By Our Correspondent
A human rights lawyer and public affairs analyst, Barr Carl Umegboro, has strongly condemned the approach of Anambra State Governor Prof. Charles Soludo in curtailing the sit-at-home in the state.
The legal practitioner said that the governor’s actions on most issues leave much to be desired, especially in Prof Soludo’s ranking in terms of educational qualifications and as a former governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria.
Barr Umegboro, however, particularized on the sit-at-home in the state on Mondays, which was imposed by the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) across southeast states, and luckily for other states, their restrictions have been relaxed to an extent, unlike in Anambra state.
He argued that the approach the governor adopted to relax the sit-at-home reflects everything negative: myopia, insensitivity, lack of pragmatism and empathy, drawing a blank, being stuck, and it has been counterproductive and always led to tragedy, claiming human lives.
He cautioned that the lives of citizens and residents must be a topmost priority for the government in all its policies, as life is sacred and nobody has a spare life to bank on if the unexpected happens.
He said, “It’s unimaginable for the governor to persistently push residents to compulsorily clock in at the duty post and threaten traders to open shops to defy the sit-at-home on Mondays when the same approach has resulted in many people sent to their early graves during the previous anti-sit-at-home enforcement by the state government.
“And sadly, after the ugly outcomes, all the governor did after some were gruesomely murdered was to condemn the killings in the media, and move on. Where is the empathy?
“The governor should not be unmindful that human lives are precious and sacred; hence, such insensitivity is unacceptable. The primary purpose of government pursuant to Section 14(2)(b) of the Constitution, Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999, as amended, is the welfare and security of the people, that is, the protection of lives. Or does it mean the governor did not know that the majority of the people observing the sit-out-home on Mondays are not complying? He asked.
“Admitted, the sit-at-home on Mondays negatively affects the economy of the southeast states. However, a better and more realistic approach that will not put the lives of the people in danger should be considered. Ideally, the governor ought to be dynamic in finding a lasting solution rather than resorting to the commando-style approach against helpless residents and traders in the state, the lawyer said.
He challenged the governor to boost the area with optimum security as he provided for himself and his family, which gave him the courage to come out on Mondays to know if the workers and traders would also not come out without fear. He condemned the governor’s lack of spirit of empathy and realism in making the decision.
He reiterated that the governor is bold and fearless to move freely and safely amid numerous derogatory, provocative, and reckless statements because of the overwhelming security around him with state funds, unlike the helpless people who are at their own mercy.
Proffering a solution to the quagmire, the legal analyst said the simple, appropriate and pragmatic step the governor ought to have taken was to reinforce the security across the state optimally to protect the people to move freely on Mondays, and not to force them into the deadly roads at the detriment of their lives arguing that those that complied with his earlier directives and defied the sit-at-home paid the supreme price with their blood, and now are in their graves.
He called on Soludo to get to the drawing board and to come up with a realistic approach to relax the sit-at-home order instead of adopting a classroom approach that is merely academic without considering the dangerous implications of testing such a petty approach with human blood that is sacred and irreplaceable, stating that a responsible government cannot use the blood and lives of the people for trial and error.
He said that the governor has been a good ally of the powers-that-be at the center, which could be leveraged upon to boost security in the trouble areas on Mondays to protect the people, and when such a measure is put in place, spontaneously, the people will move freely, go to work, and open business shops.
In his rating of the state under the leadership of Prof Soludo so far, the public affairs analyst said, the state has only seen the ‘Charlie nwa-mgbafor’ in action, and waiting to see that of ‘Prof Charles Chukwuma Soludo’ of the apex bank arguing that there’s no basis for outcomes or dividends of democracy in Anambra state should be lower than what is obtained in the sister state, Abia under Dr. Alex Otti except the Professor is telling us something.
He said that for other Southeast states, it is understandable that wherever square pegs are not in the square holes, inevitably, it is calamity, and by the ‘nemo dat quad non habet’ rule, you cannot give what you don’t have.
“During the election, Prof Soludo unveiled his other side as ‘Charlie Nwa-Mgbafor’, which was hailed as a mark of meekness. From what is obtainable so far, it is that side that he has continued to showcase. As for his standing as a professor of economics and former helmsman of the apex bank, that has yet to be showcased in actions or reflected in his policies and administrations.
“Succinctly put, Soludo is indebted to the Anambra people as he has not proven his standing as the professor of Economics and former CBN governor, which formed the basis of the support by the majority of Anambra people to his candidacy as governor of the state”, he concluded.
