Governor of Anambra state gives his speech to mark the 25th birthday of the state

An Address by the Governor of Anambra State, His Excellency, Chief Willie Obiano on Friday August 26, 2016 to mark the 25th Anniversary of the Creation of Anambra State.
Protocol

Gentlemen of the press,

I am delighted to address you today on the eve of the 25th Anniversary of our beloved state. I had looked forward to this day with hope and expectations. My hope is anchored on the fact that 25 years is a milestone in the history of individuals, groups and societies. It calls for deep introspection, stocktaking and projections. It is a veritable crossroads in Time where we usually pause to hatch new dreams. For any responsible administration, events like the Silver Jubilee Anniversary usually come in handy for the renewal of the social contract between the government and the people.
This Anniversary has offered my Team and I a chance to renew our pact with Ndi Anambra and strengthen our commitment to the emergence of a more prosperous state.

Gentlemen of the Press, some of you were old enough when Anambra State came into existence 25 years ago. Some of you must have witnessed the sudden rise in our people’s hopes; some of you must have heard the liberation songs on the lips our mothers who saw the new state as the fulfilment of their aspirations. Gentlemen of the press, 25 years after, Anambra has travelled through a hard road paved with agony and pain to the promise of a new day.

Ladies and gentlemen, I reserve my assessment of our 25-year old journey to the Special Anniversary Broadcast I will make tomorrow morning and my Remarks at the Special Anniversary Dinner that will follow in the evening. However, I would like to use this opportunity to inform you about the things we plan to do to make this milestone celebration meaningful to our people.

Ladies and gentlemen, a realistic appraisal of the economic situation of our country has forced us to be more creative in our approach to identifying what should mater to our people. As a result, this anniversary celebration will be more symbolic and less showy of what our dear state stands for.

Consequently, we have designed a tight programme of activities that will begin from tomorrow, August 27 and end in December this year. From tomorrow these are the things we will do –
We shall begin the day with a Special Anniversary Broadcast that will put the entire Anambra @25 in a proper perspective.
After that we shall flag off the one million-Tree Planting Campaign
Then, we shall lay the foundation for the Oxygen Project Plant of the Odumegwu Ojukwu Teaching Hospital.

We shall flag off the N20m project per community initiative

All these are the activities for the Anniversary Day. The celebration continues till December this year.

We have an Anniversary Lecture/Dinner planned for October 1, 2016 to coincide with Nigeria’s Independence Anniversary.

We also Special Gala Nights mapped out for Lagos and Port Harcourt October and another one in Abuja in November

We plan to host a Special Anniversary Award Ceremony on December 16. It will be a great day to honour Anambra’s galaxy of pre-eminent achievers.

A Cultural Carnival has also been scheduled to take place in the three Senatorial Districts during this period with a Grand Finale of the Festival billed for December.

There will be a Special Lighting of the Christmas Tree on November 25 and an Interdenominational Service on November 26.

We shall visit spectacular Tourist Sites on December 22nd and host a colourful Christmas Carol on the same day.
Ladies and gentlemen, I have shared our plans with you. As I earlier pointed out, my thoughts on Anambra @25 will be comprehensively captured in a Special Broadcast tomorrow morning. I’d advise you to tune in and get the message of the broadcast.

In the meantime, I would be happy to take your questions on the 25th Anniversary celebrations if you have any.

Thank you

Willie Obiano

Governor

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