By Praise Chinecherem
Anambra State Commissioner for Information, Dr. Law Mefor has described Governor Chukwuma Charles Soludo’s free education policy as means of breaking generational poverty transfer among families in the state.
He also noted that the ‘One Youth, Two Skills’ Programme would address poverty transfer, just like the ‘Igba Boi’ system adopted by Ndigbo after the civil war.
Mefor spoke when he led a delegation of Soludo’s media team to the October monthly meeting of members of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) at the Godwin Ezeemo International Press Centre, Awka.
He said, “Governor Soludo wants to reset the entire state, and he’s doing that through the road networks he’s building. I keep talking about roads because it’s one major physical infrastructure connecting every part of the state; the 21 local government areas are being connected with stone-based roads constructed to last at least twenty years.
“The latest he has done is to proclaim free education from primary to junior secondary. Now he has added senior secondary. That free education is breaking generational poverty transfer.
“There are widows and poor families where poverty has become a dynasty. There’s now the possibility of riches coming into such families through free education. That’s the kind of future Soludo is building.”
While urging journalists in the state to do more in fairly reporting the governor’s achievements, the Commissioner promised to work out a physical interactive meeting between the governor and journalists in the state.
“I want us to work together. Let’s strike a chord—a synergy that will make Anambra better. Soludo is on a mission of rebranding; resetting the entire state, and he’s doing that already,” he said.
Speaking separately, State Chairman of NUJ, Dr. Odogwu Emeka and the first female professor of Mass Communication in Sub-Saharan Africa and former commissioner for information in the State, Prof. Chinyere Stella Okunna, assured the union’s support and willingness to partner with the government for a better and greater Anambra.
