By Ibe Shadrach
Anambra is currently witnessing a new era in its politics. History is about to be made in the state touted as the Light of the Nation come November 6, 2021.
In the past, electioneering years in Anambra are usually characterised by godfathers throwing up grossly unqualified candidates to pillage the state, with the elected governor a puppet. At one time, the ugly trend degenerated to the kidnap of a sitting governor by a godfather.
While the sham reigned, the state continued to slide down in all developmental indexes and to where Anambra hopes to be like Ebonyi State, which receives lower monthly allocations and a far below IGR, in development of modern infrastructure. The shame might even get worse in Q1 2022 when Ebonyi launches its ultramodern airport. These are incontestable hard facts that only a farsighted and leader with clear evidence can turn around.
According to reports, Anambra has the worst set of roads in Nigeria’s Southeast, after Imo State. The state capital, Awka, is also a glorified slum of mounting filths and anarchies, with the roads and water drainages nothing to write home about.
The situation is the same in other cities and deteriorated to the level of crime against humanity to people living in the rural areas.
This was why Doctor Godwin Maduka’s arrival in Anambra politics with irrefutable shreds of evidence as eminently qualified to restore the glory of the state brightened the faces of the citizens. His refusal to be distracted despite the machinations of the criminally and undemocratically minded godfathers and crooked politicians to abort his dreams of bringing good governance to the people has stirred up a political hurricane sweeping them away.
Since his public unveiling as the candidate of the Accord Party (the number one party on the ballot), the good news has been spreading like the harmattan wind. It has also triggered a gale of defections to the Accord Party by thousands of mainstream political leaders. Similarly, traditional leaders, religious groups and women leaders, students and youth groups, traders, and close to half a million voters across the 21 local governments have openly endorsed and declared their unalloyed supports for him.
Maduka is campaigning with the tagline—EVIDENCE 2021—because a masquerade cannot earn the respect of the outside audience without performing so well at home first. And that Anambra’s lost glory cannot be restored by accidental leaders with zero track records, whose hope is to turn the state into a business center of theirs and their godfathers.
He is a leader with obvious demonstrations of competencies and a genuine desire to lead for the people: not a proxy for godfathers! And there is no better way to express it than in Maduka’s words: “I have been doing the work of a governor. I will continue to do so.”
He knows why Anambra needs world-class roads and medical facilities and quality education for living. He is clear about what can be done to reduce youths’ restiveness and insecurity, and a well-articulated programme on women’s empowerment for rounded development of the state.
Likewise, he is fanatical about attracting massive foreign direct investment and the development of medical and leisure tourisms and development of commerce and industry, including the revitalisation of the Onitsha Port and the upgrade of the airport at Umueri, as part of his plans for job and wealth creation and the holistic development of the state.
