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By Madu Obi Anambra State governor, Professor Chukwuma Soludo was full of excitement after experiencing heavy traffic in the commercial city of Onitsha on Monday for the first time after many years of Monday sit at home in the state. The governor banned the sit at home across Anambra State early this year and threatened to sanction traders and transport operators who usually close their shops on Mondays over alleged insecurity after he officially banned it. Soludo, who was a guest at the Delta State economic summit, said he was happy that the business climate in the state has greatly improved after his administration's decisive action. On arrival in Asaba for the summit, the governor apologized for being 15 minutes late to the function because he was stuck in traffic in Onitsha. "Today is Monday, and experiencing traffic in Onitsha on a Monday can only mean one thing: the Monday sit-at-home is over", the governor said. Soludo also spoke on the need for Nigerians to patronize locally made products, arguing that it would boost the country's economy. "We cannot create the jobs we desire if we continue patronizing foreign and imported goods. I am wearing Akwete fabric. My daughter introduced it to me in 2019, and it has since become my daily uniform. "I understand that this choice has boosted both the employment and income of the women weavers in Akwete. I also learned that the First Lady recently announced a N2 billion donation to the community to scale up production, promising to wear the fabric at her inauguration. "If all of us commit to wearing only Made-in-Nigeria goods, more than ten million jobs will be created. We cannot create the kind of jobs we want with all of us using foreign or imported goods. "I look In this room, and I see suits from Europe, America, and China. If all us 247 million Nigerians wear only Made-in-Nigeria, more than 10 million jobs will be created."

By Daniel Ezeigwe When Dr. Nonye Soludo marks her 56th birthday, it will be tempting to reduce the moment to the usual pleasantries reserved for the wives of powerful men. That would miss the whole story entirely. Born on July 31, 1970, in Isuofia, Aguata Local Government Area of Anambra State, into a family of renowned educators, Nonye Frances Soludo built an identity long before she became Nigeria's most talked-about First Lady. A computer scientist by training from the prestigious University of Nigeria, Nsukka, and later a finance graduate of the University of Westminster, she was, in her own right, an entrepreneur who set up one of the earliest ICT training centres on a Nigerian university campus. That early instinct, to build something useful rather than wait to be handed a title, is the thread that runs through everything she has done since becoming Anambra's First Lady in March 2022. The "secret," if it can be called that, is not mysterious at all: it is consistency. Since her husband, Professor Chukwuma Soludo, took office, Mrs. Soludo has poured her energy into a single, coherent cause rather than scattering her platform across disconnected charity photo-ops. Her "Healthy Living with Nonye Soludo" initiative is built around preventive healthcare, nutrition, physical fitness, and environmental sanitation, and she has made a point of practicing what she preaches. She keeps and tends her own vegetable garden at the Light House, the Anambra State government house in Awka, and speaks often about the satisfaction of harvesting what she grows. It is this refusal to treat wellness as an abstract campaign slogan — choosing instead to model it in her own daily habits — that has made her message land differently than the ceremonial advocacy Nigerians have grown used to from public office holders' spouses. That authenticity is precisely why people notice how youthful she looks at 56. It is not an accident or good genetics alone; it is the visible dividend of a lifestyle she has committed to publicly and privately: home-grown, organic produce over processed alternatives, regular physical activity, and a documented preference for clean, sustainable living over convenience. Her advocacy for organic farming and against genetically modified produce is not just a policy position — it doubles as a personal regimen, and the results are the best advertisement her initiative could ask for. In a culture where the pressures of public life often visibly age those who serve in it, Mrs. Soludo's evident vitality has become part of her persuasive power, lending her health message a credibility that no slogan could manufacture on its own. The impact of that movement now extends well beyond Awka. The Healthy Living Garden Project has been replicated in schools and local government areas across the state, and her leadership on maternal and child health earned her national recognition, including the First Lady of the Year honor for Healthcare and Child Support at the Nigerian Humanitarian Awards. Ordinary Anambrans have taken to calling her "Mama Anambra," a nickname that speaks to something rarer than admiration from a distance — genuine familiarity. She is described repeatedly, by residents and observers alike, as approachable and unpretentious, someone who shows up rather than one who merely funds and delegates. Perhaps her most lasting contribution, though, is how she has quietly rewritten what the office of "First Lady" is allowed to mean in Nigeria. For decades, the role was largely ceremonial: ribbon-cutting, pageantry, and proximity to power without a defined public mandate. Mrs. Soludo has treated it instead as a functioning platform for public health policy, environmental stewardship, and community-level change — evidence-based, measurable, and sustained rather than symbolic. At 56, she is not simply aging gracefully in the public eye; she is demonstrating, in real time, that a First Lady's influence can be built on substance rather than spectacle — a template other states may find hard to ignore.

By Madu Obi The national coordinator of the Inspector-General of Police’s Campaign Against Cultism and Other Vices (POCACOV), SP Orvenonne Ikwen has reaffirmed the IGP’s commitment to preventive policing across the country. Speaking at the stakeholders interactive session in Awka as part of activities to create awareness about the body, Ikwem said it is a proactive strategy for reducing crime by addressing its root causes through advocacy, mentorship, value reorientation, and community collaboration. The exercise is part of ongoing efforts by the Police to strengthen preventive policing through strategic partnerships, youth engagement, and community participation. The event brought together government officials, traditional rulers, religious leaders, youth groups, security agencies, educational institutions, civil society organisations, community leaders, and other critical stakeholders who deliberated on sustainable approaches to addressing cultism, substance abuse, cybercrime, and other social vices. Essentially, the event featured open engagements on practical strategies to prevent youth involvement in crime, strengthen community resilience, and enhance collaboration between the Police and the public. To achieve the desired result, the coordinator approved the opening of POCACOV club in schools across Anambra State and urged stakeholders to take ownership of the campaign and guide young people towards productive ventures and responsible citizenship. Addressing the gathering, the state Police Public Relations Officer SP Tochukwu Ikenga, who spoke on behalf of the Anambra Police Command, stressed that effective security is a shared responsibility requiring the active support of every segment of the society. According to him, the Command remains committed to fostering stronger partnerships with communities in promoting peace, safety, and sustainable development. There were also goodwill messages from the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC), Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS), Traditional Rulers Council, leaders of women groups, among others.