By Johnson Okoye
The recently released Q1 2025 capital importation report by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) is a clear and indisputable indictment of the abysmal performance of the Anambra State Government under the current administration.
Out of the entire 36 states of the federation, only six states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) received any form of foreign direct investment (FDI) in the first quarter of 2025. These are:
FCT – $3.05 billion
Lagos – $2.56 billion
Ogun – $7.95 million
Oyo – $7.81 million
Kaduna – $4.06 million
Kano – $117,000
Ekiti – $4,250
Anambra State received nothing. Zero. Not one cent.
This is not just a number. It is a clear message from the global investment community: Anambra is no longer seen as a safe or viable destination for investment.
A State Once Full of Promise, Now Sidelined
Anambra was once hailed as the gateway of commerce and industry in the South East — home to a vast pool of entrepreneurial talent, bustling markets, educated workforce, and strategic road and river networks. Today, under the present administration, Anambra has been reduced to a state of economic paralysis and political confusion.
The complete absence of foreign investment is symptomatic of deeper systemic failures.
1. Rising Insecurity and Lawlessness
No investor puts money where life and property are not safe.
For the past two years, insecurity has worsened in Anambra. Armed robbery, kidnapping, cult violence, and politically motivated attacks have become the norm. Entire communities live in fear, and businesses are being forced to shut down or relocate.
This government has no sustainable security strategy. Its response to violence has been reactionary, inconsistent, and politicized. The governor is quick to blame “unknown gunmen” and quicker to go silent when lives are lost.
Foreign investors are not blind. They read the news, they assess the risks. And clearly, they have concluded that Anambra is too dangerous to do business in.
2. Economic Mismanagement and Anti-Business Policies
Even beyond insecurity, the investment climate in Anambra is toxic. Instead of making life easier for businesses, this government has introduced aggressive taxation, harassment of traders, extortion by revenue agents, and a total lack of infrastructure support.
There is no functional investment promotion agency, no meaningful dialogue with the private sector, no visible plan for industrialization or economic growth. The government lacks the basic tools of modern governance: data-driven planning, transparency, and accountability.
The result is clear. Investors flee. Capital dries up. And unemployment soars.
3. Empty Rhetoric, No Results
Instead of facing these issues with honesty and courage, the governor has chosen a path of political distraction. In recent weeks, he has launched verbal attacks on political opponents, insulting those who dare to challenge his record.
But the facts are stubborn.
While his counterparts in Lagos, Ogun, and even Ekiti are attracting millions and building investor confidence, Anambra is sinking into irrelevance. The governor is not just presiding over failure. He is defending it with arrogance.
No amount of propaganda or press conferences can cover up this disaster. Governance is not about speaking good English. It is about delivering results, securing lives, attracting investment, and growing prosperity. On all these counts, the Anambra State Government has failed woefully.
A Call for New Leadership
The people of Anambra deserve better than empty speeches and photo-ops. They deserve a government that understands how to unlock the economic potential of the state — that knows how to attract investment, create jobs, secure lives, and restore the dignity of the people.
If in 2025, Anambra cannot appear on the investment map of Nigeria, then what exactly is the government doing?
The time has come for Ndi Anambra to demand answers. Not excuses. Not distractions. But real change. Bold, visionary, and competent leadership that will rescue our state from economic collapse and political decay.
Mr. Johnson Okoye, ACA writes from Abuja