By PAMELA EBOH, Awka

The Commissioner for Information in Anambra State, Dr Law Mefor, has praised the state Governor, Prof Chukwuma Soludo?s commitment to transforming the state through diverse initiatives above answering a national call.

He recalled that the Governor at one point rejected an offer to become the President of Nigeria due to his love and desire to serve Anambra State.

Mefor who stated this during the October monthly meeting of members of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ), Anambra State Council, held at the Godwin Ezeemo International Press Centre, Awka said: ?During the peak of the debate for a President of Nigeria of Igbo extraction, a top VIP delegation from the South-East approached Soludo to take up the mantle, but Soludo thanked them for considering him for the position and quipped, Let?s first develop and make Anambra State great.

?That decision is a great demonstration of patriotism and passion for service. Soludo is not a clout chaser.

?Governor Soludo wants to reset the entire state, and he?s doing that through the road networks he?s building.

?I keep talking about roads because it?s one major physical infrastructure connecting every part of the state; the 21 local government areas are being connected with stone-based roads constructed to last at least twenty years.

?The latest he has done is to proclaim free education from primary to junior secondary. Now he has added senior secondary.

?That free education is breaking generational poverty transfer. The policy would break the cycle of poverty in families where it has become a dynasty.

?There are widows and poor families where poverty has become a dynasty,? Mefor noted.

?There?s now the possibility of riches coming into such families through free education. That?s the kind of future Soludo is building,? the commissioner added.

While urging journalists in the state to do more in reporting the governor?s achievements, the commissioner harped on the importance of synergy between the government and the media.

He added: ?I want us to work together. Let?s strike a chord ? a synergy that will make Anambra better. Soludo is on a mission of rebranding; resetting the entire state, and he?s doing that already.?

In their various remarks, the Anambra State Chairman of NUJ, Dr. Odogwu Emeka Odogwu, and the first female professor of mass communication in Nigeria and former Commissioner for Information in Anambra State, Prof. Chinyere Stella Okunna, gave assurance of the union?s support and willingness to partner with the government for a better and greater Anambra State.