CHINWENDU OKEGO
One of the hallmarks of great transformational leaders lies not just in physical development but in the uncanny ability to instil lasting values and enduring moral codes as guides to the future and unborn generations. Governor Charles Chukwuma Soludo, CFR, has within three years moved the needle of development in Anambra State to enviable heights by birthing essential projects such as the many-spangled road infrastructure, new government house and lodge, and a modern-day fun-city, but it is obvious that what the Solution Governor cherishes most is bequeathing a value system that forms the bedrock of a new generation of leaders.
For Soludo, governance is not just brick and mortar. Moral reorientation is at the root of all his endeavours. This is evident in the deliberate effort at embedding telling thought provoking moral instructions in his public speeches and narratives. It has to be appreciated that Soludo is standing on the pinnacle of Anambra Light tower today not just because he built roads. As a thoroughgoing progressive, he is ideologically well-situated to institute ethical revolution across board. He has given the nod to the launch of the Anambra Rebirth Programme, a value reorientation initiative rooted in the Igbo proverb: Aka aja-aja na ebute onu mmanụ-mmanụ”, to wit, “Hard work brings reward.” The programme is billed to foster discipline, diligence, and cultural pride, particularly among the youth. This underscores Governor Soludo’s strategic vision of building a smart, secure, and productive homeland where infrastructural renewal is matched with social development and value-based governance.
Soludo has cracked the whip on the get-rich-quick syndrome currently unleashing havoc across Igboland that is said to be based on the Evil Pot called Oke-ite. The Oke-ite syndrome has been denounced by Governor Soludo who has put all the fake native doctors, fetish pastors and the ill-assorted Ezenwanyis on the run in what has been tagged Oso Soludo. In tackling criminality, Soludo in his values-denominated governance has dealt a death blow to the shamans who are the enablers of the criminals. Mr. Governor maintains that money ritual is manifestly evil and completely goes against the grain of the Igbo essence of hard work and diligent duty. The anti-Igbo culture and tradition of bloody ritualistic wealth cannot be defended by any sane mind. The republican nature of the Igbo entails that a trueborn son must never ever bring home soiled money that will go a long way in destroying the family name.
In the understanding of Soludo, the Igbo people built the Igba-boi tradition of serving a master for a good number of years before one can be set up to do his own trading. There is no cutting of corners. Even business schools such as in Harvard University, USA, have extolled the Igba-boi business aspect of the Igbo people as the greatest business incubator in the whole world. Such business incubation gives pride of place to diligence in the learning of the business in many years instead of the fly-by-night matter of getting rich overnight without actually getting up to grips with mastering any trade. Soludo argues that back in time, Igbo parents would not accept any expensive gifts from their children that could not be accounted for how it was justly earned. It thus flies in the face of reason that a university student doing no work whatsoever somewhat conduces to gift his father or mother with an expensive car that even businessmen of many years of experience cannot purchase. This reality is what Governor Soludo would not want in Anambra State. The Solution Governor insists that it is such a tragedy that these evil and negative energy practices have assailed the core Igbo values of hard work, decency, integrity, and the fear of God.
Concerned about the quest for instant gratification and apparent lack of rigour among the youths, Soludo set out to walk-his-talk of getting them meaningfully engaged by creating programmes to tackle the menace and equip the youths in readiness for today and tomorrow’s skills set. First, he launched the 1Youth2Skills programme to empower young people in vocational and entrepreneurial skills. The programme aims to transform Anambra into a hub of skilled youths. This will reduce unemployment by providing comprehensive training and mentorship. It incorporates various stages including apprenticeship, entrepreneurship training, cooperative formation, business financing, and a one-year mentorship scheme. Secondly, Soludo unveiled the One Million Anambra Digital Tribe under the auspices of Solution Innovation District (SID) which is focused on equipping youths with practical digital skills that will create new employment opportunities. Hopefully, many among the teeming Anambra youths will find the programmes enticing enough rather than engaging in “get-rich-quick-or-die-trying.”
Soludo would not want a society where the worship of money has become the core kernel of the young ones who can kill and sacrifice anybody in the vain bid to make money fast. Soludo is determined to stamp out the fad of the young ones whose role models are hustlers with no visible means of livelihood, save the ubiquitous splashing of money everywhere. Anything goes in the acquisition of the dubious wealth. The criminal enterprise intervolves fetish practices, kidnapping for ransom, advance fee fraud, robberies, witchcraft, human sacrifices etc. This has necessitated Soludo to bring forth the Anambra State Homeland Security Law 2025 which ensures that all the evil practices are not allowed to flourish. The law is not aimed at stopping traditional medicine practitioners from plying their trade. The law is in place to stop the evil wiles of the likes of the Oke-ite criminals in the midst. Soludo stresses that any believer in the powers and efficacy of Oke-ite would need to step forward to convince the civilized community why such a crude and satanic practice should be allowed to reign supreme in the land. What Governor Soludo is involved in is indeed a battle for the soul of Anambra State in particular and Igbo land at large. The Igbo people have a time-respected reputation as the hardest working persons anywhere. In his administration of values, Soludo cannot bend the knee for this reputation to be bastardized by the current reality of Igbo teenagers riding fleets of expensive cars and wearing suits bought from New York, London, Paris and all the fashion capitals of the world!
It goes against the grain of the Soludo ethics that the Igbo youngster knows only how to spend stupendous sums of money but can hardly ever explain how he made the money in the first place. It rankles that in corrupting the state apparatus, these new kids on the block enjoy police protection in their convoys! The outlaws have somehow taken possession of the law!
Therefore, it is incumbent on all right-thinking Igbo people, and Nigerians at large, to support the Udo-Ga-Achi initiative of Governor Soludo in Anambra State to win back the astute standing values-oriented living. As things stand now, it is as though the lunatics have broken free of the asylums and taken over the wider society.
Evil must not define us, Soludo asserts, for it is unAnambra! It is in restoring the intangibles of the value system that Soludo is bestowing Anambra State with an inimitable legacy.
Dr. Okego writes in from Ekwulobia.