MAZI EJIMOFOR OPARA
Soludo is one man who, in the last two decades and more of active public life, has left generations of Nigerians talking. If you stretch to his global contributions, it would span over three decades of active service to humanity. In all his previous lives, he achieved historic feats that leave behind very large shoes for all who came after him. Any child born today would read about the NEEDS document, the rise of the Nigeria Bureau of Statistics, and would certainly be told about the banking consolidation that transformed Nigerian banks from “Mama and Papa” ventures to globally acclaimed multinational financial institutions.
Let me not talk about the creation of the Africa Finance Corporation (AFC), another living model of Soludo’s ingenuity. All these are not news and not new. What’s new in the news is that the same Soludo has, in three years, transformed Anambra in ways others before him thought impossible. A proud President is coming tomorrow to cut the tape of two legacy infrastructure projects with multiple ancillaries. Again, Soludo is setting another talking point for a generation of Ndi Anambra who longed for the full crystallization of the Anambra genius.
A story that would be told to generations unborn is that Anambra existed for 34 years without a befitting government house and governor’s lodge, but now it has one. That Anambra now boasts a one-stop international standard leisure and entertainment center, with a water and amusement park sited in one place, marking the beginning of Anambra’s journey towards becoming a destination. Nigeria is talking about Soludo again!