By Christian ABURIME
Still fresh from his recent re-election, Governor Chukwuma Charles Soludo on Tuesday 25, November 2025, stood before the Anambra State House of Assembly to present the 2026 Budget of ₦757.9 billion that will herald his second term.
It is a significant 24% increase over the previous year and the most ambitious capital-heavy budget in the state’s recent history. Rightly tagged “Changing Gears 3.0: Solution Continues,” the proposal is more than a financial blueprint; it is an emphatic declaration that Anambra’s renaissance is now accelerating, not pausing at all.
Buoyed by an unprecedented 73% landslide re-election victory, the loudest democratic endorsement in the state’s history, Governor Soludo has turned the renewed mandate into rocket fuel. Where the first term laid unbreakable foundations, the second term promises to raise an entirely new skyline.
The numbers speak for themselves: 79% of the 2026 budget (₦595.3 billion) is devoted to capital projects, such as roads, bridges, new cities, schools, hospitals, digital hubs, and industrial zones, while recurrent spending is held to a disciplined 21%.
This 79:21 capital-to-recurrent ratio reaffirms Governor Soludo’s acclaimed fiscal prudence and proves a deliberate choice to build tomorrow rather than consume today. Duly rated on verifiable indices, Anambra now ranks number one in Nigeria for fiscal transparency and fiscal sustainability, proof that frugality and vision can co-exist.
Of course, ratings would be pointless without impact. In Anambra today, the physical transformation is already breathtaking. Over 900 kilometres of roads are under construction, 600 km already asphalted in just 44 months, an average of 14 km 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 100,000 visitors in its first three months. A 10-storey five-star hotel, a continental-scale shopping mall, Agulu Lake Beach Resort, and Awka City Park are all racing towards completion. Surely, the African Dubai-Taiwan-Silicon visualisation of Anambra is taking shape.
Yet, Governor Soludo’s vision goes far beyond concrete and steel, fun and fanfare. In education, the revolution is historic: 8,115 new teachers have been hired so far, public-school enrolment has gone up 47% in secondary and 27% 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 ₦1.2 billion monthly in salary support. In 2026, the state will build brand-new model primary schools in 30 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 161,197 women with zero maternal mortality, plus 594 free caesarean sections.
Four of the five new general hospitals have been commissioned in areas where there were none, 326 Primary Health Centres are being moderniaed with solar power and boreholes, a new Trauma Centre is completed, and an Oncology-specialist teaching hospital is on the way.
The youth are the beating heart of Governor Soludo’s Solution agenda. The One Youth, Two Skills programme has already graduated 13,300 “young millionaires.”
Nearly 100,000 youths have received digital training, and the iconic Solution Innovation District, Anambra’s own Silicon Valley, is nearing completion. In 2026, the programme will scale even further, consolidating Anambra’s place as Nigeria’s emerging tech-talent powerhouse.
Security, once a dark cloud over the state, has been banished. From the nightmare of 2021-2022, Anambra is now widely regarded as one of the safest, if not the safest, states in Nigeria.
Criminality, touting, and cultism have been met with zero tolerance, and normalcy has returned even to formerly troubled zones where unknown gunmen held sway.
Looking ahead, 2026 will see the commencement of the Anambra Mixed-Use Industrial City, the take-off of three new urban centres, namely Awka 2.0, Greater Niger, and the Aerotropolis/New Industrial-Commercial City, and 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: there is no room for excuses. Even with a volatile macroeconomic environment and a naira whose purchasing power has been battered by inflation, Anambra refuses to slow down.
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.
