In 2022, one of the earliest and boldest steps taken by Prof. Charles Chukwuma Soludo, CFR, was the removal of the Right of Way (RoW) charges for laying broadband fibre across Anambra State.

At the time, it may have seemed like a quiet policy move, but in reality, it laid the foundation for the state’s ongoing digital transformation journey.

The logic behind this move is simple but powerful. By waiving RoW charges, the administration sent a clear message to telecom operators, broadband providers, and investors: Anambra is open for digital business.

This single decision has paved the way for fibre-to-home deployment, the expansion of 5G infrastructure, and faster, more reliable internet across communities, ultimately boosting the ease of doing business.

Perhaps one of the most visible testaments to this visionary policy is the ongoing roll-out of the “Solution Free Wi-Fi” initiative, which is democratizing internet access for students, traders, civil servants, and everyday citizens, alongside the digitization of government processes that are making service delivery faster and more transparent.

Anambra is reaping the dividends of a forward-thinking approach.

What seemed impossible a few years ago is now a lived reality: Teachers are being equipped with digital tools, enhancing lesson delivery and preparing students for a technology-driven future.

Civil servants now work with smarter systems, making the civil service more efficient, transparent, and responsive to citizens, while young innovators are finding an enabling environment to create solutions and businesses that improve lives and shape the future.

What began as a policy shift has cascaded into practical, people-centred benefits that are redefining how Anambra learns, works, and governs.

This backbone is also unlocking new opportunities in telemedicine, e-learning, smart agriculture, and more. In short, the Soludo-led administration’s decision aligns perfectly with the governor’s vision of building a liveable and prosperous megacity, anchored on technology.

More notably, Anambra’s forward-thinking move aligns it with both national and global best practices. In Nigeria, states like Lagos, Ekiti and Kaduna that reduced or eliminated RoW fees saw significant surges in broadband penetration and digital services. Internationally, countries like Kenya and Rwanda demonstrate how lowering barriers for telecom operators fuels widespread connectivity, attracts investment, and spurs innovation.

Anambra’s decision places it firmly within this league of forward-looking regions, positioning the state as not just a beneficiary of technology but a driver of digital growth in Nigeria.

This is not just about cables in the ground, it’s about creating an ecosystem where technology thrives and opportunities multiply.

Anambra is proving that the future truly belongs to states that embrace technology not as a slogan, but as a strategy.

The state’s journey toward becoming a digital hub in Nigeria is still unfolding, but the foundation has been laid, strong and unshakable, by a single, daring choice.

The pledge was made when the Anambra State Disability Rights Commission (ADRC), in partnership with the Rule of Law and Anti-Corruption (RoLAC) programme, paid an advocacy visit to the Agency’s headquarters.

Managing Director/CEO of the ICT Agency, Chukwuemeka Fred Agbata, noted the Soludo administration’s determination to make governance work for all, including PWDs. 

He said intentional inclusion remains central to the Governor’s technology-driven vision for the state, adding that the Commission recently received a range of digital tools to enhance its productivity.

“Technology is only truly impactful when it works for everyone, regardless of physical ability. We are committed to removing digital barriers and making our platforms accessible to all residents of Anambra State,” Agbata said.

He also disclosed that the Agency will appoint a Disability Desk Officer, work with the Commission to ensure all government ICT platforms meet accessibility standards, and incorporate PWD-friendly features into ongoing upgrades of the SolutionLens feedback platform.

During the visit, ADRC’s Head of ICT, Bonaventure Umeokwonna, outlined the Commission’s priorities, while RoLAC representatives pledged continued support to build capacity and strengthen the policy framework for inclusion.

Valentine Nwachukwu, head of Planning, Research and Statistics at the Commission, gave the vote of thanks, commending the ICT Agency’s openness to collaboration.

The Anambra State ICT Agency continues to work closely with ministries, departments, and agencies to deepen digital transformation across the state, ensuring no segment of society is left behind.

There are high hopes for the possibility of Anambra citizens having access to the St​ate Laws and other legislative instruments digitally, as the Anambra State ICT Agency on Friday took its digitization drive to the State House of Assembly.

The ICT Agency’s delegation led by Chukwuemeka Fred Agbata, the Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, met with Mr. Somto Udeze, the Speaker of the House, and Mr. Ikenna Ofodeme the majority leader.

The strategic meeting provided the platform for the ICT agency to unveil its plans for the digitization of the State legislative processes and to seek the collaboration of the House to bring them to fruition.

Addressing the legislators, the MD/CEO of Anambra ICT Agency, congratulated Udeze on his emergence as the speaker of the 8th Assembly in the state, adding that the visit aimed to express the support of the agency for his regime as speaker and to seek new areas of collaboration.

He said since Mr Governor, Prof Chukwuma Soludo, assumed office and kick-started the ‘Everything Technology and Technology Everywhere’ vision, the ICT agency had taken various initiatives aimed at bringing all arms of the government on board the vision.

CFA explained that the visit to the House is critical because of how strategic its entire processes are to the effective functioning of the machinery of governance in the state. 

“As an agency with the mandate of government to drive the governor’s digitization vision, we have identified areas of improvement in the online presence of the House. We want to see how we can ensure that proceedings of the House are digitized to enable constituents of the various members of the House, have a feel of the efforts of their representatives here at the floor of the House.

“Lagos State House of Assembly has a portal for the House, with pages for the members, where their works, the Bills they have sponsored and things like that are captured for easy access by the constituents. This is a positive model we can borrow as a forward-looking state.

“We also want to get the members of the State House a dormain name and email addresses, to ease communication among the legislators. In the state civil service, what the agency has done is to move all civil servants under the same domain name; anambra.gov.ng.

“That is what we want to do here as a way of ensuring data on the state are centralized so that we end the era of data loss as a result of hiring of private consultants to do the work of data collection and processing.

“We are also looking to see how we can work with the House to reproduce all the laws and bye-laws of the state in digital formats, so that in the event of any mishap, we will not be losing so much, as they must have been backed up in the cloud.

“We are also doing citizens’ engagement, working on series of platforms to see that Anambra people are in the know as to all the projects the government is doing and be able to verify that. We are seeing how we can interface with Google map to give real time data on some of the projects.

“We are also working with the Budget and Economic Planning to automate the 2024 Budget and we are hoping that the next budget will be an automated one, albeit with a physical copy.

“These are all we want to see how we can collaborate with the House to ensure their realization. It’s one Anambra and Mr Governor has that vision of a liveable and prosperous smart city and as an agency, we are playing our part effectively but we need every support we can get,” Agbata explained.

On his part, the Tech Partnership and Digital Investment Lead in the State ICT, Jude Emesim emphasized the Citizens’ engagement initiative, which he said, will allow constituents’ inputs in the legislative processes is unfettered.

This he also pointed out, will help bridge the gap between the elected members and the constituents.

Responding, the Speaker of the House, Right Hon Udeze said the 8th Assembly under his watch is committed to doing things differently in line with the governor’s vision for the state.

According to him, Mr Governor’s vision of disruptive change is what is driving his exploits at the House, because he strongly believes that things must change, if the state must progress.

The speaker acknowledged that the ICT Agency’s plans to bring ICT into the state legislative processes is what the House has been yearning for.

“We are however, constrained by a major challenge to the digitization process- finance.

“It is regrettable that everything done in the House is still in the analogue compared to other states nearby. I also recognize the fact that it is not the fault of the assembly but the system of governance adopted by previous administrations.

“That is why I want to assure you that the 8th Assembly will embrace technology to ease its processes and ensure it is effective in fulfilling its obligations as an arm of government,” he said.

Right Hon Udeze opined that documentation of the state laws in digital format will give the people access, reduce duplication of legislative efforts and ensure absence of conflict of motions and laws.

He said; “I will write to the Commissioner for justice to know where the state stopped in terms of gazetting laws so that it can be followed up.

“Also, inability to automate the state budgetary processes has caused so much problems for the state, especially during the last administration of Governor Willie Obiano.

“I therefore endorse that the Executive, Legislature and the Judiciary needs to deploy technology to manage its operations.

“This should also reflect in the revenue collection processes of the state to ensure that government monies come into the coffers of the state government.”

Contributing, the majority leader of the House, Hon Ofodeme commended the MD/CEO of the State ICT Agency, saying “I know he always project things that are very hard but they are quite gainful things.

“We are open to innovations and technology and the area your agency is handling will touch all aspects of the state economy.

“I am happy we have Mr Speaker who is very thorough about everything and will think things through and I assure you that he will endorse any positive engagement that will yield in the best interest of Anambra people.

“I also encourage you to look deep into how we can use technology to address the security challenges in the state, to see how the government can start helping the security agents in the area of tracking.”

The workshop, which was held at the Agency’s conference room, at the State Government House, Awka, was designed to empower participants with the fundamental digital skills they need to succeed in the rapidly evolving technological space. 

The participants, who were representatives of various civil society organizations from across the state, were taken through series of interactions, presentations, and hands-on sessions designed to enhance their digital proficiency and promote effective utilization of online resources.

In his opening remarks, Chukwuemeka Fred Agbata, the MD/CEO Anambra State ICT Agency, disclosed that this idea stemmed from his operational background as a journalist, Techpreneur and start-ups supporter, noting that one of the platforms that helped him then was Wikipedia

 “The reason for this event is because of our strong belief that the South East needs a stronger voice on Wikipedia.

“Wikimedia Nigeria User Group is a very powerful network and I am even more glad that they have an Anambra network. Leveraging the platform can do a lot of wonders in promoting brands’ visibility in unimaginable ways.

“If we do not tell our stories, nobody will. We have lots of successful people in various fields of expertise in Anambra but they are not well known. Instead, what thrives in the digital space, are few negative stories that account for less than 20 percent of things that happen in the state.

“That is why we must not allow them tell our stories.

“I hope that the participants will gain a lot of knowledge that they can use to propagate the works they are doing. One of the good things about Wikipedia is that once your platform is indexed, it puts you on the world map and I thank the Wikimedia group who are here to guide us on how best to put these articles out there

“Tech isn’t just about Lagos, other places need to be abreast with this knowledge and I hope that they are able to use this knowledge accordingly.

“We have it as a duty to jointly support Mr Governor, Prof Charles Chukwuma Soludo, to make Anambra a livable and prosperous state. 

“So, I encourage the CSOs to work with us, collaborate with us and let’s make a difference,” he said.

On her part, the Head, Wikimedia User Group, Anambra Network, Dr. Ngozi Osuchukwu, explained that the training will amongst other things, provide the right visibility which will in turn, create possibilities for great partnerships that will enhance the diverse developments that the Civil Society Organizations are carrying out in their various communities.

“Civil Society Organizations in Anambra are doing a lot of work in their communities but these works and their impacts are not out there. Hence our decision to partner with the State ICT Agency to ensure that we start telling our stories right like our counterparts in the western part of the country,” she said.

Dr. Osuchukwu also stressed that with Wikimedia platforms, enhances research spirit.

“Anyone can freely edit Wikipedia articles following the allowed guidelines

“By updating existing articles on Wikipedia with factual and referential information, you not only contribute to the encyclopedia of knowledge but also create opportunities for grants and scholarship opportunities” she added  

Dr Osuchukwudescribed the partnership with the state ICT Agency, as quite rewarding especially in engendering effective uptake of technology in the work they are doing.

Key highlights of the event included tips on internet safety, content creation using AI tools as well as free editing procedures on Wikipedia to boost wealth creation.

The training was organized in conjunction with the State Ministry of Information, PA-CENT Technologies and Bonitas Technologies.

A brainchild of a media parley the practitioners had earlier last month with Chukwuemeka Fred Agbata, the MD/CEO Anambra State ICT Agency, the train aligns with the ‘Everything Technology And Everywhere Technology’ vision of Governor Charles Chukwuma Soludo.

It featured explosive sessions on Use Modern Media And Productivity Tools, Use of Artificial Intelligence for Content Creation and Personal Digital Assistance.

In an opening remark, Chukwuemeka Fred Agbata, CFA, the Managing Director/ Chief Executive Officer, Anambra State ICT Agency, explained that the training became important to scale up the knowledge base of the journalists to be better equipped in the area of technology and be able to deploy the knowledge to improve their work.

Agbata, who spoke through his Technical Assistant, Mr. Sunday Folayan, reminded the journalists that the difference between successful and unsuccessful practitioners is the quality of knowledge, saying the State ICT Agency is poised to avail them every required assistance they need to leverage technology to develop themselves.

“Training is passed from generation to generation but as it makes you better, it makes your competitors better too. The question is who gets better.

“I encourage journalists to maximize the use of training to increase their knowledge of ICT so as to improve their works.

“The MD/CEO, Anambra ICT Agency, who believes so much in the vision of Mr. Governor that everything in the state must have a touch of technology and technology must be seen in everything, will ensure that the ICT agency will be available to follow up the trainees and that the knowledge garnered is well internalized and deployed to make their works better,” Folayan said on behalf of CFA.

The State Commissioner for Information, Sir Paul Nwosu who was represented by the Director for Information, Mr. Emma Ikegwuani, in his remarks hailed Governor Soludo for his technological strides in the state.

In his words; “We appreciate Governor Soludo because prior to his administration, we have not seen this kind of digital revolution.

“Our job as the State Ministry of Information is to reach Ndi Anambra and let them know what the government is doing. It takes time to review news same day and forward it to sources we feed because of the number but with the new ideas exposed to us in this workshop, leveraging technology, we can better deliver on our mandate and reach Ndi Anambra timely too.”

The CEO of PA-CENT Technologies, Dr. Ikechukwu Umeh in his remarks, said the training brings to the fore, the need for participants to understand that times have changed and it has become imperative to stay updated and be ready to adapt to merging technological trends that will make their work seamless. 

Mr. Somto Mezie-Okoye, of the Bonitas Technologies, in his goodwill message, stressed as an outstanding collaborator with ICT Agency, they are supporting the initiative, in engendering an upscale on the journalists’ skills.

“We are committed to helping the ICT Agency and the state government achieve its mantra of technology everywhere and everything technology across sectors in the state like we are doing today with the media

“Knowledge is not a one-off thing. It is a process so be sure to own what you learned today,” he said.

In his contribution, the Personal Assistant and Media Head for Nnewi South LGA, Dr. Orji Chukwudalu commended Governor Soludo, the Anambra ICT Agency and their partners for opening their eyes to some of the best ways to work especially when deadlines need to be met.

“I am particularly grateful for the knowledge garnered on Artificial intelligence and proof reading. I will be able to handle deliverables on prompt,” he added.

For Mr. Okechukwu Nwachinemelu, who also spoke on behalf of the participants from the Ministry of Information, they are appreciative to Mr. Governor for underscoring the need to digitize the state workforce and for the kind of work they do at the state ministry, they can now deliver faster.

The governor he said has given them computers and the knowledge will further expand their horizon on the deployment of digital tools.

In a vote of thanks on behalf of the Agency, the Tech Partnership and Digital Investment Lead, Mr. Jude Emesim praised Governor Soludo for his visionary leadership towards ensuring that the state is up-to-date with global trends, as technology is the new order.

“Many thanks to the solution Governor for not only providing the civil servants with digital tools but allowing them access more trending ways for doing their job especially leveraging AI technology.

“AI will not take people’s jobs from them; what will take their jobs from them is if they do not leverage AI to do their jobs more effectively,” he concluded.

The training which is the first batch in the series, also featured practical session where the media professionals worked with some modern media tools, as well as provided opportunity for them to ask questions and get responses on grey areas of such digital tools.

These modern and state-of-the-art laptops and computers were purchased by the State government following the result of a baseline survey on the availability of work tools to State Ministries, Departments, and Agencies.

The discovery exposed a dire shortage of work tools to the workforce in the State.

Speaking at the event which took place at the SSG Conference Hall, Awka, the Secretary to the State Government, Prof Solo Chukwulobelu, who represented Governor Soludo, said that the government is passionate about efficient and effective service delivery.

He added that “E-Government is here and we are happy to be championing this noble cause.” The digital stride showcased is a continuation of a journey that began three years ago under the previous administration, which necessitated the establishment of the State ICT Agency to further drive digital advancements in the state.

Barr. Theodora Igwegbe, the Head of Service who was also present at the event, commended Governor Soludo for spearheading and providing the opportunity to transition to E-service as contained in the new public service rule.

She emphasized the opportunities that abound for civil servants as they commence work with the digital tools, including streamlining of work processes, time management, automation of routine tasks, faster and more responsive service delivery, transparency and overall efficiency.

Mr. Chukwuemeka Fred Agbata (CFA), the Anambra State ICT Agency MD/CEO, under whose domain the entire event was organized,in his opening remarks applauded Governor Soludo for approving the purchase of 200 latest generation and state-of-the-art computers worth over a hundred million naira for distribution to the State MDAs.

He described the Governor’s action as a clear confirmation of his resolve to digitize work processes in Anambra and firmly establish e-governance in the State. 

“Government all over the world rely heavily on technology to advance their work and Anambra as an ‘A’ state must not fall behind” CFA added

With the digital strides being made in Anambra, it is evident that Governor Soludo’s vision for a digitally sound state is gradually becoming a reality.

The Anambra State ICT Agency is keeping up with its mandate and playing a crucial role in driving this transformation.

Also, civil servants are being encouraged to leverage on these digital tools to enhance efficiency and further develop themselves at every opportunity that presents itself.

Some purported challenges such as security of the computers, effective skill and training for the civil servants, protection of sensitive data, and other related concerns raised by the Head of Service have been taken into consideration and adequate remediation have been proffered, some of which have been provided in the Policy Document which civil servants are encouraged to be abreast with.

The Anambra State Government is committed to this lofty initiative and is determined to make the state a digital hub for all kinds of technological advancements with the empowerment of the State ICT Agency. 

“Plans are in top gear to transform the government house as we know it now into a Silicon Valley, a hub for all kinds technological advancements in the state such that within two years from now, Anambra State must have overtaken other states digitally with the civil service is at the center of it”.

The ICT Boss also revealed that following the distribution of the PCs, to further enhance productivity, high-speed internet access would be made available across all the MDAs in no distant time. “These and more I cannot mention are part of the fast paced and blossoming digital strides of Governor Soludo” he said.

This is a call to well-meaning Ndi Anambra across the globe to approach the ICT Agency with proposals for partnership with the State Government’s vision for a smart mega State.

This initiative, which will run in batches of three months, six months, and one year respectively, is designed to foster human capital development in the field of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) which is paramount to Governor Soludo’s transformational Agenda.

During the weekly stand-up meeting with the members and staff of the Agency at the Government House, Awka, Chukwuemeka Fred Agbata, the MD/CEO, Anambra State ICT Agency,  emphasized that the initiative is intended to provide hands-on experience to young undergraduates, young professionals, and recent graduates in Computer Science, Engineering, or indeed any other field, as long as they have the passion to learn and push themselves.

The program aims to expose the interns to the day-to-day operations of the Agency as well as pair the high-flyers with seasoned professionals, thus ultimately allowing them to participate in real-world projects.

All of these would ensure that the interns are equipped with practical skills and experiences that will make them employable in the tech industry.

According to the MD/CEO, interested applicants will be required to complete an online form, and those who meet the outlined criteria will be shortlisted and contacted accordingly. Interested partners and mentors can email ict.partners@anambrastate.gov.ng!

For further details, contact Anambra State ICT Agency by visiting here.