By David-Chyddy Eleke
The first tenure of the Governor of Anambra State, Prof. Chukwuma Soludo is drawing to a halt on a good note.
The governor has so far been able to stabilize the state, initiate and complete various landmark projects, rescue her from the shackles of insecurity and now it is time to start the second leg of the journey. At therazornews.com, our advice is that the governor must start on a good note this time by choosing those who will tend the state with him.
The governor is known for disruptive changes, and it must reflect even in the method he adopts in picking his aides. At the commencement of his first tenure, Soludo truly introduced disruptive change in the method of appointing his aides. He had launched a portal for all intending appointees to go apply for their desired positions with their CVs, stating clearly their capabilities too and how they intend to contribute to move the state forward. But as time went on, it became obvious that it never worked at the end of the day.
It is however understandable that it didn’t work because politicians needed to be serviced and party machinery oiled through patronage to individuals that are vital in the re-election process the governor needed to seek after his first term. That was how political appointees were sourced from various high-ranking individuals, who the governor needed to respect because of the positions they occupied.
Billionaire captains of industry, first class traditional rulers, respected religious leaders and others had the opportunity of picking aides for the governor. Some may have picked their relatives to serve the governor, others their church members, some their lackeys etc. In this way, competence may have been sacrificed for relationship and support, but it should be a different ball game this time as the governor commences his second term on March 17.
This newspaper seems not to be the only one harbouring this sentiment about some unfit individuals bequeathed the governor as aides. Last weekend, a high-ranking member of the governor’s party; All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA), Chief Ben Obi warned the governor against retaining any of his aides used in the first term.
Contrary to the belief of this newspaper that some of them are unfit, Obi insisted that all of them in totality are unfit for their positions. He urged Governor Soludo to ensure that he totally flushed all of them out and picked those compatible with his aspiration for Anambra people.
We at therazornews.com may not agree to this as there exist competent individuals within the government, but it is our call that the governor uses his coming second term to sanitize his government, appoint competent personalities whose pedigree he is sure of, without his men being handpicked for him.
Soludo has demonstrated reasonably that he seeks to make a mark in Anambra; an indelible one at that. He can not do it alone, and how much he achieves this in his second term depends on those who walk the talk with him. He owes no one any duty now, at least, they won’t be a third term to seek, so he has no business appeasing anyone. He must remember the buck stops at his table.
