By Donald Ifenna
Anambra State, south east Nigeria, is unarguably one of the most difficult states to govern countrywide. The “Igbo enwe eze” self-worth that informs the worldview of an average Igbo person seems to find louder expression amongst Anambra people. This is probably entrenched by the vast spread of persons outstandingly successful in their careers; some whose ostensible riches, popularity or even brazen notoriety impel desperation for disruptive recognitions. These tendencies often challenge the will and ability of an Anambra State governor to attain their intended goals. Not Governor Charles Chukwuma Soludo!
The revolving season in Anambra State when the fabrics of the state’s political structure are shaken to the core has dawned. At such time the state’s resolve to self-regenerate is interrogated. The impending November 8, 2025 gubernatorial election in the state conduces to the evident heightening tempo of political activities across the length and breadth of the state. No citizen of Anambra or any resident thereof is spared the anxieties upon underlying hairsplitting, hair-raising or spurious political interpretations often ascribed to most utterances and acts by politically exposed figures in the secular and religious spheres alike. But for the demonstrably increasing sophistication of the Anambra electorate, the hypes, the conspiracies, the duplicitous overtures and the abounding braggadocios would have been enough to scare the faint-hearted out of their skins.
While not spared the political jabs and scars upon the endemic attitudinal challenges ascribable to Anambra State people, Soludo has evidently stood his ground pursuant to achieving his dream Anambra State. In a little over three years of his administration, his office and person have been subjected to shades of critiquing (most in bad faith), each of which overtly or indirectly validates or repudiates his interests in governance. At the threshold of his administration (nay, ahead of it) Soludo outlined his mission based on his envisioned Anambra State. He did not anticipate a festive reign; not with the myriads of existential challenges the state faced. There were absolute security scare that appeared intractable, deplorable road infrastructure and scary ecological demands; flagrant government revenue leakages, thriving thuggery and thievery; and some policy lapses which needed to be addressed. He considered all these in articulating the roadmap to his mission in the statehouse which he dutifully encapsulated in “The Soludo Solution – A People’s Manifesto for a Greater Anambra”. About three years in office, this document now provides the template for assessing his administration’s fidelity to the good of Anambra State and its people.
Two phenomena validate Soludo’s second term mandate by Anambra electorate. The first is the spate of development the governor has brought to the state. His grand road projects which include the phenomenal dual carriage highways connecting all the Senatorial Zones and Local Government Headquarters to Awka, the state capital; the intra and inter-city road networks designed to facilitate attainment of his envisioned smart megacity state. It is common knowledge that one of the most essential demands of Anambra people is road infrastructure because of its primacy in driving developments to the far-flung extremities of the state. Soludo is preoccupied with this. The environmental gains from the governor’s community and urban regeneration agenda are exemplified in Okpoko uplift from a despicable urban slum to a pleasant livable neighbourhood.
The state of insecurity that had Anambra on its belly at the onset of the administration about three years is being tamed by Soludo’s bold steps in confronting the menace. He has not only constituted crime fighting taskforce, Udo ga achi, but has taken the battle to the underlying fetish enablers that embolden the criminals. He is facilitating the stemming of illicit drug peddling and consumption, and arms-running across the state. These efforts are yielding tremendous results, as Anambra is increasingly coming alive every passing day. Soludo has made development-inspired policies, and implemented actions that have positively driven the Health, Education, Civil Service, Environment, Commerce and Industry; Culture and Tourism sectors of the state ventures.
Soludo’s sterling performance gives further impetus to the adoption of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) by the Anambra electorate who takes the party’s “Nkea bu Nkeanyi” mantra to heart. It is evident that given the turn of development in Anambra since the advent of APGA in its political space, in comparison with its peers across Nigeria, the people have found no justifiable reason to hazard entrusting the state power to any other party. This bond, akin to conservative Catholic marriage, has proved most beneficial to Anambra people who rather than risk systemic collapse upon loose adventurous political ventures with strange political cultures (cultures that do not recognise the nuances of the people’s worldview and cultures grossly antithetical to their ethos) choose to congregate under a homegrown party that they freely commune with.
Given the manifestations of Soludo’s plausible attainments in government, the dire paucity of purposeful oppositions, and more importantly the people’s unconditional affiliation to the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA), it only takes the coming of November 8, 2025 to confirm Governor Charles Chukwuma Soludo’s electoral supremacy in the gubernatorial poll. Ndi-Anambra are therefore anxiously waiting to lavishly recharge Governor Soludo’s mandate for a second term, come November 8, 2025.
Ifenna, a public affairs analyst, writes from Adazi-Nnukwu.
