Governor of Anambra State, Chief Willie Obiano, has embarked on extensive consultation with royal fathers and community and opinion leaders in and outside the state, holding fruitful meetings with traditional rulers at the weekend to carve out a faster footpath for accelerated development of the state. Government House sources described this as part of the governor’s on-going efforts to deepen the democratic process and engender an inclusive administration.

Speaking during a recent tour of Anambra South and Anambra Central political zones of the state, Obiano explained that as paramount rulers of their respective domains, the royal fathers constitute a formidable block in the democratic process as they connect more directly with the people.

The governor explained that his tour was to sensitise the royal fathers on current efforts of his administration to reposition Anambra State as a regional socio-economic powerhouse and to seek their support for all his development initiatives.

“I am deeply familiar with the tradition of our people and I acknowledge and respect the critical importance of the role of traditional rulers to the wellbeing of our people. We need your cooperation to rebuild the fabric of our society,” the governor explained.

According to him, the royal fathers are not only expected to preserve the cultural mores of the people but also to play a vital role in ensuring the maintenance of law and order which are very important for the evolution of a progressive society.

“We need your cooperation in our efforts to rid Anambra State of crime and criminals. There is very little that we can achieve in the fight against criminals without the all-important intelligence gathering that aids crime detection and prevention. A criminal is somebody’s son, brother or friend. We need your assistance to put criminals in a place where they cannot threaten our peace of mind from,” the governor stated.

Speaking on agriculture, one of the four pillars of his administration, Chief Obiano assured that his administration had crafted a policy initiative that would enable it maximise the use of land across the state.

“Anambra State has the second smallest land mass in the country after Lagos State. But we have adopted a highly efficient approach that will ensure a structural and strategic use of land in the state to avoid wastage,” the governor emphasised, while urging the royal fathers to encourage farmers in their domain to register under with cooperative societies in order to gain access to various government intervention programmes.

Obiano further explained that modern agricultural practices did not favour farmers who wish to go all alone but emphasised the effectiveness and knowledge sharing that cooperatives helped to foster.

He also explained that his government would continue to maintain the policy of continuity as he was working on all projects initiated by his predecessor, in addition to embarking on new road projects to open up access to food producing areas, oil and gas facilities, industrial and housing layouts.

Governor Obiano further revealed that efforts were in top gear to improve the State’s internally-generated revenue, and called for collective efforts to check the usual practice of diverting of funds into private pockets.

In a closing remark, the Commissioner for Local Government, Chief (Mrs.) Azuka Enemuo, thanked the traditional rulers and their communities for their support to the State Government.

•Photo shows Governor Obiano.