Soludo Begins Second Term, Declares End to Sit-at-Home and Highlights Security Gains in Anambra

Governor of Chukwuma Soludo has been sworn in for a second term, using the occasion to assert that security conditions in Anambra State have significantly improved and that the once-disruptive Monday sit-at-home order has effectively ended.

The inauguration ceremony took place on Tuesday at Dr Alex Ekwueme Square in Awka, where Soludo declared that “Anambra is on the rise again” while outlining progress made during his first term.

Citing major security achievements, the governor pointed to the dismantling of criminal hideouts and the recovery of territories previously affected by violence. He said, “But suffice it to re-echo what Ndi Anambra are saying –  ‘Anambra is Back to winning ways’. Some 62 criminal camps have been dismantled and eight local governments previously under total siege have been liberated.

“Anambra had its best Christmas season in decades last December with a mass return and over 10,000 visitors per day to the Solution Fun City, Awka, until 10th January 2026.

“The debilitating Monday sit-at-home is over, and our schools, markets, businesses and public servants are back to work. Ndi Anambra say that ours is now the safest, or at least one of the safest, states in Nigeria.”

Soludo also highlighted rapid urban transformation across the state, noting improvements in key cities and infrastructure. He said, “The once biggest urban slum in the South-East, Okpoko is now ‘New Haven’; Ekwulobia is a new city; Awka is surely taking off as a befitting state capital; Onitsha and Nnewi are experiencing unprecedented urban regeneration; nearly 3,000 km of roads (both under the zero pothole initiative and brand new roads) plus over 200 km of road dualisation increasingly connect Anambra as one megacity for the 21st century.

“Urban and semi-urban water schemes are back; some 300,000 youths have received digital skills and Anambra One Million Digital Tribe agenda is receiving global recognition (Techies!); Over 15,000 youths have been trained and empowered under our unique ‘1Youth 2Skills’ programme, with 3,000 of them confessing to be new youth millionaires.

“To reinvent the Dr M.I. Okpara palm revolution, we have distributed 2.2 million palm and coconut seedlings to 180,000 households, thereby empowering them for life and laying the foundation for a new palm processing ecosystem.”

On education, the governor said reforms were yielding results, particularly with new teacher recruitment and investment in school infrastructure. According to him, public schools in the state are regaining prominence nationally.

“In 2025, an Anambra public school was rated the best primary school in Nigeria while a public secondary school had the overall best results in science subjects.

“Anambra has the lowest out-of-school children in Nigeria (2.9 per cent by UNICEF). Our truly free education from kindergarten to senior secondary school in all public schools has seen enrollment up by nearly 50 per cent,” he added.

Soludo also raised concerns about a growing culture among young people that glorifies unearned wealth, warning of its link to rising criminal activity. He said Anambra was “being overrun by a new and fastest-growing religion and philosophy amongst its youth that promised and celebrated wealth without work,” adding that the trend had “implications for criminality.”

He stressed that new legal measures were being enforced to tackle the issue. “With the enforcement of our Homeland Security Law 2025, ‘Oso Soludo’ is real.

“Hundreds of these dangerous native doctors are on the run. The poster boy of the new phenomenon, ‘Akwa Okuko Tiwara Aki’, has pleaded guilty and been sentenced to a jail term. His massive shrine has been destroyed as well.

“We are on a very serious crusade for ethical and cultural rebirth, going back to the roots of what made us great and unstoppable—values of enterprise and integrity, Akuluouno. That way, we can rescue our youth and secure the future away from drugs, cultism, magic, and criminality,” the governor said.

Soludo took the oath of office alongside his deputy, Onyekachukwu Ibezim, at about 11:05 a.m. The ceremony was conducted by the Chief Judge of the state, Onochie Anyachebelu, who administered both the oath of office and the oath of allegiance in line with the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.