By Christian ABURIME
In Governor Chukwuma Charles Soludo’s ₦757.9 billion “Changing Gears 3.0” budget, the Social Sector receives the second-highest percentage increase of all major sectors: a striking 31.4% over 2025. This is not charity dressed as policy.
It is the intentional, progressive heart of an administration whose party (APGA) was founded on the credo “Onye aghana nwanne ya” – be your brother’s and sister’s keeper.
While roads, industries, and innovation grab headlines, the 31.4% surge in social-sector funding is the quiet engine that will ensure Anambra’s growth is inclusive, sustainable, and human-centred.
It is proof that Governor Soludo’s vision of a “livable and prosperous homeland” is not just for the middle class and investors; it is for the woman in the village who has never seen a hospital, the hawker who pays no tax, and the child who would otherwise never step into a classroom.
Tens of thousands of poor rural and peri-urban households will receive 10-15 high-value economic trees (oil palm, coconut, ukwa, bitter kola, soursop, etc.) per family, plus starter fertiliser and extension support. In 2026, the programme will expand from the current coverage to every one of the 326 political wards.
There will be direct cash grants (₦100,000-₦500,000 range) to verified micro and small enterprises in all 326 wards, targeted at women, youth, and persons with disabilities.
This is not a one-off palliative; recipients will receive business training and will be linked to cooperative credit schemes.
The zero-tax policy for the informal sector will be continued and expanded. Petty traders, vulcanisers, wheelbarrow pushers, okada riders, and market women will remain completely exempted from every form of state and local government taxation and levies.
Enhanced support for the elderly and vulnerable will also be taken care of. This includes clearance of the final tranche of 17-year arrears owed to former Water Corporation workers; increased monthly stipends for the aged and indigent under the state’s social register; and expansion of the free healthcare package beyond antenatal/delivery to cover more chronic conditions for the poorest.
Under community social infrastructure, the government will continue co-funding with communities for town halls, civic centres, skills acquisition centres, and women/youth development hubs.
Full operationalisation of the Anambra State Social Protection Agency with a unified beneficiary register will built on the expanding Resident Identity database.
What will all these investments yield in terms of expected positive impact on state development? Poverty will reduce.
The combination of economic trees and direct grants will lift an estimated 100,000-150,000 households above the poverty line within 3-5 years through permanent income streams rather than temporary handouts.
By deliberately targeting every ward, the social-sector investments will slow down the chaotic urban migration that has been choking Awka and Onitsha-Nnewi while depopulating rural areas.
When the poorest citizens feel seen, protected, and empowered by their government, grievances that fuel crime and unrest evaporate. The 31.4% increase is therefore also an investment in sustained peace.
The millions of naira to be injected directly into the hands of micro-entrepreneurs will circulate immediately in local markets, boosting demand for goods and services and creating a virtuous cycle that benefits formal businesses as well.
In a Nigeria increasingly polarised by ethnicity and class, Anambra is doubling down on the philosophy that progress must be shared.
This reinforces the state’s unique social capital, the very reason Diaspora remittances and community self-help projects remain extraordinarily high.
Therefore, the 31.4% increase in the Social Sector is the moral compass of the 2026 budget. While the Economic Sector plants factories and the Infrastructure Sector lays tar and steel, the Social Sector ensures that no Anambra son or daughter is left behind in the march towards the future.
It is the difference between growth that only raises GDP and development that raises human dignity. In a society where the poor are too often treated as an afterthought, Governor Soludo has placed them at the very centre of his second-term agenda. That is not just good governance; it is visionary leadership rooted in compassion and love for the people
