Category: Featured

By Christian ABURIME  

As the 2025 Anambra State governorship election draws closer, political candidates are crisscrossing the state, making promises and rallying support.

Yet, while opposition candidates are deep in campaign mode, Governor Chukwuma Charles Soludo, CFR, is taking a different approach, one that demonstrates his commitment to good governance over routine politics.

That is how statesmen and visionary leaders are separated from politicians; visionary leaders are mindful of leaving enduring positive impact while politicians are desperate to just win the next election.

On Sunday, July 6, the governor will engage with the Anambra Diaspora community in the US and North America at a town hall meeting in Maryland. This is not an election campaign stop; it is another chapter in his administration’s untiring dedication to accountability and inclusive governance that has been the trend in the past three years.

Governor Soludo’s decision to embark on this Diaspora engagement at a time when others would be focusing solely on the upcoming election speaks volumes about his leadership philosophy. Unlike typical politicians who flood the airwaves with their usual empty promises as elections approach, Governor Soludo is choosing to let his record speak for itself.

His administration has held similar town hall meetings this year: first in Lagos, then Abuja, and later in the UK/Europe, where he presented his achievements, addressed concerns, and outlined his vision for the future of Anambra State.

This upcoming US/North America meeting is a continuation of that noble tradition. It demonstrates that Prof. Soludo sees governance as a continuous contract with the people, not just a seasonal obligation tied to election cycles.

While his opponents are busy making grand declarations or criticising his government, Governor Soludo is busy reporting back to the people, proving that his administration values transparency and performance over political theatrics.

Since assuming office, Governor Soludo has pursued an ambitious Solution agenda anchored on economic transformation, security, infrastructure, and human capital development. His administration has made significant impact in areas such as:

Security: Reducing crime through strategic interventions like Agunechemba and technology-driven policing; Infrastructure: Massive road construction and urban renewal projects across the state; Education: Overhauling the public school system, implementing free education policy and recruiting thousands of teachers;

Healthcare: Building new general hospitals, upgrading others, hiring new doctors/nurses and granting free antenatal services to women; Economic Growth: Attracting investments, industrialising, empowering youths, and so much more.

These achievements are tangible results that directly impact the lives of Anambra citizens.

By engaging the Diaspora, Governor Soludo recognizes their critical role in the state’s development. In fact, many Ndi Anambra in the US and Canada are key investors, professionals, and philanthropists whose contributions can further accelerate the state’s growth.

This town hall is an opportunity to align their expertise and resources with the state’s developmental goals.

Thus, the Diaspora town hall is a strategic engagement that reinforces Governor Soludo’s belief in participatory governance.

Anambra’s global citizens deserve to be carried along in the state’s progress, and this meeting ensures they remain stakeholders, not just spectators from afar.

Moreover, it sends a powerful message that Governor Soludo is not a leader who governs in isolation. He listens, he reports, and he collaborates.

While opposition candidates scramble for attention with their usual empty promises, Governor Soludo’s confidence in his performance allows him to focus on governance. He understands that true leadership is not about loud campaigns but about measurable impact.

As he meets with Ndi Anambra in Maryland with his score card, the message will be ringing loud and clear: performance will always outweigh propaganda.

It is also a reaffirmation that accountability should never take a back seat, even in an election season. In the end, that is what will matter most to the people of Anambra State.

By Christian ABURIME 

Political campaigns are among the exciting features of modern democracy. Candidates for an election must campaign to woo the people. But when the people are the one endorsing and campaigning for a candidate when he has not even started campaigning, it signals an interesting development. 

The candidate must have won the hearts of the people before a single vote is cast!

The recent endorsement of Anambra State Governor, Professor Chukwuma Charles Soludo, CFR, by Anambra North stakeholders, culminating in the conferment of the now famous Oluatuegwu chieftaincy title, marks a pivotal moment in Anambra State’s political landscape.

This cross-party show of support, featuring traditional rulers, current and former officials, and grassroots leaders, reflects a rare consensus in Nigerian politics, especially in the context of the state’s often fractious electoral history.

The rally’s theme, “SUSTAINING THE SOLUTION LEGACY: A PATH TO DISRUPTIVE DEVELOPMENT IN ANAMBRA STATE,” proves the stakeholders’ focus on tangible governance outcomes.

The testimonials from both APGA and PDP leaders highlight Governor Soludo’s infrastructural achievements and his reputation as a “transformer” who was fully “prepared, for the job.”

Also, the unanimous affirmation of the zoning formula demonstrates its entrenched role in Anambra’s politics, providing a framework for orderly succession and regional inclusion. Stakeholders’ insistence that Governor Soludo “must complete his second tenure” signals a collective commitment to political stability in the state.

The presence and vocal support of opposition figures, notably from the PDP, provides another rare moment of bipartisan alignment in Anambra politics.

This not only neutralises potential divides but also amplifies the legitimacy of Governor Soludo’s all-embracing candidacy.

In the same way, the turnout of over 10,000 supporters and the enthusiastic participation across all seven LGAs of Anambra North at the rally indicate robust grassroots engagement, a critical asset in Nigerian elections.

What is a politician or a candidate without strong roots where it matters most? That can only be a lightweight contestant, which Governor Soludo is not.

By the way, the governor’s emphasis on governance over politicking, and his pragmatic advice to “collect whatever money the alleged opponents give them,” positions him as both a focused leader and a shrewd political operator.

This narrative would resonate with discerning voters who are weary of empty campaign promises but are exposed to pecuniary indictments by desperate politicians!

With the opposition fragmented and key political heavyweights rallying behind the incumbent, Governor Soludo enters the November 8 election as the clear frontrunner.

The event’s optics, a convergence of tradition, political endorsement, and mass mobilisation, all set a formidable stage for his re-election campaign.

Thus, the Anambra North endorsement rally was more than a political event; it was a veritable demonstration of unity, continuity, and confidence in Governor Soludo’s leadership as contained in their collective communique at the event.

By consolidating support across party lines and reaffirming the zoning principle, stakeholders have not only strengthened Governor Soludo’s re-election prospects but have also signalled a collective aspiration for sustained development and political stability in Anambra State.

When Soludo wins, Anambra wins!

By Christian ABURIME

Whenever the national discourse borders on policies, polity and politics, Anambra State Governor, Professor Chukwuma Charles Soludo, CFR, is in his most perceptive, dispassionate, blunt elements.

In his most provocative intervention yet, in his Democracy Day speech, Governor Soludo diagnoses what may be Nigeria’s most fundamental political ailment: the absence of ideological foundation in its party system.

His frank assessment that contemporary Nigerian politics consists of “one party, ‘Nigerian Elite Plc’ (NEP), with the sole goal of grabbing power and governing ‘as the spirit directs’” represents perhaps the most dispassionate review of the country’s democratic adventure.

Governor Soludo’s prescription is equally bold: “…We must give our politics a soul by intentionally orchestrating ideologically driven political parties.” This clearly goes beyond just prescribing political reform to advocating the very survival of Nigerian democracy.

To understand the depth of Nigeria’s current politics, Governor Soludo invites us to examine what we have lost. His nostalgic reflection on the Second Republic (1979-1983) reveals a period when political parties actually meant something distinct. The six parties, GNPP, NPN, NPP, PRP, UPN, and NAP, were not just electoral vehicles but represented genuinely different visions for Nigeria’s future.

“I can still remember their ideologies and cardinal programmes,” Governor Soludo reminisces, “and I miss the rigorous ideological debates among parties of those days.” This is a resonant nostalgia for a time when politics had substance.

Chief Obafemi Awolowo’s UPN states uniformly implemented “free education and free medical services,” while NPN states pursued “mass housing and green revolution” programmes. Citizens could then predict policy outcomes based on which party governed their state. Even the Third Republic’s brief experiment with ideologically defined parties, NRC as right of centre and SDP as left of centre, represented a more sophisticated approach to democratic organisation than today’s ideological vacuum.

Indeed, Governor Soludo’s concept of “Nigerian Elite Plc” brilliantly captures the reality of contemporary Nigerian politics. Rather than competing ideologies, what we have are “different factions of the NEP, largely split by quarrels over exclusion or inclusion in the ‘dining table’.” This analysis exposes the transactional nature of modern Nigerian politics, where principles matter less than proximity to power.

The governor’s observation that individuals who “can’t get a sit at the table suddenly realise that ‘nothing is working’” and either form new parties or join opposition movements “to fight for a better Nigeria”, which he correctly identifies as “a euphemism for ‘bring me closer’”, reveals the cynical foundation of much political opposition in Nigeria.

This dynamic explains why Nigerian politics feels so predictable yet chaotic. Predictable because regardless of which faction wins, the fundamental approach to governance remains unchanged. Chaotic because without ideological anchors, policy directions shift with personnel changes and political calculations.

Then, Governor Soludo poses a poignant question about Nigeria’s two dominant parties: “Can you tell an APC or PDP state if you see one? What is the difference?” The inability to answer this question definitively exposes the bankruptcy of contemporary party politics. In healthy democracies, party control typically produces visible differences in policy priorities, governance approaches, and developmental outcomes.

The “speed with which people switch parties,” as Governor Soludo notes, testifies to the reality that “political parties are mere platforms of convenient opportunism, no principles, no public purpose, only personal convenience!” This political nomadism would be impossible if parties represented genuinely different worldviews. Even the APC, which began as a merger designed to challenge PDP dominance, represents what the governor describes as “a marriage of convenience” rather than ideological coherence. After “10 years of governing at the centre and controlling most states of Nigeria,” the party still lacks clear ideological foundations.

Perhaps, Governor Soludo’s most candid assessment concerns the registration process for political parties. His review reveals that party manifestos are “largely ‘copy and paste’, to scale through registration by INEC, with little or no substantive differences.” This bureaucratic approach to party formation ensures that new parties emerge not from genuine ideological movements but from administrative requirements.

The result is what Prof. Soludo identifies as an ideological paradox: “In substance, almost all the political parties subscribe to the social democratic ideals (left of centre). Ideologically speaking, there are no opposition political parties in Nigeria.” In other words, when everyone claims the same ideological space, ideology becomes meaningless.

This explains why “the executive would still have to ‘lobby’ members of its own party in the legislature to support its agenda.” Without ideological discipline, party membership provides no guarantee of policy alignment.

So, what is the redemptive path forward? Governor Soludo’s solution is as radical as his diagnosis. He argues that “organising Nigerians around ideological divides is the sustainable way to mobilise citizens across ethnic and religious divides.” This represents a fundamental reimagining of Nigerian politics, moving from ethnic and regional calculations to ideological alignments. If done, the potential transformation would be profound.

Instead of politics organised around “turn by turn” ethnic rotation or what he calls “Chop I Chop politics,” ideologically driven parties could create “transformational politics of development” that transcends parochial interests.

Yet, the governor also acknowledges uncertainty about implementation, as he says “I don’t know how the authentic parties will emerge”, but advocates for intentional intervention through “legislation or regulation.” This suggests that ideological party formation may require state intervention via constitutional guidance rather than organic development.

The timing of Governor Soludo’s intervention is really significant. Speaking on Democracy Day, he essentially argues that Nigerian democracy lacks its most essential component: meaningful ideological choice.

Citizens can change governments but not governance approaches because all parties represent variations of the same elite consensus. His assertion that “the time for both was yesterday but today is still on time. Tomorrow may be too late” creates urgency around political reform. The warning also suggests that without ideological grounding, Nigerian democracy may continue to struggle with its current challenges.

On a more profound praxis, the Anambra State Governor’s vision extends beyond party politics to fundamental questions about Nigerian nationhood itself. Ideological parties could serve as vehicles for the “new Nigerian” he advocates, citizens organised around shared values rather than ethnic identities. Even the connection to his earlier theme of creating rather than rebuilding Nigeria becomes clear: ideological politics could provide the organising principle for national unity that ethnic federalism has failed to deliver.

Thus, Governor Soludo’s exposition forces uncomfortable questions about Nigeria’s democratic trajectory. If political parties are merely factions of the same elite club, can elections produce meaningful change? If all parties advocate similar policies, what does political choice really mean?

This discussion implies that Nigeria’s political crisis runs deeper than corruption or bad leadership; it is about the absence of competing visions for the country’s future. Without ideological competition, politics becomes purely transactional, and democracy loses its transformative potential.