A former National Deputy Financial Secretary, Ohanaeze Ndigbo, Chief Chris Elunmunoh, has said that the Transition Committee for the Anambra governor-elect, Charles Soludo, is a large one, which must meet the target for which it was established.
“It is the first of its kind in the formation of governorship transition process in Anambra,” Elunmunoh said when a Correspondent of the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) sampled opinion of residents on the 80-man committee’s agenda for the state.
NAN quoted Elunmunoh as saying that the committee will succeed, depending on what Soludo has in mind while putting the committee in place.
He said that he thinks that the Governor-Elect was not just thinking about transition as moving from one structural setting to another but a comprehensive review of the entire economic and social structure of the state.
Elunmunoh said that this means that the 80-member committee will split into several sub committees and comprehensively submit the state of affairs report to the Governor-Elect for future guidance.
He said “I recall that we were close to 500 members at the last National conference, convoked by President Goodluck Jonathan in 2014, and we eventually split into more than 20 sub committees.
“We went into deliberations on all aspects of the nation’s economic, social and political issues and came up with more than 600 recommendations.
“I can see this transition committee moving along the same line. I think the Governor-Elect does not want to leave any stone unturned in his first four years in office.
“The members of the committee are eminently qualified for the task before them.
“I believe with the submission of that all encompassing report the Governor-Elect will be in a better position to see some of the key areas he should address while in office.
“Agriculture, Security and Road development should be the most critical areas he should give more of his time,” he said.
Amb.Elijah Onyeagba, Head of Mission, Nigerian Embassy, Bujumbura, Burundi, said that anybody who is the Governor-elect has the responsibility to transition the way he so desires.
He said that the Soludo should have in mind that governance is about the people and needs to carry on as such because he is accountable to the people.
Onyeagba said that Soludo set up the committee because he feels there was no need for the concerns being raised on preliminary issues.
He said ideally, the expectation is that there should be a certain minimum, given that resources are scarce and transitioning very minimal when compared to actual governance.
Onyeagba said that from opposition perspective “I will advice on the need to keep the budget low so we can have enough resources to channel to infrastructural development.”
He highlighted the fact that Anambra people will not accept anything less than his promise to make Anambra “the Dubai and Taiwan of Africa”.
Onyeagba said “we have looked at the manifesto thoroughly and will do a good job at holding them both accountable and responsible where we have to do so.
“Transitioning is not as important as the actual governance itself so it’s too early to begin to react on preliminary issues.
“My only concern is to keep the budget low so the state can have enough resources to plough back into social-economic-infrastructural development,” he said.
Chief Tony Ezeudu, an Anambra indigene, said that he was impressed with the number and caliber of personalities assembled by the governor-elect to rebrand Anambra.
Ezeudu said that there are enormous jobs that will be done in the state and only experts and technocrats can address the decay in all sectors of the economy in the state.
“I want to believe that the governor–elect has extended a hand of fellowship and development to these egg heads to join him to develop a blue print he will use to take the state beyond its present status.
“I want to believe that Soludo has shown the spirit of team work and pray that these able men and women will not disappoint his aspiration to make a difference in political governance of Anambra,” he said.
Miss Chisom Chiadikaobi said that with the class of personalities in the committee, it is hoped that quality policies would be made to ensure the state achieves greater heights.
Chiadikaobi said that her major concern and appeal to the committee members remain the putting up of quality policies that would grant enough funds for the development of tertiary institutions.
She expressed the hope that there will be a time when strikes by tertiary institutions will be a thing of the past, guaranteeing Nigerian students to spend the exact numbers of years they should spend in schools and graduate as and when due.
Chiadikaobi said: “I wish to have a state where we can boast of standard schools to study without praying to travel abroad.
“Let our educational sector be well developed from primary to post-primary down to higher education level for sustenance of our forefathers like Chinua Achebe, Prof Dora Akunyili, amongst others,” she said.
Speaking to NAN, a member of the committee who chose not to be named in the print, said that the main task of the committee is to break down Soludo’s manifesto into a working document.
The member said that the governor-elect is focused on delivering his promises, leaving no stone unturned as he hits the ground running from the day he is sworn in as governor of Anambra.
He said that the agenda is Economic transformation, Wealth creation, job creation, security, Healthcare and Megacity state.
The member said that the new dispensation is to deepen accessibility to world transforming disruptive governance template to achieve an economically-advanced and enterprise innovative state.
“We recognise that our strength is mostly in our human resources and in the spirit of Anambra people, we can achieve the desired targets from day one.
NAN reports that Soludo assembled and inaugurated the 80-man transition committee members, namely Dr Oby Ezekwesili as Chairman, to plan for the smooth transition of governance in the state.
NAN reports that some members of the committee are Mr Uche Okafor, Anambra house of assembly Speaker, Prof Pat Utomi, Chief Osita Chidoka, former Aviation Minister, Mr Churchill Okonkwo, Chief Chris Okoye, Dr Ben Nwankwo, SAN, Echezona Etiaba, Dr Olise Agbakoba, and Chief Akachukwu Nwankpo, amongst others. (NAN)