The Anambra government on Thursday said it started implementing zero charges on Right of Way (RoW) per linear meter in the state.

Fred Agbata, the managing director of Anambra  State Information Communication Technology Agency, disclosed this at a media parley in Lagos.

Mr Agbata said, by implication, Anambra prided itself as the first state in the South-East to implement the waiver of the per linear meter RoW charges.

He said the National Economic Council had, in 2020, recommended N145 per linear meter RoW charge, a fee Anambra has now removed.

Right of Way (RoW) is the legal right, established by grant from a landowner or long usage, to pass along a specific route through property belonging to another.A similar right of access also exists on land held by a government, lands that are typically called public land, state land, or Crown land.

According to Mr Agbata, the move to forgo the RoW charge is in line with the ‘Everything Technology and Technology Everywhere’ vision of Governor Charles Soludo.

“The Anambra ICT agency is working in partnership with GICL to deploy about 200km of fibre optic cables. This is under the first phase of the Anambra digital adoption plan. This broadband initiative targets ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs) of the state government as well as schools and other clusters,” stated Mr Agbata.

He added, ‘’The state governor, Prof. Charles Soludo, has demonstrated huge interest in deploying modern strategies to eliminate bottlenecks to digital access, by reversing infrastructure decline in the state. Our partnership with GICL will boost WiFi hotspot rollout to government offices, schools and communities to diversify the economy, leveraging digital services for eGovernment, commerce, education and innovation.”

The implementation of the Right of Way charges removal by the Anambra government “is the first step to a digital economy that will encourage key investors, innovators, and businesses to the state,’’ Mr Agbata stressed.

He stressed that without connectivity, e-government programmes would become a mirage.

“Africa’s digital landscape is changing at a rapid rate and Anambra is no different. This connectivity achieved in this first phase will be used to power the governor’s lodge, and by extension, a local government and a university, as a pilot,” Mr Agbata explained.

He added that the agency had continued to standardise the state government’s digital assets by moving all government websites to www.anambrastate.gov.ng.

According to him, the agency has initiated a statewide migration of all government assets to the internet domain name anambrastate.gov.ng.

(NAN)