The Global Initiatives for Anambra Needs (GIAN) has called for discarding of what it called the unwritten gentleman agreement of zoning of the Governorship position among the 3 Senatorial Districts in the State. Rising from a crucial meeting of its Board of Trustees, the Group stressed that zoning beclouds merit and excellence, while encouraging mediocrity. If zoning was accepted and done in the past for some reasons, said the Trustees, the time has come when Anambra people must erase the limitations of zoning and pick its best citizens despite the zone to competently pilot the affairs of the State.
According to a communiqué issued by the Organisation at the end of the meeting of the Board of Trustees held in Abuja recently, zoning is an infringement on the fundamental human rights of those excluded from contesting election in the State. The group further stressed that as the people of Anambra State will soon go into another election to choose a Governor, all qualified persons from every part of the State must be given a chance to contest and compete. GIAN stated that it is undemocratic to limit the right to be voted for of some citizens because of an unwritten understanding of zoning, averring that it is tantamount to disfranchising such persons, which is also unconstitutional.
The communiqué signed by Amah A. Amaonye and Princess Ebele Nwankwo-Anene, Director General and External Affairs Director, respectively of GIAN commended the administration of Prof. Chukwuma Soludo for his drives and commitment so far, but stressed that the Anambra people expected much more going by his experience and pedigree.
“Expectations were that Mr. Governor would demonstrate a capacity that would place Anambra State ahead and a State that other States will look up to in Nigeria,” said GIAN Trustees, who hoped that all avoidable limitations will be cleared so that the Anambra people will be fully served dividends of democracy.
It is the belief of the Organisation that by so doing Anambra will take its bride of place among the comity of States in Nigeria, as GIAN was hopeful that sustaining the delivery of Anambra needs to the people is quite possible and achievable.
The communiqué disclosed that the Extraordinary Meeting of the Trustees of the GIAN was convened as the first activity in the schedule of event lined up for the body for the year 2025. It stated that “the Meeting was designed to carry out a review of activities of the Organisation, as well as assess the state of governance and developments in Anambra State, especially as it has to do with meeting the basic needs of the Anambra people.
“All the three Senatorial Districts of the State were represented at the Trustees’ Meeting. The body, also known as Anambra Needs is a Non-Governmental, Non-Partisan and Non-aligned Organisation registered in Nigeria with the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) having the primary aim to seek ways and drive processes to meet the needs of the people through good governance.
“This is why at Anambra Needs, we are on constant, radical and sustainable manhunt for good leaders. Our primary approach to this is to pursue good governance through democratic principles. In other words, we leverage on our grassroots structures in all the Local Government Areas (LGAs) and Wards in Anambra State to assess development and operations of Government towards meeting Anambrarians’ needs.
Critical decisions taken at the meeting include that “there is need to add more impetus and vigor to governance in the State by ensuring that the Government is proactive and not reactionary in attending to challenges faced by the Anambra people.
“While commending the Government for recent actions to stamp out criminalities in the State, the Trustees were of the view that, going forward, the Anambra people should not be allowed to incur so much losses and collateral damages before actions are taken.
“The Meeting called for sustained action in all spheres of Government to address pressing problems of the people and to fully stabilize the polity by reducing tension, even as various interventions are going on.
“To this end the Meeting enjoined the Government to invest more in technology, especially in crime fighting and prevention, so that specific and precision targeting will be employed in security interventions without heating up the system or penalizing the innocent.
“The Trustees drew the attention of the Government in the State to increasing complaints and cries of businesses, especially, the Small and Medium Scale Enterprises of rising tax burden on them from the State.
“The State Government was urged to reduce tax burden, increase ease of doing business and also make more deliberate efforts to create sustainable enablers for business growth in the State. Trustees were also of the view that this will encourage Think Home Philosophy and support the overall investment drive by the State Government.
‘The Trustees frowned that our neighboring States of Enugu and Abia have left Anambra behind in delivery of good governance and dividends of democracy.
They stressed the need for the State Government to play catch-up. This the Government can do, according to the Trustees by being more pragmatic and moving from too much planning and expending much time on the drawing board to practical implementation.
In other words, the State Government was urged to advance from “I will do” kind of approach to “I have done” disposition. That is, “we should allow the actions speak, we should talk less,” averred the communiqué.
Furthermore, the Trustees urged the State Government to improve on the quality of the roads being built in the State. They were of the view that Anambra should have a robust Transportation Masterplan with time windows as development plans.
This plan, GIAN said, should not just set out infrastructure to be developed on all modes of transportation, but should also standardize the specification, as well as necessary complements of furniture and facilities based on the grade of each corridor.
