By Ike Ume-Atuana
It is safe to speculate that the odds are stacked in Soludo’s favour to win the Anambra State Governorship election of November 8, 2025. It is not going to be a cakewalk no doubt, and no candidate will have the luxury of time to strut to victory when he must scurry to it. The peculiar nature of Anambra – its hardball politics –forbids that.
Regardless, Soludo has clear advantage over and above those contesting the office with him. He towers above them in personality and stakes greater claim to the governorship in achievement. He may not have played the politics of his re-election well enough to the admiration of everybody by sugarcoating things. He says things the way they are and defies anybody with contrary opinion to contest his position. Though this may appear unpopular with the elite class, but not so with the people and no dissenter has been able to contradict him on facts. He was able through strategic engagement with the leadership of the various communities in Anambra and right application of the scarce resources of the state struck an approval chord with the masses of the state.
Soludo is courageous. He is also strategic. He has successfully endeared his government to ndi Anambra by taking some bold steps that put to an end the dead hand of impunity in the state. Decisive, and with no want of power to act, his government commenced early enough to sanitize the state, insisting that victory cannot sanctify usurpation. To emphasize this point, he did what many would baulk at. He once honored an invitation to a friend’s chieftaincy title-taking event, but refused to sanction it. Looking his friend in the eyes, he told him to perish the idea and wait out the incumbent because his government would not tolerate him. Soludo has fought forces of intimidation and criminality in the state, effectively reining in on fiefdoms that have long defied the order of doing things in Anambra. Perhaps it is this unwieldy group and others of their ilk that have continued to delude themselves about mustering enough strength to outvote him in November. Apart from the fact that Soludo is enough of a man of the world to fight his way to victory, he has dutifully cast his bread on the waters and they will return to him buttered and toasted.
So far every aspect of the development index of the state has felt the touch of the Governor’s Solution. At a reasoned estimate, his government has done so much on infrastructure, security of lives and properties, healthcare, education, revenue generation, skill acquisition, and agriculture. The gumption with which he has tackled all these in the last three years of his office has restored public trust in governance so much so that his second term aspiration will take some beating. The level of work done on the long stretch of road connecting Amansea, Ugbene, Ugbenu, Awba-Ofemili hitherto abandoned to devastating erosion flood and treacherous bumps/ditches stands the Governor in good stead. Ditto for his effort in reconstructing a number of neglected inland roads in Awka and expansion of Amawbia –Agulu – Nanka- Ekwulobia – Uga road with a cloverleaf at Ekwulobia etc. This humungous transformation in road infrastructure that testifies to Soludo’s ingenious statecraft is replicated in Onitsha, Nnewi, Idemili North and South, Anaocha, Aguata, Orumba North and South, Anambra East and West among others.
But it is the Governor’s single-minded decision and ability in breaking the 34 year old jinx of not having a Government House that sets him apart as a man of courageous pursuits. The seat of government has been in the prefabricated buildings of a defunct road construction firm since the creation of Anambra state in 1991. States created alongside it took time to develop vital infrastructural needs like Government House while Anambra stalled. The Soludo government did not only embark on the gigantic project which has redefined governance in the state, but delivered it in record time. The building of a recreation centre long awaited by the people, especially the young demographic was not any different. Opened few days ago to the public, the Soludo Fun City as it is called has all the trappings of the Disney World of Southwest Orlando, USA. The splendid and well-appointed City has added to the aesthetic beauty of the capital city in much the same way it was carefully primed to augment the revenue profile of the state.
Unfortunately, few retrogressive-minded politicians without desire of good have faulted the building of the two projects (Government House and Solution Fun City) saying they add little or no value to the state. But neither projects requires any effort to impress its importance on the state. That the two architectural tour de force are long overdue in the state is not in doubt. What may be in doubt is how soon their effect will be evident in the state. The implication on the adjoining states of Enugu and Delta which were the major beneficiaries of the absence of the facility in Anambra will be telling enough.
What the Soludo government has achieved in the last three years of its being is quite enormous and compares with very few governments elsewhere its age. It may not be easily admitted, but only Soludo out of the beautiful span of about ten candidates or more who are on the ballot for the November election has the tools – genuine ones – with which to campaign for the governorship of the state. The rest may pretend they also have the tools, but the difference is stark. Soludo’s every work, particularly his effort at sanitizing the state, resonates with the people and it does not appear anything has changed to suggest a decline to any point where the opposition can throw a punch. Besides, Soludo has tenfold what to use for campaign chief among which is the zoning arrangement in the state. It is not likely that any of the three zones of Anambra North, South and Central will very easily support the truncation of the beautiful arrangement. In fact, the central senatorial zone which is next in line to take up the governorship of the state would be loath to support an extension of their waiting time. Any candidate other than Soludo who is campaigning to win the governorship must be a sucker who deserves some pity. The forces of continuity have no use for change at this material time.
Ume-Atuana, a commentator on national issues writes from Awka.
