ANAMBRA TODAY: Obiano moves to honour Zik, plans to build recreation centre near mausoleum

In what seems to be a move to accord the memory of fore­most pan-African­ist and Nigeria’s first President, Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe, a long de­served respect, Gover­nor of Anambra State, Chief Willie Obiano, has concluded plans to build a befitting recre­ational park near the legend’s mausoleum in Onitsha, the lead­ing commercial city in South Eastern Nigeria.
Announcing this dur­ing the inspection of ongoing environmental sanitation projects across the state, Obiano further revealed that the popular Zik’s Roundabout, along with other major round­abouts in the state, would be upgraded to shore up their aesthetic appeal to residents and visitors.
Obiano, who was trailed by a crowd of jubilant citizens at vari­ous points, with cheers and songs of solidarity, said the Inosi Onira Park, which nestles directly opposite Zik’s residence, in which the mausoleum was built, would be built like other such monu­ments in other parts of the world to offer a sanc­tuary to tourists and lei­sure lovers, who need a quiet time in the shadow of the legend.
Accompanied by the Commissioner for En­vironment, Evarist Uba and other top govern­ment officials, Obia­no explained that no amount of honour done the memory of the great nationalist could be con­sidered to be enough, as he was a man for all ages.
The governor, howev­er, warned against indis­criminate defacing of the cityscape of Anambra’s leading cities with post­ers and other signage, stressing that anybody caught engaging in such practices would be ar­rested and prosecuted.
He restated the com­mitment of his admin­istration to enforce the laws on the environment and implored the people to join hands with his ad­ministration in the fight against filth.
Meanwhile, if all cal­culations go well, Anam­bra State will soon estab­lish a football club that will vie for national and international honours.
Announcing this at a brief ceremony at Ro­jenny Soccer Stadium, Oba, in Idemili Local Government Area of the state, Governor Obiano expressed discontent­ment that a state that had produced some of the most talented footballers in the country does not have a notable football club.
Commending the ef­forts of some of the state’s entrepreneurs and football lovers, who had floated football clubs that once competed in the Nigerian Premier League, Chief Obiano declared the intention of his administration to lay a solid foundation for the future greatness of the state in all aspects of sports.
According to him, his administration would spare no efforts in build­ing standard sporting facilities in designated centres in the state, pro­viding the necessary equipment for specific types of sports as well as offering logistical sup­port for the organising of inter-school competi­tions that would serve as hunting grounds for talents.
The governor further revealed that plans were underway to harness the diverse sporting talents in the state in a manner that would ensure that the state was not left be­hind in national and in­ternational sports meets, while giving assurance that the state’s contin­gent to the 2014 National Sports Festival in Cala­bar, Cross River State would be adequately pre­pared and motivated to bring laurels back from the competition.
Obiano also used the opportunity to an­nounce a cash reward of N500,000 to Miss If­eoma Nwoye, who won a gold medal at the 2010 Commonwealth Games.
The governor ex­plained that his admin­istration was determined to reward excellence in all aspects of life, urg­ing Anambra people to always strive to be good ambassadors of the state.
In her brief response to the governor’s unex­pected demonstration of compassion, the Com­monwealth gold medal­ist, Miss Nwoye thanked Obiano for rewarding her and assured that she would always do her best for Anambra State.