Last year Anambra State retained its place amongst states that remained major flashpoints in the area of security. OKEY MADUFORO takes a retrospective look at the events and incidents which affected the people in the areaSoludo
There was a change of guards in Anambra State on March 16, 2022 when former Governor Willie Obiano handed over the mantle of leadership to Prof Charles Soludo as governor.
At Soludo’s inaugural address, he made it clear that there would be zero tolerance to impunity, lawlessness and all forms of brigandage, hence reading the riot act on the perpetrators of those crimes.
He went further to appeal to the hoodlums that had held the state hostage to come out of the bushes and be engaged in something meaningful and lawful and equally granted amnesty to those in prison custody.
Perhaps his announcement that the usual Monday Sit-At-Home had ended may have drawn the first blood on the way of the unknown gunmen and few weeks after that pronouncement they struck, choosing Soludo’s local government area, Aguata as venue of first attack.
Months later Soludo’s representative at the state House of Assembly Okey Okoye was kidnaped and ultimately beheaded by his abductors.
Apparently challenged by these dastardly acts the governor took on the miscreants by dissolving all the Security Vigilante groups, contending that they have been compromised and went a step further to impose a curfew on the affected eight local government areas.
The Joint Task Force on Security, JTF, descended heavily on the gunmen and recorded great results as those apprehended sang those songs peculiar to the horror movies.
It was discovered that it was a well organized crime with a network of syndicates operating with the natives who have been cowed by the psychological belief of forcing them into taking oaths of secrecy and conspiracy of silence.
While the battle against insecurity raged the revenue thieves got their own share of the purge when tax holidays were announced for a period of time, yet the perpetrators devised other means of ripping off unsuspecting members of the public by collecting one year advance revenue payments.
Though the state government continued to clamp down on the touts, the formidable cartel that has gained stronghold on the state revenue continued skeletal operations and smiling their ways to the banks.
It is not only the fight against insecurity and revenue thieves that shaped the story of last year but also the politics of intrigues and horse trading had its episode to showcase.
The primary elections of the ruling All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) presented a major upstage when known political gladiators lost their bid for the National Assembly tickets.
Two-term member of the Federal House of Representatives, Chief Dozie Nwankwo, pulled the carpet off the feet of former National Chairman of the party and former Senator, Sir Victor Umeh, in an election that Umeh was favoured to win.
Paschal Agbodike the Deputy Speaker of the he State Assembly dusted the sitting lawmaker, Mr. Ifeanyi Chudy Muoma, while three-term House of Representatives member, Mr. Chris Azubogu defeated an expert in party politics, Chief Ben Nwankwo, who was also touted to emerge as Senatorial candidate of Anambra South District.
The party primaries also witnessed the battle between members of former Governor Willie Obiano kitchen cabinet as his Chief of Staff, Primus Odili and the former First Lady Ebele Obiano battled for the ticket of Anambra North Senatorial District. Obiano’s wife got the ticket.
In the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) the virus that has been the cause of the party’s lack of internal democracy almost marred the process but for the intervention of top party leaders and candidates were produced.
However, the game changer was the defection of Mr. Peter Obi from the PDP to the Labour Party and his ultimate emergence of the Presidential candidate of the party.
Statements of some top politicians about the Peter Obi candidacy were misconstrued as being anti Obidient hence the likes of Sen Uche Ekwunife and Governor Charles Soludo were under attack though they stood their ground.
Deepening the already charged situation was the statement written and posted on social media by Soludo, where he submitted that Peter Obi will not win the 2023 presidential election.
Soludo once again found himself at the center of the storm with all manner of attacks coming his way but the man known for his bluntness was not threatened by those barrages of attacks.
Soludo then changed the narrative when he commenced the award of road contacts linking all the parts of the state stating that funds for those projects are there for execution.
While Anambra rolled out its festive drums to herald the massive road construction little did they know that the attendant dangers of natural disaster was looming.
For about three months the entire Anambra North Senatorial District, part of Anambra Central and part of Anambra South were submerged by the perennial flooding which claimed not only agricultural activities but also lives and property.
Over three million persons were displaced by the flood and the Deputy Governor, Dr. Onyekachukwu Ibezim, was saddled with the task of bringing succour to the victims, a task Ibezim executed to the admiration of all and sundry.
The belief that the flood disaster took along even the camps of the unknown gunmen the group however came alive after the flood and continued their guerilla warfare that resuscitated the issue of insecurity in the area.
It was at this point that Governor Soludo, having exhausted all peaceful avenues for the restoration of peace and security, introduced the big stick. The assault led by the Anambra JTF on Nnewi South and Ihiala local government areas was one that unmasked the unknown gunmen in those communities.
Their informants and natives that receive commissions after ransoms have been paid were short changed and they got fresh deals with the authorities.
They presented very vital information about the operations of the gunmen and the status of their war chest which indeed gave the security operatives the much needed impetus to strike and for three consecutive days the strikes lasted day and night and a conservative figure running into over eighty non-state actors were neutralized.
But the leftovers and survivors would not back down when they launched yet another attack on the Osumoghu community and later bombed the Ihiala Police Division. Currently the anti-terror squad has relocated its military base to Nnewi South, Ekwusigo and Ihiala local government areas and the war is still raging.
But stories of killings and death was not just through the activities of the gunmen as the Anambra state House of Assembly held several valedictory sessions of past and present members such as Nelson Achukwu who was also beheaded Okey Okoye and the Majority Leader Uche Okafor of Awka South 2 Constituency were buried.
In his New Year message Governor Soludo expressed strong hopes that despite whatever challenges the state may be facing the state would be home and dry, priding itself as the safest state in the country.
“There is every reason to celebrate another promising New Year and give God Almighty the glory, not only for preserving us to witness the New Year, but more importantly, for his mercy and grace for the modest achievements we have recorded within our first nine months in office.
“As we reflect on 2022 and project a prosperous 2023, we have reasons to celebrate the modest achievements we have recorded individually and collectively as a state, despite the daunting challenges facing the nation.
“The year 2023 will most certainly be a redefining year for us as a people. And it is our earnest desire that Anambra will continue to record more feats, Soludo stated.
Conversely Anambra state still has yet another 365 days of the year 2023 to rewrite history going by the submissions of Soludo and it is being canvassed that the coming elections would also decide the fate of the ruling APGA.
It is also being expected that by December this year most of the road projects embarked upon by this administration would have reached advanced stages enough to measure the achievements of the governor.
Also the non-conduct of local government elections in Anambra State must be put in the front burner to take governance to the grassroots and Soludo at his inaugural address promised to conduct election at the end of the first quarter of this year.
Anambra no doubt has a checkered history of making the wrong headlines and observers are of the view that Soludo has all that it takes to rewrite the narrative but it also behooves on the people in the area to complement his efforts in that regard
