Shettima Urges FG-State Collaboration To Tackle Insecurity

Vice-President Kashim Shettima, has emphasised the crucial need for collaboration between the federal government and states in the fight against insecurity ravaging the country.

He stated this at the inauguration of the Anambra State governor, Prof. Chukwuma Soludo, for a second term in office which held at the Alex Ekwueme Square, Awka, the state capital.

The inauguration ceremony was also attended by former Presidents Olusegun Obasanjo and Goodluck Jonathan.

In addition to the deputy governors of Enugu, Imo, Ebonyi, Delta and Kaduna states, as well as, Ooni of Ife, Oba Adeyeye Anitan Ogwunusi, some eminent indigenes of the state present at the event included former Secretary of the Commonwealth, Chief Emeka Anyaoku; Obi of Onitsha, Alfred Nnaemeka Achebe; former governor Chris Nwabueze Ngige, Sir Emeka Offor; Airpeace boss, Allen Onyema, Chief Ernest Obiejesi, Obinna Iyiegbu (Obi Cubana).

Praising Soludo as a man of great ideas, Shettima applauded the Anambra State governor’s achievements during his first tenure.

In a veiled reference to Soludo administration’s fight against insecurity in the state including money-making ritualists, popular in Igbo palace as “okeite,”, VP Shettima urged “It is time to come together to fight insecurity that has cast shadows in the country”.

He charged Soludo to use his second term to consolidate on the strong foundation for the state development he laid during his first tenure describing the second term inauguration ceremony as not necessarily for continuity but about responsibility.

Earlier in his address immediately after he was sworn in, Soludo declared that his administration within the next four years would perfect its master plan for developing Anambra State as “African-Dubai-Silicon Valley”.

He, also, said that his government will annihilate the evil culture of ritual-money-making which he noted is becoming a very sad development in the South East region, particularly among the youth.

He said, “Over the next four years, we are changing to Gear 4.0 to consolidate the ongoing transformations across all sectors, accelerate actions to secure the spaces and pillars for the prosperity of generations yet unborn, and institutionalize change within a “built to last” framework.

“We move with urgency—running at the speed of 1,000 km per hour in multiple directions simultaneously.

“Security and electricity will remain priorities.

“Anambra’s land mass is rapidly being developed in a haphazard and chaotic manner, making a physical master-plan an emergency.

“That is why we are intentionally securing strategic land spaces as a “Land Bank” for future developments.

“With an estimated population of about 40 million by 2070 and nearly 50 million by 2100, the state will require at least three airports, but in the next ten years there will hardly be any space for them except we act today.

“We have already planned and investing in four new cities and a district simultaneously: New Niger City near Onitsha, Awka 2.0, the Anambra Mixed-Use Industrial City (AMIC), an Aerotropolis, and the Innovation District– our own Silicon Valley.

“The CPCS of Canada has completed for us the Anambra’s Rail Master-plan, and our Gas Master-plan is also ready. Electricity remains a national binding constraint, and we are determined to find some local solutions in partnership with private investors and the FGN.

“Our Electricity Regulatory Commission has set out to guarantee a competitive electricity market.

“The Mixed-Use Industrial City and Aerotropolis have been approved as an Economic Free Trade Zone, and construction is well underway. A 5-star hotel at our International Convention Centre is under construction, while the Coordinated Wholesale Centre (CWC)—the largest drug market in West Africa—is set for commissioning in the first quarter of 2027. These projects are not just buildings and infrastructure; they are foundations for a better life.

“They will create thousands of jobs, improve access to reliable electricity and transportation, enhance business opportunities, expand trade, and attract private investment.

“By securing land for the future, building new cities, and modernizing our infrastructure, we are ensuring that Ndi Anambra will enjoy sustainable economic growth, improved livelihoods, and a prosperous environment for generations to come.

“The above present huge opportunities for private investment, and we invite all Ndi Anambra and investors to seize these opportunities and be part of the transformation that will define the state’s future,” Soludo stated further.

Lamenting the trend of ritual -money-making syndrome, Soludo promised that his administration will annihilate the culture.

“If we build the skyscrapers and flyovers to be inhabited by the “Okeite” and “Ezenwanyi” generations, our homeland will be desolate and our efforts in vain.

“Our homeland was being overrun by a new and fastest growing religion and philosophy among our youths that promised and celebrated wealth without work. The implication for criminality was obvious.

“We promised a revolution towards a “new Onye Anambra”, and we are serious about it.

“With the enforcement of our Homeland Security Law 2025, Oso Soludo is real.

“Hundreds of these dangerous native doctors are on the run.

“The poster boy of the new phenomenon—Akwa Okuko Tiwara Aki—has pleaded guilty and sentenced to a jail term. His massive shrine has been destroyed.

“We are on a serious crusade for ethical and cultural rebirth— going back to the roots of what made us great and unstoppable—values of enterprise and integrity (aka aja aja na-ebute onu mmanu mmanu).

“That way we can rescue our youths and secure the future—away from drugs, cultism, magic, and criminality.

“Ndi Anambra, today marks the beginning of a new chapter.

“The road ahead is still long and much remains to be done.

“I am not wired to gloat or celebrate the millions of steps already taken; my focus is firmly on the billions of steps that still lie ahead.

“Our gaze is not on the next election, but on the next generation,” Soludo pledged.