Anambra State unveils initiative to restore Igbo values of integrity, hard work

The 11th Anambra State Executive Council meeting, held at the new Government House known as the Light House in Awka, has launched plans for the Anambra Rebirth Programme.

The initiative aimed to revive and reinforce core Igbo values of integrity and hard work across the state.

This is based on the Igbo saying: “Aka aja aja na-but onu mmanụ mmanụ,” meaning that happiness and success are based on hard work.

According to the State’s Commissioner for Information, Law Mefor, the ANSEC meeting held Monday, 16th June 2025, June 16, 2025, took the decision aimed at restoring the ethical rebirth of the core values that place a premium on hard work among the Igbo people, against the norms of earning free money without working, or through nefarious activities. The new programme is part of our government’s way of building a better homeland for all in Anambra State.

This follows after Governor Charles Soludo’s speech at the Platform in Lagos on Democracy Day, 12th June, where he spoke on the topic “Rebuilding The Nation,” among other guest speakers.

According to Governor Soludo, the culture that celebrates and expects something for nothing or wealth without work must give way to a culture that rewards and celebrates hard work, enterprise, and integrity.

The governor argued that there is a powerful connection between “freebies culture” and criminality and that beneficiaries of these crimes become lords of the manor, brandishing unexplainable wealth and phantom titles for validation while the society cheers in celebration.

He said institutions that underpin the new (magical) principles for wealth are booming, and they include native doctors, marabouts, and prosperity pastors promising a crown without the cross. “These merchants of wealth by magic deceive millions of youths to shun hard work, expecting free money. Also, a horde of youths throng into politics to loot and not to serve. Are these the youths to build the new Nigeria?” he asked.

To make progress, Governor Soludo remarked, “We must break this vicious ‘culture’ and intentionally promote ethical-value rebirth to build a progressive nation.

Also, the governor averred that the country’s leaders must uproot the debilitating culture of corruption and freebies (easy or free money) and the institutions that are weaponized to sustain them.