The Anambra State Government yesterday lauded President Muhammadu Buhari for the appointment of Senator Marjorie Chuba-Okadigbo as the chairman of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) Limited and congratulated leading veteran singer Onyeka Onyenu on the attainment of 70 years of age, as well as the new chairman of the Anambra State Chairman of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ), Dr Emeka Odogwu, on his election.

A statement in Awka on Friday by the Commissioner for Information and Public Enlightenment, C. Don Adinuba, noted that President Buhari “deserves kudos for choosing Senator Chuba-Okadigbo as the person to set the agenda for the transformation of Nigeria’s most critical enterprise to a purely commercially driven organisation.

“Mrs Chuba-Okadigbo, who has been standing at the Nigerian Bar for decades, is prepared by education and experience for her new role.

“She is a solid professional, urbane, well-travelled and represented Anambra North effectively in the Senate”.

Adinuba also explained that “Senator Chuba-Okadigbo’s appointment is the icing on the cake of Anambra’s new status as an oil-producing state, a status made possible by President buhari’s approval last September of an objective recommendation from the Revenue Mobilization Allocation and Fiscal Commission (RMAFC) which recognized 11 oil wells in the state while suggesting that proceeds from three others be shared equally with neighbouring Kogi State until the delineation of their boundary.

The Anambra State Government asked President Buhari to appoint more Anambra indigenes to more positions because “they have a well-established record of delivering far beyond expectations”.

The Information Commissioner commended Ms Onwenu for “faithfully exhibiting the prominent Anambra blood in her in all her endeavours and thus enabled her to achieve tremendous success in music, broadcasting, journalism, acting, business management and public service.

“Though her father hailed from Arondizuogu, a town in Imo State which shares boundary with Anambra State, her mother came from Obosi in Anambra State.

“Her father, a prosperous lawyer based in Port Harcourt in today’s Rivers State, died early.

“Consequently, the burden of raising the young Onyeka and her siblings fell on her mother who ensured they received the best education in Nigeria, the United Kingdom and United States and became successful in different fields, including diplomatic service and regional banking”.

The Anambra State Government also lauded the new NUJ leadership in the state for being a breath of fresh air.

“This is the first time a doctoral degree holder has been elected to run the NUJ in the state since its creation in August, 1991.

“Dr Odogwu is a scholar who lectures in mass communication in the university and serves as a news correspondent, in addition.

“With Anambra State moving in a new direction in its development from next month when Professor Chukwuma Soludo, an internationally recognized economist and a former Central Bank governor who reformed the country’s financial system, will assume office as the state chief executive, the new administration needs technocrats like Dr Odogwu in various areas of the state who will help him drive the rapid progress of the state,” the statement said.

It noted that the era of adversarial journalism “is over, just as the days of ‘publish and be damned”.

“Both the government and the media need to be on the same page of development in the overriding interest of society”.

The State Government commended the camaraderie which marked the electioneering campaign of the NUJ election and the outcome.

“Both those who won the highly competitive election and those who didn’t hugged one another once the results were announced, promising to work together as brothers and sisters”, it said.

Adinuba advised Nigerian politicians to borrow a leaf from journalists in Anambra State in electioneering campaigns and avoid politics of “do or die”.

“The prevailing social harmony in the state is good for investment in our place” observed, “and will go a long way to accelerate the state’s development rate when Professor Soludo takes over as the governor”.

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