Vision 2070 or Illusion 419? How IKUKUOMA will Salvage broken promises of PROF. SOLUDO

By lFEANYI NDUKWE (SAINT), ABUJA

When Distinguished Professor Charles Chukwuma Soludo unveiled the Anambra Vision 2070 blueprint in 2020, expectations soared high across the state. Whole acting as chairman of the 60-man Committee, Soludo promised Ndi Anambra a 50-year development plan that would transform the state into a prosperous model of sustainable growth and opportunity. He called it African Taiwan.

The initiative was heavily publicized, funded with taxpayers’ money, and promoted as a strategic masterplan to secure the future of generations unborn.

THE HOPE THAT BECAME HYPE

Fast forward to 2022 when Prof. Soludo, fresh off his election victory, presented the 180-page Vision 2070 document to then-Governor Willie Obiano. During his March 17 inauguration, he proclaimed in his 4,000-word speech that the “contract” with the people of Anambra derived directly from the Anambra Vision 2070. Recall he named his manifesto: The People’s Manifest.

Two years later, that so-called vision now lies abandoned gathering dust in government archives. The same governor who championed the Vision as a transformational tool has shifted focus to media brawls with political opponents and low-impact policies.

Meanwhile, the document’s short-term targets are not just unmet, they have been unarguably and practically ignored.

FROM 10% GDP GROWTH GOING SOUTH

One of the Vision 2070 goals was to push Anambra’s GDP growth to a minimum of 10% annually between 2022 and 2030.

The strategy? Investing in agriculture, manufacturing, trade, solid minerals, and the creative industry.

However, current data shows Anambra’s GDP growth still struggling under 2.5%, a far cry from the vision’s projections.

Take agriculture, for example. In 2023, the Soludo-led government allocated ₦1.5 billion for coconut and oil palm seedlings. This year, ₦2 billion was earmarked for the same purpose.

According to the government’s Medium-Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF), ₦8.12 billion will be spent on seedlings from 2023 to 2026.

Yet, there is no clear evidence that these billions have yielded any meaningful agricultural boom. No massive plantation, no farmer success stories, and certainly, no agricultural revolution. WHERE DID THE MONEY GO?

AFFORDABLE HOUSING OR HOTEL HYPE?

Vision 2070 also promised to reduce Anambra’s housing deficit through affordable social housing. But instead of executing this, the Solution administration ( as he preferred to be called) announced plans to build a 10-storey, ₦66.2 billion luxury hotel in Awka for investors.

Investors? In a state battling serious insecurity? Who are these investors, maybe Sabinus and his friends?

The hotel project is beginning to look like another white elephant project; lavish, flashy and unnecessary to human capital development.

Anambra people are still struggling to access decent housing while the government builds castles in the air.

MANUFACTURING, SOLID MINERALS & TRANSPORTATION: STILL ON PAPER

Sectors like manufacturing, transportation, and solid minerals heavily featured in Vision 2070 still remain neglected. Young entrepreneurs and manufacturers are leaving the state due to harsh conditions and heavy taxing. There’s no enabling environment, no incentives, no clear economic direction. For instance, traders at popular Ogbu Ogu market,Onitsha pay a whooping #39,600 naira monthly tax against #3,600 during Peter Obi tenure and #6,500 during gentlemanly, Dr Willie Obiano administration.

The sad truth? The Vision 2070 blueprint appears to be nothing more than a rhetorical con, a verbose, over-the-top document with no serious implementation plan. A fraud cloaked in academic grammar.

MEET PRINCE NICHOLAS UKACHUKWU (IKUKUOMA), MAN WITH A GOLDEN TOUCH

While Soludo majors in speeches and slogans, Prince Nicholas Ukachukwu, the APC governorship candidate, is making waves as the man who will fix what Soludo broke.

Fondly known as Ikukuoma, Prince Nicholas is a respected businessman and philanthropist who has consistently delivered real impact. From education to infrastructure, his track record speaks volumes.

He doesn’t promise what he can’t do. He doesn’t play to the gallery. He works. He is result oriented. He is a man of action not noise.

In contrast to Soludo’s theoretical governance, the Ikukuoma/Ekwunife ticket offers bold, practical leadership. A government that will walk the talk, not just talk the walk.

ANAMBRA IS BROKEN BUT IT CAN BE FIXED

What Ndi Anambra need now is not another smooth-talking economist with BIG GRAMMATICAL POLISH.

WE need hands-on leader who listens, acts, and delivers.

Prince Nicholas Ukachukwu is ready. He’s proven. He’s focused. And he is what Anambra desperately needs.

As November 8 draws near, Ndi Anambra have a clear choice: More abandoned visions? Or a new dawn of action, direction, and results?

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