By David-Chyddy Eleke
Recently, a friend of mine visited Anambra from Lagos. After moving round some parts of the state, he was so excited about what Soludo was doing in the state that he exclaimed that: “The entire state is a huge construction site. I can’t wait to see what Anambra will be like when all these projects are completed.”
In truth, my friend was very right. Under the leadership of Prof Chukwuma Soludo, Anambra can at best be described as a huge construction site. Hardly will one drive a few kilometers in any part of the state without seeing construction equipment parked by the roadside, or signs reading – MEN AT WORK – warning motorists to drive with care.
One thing that has become very heartwarming about Soludo’s government in Anambra is that he is very intentional about what he plans to achieve within the period he is in office. He is not just making promises, but following them up with action, and mobilizing workers to site immediately.
One would also notice that Soludo is not also just approving and constructing projects, but the projects are well thought out, and specifically geared towards filling voids and creating maximum impact in the lives of the users.
Some of Soludo’s projects that have been hailed as being very well thought out include his return of pipeborne water to the state, his employment of teachers, especially in far-flung rural areas, as well as the employment of doctors into all public health institutions, including primary health centers in the state.
In the area of infrastructure, Soludo has been hailed for the new government house which is already at finishing stage. Since creation, successive Anambra governors have had to work from a makeshift government house, a place which used to be a camp for construction workers. Two attempts by past governors to build a permanent government house for the state failed. Anambra is about the only state in the country where a governor has a lodge in another town, and works in a government house that is in another town, but all these will change when the new government house is completed.
In Awka, several roads have been constructed, opening up the town for rural dwellers to access with their farm produce. The Ekwulobia flyover project has already been adjudged a masterpiece. Soludo has also started work on the Awka-Agulu-Nanka-Ekwulobia-Uga road, with the aim to dualize it. To achieve the project, even walls of the old Governor’s Lodge at Amawbia has been marked for demolition. All these are traits of a leader who is intentional about succeeding.
But with all these, one thing may marr Soludo’s numerous achievements if he fails to tackle it, and that is insecurity.
Beyond making policies on which society runs, and building projects, one of the most important role of government is providing security for lives and property.
Soludo inherited a state that was largely under the occupation of insurgents. Over eight local government areas had been overrun by terrorists who masqueraded as separatists. They were in charge of revenue in most towns in the state, and dictated happenings in those areas. Then, to hold a party in the occupied areas, one needs to pay. Even to bury loved ones, families had to clear with them, pay and obtain approval to bury loved ones, and also take dates from them. They dictated when burial are held, how they are held and who can attend. Besides paying to take dates, families are given conditions to tell attendees not to come with conventional security personnel. They also provided security at a cost. But what was more painful was that they killed, maimed and abducted at will. They sometimes also mandate communities to furnish them with arms, failure of which had attached consequences.
Soludo took over Anambra in March 2022 and went to work. Today, all the seized communities have been cleared of such elements. But just when Anambra people had started heaving a sigh of relief, and those who abandoned their villages for years have started returning, a new wave of crime has started again.
Currently, kidnappings are going on in diverse places in Anambra, with even more recent happenings taking place in Anambra Central Zone, which is deemed to be the heart of the state. Worse still is that in places around the state capital territory, including towns in Dunukofia, Anaocha and Awka North Local Government Areas, tales of kidnappings by Fulani herdsmen have been told. Many who have survived their attacks have told the stories, but it is intriguing that instead of using such eyewitness account to garner more facts and go after them, the Soludo administration always refutes such stories, labelling them as falsehood.
As bad as that may be, the new wave of killings in Awka, the capital city has become a bigger concern. Awka has become so unsafe that a commentator likened it to Sicily, an Italian city where mafia held sway, killing at will.
Hardly will a day go by in Awka without at least one youth being gunned down. Many have attributed it to an unending cult war between rival groups in the city, but many times over, there have been incidences, where victims were identified as not having any attachment with cultism.
In this same Awka where the state command of the Nigerian police Force is situated, where the Department of State Services (DSS), Civil Defence and other security outfits are headquartered, where the governor and his deputy live, where the commandant of NSCDC, CP of Police, Director of DSS all live, life has become so unsafe.
In Awka here, a youth had once been killed and his head decapitated and used to play soccer, while being video taped, a youths have also been killed and their legs chopped off and made away with, same Awka witnesses killings on a daily basis.
Ifite is a part of Awka, which is just behind the government house, but the number of killings that have happened in that location recently can not be explained. All these have been linked to cultism.
Months back, as a sort of intervention in the rampant killings, a member of Anambra State House of Assembly, Hon Henry Mbachu held a town hall meeting, where he brought together all stakeholders in Awka to brainstorm on how to stop the killings in the town. But with the level of killings still going on in the city, it is now certain that the meeting failed to achieve the desired result.
An Awka resident who spoke to this writer said, the killings in this Awka is also by Awka people. They know who and who are killing, and they know some of their top sons who are sponsoring them. I don’t think there is much Soludo can do because the people must come together and agree that they want the killings to stop, before Soludo can help them.”
The above may be true, but government owes its citizens the duty of protection. Soludo has been praised for his strides in infrastructures in the state, but it will be too unfortunate if those for whom the infrastructures are being built, are daily mowed down in large number.
Soludo must sit up now, lest the insecurity in the state marrs his good works. Youths now carry guns around in Awka. To underscore how unsafe people now feel, a video recently surfaced, where a man after dressing up, took a rifle and hung it, concealing it under his flowing babanriga, and exclaiming he was now good to go. If the current wave of killings continue, things will deteriorate in Awka.
Soludo must come out now as he did with terrorists who masqueraded as separatists. He must start securing lives, else there may be no one to make use of his beautiful infrastructures when they are ready.
As for my Lagos friend who praised Soludo so much after seeing his projects, he had to scamper back to Lagos one morning after a shooting which left a youth dead happened right before him.
It’s time for Soludo to act.
Eleke, a journalist and blogger is the Managing Editor of THE RAZOR.
