Anambra Set To Achieve MDGs In 2015

The Anambra State Commissioner for Economic Planning and Budget, Prof. Stella Okunna, has said that the state government is determined to achieve the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) in 2015.

Okunna told newsmen in Awka last Tuesday that the government was working with international agencies like the European Union, UNICEF, World Bank and UNDP to ensure that Anambra attained the goals.

The commissioner explained that the goals included the eradication of poverty, achieving universal education, promote gender equality, reduce infant mortality rate, improve maternal health, compact HIV and AIDS, malaria, improve water supply and develop partnership.

She explained that provisions of basic infrastructure was being given special attention by the state government, pointing out that the ministry of economic planning was working hard to put these efforts into reality.

“On Monday, the EU Ambassador to Nigeria came to see for himself what is going on in the state; he was overwhelmed on seeing some of the projects going on in the state as he toured the state with the governor,“ she said.

“The ministry of economic planning is in-charge of inter-agencies developmental projects in the state and it has achieved numerous project which run from the provision of instructional equipment to primary schools in 177 communities in the state.

“The provision of 100 buses, ICT equipment and generators in 100 secondary schools in the state, provision of medical equipment to hospitals, road construction, and the building of millennium health care centers are some of the projects executed,’’ she said.

The commissioner said the medium scale water schemes in Nnewi and Nimo were a scale up from short term water schemes that would cost N3 million for Nimo and N1.6 billion for other related projects already paid into dedicated accounts.

Okunna said that in 2011, about 1000 jobs would be created to give poverty a good fight and “I am very hopeful that the government will achieve the target’’.