Governor Chukwuma Soludo on Tuesday last week presented the 2026 Budget of seven hundred and fifty-seven point nine billion naira that will herald his second term. It is a significant twenty-four per cent increase over the previous year and the most ambitious capital-heavy budget in the state’s recent history. Rightly tagged “Changing Gears three point zero: Solution Continues,” the proposal is more than a financial blueprint; it is an emphatic declaration that Anambra’s renaissance is now accelerating.
According to the budget, seventy-nine per cent of the 2026 budget which is five hundred and ninety-five point three billion naira, is devoted to capital projects, such as roads, bridges, new cities, schools, hospitals, digital hubs, and industrial zones, while recurrent spending is twenty-one per cent. This seventy nine to twenty one capital-to-recurrent ratio reaffirms Governor Soludo’s acclaimed fiscal prudence and proves a deliberate choice to build tomorrow rather than consume today.
In Anambra today, the physical transformation is very outstanding. Over nine hundred kilometres of roads are under construction, six hundred kilometre already asphalted in just forty-four months, an average of fourteen kilometre of brand-new, high-quality roads every month. Eight bridges, the iconic Aroma Link Bridge, the completed Ekwulobia Flyover, and the new ‘Light House’ Government House and Governor’s Lodge have ended decades of infrastructural deficit.
The Solution Fun City, now West Africa’s largest leisure and entertainment complex in Awka, welcomed over one hundred thousand visitors in its first three months. A ten-storey five-star hotel, a continental-scale shopping mall, Agulu Lake Beach Resort and Awka City Park are all advancing towards completion.
In education, the revolution is historic as eight thousand one hundred and fifteen new teachers have been hired so far, public-school enrolment has gone up forty-seven per cent in secondary and twenty-seven per cent in primary and Anambra now boasts the lowest out-of-school-children rate in Nigeria. Twenty-two smart schools are fully operational, public schools are sweeping national awards and mission schools receive over one point two billion naira monthly in salary support. In 2026, the state will build brand-new model primary schools in thirty communities that have never had one and establish two new specialist tertiary institutions.
Healthcare tells a similar story of compassion and competence. Ndi Anambra have enjoyed free antenatal care and delivery for one hundred and sixty-one thousand, one hundred and ninety-seven women with zero maternal mortality, plus five hundred and ninety four free caesarean sections. Four of the five new general hospitals have been commissioned in areas where there were none, three hundred and twenty-six Primary Health Centres are being modernised with solar power and boreholes, a new Trauma Centre is completed, and an Oncology-specialist teaching hospital is on the way.
The One Youth, Two Skills programme has already graduated thirteen thousand three hundred “young millionaires.” Nearly one hundred thousand youths have received digital training, and the iconic Solution Innovation District, Anambra’s own Silicon Valley, is nearing completion.
Insecurity, has been banished. Anambra is now widely regarded as one of the safest, if not the safest, states in Nigeria.
Looking ahead, 2026 will see the commencement of the Anambra Mixed-Use Industrial City, the take-off of three new urban centres, as well as the aggressive pursuit of PPP funding for the state’s Rail Masterplan. Clean water schemes will expand, the Anambra Electricity Market will open to massive private investment, and tens of thousands of poor households will receive free high-value economic seedlings and micro-grants.
Thus, going by his 2026 budget proposal, Governor Soludo’s message is crystal clear: every kobo will be accounted for, every project will be executed with speed and excellence and every community, urban or rural, rich or poor, will feel the touch of progress.
Anambra State is no longer just rising. Right under Governor Chukwuma Soludo’s focused, disciplined, and intentional leadership, it is sprinting towards its destiny as a livable, prosperous, smart mega city that will make every Ndi Anambra’s son and daughter proud.
Yes, the Solution continues. Truly, the journey is accelerating. And the best, as the Governor promised, is yet to come.
