By Jude Atupulazi
Last week in Anambra State was all about Bola Ahmed Tinubu, the President of Nigeria. He was supposed to visit Anambra to commission some projects done by the Governor, Prof Chukwuma Soludo. The streets of the capital were swathed in flags and buntings. Roadsides and road medians were painted.
Party members and schoolchildren were mobilized to turn out in their numbers and line up along the routes the President would take. Someone said the preparations were as if Jesus was coming. The people who were mobilized came out and waited for hours. Some impatient ones left, but many others who persevered eventually saw him, or rather, they saw his convoy pass.
Some were however disappointed as they thought he would stop over to be received by them or even drive in an open roof vehicle to acknowledge their cheers. It all transported me back to our time, growing up as schoolchildren in Enugu, when we lined up to greet the then President of the country, Yakubu Gowon.
Unlike those who lined up to cheer Tinubu recently, we all saw Gowon as he was driven in his convoy, waving from his open vehicle to us as we lustily cheered. We went back having the memory of the President waving to us etched in our minds. We discussed it for days afterwards in our yards and schools.
But that is by the way. But as stated earlier, Tinubu came. Those standing by the roadside saw his convoy and were probably guessing which of the vehicles carried him. However, what mattered was that the country’s main man had come.
It was a proud moment for the State Governor, Soludo, who really wanted to show the President that he was loved by Anambra People, even if he knows they don’t love him and may never do so. Nevertheless, Soludo had his day and how he gloated about it. For sure, it was a successful visit as the President was shown round some of Soludo’s projects.
It was an occasion that would have gone on excellently well but for a moment of ”madness” by Soludo, when, as he made his speech, he chose that moment to throw a jibe at former Governor Peter Obi. He told Tinubu that the last time a President came to Anambra State, it was to commission a brewery (not true though). Many were shocked at what they saw as an unnecessary attack on a man who was Governor eight years before Soludo took over.
Indeed, if there was anyone Soludo should be attacking, it would be the man he took over directly from, which is Willie Obiano. But perhaps, Soludo avoids doing that after he had said nothing was broken under Willie at a time he, Soludo, was aiming to replace Obiano.
As usual, the people, who are Obi’s army, took exception to the jibe and the social media went riotous as Soludo was taken to the cleaners for his unguarded statement. That would not be the first time Soludo would be attacking Obi without provocation.
In the thick of the 2023 Presidential Election campaigns, Soludo had written his famous letter against Obi in which he said Obi was going nowhere, even when Soludo’s own party’s Presidential Candidate was nowhere near Obi in terms of popularity or chances of winning. Soludo was nearly torn to shreds by Nigerian masses for his letter and one would think he had learnt his lessons. But, no, like a punch drunk boxer, he kept going in to receive more punches.
Indeed, I have since been trying to wrap my head around the reason Soludo is always going after Obi and I have seen that perhaps it is because he sees Obi’s Presidential ambition as a threat to his, and as such, Obi must be pulled down. Or is he still feeling bitter against Obi for losing to him in an election in 2010? Whatever the case, Obi has proved to be the hero of our present democracy.
He has been able to stand up and confront the formidable status quo who brook no opposition. For them, it is either you join them or they destroy you. But they have failed to destroy Obi because they have not been able to find any chink in his armour. This is even when, like the late Moshood Abiola, Obi was generally believed to have won the 2023 Presidential Election but was robbed blind.
He is shaping up again another try and should he win, any other man from the Southeast having an immediate ambition of being President will have to forget it. Is this what Soludo is worried about? Is this why he keeps trying to denigrate Obi? For sure, only he can answer that. But suffice it to say that the Nigerian masses who voted for Obi and still probably want him, don’t see eye to eye with anyone who attacks him.
Soludo’s recent veiled attack was completely unnecessary and was very uncharitable. Many things have been written about that but I have chosen to publish one of them written by an Anambra son, Sir Fred Chukwuelobe, Special Adviser on Media to former Governor Chris Ngige.
Read and draw your own conclusions.
Gov. Soludo’s Ungentlemanly Swipe at Peter Obi
By Sir Fred Chukwuelobe
I am one of those who believe that Gov. Charles Chukwuma Soludo of Anambra State will be re-elected come November this year. I believe he has done reasonably well to be re-elected. I also believe he will win in all the 21 Local Governments of the state.
Frankly, I do not see any of his main challengers being able to pose any serious challenge to his re-election bid. They are all desperate to occupy Agu Awka.
Firstly, let’s look at Val Ozigbo. Brilliant young man. Full of ideas. Eloquent and likable. That’s where it ends. He would have done better as MD/CEO of Transcorp, Abuja.
Secondly, let’s look at Nicholas Ukachukwu. Very rich and ambitious. But a serial election loser. He has spent money over the years seeking political office. He spent so much more this time around to get the APC ticket. As usual, he will lose.
That leaves Prof. Soludo with no strong opposition and he’d cruise to victory 21/21.
However, it does appear that the Governor is still bitter with Peter Obi for not handing over power to him when he first sought the office. He seizes every opportunity he gets to ‘bad mouth’ the Labour Party’s Presidential Candidate in the last Presidential Election.
He repeated his continued attack on the rave of the moment during the recent visit of President Bola Tinubu to Anambra State. Instead of showcasing his projects and focusing on the President’s visit and welcoming him to commission the projects he’d completed in three years, the Governor descended to what Igbos call “iko onu.” He boisterously told the President that the last time a President visited the state to commission any project was during Peter Obi’s time, and that the occasion was to commission a brewery.
By the way, I am not an apostle of the commissioning ceremony. It is a waste of public funds; it is of no significance other than an opportunity for the host to brag about doing things he was elected to do; it is a colonial mentality which many of our public officers are yet to outgrow.
But by seizing the opportunity to throw childish tantrums at Peter Obi, Soludo lost the opportunity to be a good leader. He came about petty and bitter.
He shouldn’t be. For one, Peter Obi is not on the ballot. Those who are on the ballot under his Labour Party are not likely to pose any serious challenge to the Governor. So, why the pettiness? Did Soludo think that by throwing jabs at Peter Obi, President Tinubu will see him as ‘liable ally’ knowing full well that Peter Obi is the leader of the opposition to the President’s re-election bid in 2027? Although I do not see any credible opposition to that yet, Peter Obi remains a force nationwide despite efforts by Soludo and other anti-Obi movement to whittle down his steadily increasing popularity.
Instead of wasting his time on Peter Obi, Governor Soludo should focus on his job and continue to deliver on his campaign promises of ‘making Anambra the Dubai of our time’. Anambra is still a set of developing contours in need of concerted efforts to bring it to the level where the people will feel proud to be among the comity of states with functional capital with livable cities.
By taking a jab at Peter Obi and throwing tantrums at the slightest opportunity, Governor Soludo comes across as ‘a petty, bitter, and petulant person.’ He shouldn’t be that bitter.
Rather than scratch Peter Obi with those petulant and insidious “iko onu,” our Governor will lose votes from loyalists of Peter Obi, and there are many of them still in Anambra State despite that the two-time Governor of the state is not on the ballot and has no credible Governorship Candidate challenging Soludo.
Let the Governor get out there and assure the people that he will sustain his performance and complete all the projects he’s currently handling, and even go further to add those that will have direct bearing on the economy and lives of the people, so that they will appreciate the new Government House and approach the Solution Fun Park to enjoy themselves.
Throwing petty jabs at Peter Obi will not win him more friends/voters. It will only serve to regale those who see Peter Obi as a threat to their ambitions.
