Old Anambra State was created in 1976 from part of East Central State, and its capital was Enugu. A further re-organisation in 1991 divided Anambra into two states, Anambra and Enugu. The capital of Anambra is Awka.
The major urban centres of Anambra state are Onitsha including Okpoko, Nnewi, and Awka. Awka and Onitsha developed as pre-colonial urban centres with Awka as the craft industrial centre of the Nri hegemony,Over the last two decades the rural/urban exodus has caused a shift, making Anambra a highly urbanized state with 62% of its population living in urban areas. the APGA-led state government of Willie Obiano signed memorandum of understanding with Galway modular housing company, Affordable Building Concepts International for 10,000 housing units in the State.
Faced with decades of neglect and bad governance, the shift in human migration has posed problems to available infrastructural provision, environmental sanitation, erosion control and other social services. As a result, major cities have become characterized by inadequate and deteriorated road networks, walkways, unregulated building patterns, sanitation, uncontrolled street trading, mountains of garbage, and chaotic transport systems, creating congestion, noise pollution and overcrowding.
To address this situation, the government of Peter Obi with the assistance of the UN-HABITAT produced 20-year structural plans (2009–2028) for three major cities in the State, Onitsha, Nnewi and Awka Capital Territory to restore urban planning and guide their growth into the future.
The plans contain policies and proposals for land use, city beautification, road infrastructure, industrial development, housing, waste disposal, water supply and health and educational facilities to turn the cities into Anambra into successful urban areas to generate employment, wealth and provide high living standards for its residents.
Anambra became the first state in Nigeria to adopt Structural Plans for its cities and with effective implementation should systematically grow as a major economic center in Nigeria and West Africa,
Awka seat of Power
Prior to the Nigerian Civil War, Awka townspeople maintained the city on their own. Market traders cleaned around their stalls; streets and pathways and compounds were swept. Blocked storm drains would be cleared by residents.[6] Yet now Awka is often seen as the state capital with the worst infrastructure in Nigeria (a country sharing the same state of infrastructure) with less than 10% of its roads paved, inadequate storm drainage, poor public water supply, garbage dumped on the sides of roads and a nonexistent sewage system. This has been because Awka has suffered from decades of neglect and poor urban governance in Anambra State due to corruption and deception from many of state governors.
The first attempt to address the urban decay was made by the Government of Peter Obi who forged a technical cooperation agreement with UN-HABITAT in 2007 to provide technical assistance in the preparation of a structure plan for Awka Capital Territory. The Structural Plan of Awka Capital Territory (2009–2028) [7] is designed as a Core-Multi-Nuclei urban design with Awka, Amawbia and Umuokpu serving as the core of the city with linkages to the major towns of Adazi-Nnukwu, Agulu, Abba, Abagana, Agukwu-Nri, Amansea, Enugwu-Ukwu, Enugwu-Agidi, Isiagu, Isu-Aniocha, Mgbakwu, Nawfia, Nawgu, Nibo, Nimo, Nise, Okpuno and Umuawul

Governor Peter Obi implemented just a few of the UN-HABITAT’s recommendations managing to tar less than 5 kilometers of urban roads, improve waste collection and upgrade schools and the teaching hospital. His government also began installing water pipes along the popular Nnamdi Azikiwe Road and Ifite Road but he left office without providing a credible city-wide public water supply.

His successor Governor Willie Obiano has taken on the charge of transforming the ancient town into something the state can be proud of. To spearhead the transformation, Obiano created the Awka Capital Territory Development Authority (ACTDA) mandated to deliver a capital with modern standards of quality. ACTDA has completed aerial mapping in June 2015 with the government set to appoint a town planning firm to develop a Masterplan for the city.
Obiano has also gone ahead to change the gateway into and out of Awka by expanding the A232 expressway to three lanes and constructing three flyovers at three key junctions between Amobia and Amansea.
Awka has a large university community which at times comprises around 15% of the population of the town. It hosts two primary universities of higher/tertiary education – Nnamdi Azikiwe University and Paul University.
Nnamdi Azikiwe University is owned and run by the federal government of Nigeria providing undergraduate and postgraduate education to an estimated student population of 36,000 at its over 100 acre main campus located at Ifite, Awka. Nnamdi Azikiwe University ranks among the top 10 universities in Nigeria in research output.
Paul University was founded in 2009 by Bishops of the five ecclesiastical provinces of the Anglican Church East of the Niger as a private university to provide quality undergraduate training in Theology, Natural and Applied Sciences, Social Sciences and Management. The university which is fully residential has an estimated enrollment of around 400 students (expected to reach 3,500) and has replaced St Pauls university College which was founded in 1904 by the Church Missionary Society of the Church of England to train church workers and teachers

Written by:- Anambra1stson