Residents in various parts of Awka, the capital of Anambra State, and others are wearing new clothes in preparation for President Bola Tinubu’s visit to Anambra State on Thursday.
TNC Correspondent, who visited some of the routes the President will be touring to commission various projects built by Governor Chukwuma Soludo, reports that the entire area has been lit with aesthetics and is awaiting the President.
The Anambra State Government had earlier announced slight adjustments along the routes to some of the projects, including the new Government House, the Presidential Lodge, the Solution FunCity Awka, the Ekwulobia Flyover, and other roads and public infrastructure.
Through the State Commissioner for Information, Law Mefor, the government urged residents to cooperate with security agencies and other relevant authorities in the build-up to the visit.
Meanwhile, some state residents have expressed excitement ahead of President Bola Tinubu’s visit, saying the State Governor has done well.
The residents believe the president’s visit is a pointer to Soludo’s administrative prowess and financial prudence.
According to businessman Cyril Ogu, there are many positive reasons for the state to host the president, and the visit will give more impetus to greater infrastructural development in the state.
For a teacher like Johnson Ogbe, the president’s visit will give him firsthand knowledge of the state and the ever-present need to increase federal presence in it.
“There is no better way for Mr President to appreciate our plight than for him to come to Anambra State. When he comes here, the governor will do what is required to take him to the areas of need.
“So, I am hopeful that the visit will yield very good dividends for the state,” he said
However, for a social affairs analyst, Francis Asoanya, the presence of the president will not impact the mood of the average Anambra person in any positive way, because, according to him, the Tinubu administration has not impacted their lives as it should.
Asoanya acknowledged Governor Soludo’s good works and said the governor has shown that he can still govern the state effectively even without federal government patronage.
“We have been behind the governor because he is working. But the president’s coming adds little or nothing to the development of the state.
“When you look at the appointments of the President, you will find that they are lopsided. How many Anambra people have been appointed to his government? So, what is he coming to do here?
“He is only coming to have a secret meeting with the governor to support him ahead of the November 8 Governorship Election,” he said.
On the president commissioning projects by Soludo, Asoanya said it is a shame that the President does not have a single Federal project to commission in Anambra State.
He queried what the president has done to support the growth of businesses in the state, knowing that he has inflicted pain on Nigerians through his economic policies and the inflation that has characterized the economy.
“If he claims to be a bridge builder, He should take critical steps to make the federal presence felt in the state, instead of coming to commission projects done by the governor.
“We have a dry land seaport, which the President didn’t work on. We have riverine areas with no roads, and the farmers could not bring out food. So, what is he coming to do?” Asoanya queried.
