Tinubu promises rail link, erosion control on visit to Anambra

By Kunle Sanni

President Bola Tinubu has pledged to tackle erosion, improve infrastructure, and integrate Anambra State into the national rail network during a landmark visit to the state on Thursday.

Speaking at a civic reception in Awka’s Alex Ekwueme Square, Tinubu addressed concerns raised by Governor Chukwuma Soludo, including abandoned federal roads, underutilised gas reserves, and the exclusion of Anambra from the National Rail Master Plan. He assured that the Ministry of Transportation would ensure the state’s inclusion in the rail blueprint.

The President also promised federal intervention in erosion control, describing it as an ecological crisis that has devastated communities and farmlands across the region. He noted that Anambra’s gas resources would now be part of national energy planning.

Commending Soludo’s achievements in security and development, Tinubu pledged stronger collaboration between the federal government and the Southeast. “We are one family, a single family, diverse, living in the same house called Nigeria,” he said.

As part of the visit, Tinubu received the chieftaincy title Dikesinmba of Anambra State from traditional rulers, led by Igwe Chidubem Iweka of Obosi. He also recalled the Omenife of Awka title bestowed on him in 2005.

The President inaugurated key projects, including the Emeka Anyaoku Institute for International Studies and Diplomacy at Nnamdi Azikiwe University, and Solution Fun City, a leisure complex with an amusement park and water park.

He also launched the Government House Mini City, the Anambra Tour of Light, and unveiled statues of five Anambra icons—Nnamdi Azikiwe, Chinua Achebe, Kenneth Dike, Chukwuemeka Odumegwu-Ojukwu, and Margaret Ekpo.

Governor Soludo hailed the visit as “historic and consequential,” highlighting over 500 kilometers of completed roads and other projects awaiting commissioning. He praised Tinubu’s reforms and the ongoing rehabilitation of the Enugu-Onitsha Road and Second Niger Bridge access roads as “game-changers” for the Southeast.