By James Eze ([email protected])
In his critically acclaimed lectur, “Anambra: An Emerging Start-up State and Our Collective Challenge,” Prof. Chukwuma Soludo made a remarkable effort to capture the shifting development paradigm in Anambra State. I will quote the former Central Bank of Nigeria boss copiously here as a veritable background to the thrust of this article.
Prof. Soludo had declared that, “The language of our politics and development must begin to change. Yes, all politics is local, but development that improves the life of all does not necessarily have to be village-based. We must invest in our urban cities, institutions and other shared public goods. Measuring the performance of a government exclusively by what it has done for ‘my village’ needs to change. We have to plan for and transform Anambra as one mega city (less than 5,000 sqkm). We commend Governor Obiano for building state-level institutions. I drove through Awka at night from Enugu, and I couldn’t resist joking to a friend of mine from Awka sitting with me that ‘Oyibo abata Awka’!
When the eclectic audience heard the punch line “Oyibo abata Awka,” they reeled with laughter; but the point had well been made. And what was really the point? The startling point of Soludo’s submission is embedded in the line: “civilisation has come to Awka,” because Awka has always been civilised, being one of the earliest places in Africa to master the metallurgical craft of blacksmithing. So, to my mind, the “civilisation” that Soludo alluded to in this context directly speaks to the vastly transformed outlook of today’s Awka that has benefitted from the two landmark bridges and the dazzling rays from the rows of streetlights that adorn the major roadways of Awka. It would be almost criminal not to draw attention to his timely chiding of those who measure the performance of government exclusively by what project has been built in their villages. Nevertheless, it would seem to me that the game-changer in the emerging tapestry of development in Anambra State at the moment is Governor Obiano’s Light Up Anambra Project.
Now, one good way to discover the importance of this initiative, which is passionately driven by Obi Nwankwo, the debonair Commissioner for Public Utilities, is to imagine the Amawbia-Amansea stretch of the Enugu-Onitsha Expressway, which slices Awka in two, in pitch darkness, without light. The beauty of the magnificent flyovers would be lost, so would the dazzling road furniture that makes most Anambra roads look as though they were roads in the Western world. In truth, the Light Up Anambra Project is a major component of Obiano’s promise to Ndi Anambra that his administration would expand the frontiers of excellence, a transcendental touch that leaves a lasting mark of class on man and matter.
The Light Up Anambra Project has bestowed a halo on the fast-transforming Anambra environment. The initiative seeks to light up the three major cities in the state and other emerging centres of economic activities. The objective is to enhance activities in the economic and commercial hubs that dot the state and discourage petty crimes that usually fester under the cover of darkness. The campaign is structured in phases. The first phase, which covers over 100km of roads, also covers selected streets and major ways in Awka, Onitsha and Nnewi.
“We have finished the first phase. The second phase of 100km is on now, while the third phase of another 100km will be done during the governor’s second term in office,” explained Nwankwo.
According to him, Nnewi in Anambra South was the first to benefit from the project, with the famous Orizu Road going live, before others. In a follow-up effort, seven other roads are being fitted with streetlights in Nnewi at the moment. In Anambra Central, the entire stretch of the old Enugu Road, from Boromeo Roundabout in Nkpor to Amansea at the border between Anambra and Enugu states, has been covered with dazzling streetlights.
“We are trying to complete the stretch from Upper Iweka to Head Bridge at the moment. Upper Iweka shines as bright in the night as London. This is because we are the first state in Nigeria to use LED for our streetlights. The common one is non-LED. We installed bulbs that are 200 watts in Upper Iweka. The place is so illuminated that all the criminals have run away,” Nwankwo explained.
Most inner city roads in Awka have been covered. Okpuno Road that stretches up to Amanuke Bridge has been covered. Similarly, the expressway from Amawbia to Amansea has been effectively covered. The famous Abakaliki Street that hosts most of the city’s watering holes will be lighted before the end of July. In Onitsha, the whole of Awka Road, stretching to DMGS Roundabout, with two spurs to GRA and the Government Lodge, has been covered. Nkpor Roundabout to Obosi, Awada, Umuoji and Nnobi Junction to Nnewi will all be covered in the second phase. Then 10km of road in Amichi would also be lighted up. Nnobi Junction to Nnewi will be covered, as well as from Nnobi to Agulu. The stretch from Oye-Agu Abagana to Awkuzu Expressway and from Awkuzu Junction to Aguleri has also been marked out for lighting. Similarly, the road from Oye-Agu to Ukpo Roundabout up to Abba Expressway will be covered.
It is important to note that this list is by no means exhaustive. The ambition is to cover Anambra State as a whole, cashing in on the seamless swirl of development that is spreading across the state, which makes it difficult to tell one town from another. Indeed, a first-time visitor to Anambra would have a tough time finding out when he leaves one town and enters another. The various towns that dot the landscape with bustling commercial activities in their centres seem to morph into each other and become indistinguishable as one journeys through them. This is made even more indistinguishable by a network of smooth roads that connect almost every important town to its neighbours.
It is this interconnected spool of fast-spreading urbanisation with dazzling roads and bustling markets that Obiano has come to accentuate with the bright lights of the Light Up Anambra Project.
It would be a huge embarrassment for Ndi Anamabra not to have noticed just how much the state has changed in Obiano’s three years!
