— MAZI EJIMOFOR OPARA
It is characteristic of public memory to remain active on things undone or that should have been done. Things done are often taken for granted and wilfully forgotten because ingratitude is man’s second nature. This is why those who keep records of good done are often venerated as exceptions. Like virtue, they are rare to find.
It is midweek in the second week of October 2026, and Anambra has multiple good news to celebrate.
First, Anambra has carted away 9 out of 18 honours at the 2026 President’s Teachers’ and Schools’ Excellence Awards — 8 overall winners and one first runner-up. A dominance that has become regular since Gov. Soludo assumed office, but on a scale never before seen.
When Soludo says he recruited the “Best” and most qualified teachers and has intentionally invested in the Anambra educational system, the awards continue to affirm it. From Mrs. Gloria Nkolika Odionu of Awada Primary School IV, Obosi — Overall Best Administrator in Nigeria — to Mrs. Agatha Oforjindu of Urban Girls Secondary School, Onitsha, Divine Rays British School Obosi, Susu College Nkpor, Handmaids School Awka and Austica Memorial College Nanka, our public and private schools swept the nation. Nine honours, half of all awards in the country, came to Anambra.
Next is our Onitsha, the once dying Onitsha, now globally affirmed. The 2026 Oxford Economics Global Cities Index — which assessed 1,000 largest cities across five dimensions: Economics, Human Capital, Quality of Life, Environment and Governance — has ranked Onitsha 802nd in the world.
Again, context matters. Only 18 Nigerian cities made the list. Onitsha is ranked 3rd nationally, behind only Lagos (485) and Abuja (741), and is the highest-ranked city in the entire South-East.
Nationally, Onitsha stands ahead of Port Harcourt (956), Benin City (972), Kano (992) and 10 other major cities.
When Soludo said “Onitsha will rise again,” it was not another empty slogan. He meant it in real terms. The massive urban regeneration and total reconstruction of the commercial nerve centre of the South-East has courted global attention. Indeed, the world will come to Anambra — the destination of choice.
And then came governance validation. In the July 2026 Open Government Partnership (OGP) Nigeria Subnational Status Ranking, Anambra maintained a perfect 100% Healthy score — the highest possible standing on its rigorous nine-point framework. Anambra emerged alongside only Kaduna and Plateau at the top, and as the only state in the South-East rated Healthy. The assessment is not what government claims, but what it can prove across political will, action plan, stakeholder forums, transparency and citizen engagement.
Maintaining a perfect 100% score is not mere statistics. Some hard work, deft socio-economic re-engineering is going on 24/7.
This good news and more are early confirmations that Soludo’s manifesto is beyond rhetoric.
Again we say, Solution is Here!