Anambra State Governor-elect, Prof. Chukwuma Soludo, has restated his stance to begin work from the slums of Okpoko in Ogbaru Council of the state.
In the course of his electioneering, Soludo had assured residents of the Onitsha neighbourhood slum that when he emerges governor, he would run to Okpoko to begin its transformation to reflect his administration’s smart city initiative.
His Media Assistant, Joe Anatune, told The Guardian, yesterday, that the governor-elect meant what he said, stressing that it is neither a mere campaign promise nor political gimmick.
Recalling how Soludo declared on several occassions that his first official engagement after swearing-in would be a visit to Okpoko to upgrade the slum, Anatune said the pronouncement was his goal to transform Anambra into a smart megacity.
“Livability and prosperity are the fulcrums of the new Anambra Soludo envisions. Ensuring that our major cities of Awka, Onitsha, Nnewi and Ekwuolobia are clean, green and well-planned is crucial to the success of the goal,” he said.
The media assistant recalled how Okpoko caught Soludo’s attention in 2010 in the course of his governorship electioneering tour of Onitsha and its suburbs, saying: “The horrible image of Okpoko and the hilarious conversation he had with a boy, who asked him for money had remained vivid with him.”
