Vice President Kashim Shettima has reiterated the commitment of the Bola Tinubu administration to partnering with states led by men and women who understand that the ultimate meaning of power is the improvement of human lives.
Shettima made the disclosure while speaking at the second term swearing-in ceremony of Governor Chukwuma Soludo, held at the Alex Ekwueme Square in Awka on Tuesday.
Vice President Shettima, who graced the occasion alongside other dignitaries, including former Presidents Olusegun Obasanjo and Goodluck Jonathan.
Addressing the gathering, Shettima noted that the business of nation-building should be about placing the welfare of the nation above partisan interests, stressing the need for politicians to understand that governance must be measured by the steadiness of its response to the practical needs of the people.
According to him, every office is a date with history and must be used appropriately.
He maintained that the federal government’s relationship with the state under Governor Soludo has shown that differences between political parties need not invite hostilities but rather opportunities for collaboration.
The VP noted that the administration of President Tinubu has benefited from the wealth of specialist insight and patriotic counsel of Soludo, assuring that this mutual relationship between the two governments will continue to flourish.
“Soudo has shown himself a distinguished politician. He had stepped out of brilliant diagnosis and the serenity of theory into the turbulence of partisan politics, and there is no doubt that he has delivered the solution.
“He came into office at an interesting time in our national politics when many politicians were mortgaging their integrity. Yet he remained disciplined and committed to the people’s cause.
It is not surprising that the people of Anambra have given him a well-deserved second term. The people today renewed not just a mandate but a covenant with competence. So, Anambra people have every reason to be expectant positively.
“In the business of serving the people, we are often more alike than we are different because the common denominator should be service to the people.
“This ceremony is therefore, about responsibility and the need to be more focused towards the greater good of the state and its people,” the VP stressed.
In his inaugural speech, Governor Soludo noted that barely three years in office, after delivering more than 90% of the promises his government made for its first term, it was the Anambra people who proudly reelected him and his deputy, Dr Onyekachukwu Ibezim, with an unprecedented 73% of the votes cast at the November 2025 polls.
He revealed that his manifesto, the “Soludo Solution: A People’s Manifesto for a Greater Anambra” drew heavily from both the Anambra Dubai-Taiwan Sillicon vision and the strategic direction outlined in the Anambra Vision 2070 document, and being the first administration to assume office after the launch of Anambra Vision 2070, his administration carries a historic responsibility- to lay the enduring foundations for the next Anambra, setting the state firmly on the path toward realizing its manifest destiny as an African Dubai–Taiwan–Silicon Valley by 2070.
Soludo observed that, so far, every effort by his government has been intentional about aligning the state with its long-term vision, adding that he began with disruptive but sure-footed steps grounded in existing realities.
“When the administration assumed office in March 2022, the initial conditions were daunting. Given the urgency of the moment, we understood that our vision was an agenda with a deadline.
“The first four years have been devoted to addressing the basics- restoring security, law and order; addressing waste management and urban regeneration; rebuilding public schools and hospitals; infrastructural revolution especially roads and unprecedented road dualization for the present and future generations; breaking the 34 year old jinx by building a befitting government house and lodge, digitizing government processes and mainstreaming transparency and value-for- money governance, restoring public finance on a path of sustainability, rescuing our environment; intentionally investing in leisure and entertainment to turn Anambra into a preferred destination, a revolution for a new social order that is intentional about ecumenism and celebrates order, enterprise and integrity, etc.
“With our revolution in education, especially with 8,115 new teachers, upscaling investment in public school infrastructure and technology, especially with the smart schools, and continuing subsidy to mission schools, the Anambra public schools are back to winning ways. Anambra has the lowest out-of-school children in Nigeria (2.9%– UNICEF).
“We have been celebrated as national and regional champions in primary healthcare—winning cumulative cash awards of $1.6 million, and our program of free antenatal and free delivery for pregnant women (including free cesarian operations) in all public hospitals has benefitted over 208,000 women with zero mortality,” he noted.
Soludo promised that the second-term swearing-in marks the beginning of a new chapter, noting that over the next four years, his administration will consolidate the ongoing transformations across all sectors and accelerate actions to secure the spaces and pillars for the prosperity of generations yet unborn.
“In a few years, the second airport and a thriving nascent city around it will be delivered, and we will secure space for the third airport, laying foundations for future generations,” he said.
Soludo solicited partnerships with critical stakeholders, neighboring states in the Southeast and Southsouth, the federal government, the private sector, and the international community.
“Only the collective actions of all of us, and in partnership with the rest of the world, can make the ADTS a reality. Citizens pay taxes, obey rules and laws, contribute ideas, make our environment sustainable, say something when they see something, especially in aid of security, and even tar roads, build hospitals and schools, etc.
“We commend the Anambra billionaires who are transforming their communities and the state under our public-private-community partnership (PPCP) framework. Each of us has something to contribute, however little to make Anambra great.
“For me, this mission is personal, I am driven to build a state where I would be proud to retire, where my children and grandchildren will thrive, and where every Onye Anambra can proudly call home,” the governor assured.
The high point of the ceremony was the taking of the oath of office by the governor, as well as a parade by the security agencies in the state.
