Governor of Anambra State, Chief Willie Obiano, on Thursday said that the state is fast achieving its goal of becoming Nigeria’s most competitive state.

He explained that the position will enable the state become the first choice for investors.

A statement by the Commissioner for Information and Public Enlightenment, Mr C. Don Adinuba, quoted the governor as making the observation in his reaction to the outstanding performance of the state’s indigenes in the training of police constables at the Nigeria Police College, Nekede in Imo State.

Anambra State indigenes had won five out of the six prizes awarded to the new 192 constables at the passing out parade last week.

While promising to reward the security officers as a measure of incentives and energise others, the governor said that the brilliant performance of the fresh policemen and women is the latest show of excellence exhibited by Anambra indigenes in both international and national competitions.

News Express reports that the state had three weeks ago won for the third consecutive year, the first prize in the annual President’s School Debate Competition organised for secondary schools in the country, by defeating Benue State by four points to one.

Also on Thursday, August 19, 2018, students of Regina Pacis International Model Secondary School, Onitsha in Anambra State, had won in Silicon Valley in the United States the Golden Prize in the Global Technovation competition by developing an internet application for detecting fake drugs, which is an international scourge.

The Anambra students beat students from over 100 countries, including the United States, to clinch the highly prestigious award.

Governor Obiano recalled that Anambra equally won the first prize in the 2018 performance assessment of schools conducted by the Federal Ministry of Education and relevant agencies under its supervision, a feat it also achieved in 2017.

His words: “We are the only state in the whole federation to achieve such remarkable consistency in educational performance, to say nothing about the fact that we record the least number of malpractices in examinations conducted by such bodies as the West African Examinations Council (WAEC).

“Anambra’s competitiveness goes beyond the educational sector. Many Nigerians may not know that Anambra State won the first prize in the 2018 National Immunization Campaign under the World Bank supervision.

“The prize was given jointly to our state by Vice President Yemi Osinbajo and the Minister of Health, Professor Isaac Adewole, last June at the Yar’Adua Centre in Abuja and received on our behalf by the Deputy Governor, Dr Nkem Okeke, and the Commissioner for Health, Dr Josephat Akabuike”.

The Governor maintained that the security situation in the state has improved so much so that Anambra State is considered not just the safest state in Nigeria but also the safest place in the whole of West Africa and even Central Africa.

He gave assurance that there would be a remarkable improvement in other fields this year so as to showcase the state as the most competitive state.

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