given my administration since we assumed office on March
17 this year. Ndi Anambra, oga adili unu mma. Dalunu! Dejenu!
Ladies and gentlemen, this event also gives me the
opportunity to give you an account of my stewardship and what we are doing in
the area of security. As the governor of Anambra State, I see myself as the
Chief Security Officer of the state. My first priority as the chief-security officer
is to secure the lives and property of Ndi Anambra. In full awareness of this
responsibility, I set up Operation Kpochapu - a Joint Task Force on Security,
made up of the police, the army, the Navy, the SSS and the NDLEA on Tuesday
March 25, 2014 - exactly one week after I assumed office.
To further underscore the importance of security to my
administration, I quickly convened a Security Summit in Awka on the 10th of
April and invited a world famous Israeli security expert, Moshe Keinan to lead
discussions at the summit. The fruits of that Summit and the discussions it
provoked are what we celebrate here tonight.
Ndi Anambra, our people have suffered from general insecurity
and criminals for a long time. Long before kidnapping became a big business in
Anambra State, we have had lived in an endless period of fear of armed robbers
and brigands of all kinds.
The situation was so bad that at a time, our people adopted some
unusual methods to combat the scourge. We all remember the monster called the
Bakassi Boys and the extra-judicial killings of that they unleashed on Anambra State.
We all remember the lawlessness of that period.
Ladies and gentlemen, it is gratifying to see that our story
is different today. We have effectively retrieved Anambra State from the
gangsters that once drove our great sons and daughters away from home and made
it impossible for investors to remember Anambra in their investment plans. We
have chased away the enemies who forced our people to do Igba nkwu nwanyi
(traditional marriage) in Lagos.
We have arrested their leading suppliers of illicit firearms
and cut off their supply routes. At the moment, over 200 suspected kidnappers
and armed robbers have been arrested. We have pulled down their command and
control centers and deployed hi-tech gadgets to track criminals to their dens. Not
long ago, we rescued the brother of famous entrepreneur, Chief Cosmas Maduka of
the Coscharis Group from a gang of kidnappers. We tracked the kidnappers all
the way to their hideout in Orlu, Imo State and arrested all the suspects and brought
home our brother who had been in their captivity. Before the Orlu kidnap
incident, we had tracked Okechukwu Nnaegbo, a kidnap kingpin from Agukwu-Nri,
all the way to Muritala Mohammed International Airport, Lagos and arrested him
inside a South African-bound aircraft. Police records in Anambra State show
that there was not a single violent crime in Anambra last Easter. Over a month
ago, our CCTV at the Onitsha Main-market was used to track some missing
children and re-unite them with their families. Today in Onitsha Main Market, pickpockets
can no longer ply their trade because they afraid that Obiano’s security
cameras would pick them out. All these make up the narrative of the new
Anambra!
Ndi Anambra, we have regained our freedom from the enemies of
liberty and once again, Anambra State is ready to lead the charge for the
return of Ndigbo as an economic power-block in Nigeria since the Civil War. We
are fully aware that the journey ahead may be difficult and slow but we are not
looking for a quick fix. We shall be relentless in our push to expand the
frontiers of excellence in Anambra State and beyond.
In fact, anyone who wishes to see the result of our push-back
against criminals should visit Awka on a Friday night. I am proud to announce
that Awka has finally started to show the signs of an emerging city with the
return of a vibrant night life. I have been reliably informed that Ndi Anambra
now feel safe enough to come out at night to test their new freedom and share
the joys of the new Anambra. There is a new sense of hope, a new self-belief, a
new beginning that has enveloped our daily lives in Anambra State and I invite
you all to come home and experience it first-hand.
Ladies and gentlemen, it might interest you to know that some
of our brothers have already heeded our call and returned home to invest in the
effort to build a new Anambra. On May 7, this year, I commissioned the Coched
Farms Project at Anaku in Ayamelum Local Government Area which has the capacity
to produce 120,000 metric tons of rice and create over one thousand jobs. On
Tuesday last week, my administration attracted over $220m dollar investments.
These include investments from Joseph Agro Limited that is investing $150m in
Agriculture and Cardinal Developers & Trust Ltd that is investing $70m in
the area of hospitality and tourism. Joseph Agro Ltd has a capacity to produce
120,000mt of rice. The company will in addition to Coched Farms Ltd will almost
completely erase Anambra’s rice supply deficit by 99%. It will also create of
10,000 direct jobs and about 25,000 indirect jobs for our people.
Similarly, Cardinal will create 400 direct jobs and 2000
indirect jobs. Ndi b’anyi, this is a great time to come from Anambra State.
Big businesses in Anambra State are doing incredibly well.
SABMiller is currently expanding its production capacity in Onitsha while in
Nnewi, Innoson has just rolled out some easily affordable made-in-Nigerian cars
from his auto-manufacturing plant. Once again, we are the first to give Nigeria
an indigenous car as one of our great ancestors, Sir Louis Odumegwu Ojukwu did
when he loaned his Rolls Royce and driver to pre-independent Nigeria for the
comfort of the visiting Queen of England.
Ladies and gentlemen, where else are such things happening in
Nigeria at this moment in time? The Anambra State Investment Promotion and
Protection Agency (ANSIPPA) has received about 120 inquiries from investors
from across the world and there is a growing feeling that Anambra’s finest hour
is finally here with us.
My team and I have commenced a new wave of efforts to lend
wings to our vision. We have flagged off construction work on 17 new roads and
four new bridges across the state. We have started constructing 3 flyovers in
Awka that will change the landscape of our capital city. Work has reached an
advanced stage at the new 3-Arms Zone that will host the three arms of
government and give Anambra a befitting seat of power. We have launched an
agricultural revolution in the state. In fact, I personally handed new
high-yielding seeds to farmers in Awka. We have launched a campaign to reclaim
our cities and neighbourhoods from filth and dirt. Onitsha has since shed its
old ragged outlook as we tighten the screws on waste management and decongest
our roads of all abandoned vehicles.
Similarly, we are opening access to the food-belt of the
state and building roads to connect highbrow neighbourhoods and estates. Work
is in progress at the three shopping malls in Onitsha, Nnewi and Awka and we
are building new and modern markets in Ogbunike, Oba, Umunze and Awka. Very
soon, we shall introduce our people to a new experience in shopping. I urge you to come home and buy a piece of
real estate at the Millennium Estate which used to be known as the Greenwood
Estate and build your palatial homes there.
Ladies and gentlemen, the sun has finally risen on Anambra
State!
It is in acknowledgement of this resurgence of hope in our
people that my team and I also decided that the time has come to awaken the
consciousness of our people to the soft issues of governance. We realize that
it is not just enough for government to build roads and bridges but imperative
for political leaders to plant the right values in the people they lead. That is
why we have evolved a new cultural-identity for Ndi Anambra State and a new
anthem and flag to remind us of whom we are. Shortly, we shall show you the
cultural symbols of the new Anambra and what they represent.
Ladies and gentlemen, while we bask in the glow of our
changing narrative, we must all remember that all over the world, freedom and
progress are usually earned and not bestowed. Ndi Anambra, we must earn our
freedom from fear and insecurity!
As we launch a new phase of strategies that will free Anambra
State from the clutches of criminals, we need your moral and financial support.
My administration has demonstrated the resolve and the capacity to win this war
and banish kidnappers and violent criminals from our midst.
However, the Anambra State government cannot do it alone.
That is why we have called you out this evening to tell you our story and ask
for your support. I urge you to lend a hand and donate freely and generously to
this worthy cause.
As you think things over before your bring out your cheque
book, I would like to leave you with the words of Africa’s greatest icon of our
time, Nelson Mandela, who once observed that, “sometimes, it falls on a
generation to be great.”
Ladies and gentlemen, what makes a great generation depends
on how well it reacts to the challenges of its time. Insecurity is one of the
greatest challenges of our time. Let us react to it as a great generation
should.
Dalunu!
Thank you
Chief Willie Obiano
Executive Governor
www…willie is working!
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