By Maxim Uzoatu
Governor Soludo
Governor Charles Chukwuma Soludo, has developed a well-thought-through pragmatic agenda to transform Anambra State into a liveable and prosperous homeland that every Anambra person will be proud of.
To drive this project, Mr. Governor is inviting wealthy Ndi-Anambra in the country and the Diaspora to take advantage of the Public-Private-Community-Partnership (PPCP) by collaborating with the State Government to engage in developing specific projects in their respective communities and local governments.
Governor Soludo was in Akpo community to commission two grassroots projects – a renovated primary healthcare centre and a constructed 2.4 km road – in the PPCP drive. The support of Mr Governor was immediate as he announced the commencement of the construction of a 7km road project linking Akpo in Aguata LGA with Ogboji in Orumba South LGA.
The great crusade of Governor Soludo ensures a balanced and inclusive approach to infrastructural development so that communities can get involved by taking ownership of schools, health facilities, roads, water projects etc. People and communities can construct new projects; renovate and rehabilitate existing ones; provide the needed equipment to make the facilities function optimally, and so on.
Governor Soludo’s sterling performance in less than three years in office is a testament that whatever he has promised Ndi-Anambra is realisable. If he can achieve so much within a short space of time with so little, it then goes to foretell what he can do with the support of his people.
The illustrious sons and daughters of Anambra State, home and abroad, have a sacred duty to partner with Governor Soludo at this critical time to transform our dear state into a viable and enviable prosperous corridor in this country. Anambra has the right kind of people that can make this happen.
Governor Soludo has continuously vowed that he will publicly account for every Kobo put in his hands to work for Ndi-Anambra. He has been proven right by a dispassionate independent report of BudgIT which ranked Anambra State as the first among the States Fiscal Transparency League (SFTL).
Given the obvious paucity of funds, the government cannot possibly provide all the 179 communities in Anambra State with all their infrastructural needs at the same time.
It is noteworthy that without the money of the American Jews in the Diaspora, the emergence of the State of Israel would not have been possible. This development model should be embraced by Anambra’s illustrious sons and daughters.
It is crystal clear to all that Nigerians are living in an era in which the value of the scarce financial resources available to governments around the country had drastically dropped, comparative to what it used to be in the past.
This has compelled States, including our own dear Anambra, to become more resourceful by looking inwards. The only way to go is of course Internally Generated Revenue (IGR), but that is for only those who have the fat cows to produce the milk.
Anambra State happens to belong to the very privileged club, after Lagos and the three major oil producing States. With a N20-trillion size economy in terms of GDP, it is expected that the Anambra State Government revenue from taxes alone should go a long way to significantly buoy up the State’s treasury.
When the now devalued receivables from the Federal Account Allocation Committee (FAAC), Abuja, are added, the government ought to be able to dispense with major capital and recurrent expenditures with greater ease, and can afford to sleep well.
Well over 99 percent of the funds in the Anambra State economy is circulating in the private sector while less than one (1) percent is with the government.
In the light of the huge obvious fiscal potentials, Anambra State could easily rank second after Lagos in terms of IGR. This is unfortunately not so as the economy comprises mainly of the informal sector where the small-scale businesses hold sway.
Unlike the formal sector where many decades of a strong legal framework has ensured a seamless taxation process, taxing the informal sector is fraught with all manner of problems, including political blackmail. Most democratically elected governments must perforce tread carefully to avoid the landmines.
How then does a government that is eager to improve the quality of lives of its people proceed with the lofty agenda it has up its sleeves?
The Public-Community-Private-Partnership (PPCP) espoused by Governor Soludo is obviously the way to go. Ndi-Anambra with rich pockets in the different communities of the state should engage in healthy completion geared toward developing Anambra State.
Back in the 1970s, the different towns of Anambra State built secondary schools. This model can be replicated through the PPCP advocated by Mr. Governor, as exemplified by the commissioning of the two projects in Akpo community.
