SUNNEWSONLINE – As Peter Obi quits the stage as Anambra State governor, after a meritorious two terms of eight years, tomorrow, he leaves behind gaudy footprints in the sands of time.

Before he assumed office in 2005, the state was in the hands of political buccaneers who ran rough shod over the people. It was indeed very difficult to make any distinction between the governance of the state and the activities of motor park touts. Anarchy reigned supreme. The state was permanently in the news for all the wrong reasons.

His emergence as governor was not smooth sailing as he fought a grueling three-year battle to reclaim a mandate he was overwhelmingly given but was confiscated by the political pirates. His successful retrieval of his stolen mandate would be the precursor of many trail blazing achievements that later redefines the country’s politics.

To stamp his authority, he drove away the touts that littered the state’s many motor parks especially the commercial hub of Onitsha. This move restored sanity in the cities and brought confidence to travelers who had lived in dread of traveling to that city. The park revenue, which hitherto went into private pockets found its way back into the coffers of the state government.

Through careful planning, the banker-turned politician posted a stellar performance that will reverberate for years to come. He procured a master plan for the three major cities of Awka, Nnewi and Onitsha from the U.N Habitat in Kenya so as to implant a solid foundation.

The state became the first and only state in Nigeria to produce a master plan for the development of cities. He also adopted the Millenium Development Goals (MDGS) as his vision. The MDGS have eight goals, which include: eradication of extreme poverty and hunger, achievement of universal basic education, promotion of gender equality and women empowerment and reduction of child mortality.

Others are improvement of child mortality, improvement of maternal health, combating HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases, ensuring environmental sustainability and development of global partnership for development.

Together with health, the education sector was revolutionized by Obi. His interventions include releasing computers to 100 schools and N10 million to each of the 200 secondary schools for general rehabilitation, equipment of science laboratories in school, distribution of 120 buses to secondary schools.

He also splashed N1.5 billion on mission’s school while government schools got N2 billion. There were wide ranging equipment of 500 secondary schools with 500 pieces of electricity generating sets at N1.6 million each; provision of sick bays, installation of internet connectivity among others.

That was not all. He extended his magic to other vital areas, by establishing the Anambra state bank of industry, intervention funds for micro small and medium enterprises (MSME) and co-operatives in the state; construction of the Onitsha hotel and Ikenga Shopping mall. Altogether, he invested massively in infrastructure and the economy, including opening up remote areas with good network of roads, particularly in food producing areas.  More than 800 kilometers of roads were constructed.

To reduce the high unemployment ratio, he employed additional 3000 primary school teachers, additional 2000 secondary school teachers and 20000 civil servants. He covered every blade of development in the state using the ANIDS platform.

In sports, the Chuba Ikpeazu stadium in Onitsha was constructed to boost grassroots sports development. He also scored a first by the establishment of a stock exchange and business centre in Onitsha, the first in the East.

He encouraged local investors like Innoson motor plant, Chikason, Orange Drugs, Krisoral with access roads to their areas of operations and the streets named after them.

In the words of Emeka Anyaoku, former Commonwealth Secretary and an indigene of the state, “Obi is a man of vision, mission, focus, compassion, piety and integrity”. His legacies will serve as a lasting guide for future leaders in the state.

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