Why don’t I tell you about some things that His Excellency @PeterObi did as Governor of Anambra. I supported the Nigerian Governors Forum to put in place the world’s first sub-national peer review mechanism. Gov Peter Obi volunteered to be reviewed first. This is what we found…
For context, this was a review conducted by fellow governors, the NGF and the international community. It covered Health, Education, Agric, Infrastructure, Environment, Governance, etc. We examined documents, went on physical inspections and spoke with citizens to verify claims.
Here is what we found in July 2011:
1. The Ornor rice farms, together with the Ogboji Ezira rice lands of Orumba, and
Odoekpe rice fields in Ogbaru, earn for Anambra State the third richest rice
potential area in Nigeria.
2. Anambra State government has spent over N3 billion to provide potable and
sustainable water schemes in over forty communities in the state.
3. The Peter Obi administration has completed and put to use two magnificent State Secretariat Complexes.
4. Provision of infrastructure and
facilities for schools. Over 100 schools have benefited from the state Govt’s lab rehabilitation and equipment programme, entailing renovation of school labs and increased supply of science and computing equipment and instructional materials.
5. Libraries in 174 secondary schools have also been renovated and equipped.
6. Governance in Anambra State is demand – driven, targeted at alleviating the hardship previously experienced by the people. Since the state is one of those with a comparatively low revenue base, the governor runs a very slim government.
On the flip side, the team observed some challenges too:
• The Public Procurement and Fiscal Responsibility Bills had not been finalised
during the visit and the Team urged the State to hasten action on these bills. They had undergone 2nd readings at the State House of Assembly.
. Public-Private Partnership arrangements for infrastructure provision were very few.
. The state was not achieving maximal water reticulation and would therefore
require further re-evaluation of the present design, including the use of solar powered systems.
Apart from all these, we worked together on prudent financial management systems that saw Anambra raise internally-generated revenue & block leakages. We also developed a long-term State Development Plan.
Hope these help to give you some comfort about His Excellency @PeterObi.
Dr Joe Abah, a lawyer and public affairs commentator first published this article on X