By Tony Okafor, Awka
Governor Chukwuma Charles Soludo of Anambra State has urged Ndi Igbo to abandon agitational politics and embrace structured intellectual engagement to address the “Igbo question” within Nigeria.
The governor made the call on Wednesday at the Light House, Awka, after watching The Tale of Two Nnamdis, a stage play written by Tobe Osigwe, directed by Prof. Uche Nwaozuzu and performed by Theatre Arts students of the University of Nigeria, Nsukka (UNN).
Drawing from his personal experience of the Nigerian Civil War, Soludo said the conflict left deep scars on his family.
“I saw the war very clearly. My mother died during the war, and my father carried a bullet in his body for 11 years after the war,” he told the audience.
He recalled visiting UNN last month, noting that the Biafran War was “literally declared there,” and expressed satisfaction that students were now “leading the way” in reopening the conversation.
Soludo criticised the prolonged sit-at-home orders in the South-East, saying such strategies had caused more hardship for the people they were intended to protect.
“There has been insufficient structured intellectual engagement on the challenges confronting the Igbo people and their place in the Nigerian state,” he said. “That conversation must begin in a very structured manner.”
The governor, who described himself as both a Pan-Africanist and a committed Nigerian, argued that Igbo prosperity would be accelerated through wider engagement with Nigeria and the world.
“Ndi Igbo need Nigerians, Nigerians need Ndi Igbo, just as the world needs us. Our prosperity will accelerate if we take advantage of a wider space,” he stated.
Soludo invoked the legacy of Nigeria’s first President, Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe, as a model for advancing Igbo interests through negotiation rather than confrontation.
“Zik helped us. He bargained in the First and Second Republics. He taught us the politics of bargaining,” he said.
He also highlighted what he described as a contradiction in current Igbo political aspirations: seeking the Nigerian presidency while maintaining deep scepticism about the Nigerian project.
“It is true that Ndi Igbo want the presidency, but the paradox has to be addressed. As a people, where do we stand? How can you govern a people who do not know your stand?” he asked.
The governor reiterated his readiness to participate in a civil conversation on the future of the Igbo nation and pledged support for any group advancing the discourse
“Any group that advances the conversation of the Igbo question in Nigeria will have our support. The beauty of our republican nature is that you cannot muscle your way through it—you must engage,” Soludo said.
The event attracted academics, cultural leaders and political observers, who described the play as a thought-provoking contribution to debates on identity, nationhood and the future of the South-East within Nigeria.
