By Ebuka Onyekwelu, Ph.D
Anambra State Commissioner for Information, Dr. Law Mefor, on Friday, held a statewide stakeholders’ engagement to accelerate the implementation of value reformation in Anambra State. The Governor of Anambra State, Professor Charles Chukwuma Soludo, has been emphatic about the need for value reformation as a critical foundation upon which the new Anambra he envisioned must stand.
Importantly, the concept of a “new onye Anambra” in the Solution Agenda is a metaphor for well-groomed Anambra men and women who are committed to honest living, hard work, law-abiding, and patriotism. The challenge of quick money syndrome has become a serious source of worry that points to the erosion of values. The rise of spiritual scams and fraud as handiwork has become a menace, signaling a likelihood of collapse of social cohesion and essence. In response, the Governor, Professor Soludo, came up with the Homeland Security Law through the Anambra State House of Assembly to address these concerns. However, beyond the implementation of law and order, which the Anambra State Government under Professor Soludo’s watch has deliberately cultivated, the Governor envisions a state where citizens take correct ownership of their values and consciously commit to doing the right thing from a place of conviction. This is the background to the stakeholders’ meeting convened by the Commissioner for Information and Value Reformation at his office in Awka.
Addressing the meeting, the Commissioner, Dr. Law Mefor, emphasized that from the way things are going, we can no longer pretend as if there is no cause for alarm because indeed there is. Narrating a recent case in which a young man was alleged to have murdered his father in Anaocha LGA, Anambra State, for ritual purposes, the Commissioner said the meeting was crucial in driving the Governor’s mandate to implement statewide value reformation. Similarly, the Commissioner for Culture, Entertainment and Tourism, Mr. Udoji Amedu, who attended the engagement, spoke on the urgency of value reformation, which he said cuts across all age brackets.
Participants in the meeting include key staff members of the Ministry of Information and Value Reformation, a representative of the Commissioner for Education, a representative of the National Orientation Agency, representatives of the Nigeria Institute of Public Relations, the Chairman of the Anambra State Chapter of the Nigeria Union of Journalists, the Clergy, members of the civil society organizations in Anambra State, and many more. The consensus reached is that value reformation is a duty that must be deployed to restore the moral fabric of Anambra society.
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