“Over the years, the contacts he built from his days as a student running a small-scale business have endured…” —Ebuka Onyekwelu Throughout Chief Willie Obiano’s two terms of eight years as Anambra State governor, the most consistent name associated with getting things done in that administration is Uzuegbuna Okagbue. As the Chief of Protocol and Deputy Chief of Staff to the then Governor, Uzu’s reputation and style were distinct. Yet, he was rarely seen and...

“Even Ifeanyi Ubah, like many others who have risen to unusual prominence, did not arrive there by following any particular path” —Ebuka Onyekwelu One major fact of life that I have come to personally acknowledge is that breaking even is not an easy thing. Moving from a less desirable economic or social status to a more desirable one, is not by any means an easy journey, more so in a largely badly governed society like...

“One of the major roadblocks to a government’s projects or proposed programmes is lack of sufficient funds…” —Ebuka Onyekwelu One of the major arguments in support of democratization and an open government system is because decentralization of power. Just as surely, the major criticism against the concentration of power is the likelihood of abuse. However, systems grow and mature gradually, moving from a closed structure and management to an open and accountable one. This growth,...

“The government of Anambra State must now go beyond this pronouncement “ —Ebuka Onyekwelu Last week, Anambra State Governor, Prof. Chukwuma Soludo pronounced free education to students across government-owned schools from primary school to Junior Secondary School – JSS 3. This pronouncement has triggered reactions, with many interrogating the governor’s intentions. Looking at this pronouncement by Governor Soludo, one can say that it was rather a spontaneous announcement, than a detailed policy statement. This then...

“It is hard for the international community to ignore such a fine blend of talent, competence, and influential individuals…” —Ebuka Onyekwelu The Governor of Enugu State has pulled the most unexpected strings since their assumption to office, about three months ago. Without any doubt, Enugu has been restored as the melting pot of the best of the Southeast geo-political zone.  It is even more or less magical when one observes the state governor’s demeanor and...

“In two years, Anambra will be a testing ground for Peter Obi’s popularity among voters in his home state,” —Ebuka Onyekwelu How bizarre this may look notwithstanding, but preparations are in full throttle for the next governorship election in Anambra state. Although still over two years ahead, but the next governorship election in Anambra state is already taking shape to the extent that any serious politician or political player in Anambra has commenced total planning...

One of the major challenges of excellent results is the inability to put adequate finishing touches. In Nigeria, many people deal with being admonished to ‘manage’ substandard quality by service providers. People are asked to ‘manage’ anything at all, they have been offered or presented with, so much so that excellence remains largely utopian. Unsurprisingly, governments at all levels in Nigeria do just the same. This time, not only that people are expected to ‘manage’,...

“On one hand, they tend to support a total isolation of the government in power, and anyone sighted with the President, they counted as their enemy. Tony Elumelu of the Heirs Group was an object of social media cancellation when he met with Bola Tinubu as president-elect.” Since around 2020 when the End SARS protest broke out, the level of consciousness of Nigerians has not remained the same. A significant Nigerian youth population has conveniently...

The most intriguing part is that Mr. Isaac Chimeremeze who is now associated with this digitization in Abia state, is also the person who worked towards Governor Soludo’s digitization of revenue collection in Anambra state and served as the governor’s Senior Special Assistant on IGR. TAnambra and Abia state share a lot of similarities in terms of commercial and industrial activities, making the two states economic hubs of significant status. Aba in Abia state and...

“No one can successfully prove election rigging by relying on the same results announced by INEC or by minor infractions like pockets of outrage, and intimidation of some voters, among others,” —Ebuka Onyekwelu The recent publication by The Economist Intelligence Unit, in which they emphatically predicted that the Presidential Election Petition Tribunal, will not sack President Bola Tinubu, has sparked outrage in the camp of the opposition. Supporters of the PDP and LP have faulted...