Governor Soludo vows to begin work from Okpoko, reveals why

Charles Soludo, the latest Anambra State Governor has revealed the rationale behind making Okpoko his first place of visit following his inauguration as the state governor on Thursday.

Soludo explained that since the area has been accepted as the weakest link in the state, he had no option but to begin his administration’s projects from Okpoko.

According to him, the clarification had become imperative after he received several concerns on why he made the area his administration’s first priority.

In a post on his Facebook page on Friday, the governor noted that the people Okpoko needs more attention than any part of the state at the moment.

He wrote: “Why Okpoko?

“One of the amusing retortions I have received since I expressed readiness to set off from Okpoko is, “why Okpoko?”. There seems to be some sense of self-centred prioritisation from a few who believe there are more pressing issues than heading to Okpoko on a rescue mission. When you probe further to situate their dissent in context, what you get is that innocent desire in all of us to always “begin charity from home”. This may not be totally bad, especially when we all agree where home is or should be.

“For me, it is One Anambra, one People, one Agenda. If this be the case, it then follows that the often taken for granted but real assumption that “every system is only as strong as its weakest link” must then apply. This makes Okpoko a priority for starters and should worry every onye Anambra how a State that prides itself as the light of the nation would keep a deafening silence as Okpoko dies, yet spreading infectious social, economic, and environmental malady that leaves Onitsha as a City in self-destruct.

“Ụmụnnem, ife dị na Okpoko; the Genius, the unemployed and the criminal. The challenge before us is to decide whether to continue ruing the ugly situation or turn the flipside that will provide us enormous opportunities for the development of our Homeland.

“Okpoko is the largest Urban slum in Anambra State. Therefore, we have to begin our urban renewal effort from our weakest link. Like my now 16-year-old daughter once asked me when she was just 14, “it is not enough to wish change or show the will to cause a change. How are you sure, Daddy, that the people themselves want to change?”

“Of course, this is not so easy a question to be answered without far-reaching consultation with the people. So far, the people of Okpoko and residents, from Ndikpa to East Niger, are more in a hurry for a change than we can ever be.

“That trip I made in 2009 to Okpoko where I was accosted by a little boy, who raced towards me and audaciously demanded, “Soludo nyem ego” still occupies a better part of my memory. That boy, and millions like him need much more than money. They need a life. May God help us!”

Prior to his May 2004 appointment to the bank chairmanship, he held the positions of Chief Economic Adviser to former President Obasanjo and Chief Executive of the National Planning Commission of Nigeria.

In January 2008, in a speech to the Nigerian Economic Society, he predicted consolidation in the private banking industry, saying “By the end of 2008, there will be fewer banks than there are today. The restructuring of the banking industry has been attracting funds from local and foreign investors, which have increased banks’ ability to lend to customers”.

Soludo hopes to see Nigeria become Africa’s financial hub, and considers microfinance important to the federal government’s economic policies.