By Kingsley Ubani
First, let me humbly explain what I meant by Legacy. A legacy is what stands a leader out amongst his peers. From Dr Chinwoke Mbadinuju to Chief Willie Obiano, each person that has governed Anambra has left a legacy, which seals their place in the hearts of the people, beyond their days in office. The bench mark of a legacy is in its capacity to impact on all citizens, and not just a few beneficiaries.
Late Chinwoke Mbadinuju did some work, but incessant workers strikes and non-payment of salaries did not give him the best legacy. Even with that, Odera as he was fondly called had an edge in Security. Chris Ngige spent just three years in office, but managed to leave a legacy of solid road construction. Peter Obi came, and left a legacy in Education and also Healthcare. Obiano who happened to be the Governor whom I have criticized most, left a legacy in Worker’s Welfare and Empowerment. Today, it is Professor Soludo’s time, but sadly nearly four years in office, the Professor is not building any legacy. You may say he still has time, Ngige did it within three years. A legacy is built through a dedicated, gradual process.
I know some of you may say that Soludo is working and doing some infrastructure. However, Oluatuegwu as some of his supporters call him, is majoring on the easier part of governance. For some of us, who see beyond the distractions, the supposed fearless worker, has carefully avoided areas that could politically advance the state. I will highlight some of these areas, as we progress.
I believe that Prof Soludo will be hurting himself if he continues in the direction of trying to make a legacy out of road construction and infrastructure. It belongs to someone else. He can’t make a legacy out of Education, Peter Obi already did the hard Job there. Obi who met our public schools in shamble, lifted it to become the best in the country. The Professor cannot also build on Worker’s Welfare. Chief Willie Obiano had that covered, he was nicknamed Alert Governor for a reason, he was a proper welfare governor. Prof Soludo is a researcher, he should know that the failure to develop a new system or approach to solve a research problem, will deliver a system, lacking in innovation.
It was not easy for an embattled Ngige to do solid roads, yet he did it! It was not easy for Peter Obi to revolutionize our education system and return some public schools to the missions, yet he delivered. Which uneasy move has the Professor made? Addressing the aforementioned question, will define his legacy!
While some see me as an unrepentant critic of Professor Chukwuma Soludo, this is actually not the case. You may not believe me, but Chukwuma Soludo, CFR, used to be my friend but that was when he was a Professor. Since my friend and governor lost his academic gown in the political battle field, our friendship rocked the boat.
How was I, and Prof Soludo friends. I have never really met Professor Soludo in person but I was strongly connected to him, through his political and economic pieces and speeches. Hate him or love him, Soludo is unequivocally gifted with both oratory and writing skills. The Professor is a fantastic writer and eloquent speaker. I used to read him a lot because of the richness of his pieces. Sincerely, before politics came in between our once cherished friendship, when Prof Soludo writes, I, Kingsley Ubani stands still.
So what really happened? How did I suddenly turn against my friend. It’s a long story. But let me begin by saying that during the days our friendship blossomed, I sent Prof Soludo a personal message on WhatsApp, appealing to him not to fail the academic community, which I belonged to. I told Prof, that if he fails, it will surely make it harder for Professors and those in the Academic field to attain the height he attained. If a TRADER came and made traders proud, a Professor who happens to be my senior colleague, should be above board. I will post the full piece of my WhatsApp post to Professor Soludo on my facebook page, shortly after I publish this piece.
My pain is that there are so many virgin areas of governance where Professor Soludo can build his legacies on. But the acclaimed Oluatuegwu is running away from real work, and has intentionally dwelled on the easy part of governance. The uneasy parts of governance are areas where jinxes are to be broken for the sake of our dear state. These areas include, Transparency in Government, Environment, Rule of Law, Institution Building and Legislative Independence, Credible LGA elections and efficient local government administration, Housing and more, but as it stands today, even though Professor Soludo has sustained some of the legacies of his predecessors, he is yet to break any jinx!
I vividly recall when the Professor was running for office, a group of young minds came together under the auspices of Youth Earnestly Seeking Soludo (YESS). I had thought that such a group would have blossomed to become a leading platform for trackable and sustainable Youth Development and Empowerment unlike the recent ONE YOUTH, TWO SKILLS “ABRACADABRA”, but sadly this was not the case. I have sadly observed that some members of the group have left the country and state, and the Covener of the group, the Governor’s SA on Youth Empowerment, who happens to be my good friend, posts more about family, religious and umunna village meetings, than Youth Empowerment activities and opportunities. Signalling the lack of activities in his office which should have been one of the busiest in any serious government. I can only commiserate with him!
Furthermore, in search of relevance, some members of YESS, have been forced to become Media Warriors of the Professor. They don’t only defend the Professor or brutally attack real and perceived enemies of their leader, they sometimes also have to defend the son of the Professor.
If Professor Soludo was Governor Monday of Edo State, “Governor wey dey enter gutter” according to his hype men, I would not have been writing this stressful tales l write, I would have simply understood his limitations, but this is Professor Chukwuma Soludo, Professor of Economics, former CBN Governor, world renowned economic Caesar. For the Professor, knowledge is not the issue, it is clearly a case of insincerity. Soludo’s government lacks sincerity of purpose, which has not made his government as revolutionary, as some of us expected.
Building Solution fruit market, Solution Park, Solution Trauma Centre, Solution Fun City and other Solution this and that, is not that special. It’s at best, avenues to retire public funds. Edo State’s Governor-wey dey enter gutter, even with his controversial O’level results, can also do that and even better. If Obi and Obiano are not remembered by their flyovers and airport, Ekwulobia flyover and Fun City will not give Mr Governor a legacy.
Part of the issues I have with the Governor, is that in 2024, Professor Soludo conducted a sham in the name of local government elections, this made me write a lengthy open letter to the governor published on 1st, October 2024, condemning the charade. While the announcement of the long awaited LGA elections excited many, including myself. Little did we know that, the Professor we elected has become a dangerous politician. In that election, Prof once again showed that he has lost his academic gown in the political battle field. To this end, anywhere I see or read the Professor make his usual statement that he is not a politician, I usually arrive there with the speed of a Ferrari to dismantle the lie. It takes an interest driven politician to hatch plans, as Soludo has done, to build a second airport in a financially struggling state like ours, simply because the first one, is not at his doorstep.
To further prove that Professor Soludo is more a politician that the average politician, let me first define politics, politics can simply be defined as the prioritisation of interests, personal, collective or both. A politician basically factors his interest while making decisions. This was what Professor Soludo did when he conducted that shameful LGA elections that produced his anointed candidates, a case of choosing short term victory over long term glory. Also, when it was time to conduct the Anambra South Senatorial Primaries, the learned Prof again showed his intellectual prowess, introducing a personal interest driven innovative primary election process, called the CONCLAVE, a move that ensured that his anointed one again, emerged. I’m sure that in the near future, if the conclave approach fails to address his interests, the Professor will again shift the goal post and return with a more mesmerizing grammar than the word “Conclave”!
In another move towards protection of his interests and continuous show of his newly gained political prowess, Soludo who failed to fully digitize revenue collection as promised, did not fail to show his money-backed political force in the infamous August 16 By-elections or “Buy” election as I call it, held in Onitsha North I constituency and Anambra South Senatorial District.
In the election which had a widow as one of the casualties, Professor’s APGA showed why the party jettisoned the full digitisation of revenue collection. During the By-elections, APGA agents were so incredibly cash loaded, that they became the highest bidders in the business of vote buying, and for the first time since democracy, votes were sold and bought for as high as N20,000, and sadly our Professor of Economics led this ugly economic damaging onslaught which was obviously at the detriment of our treasury! As we humbly approach November 8, I know the Professor will deliver another state of the art, cash-sharing economic invention, perhaps the first of its kind, in our polling units.
Revelations from a suspended state assembly member, the courageous, Hon Bernard Udemezue popularly called Isi Enyi. Ayamelum state constituency representative, showed that the Professor is enjoying how dependent the state legislative arm of government which should be a learning ground for political leaders, is on him. He would rather repaint, rename and rebrand existing projects, such as the Federal Rehabilitation Centre Nibo to his political moniker, Solution Rehabilitation Centre, than takes steps that will improve the independence of other arms of government.
I have no memory of Professor Soludo in any gathering of lawyers or Judges in the state since he assumed office. To be sure, I had to do a quick google search of Soludo, Judges and Lawyers, and it appears that the Governor’s relationship with the state Judicial arm, starts and ends with swearing-in ceremonies.
However, part of Soludo’s Inaugural speech reads, “We shall collaborate with the Chief Judge and his colleagues to significantly improve the physical and technological infrastructure of the courts, and hopefully also implement some structural reforms to fast-track the path to justice and make Anambra the number one in the speedy dispensation of justice and ease of doing business”. Technological tales by moon light, I must say! Speedy dispensation of Justice? Yet it has taken months for our courts to convict Akwa Okuko and the other native doctors held by Soludo’s government, a government that has Governance, RULE OF LAW and Value in the page 15 of their 72 page manifesto, as one of the four pillars of the administration. Rhetorics without results, as usual.
In all this, the good thing is that history is taking notes and I have taken the responsibility of documenting Professor Soludo’s role in it. While the Professor highlights the political and social historic roles of the likes of Nnamdi Azikiwe, Nelson Mandela, Kenneth Kaunda, Martin Luther King Jr and others, as he does in most of his speeches, I take the responsibility of unambiguously highlighting his role in the political history and development of our state.
You may recall that in 2023, during the Presidential elections, History beckoned and Prof Soludo made it clear that he will not be silent. He spoke with a mighty voice and even promised to return with part two.
But guess what? The angle of history that the Professor is creating today has him as the main character, and interestingly it will be read by others, and not him. History that will define his legacies.
As Soludo’s part in history – some which I highlighted in the piece, continues to beckon, Umunnem Ndi Anambra, I assure you that I will not be silent!
Thank you for reading this 2135-word piece. See you next time.
May Anambra succeed!
Kingsley Ubani is a native of Enugwu-Ukwu in Njikoka Local Government Area of Anambra State.
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