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Professor Soludo,

This will be the second open letter I will be writing to your excellency in the last few months. The first letter was a eulogy wrapped in expectation of great leadership and governance. As a seasoned economist and an intellectual it excites me that you are not just a politician but a governor. Therefore, I will like to go further than criticism, let me share some of my ideas on political economy with you. This is premised on the thinking that you have the intellectual agility, economic philosophy and political will to make a significant difference.

Security
Aside the federal security agencies i.e Army, Police and paramilitaries the states usually compensate for security by having vigilantes then appoint a retired security personnel or security expert as senior special adviser on security. The whole idea is that the federal agencies in collaboration with the state should be able to handle security related issues.

It is time for things to be done differently, in any case it is not that your state is in an all-out war. I propose the Anambra Intelligence Unit(AIU). If you can create a savvy and vibrant intelligence unit and turn the vigilantes to the armed unit of AIU you will be surprised by how much you can achieve security wise.

The secret to Israel surviving the middle east is not just guns per se it is by intelligence, more than 99% of planned attack on Israel are foiled and that is essentially what is keeping Israel safe. Information is power endeavor to build a sophisticated institution around it.
According to Saxby Chambliss of Israel – “intelligence is our first line of defense against terrorism” .

Economy
Away from finance , I think you should explore the economy organically too! A government that will do well economically will be the government that can maximize the potential of the business community. We can draw inspiration from different economic models i.e Asian tigers, Brazilian industrialization of the 70s and 80s, Dubai factor, Singapore and all. A typical example is the Chaebol brothers in Korea.

There is the common thinking that with multiple SMEs the economy could turn around for good and this is true but a single big business unit can also generate a lot of SMEs. Identify the successful business people in in production, trading and services and work with them to turn around the fortune of Anambra.

Samsung alone employs 267,937 people and it is worth 200bn, Toyota employs 361,900 people and it is worth $236bn and Alibaba employs 251,462 people and it is worth $165bn. According to economist magazine In 2021 the combined revenue of Alphabet, Amazon, Apple, Meta and Microsoft was 1.4trn Just one of any of the above-mentioned companies existing in Anambra will be a game changer. The smallest of this companies will create well over 20,000 SMEs directly and indirectly. This kind of project will affect the lives of people of Anambra drastically. My dear Prof it is time to think big! Certainly, you will achieve more economically if you can fertilize the business community!
Education
I read through your inaugural speech and I can see how financially constrained your government is. Across the country we have a psychological problem in our hands because we have failed to educate our children properly. Albeit we have faced with total cash crunch, how do we build infrastructure , train teachers and equip the schools?

One area that can fill the void to a large extent is reading culture. Arguably a child that has attended the best school in the world without a reading culture will be less intellectually and psychological prepared than a child who attended a very poor school but with a reading culture. I imagine you are a product of reading, reading builds confidence, it strengthens character, instills innovation, widens perspectives and increases knowledge. All this comes together to expand the human capacity.
Aggressively promote reading culture from primary schools to the university and I can assure you that have you have successfully set an agenda for the political and economic transformation of Anambra and Nigeria at large.

Nelson Mandela, Mohandas K Gandhi and others are all product of books, education prepares a man but reading unleashes him.

Consider this an executive summary, it is the idea that matters use it for the good of your people.

God bless you.

Hon. Adeyemi Abidemi Adebola
Minority Whip KGHA 2011-2015
Founder African Reading Project