President Goodluck Jonathan said on Tuesday in Abuja that he would do the
\n\u201creal ground-breaking\u201d ceremony for the second Niger Bridge in Anambra on
\nMarch 10.<\/p>\n
The president said this on Tuesday when he received a delegation of
\nAnambra people led by Obi of Onitsha, Igwe Alfred Achebe, and Gov. Peter
\nObi.<\/p>\n
The delegation, which also included the governor-elect of the state,
\nWillie Obiano, was on a thank-you and solidarity visit to the president.<\/p>\n
Jonathan said that the launch of the construction work on the bridge was
\nin keeping with his promise to the people of Anambra,<\/p>\n
He explained that he could have launched the project long ago with fanfare
\nbut government must show commitment to its execution.<\/p>\n
He said that with proper planning and funding now put in place, he was
\nready to start the project in earnest.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Minister of Works has briefed me that they have done a lot of
\nmobilisation; we are coming to do real ground breaking ceremony of the
\nsecond Niger Bridge and other projects,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
It will be recalled that the president had, during a recent visit to the
\nstate, pledged to launch the construction of the bridge before Obi leaves
\noffice on March 17.<\/p>\n
He commended Obi for maintaining a cordial relationship with the Federal
\nGovernment.<\/p>\n
He also used the opportunity to admonish other elected officials and
\npoliticians to focus on developing their states rather than make a
\npast-time of attacking and abusing the president.<\/p>\n
\u201cA number of politicians feel that the best thing to do is to be abusing
\nMr. President, abusing the Federal Government and so on.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou are elected to develop your state and I think the best thing is to
\nhave good relationship with the centre; whether you have a pin or you do
\nnot have but one day it will come.<\/p>\n
\u201cWearing boxing gloves, jumping into the boxing ring to face Mr. President
\ndoes not help the development of any state.\u201d<\/p>\n
The president specifically commended Obi for his people-oriented
\nprogrammes and for managing an opposition-controlled state assembly
\nwithout a crisis.<\/p>\n
He pledged to give his successor, Willie Obiano, equal support to help him
\nsucceed.<\/p>\n
The president also promised to retain Obi in the Federal Government\u2019s
\nEconomic Management Team even after he leaves office as state governor.<\/p>\n
Earlier, Obi had said that it would be difficult for a state governor to
\nmake meaningful impact without the support of the Federal Government.<\/p>\n
He specifically thanked the president for the support given to his state.<\/p>\n
\u201cI have been governor under three presidents and I know the difference.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnambra state is your home and we are committed to supporting you and
\nyour government,\u201d he said.(NAN)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
President Goodluck Jonathan said on Tuesday in Abuja that he would do the \u201creal ground-breaking\u201d ceremony for the second Niger Bridge in Anambra on March 10. The president said this…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":23816,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-23815","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-exclusive"],"yoast_head":"\n