Gov Willie Obiano, Thursday September 26, 2019 presented
a N137bn 2020 draft budget to the Anambra State House of Assembly.
The budget proposes to commit 43% (N58.69bn) to recurrent
expenditure and 57% (N78.3bn) to capital expenditure. It is expected to sustain
the developmental trend in the state and ensure that the state continues to be
the choice destination for businesses and investments.
Delivering the budget, Gov Obiano highlighted the
achievements of his administration, especially in Agriculture where major
advancements were recorded in rice and cassava production as well as in
poultry, fishery and livestock with emphasis on the revival and ranching of a
local breed of cattle popularly known as Efi Igbo.
"We have taken rice production from 80,000 metric
tonnes to 345,280 metric tonnes as at 2018. We have also gone into serious
cassava production with both Ekcel Farms and Chelsea Farms. Chelsea Farms with
over 10,000 hectares of land is the largest cassava farm in South East
Nigeria".
Gov Obiano also noted that the establishment of the
Anambra State Health Insurance Agency, ASHIA, the building of the largest state
owned oxygen plant in the southeast and investments in primary, secondary and
tertiary healthcare services, marks notable achievements of his administration
in the health sector.
"I am delighted to announce that we have opened a
53m3/hr Oxygen plant at Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu University Teaching
Hospital, Amaku. This is the biggest Oxygen Plant built by any State Government
in the Federation. We have also established the Anambra State Health Insurance
Agency (ASHIA) which is ranked fourth (4th) in the country".
On education, the Governor said that the state devised a
three way approach that worked effectively to reposition the sector in line
with international standards. He described these as infrastructure, teacher's
welfare and student's welfare.
"Our aim is to give a globally competitive education
to our children. In the area of infrastructure, we are building 700 capacity
hostels in 12 technical colleges and 1,500 capacity hostels at Fr Joseph
memorial Secondary School, Aguleri. We have also constructed ten classroom
blocks in five technical colleges, namely; Umuchu, Umunze, Nkpor, Umeri and
Osamalla. On Teachers’ Welfare, we have trained our teachers in ICT in a
partnership with Google. We have also held a special training for teachers of
Mathematics, Sciences, Literature-in-English, History and French".
Gov Obiano expressed great delight at the achievements of
the state in business development, entrepreneurship and youth empowerment
through the Anambra State Business Agency, ASBA. He said that achievements of
the agency earned the state the prestigious national award as the best state
that supports Micro, Small and Medium Scale Enterprises (MSMEs) in Nigeria.
Other areas mentioned by the Governor as major areas of
great achievement, include security and the complementing Light-up Anambra
project which has improved the landscape of the state and created a safe 24
hour business environment for Ndi Anambra. The government also made remarkable
inroads in rural and urban electrification.
"We have drawn a 33kv line to supply power to Orumba
North and South. We also installed another 33kv line from Awada through Idemili
to Nnewi to improve power supply in 43 communities. We distributed 400
transformers to all communities in Anambra State and installed another 33kv
line from Ogborji in Orumba North to Peters University in Aguata".
Speaking on the budget presentation, the member
representing Anambra East constituency in the State House of Assembly, Hon
Obinna Emenaka lauded the executive arm of the state government for what he
termed a timely budget presentation. He observed that the 2020 draft budget was
remarkably lower than the 2019 budget, indicating a commitment by the state
government to properly articulate vital needs of Ndi Anambra and appropriating
same adequately.
The budget is unprecedentedly the earliest to be
presented by any state government in Nigeria. It is themed Accelerating
Infrastructural Development and Youth Entrepreneurship and aims at
consolidating the achievements of the 2019 budget in economic diversification,
job and value creation.
Ikenna Aniagboso
SSA Communications
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