By Ebuka Onyekwelu, Ph.D
The Governor of Anambra State, Professor Charles Chukwuma Soludo, CFR, has called for collective action and personal responsibility on the environment to commemorate Anambra’s 35th anniversary. This call, which was led by the governor, is in line with Governor Soludo’s People’s Manifesto, where he declared that the environment is Anambra’s existential threat and elevated the environment as the fifth pillar of the government’s agenda under his watch. “The environment is the number one existential threat to Anambra State. Therefore, our government will declare a state of emergency on the environment and every citizen will play an active role in protecting the environment,” Professor Soludo said in his manifesto. Announcing the Anambra 35th anniversary theme: “our environment, our future: a call for personal responsibility and collective action,” Governor Soludo signals full focus on implementation of his environmental agenda for Anambra State.
In July, Governor Soludo declared a state of emergency on the environment, and on Thursday, while marking Anambra’s 35th anniversary, the governor reiterated the declaration of a state of emergency on the environment and also called on Ndi Anambra to take personal responsibility and collective action to protect the environment.
Anambra’s 35th anniversary on Thursday was marked with a press briefing by the governor, Professor Soludo, at the Light House, where he called on the people to take ownership of their environment. “Today calls for sober reflection…our progress is standing on a weak environment,” Soludo said, regretting that many people have not taken cognizance of the fact that they are contributing heavily to Anambra’s environmental decay. Reflecting on this, the governor declared that “we are mainstreaming erosion control,” assuring that “Anambra cannot go this way.”
Governor Soludo also emphasized the implementation of Anambra’s environmental law to save Anambra’s future. According to the governor, Anambra State will be hard on the implementation of its environmental law as part of the collective action to save the situation and secure Anambra’s future.
The Governor also called on the Federal Government to support, arguing that “if the Federal Government has ten Naira to spend on ecological problems, Anambra should be getting eight Naira out of the ten Naira.”
After the press briefing, Governor Soludo was accompanied by his wife, Dr. Mrs. Nonye Soludo, the Deputy Governor, Dr. Onyekachukwu Ibezim, former governor, Dr. Chris Ngige, Col B.M Yakubu, Commissioner for Environment, Dr. Clem Aguiyi, and other senior government officials to plant trees, signifying a major shift towards rebuilding Anambra’s environment.
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