Soludo: A Vocal Igbo Intelligentsia

I had in previous articles, against the risk of sounding vainglorious, challenged anyone who cares to know the facts to present to us any Igbo man with matching track records of ethnic Nationalism as those presented by Chukwuma Soludo’s credentials. With tons of audiovisual evidence littering the cyber space and a host of countless articles authored by Prof Soludo retrievable by a simple Google search, I think it is the worst form of deliberate ignorance to ever allege or question Soludo’s allegiance to Ndigbo.

As a member of the Ohanaeze Ndigbo think thank and one who has chaired myriads of committees for the organisation, and openly challenging the very foundations of today’s Nigeria structure, Soludo is unarguably the most vocal Igbo intelligentsia of the 21st century – this is at the risk of sounding immodest, which of course runs counter to the worldview of Soludo, who certainly does not esteem such obligatory actions as an avenue for currying cheap publicity. 

Mr Adeyanju Deji , who, in many quarters, is described as an “activist for hire”, politically tainted with extreme bias for a certain political party is certainly not the right person to decide for Ndigbo on a matter as sensitive as this. Part of the reasons why no official position must come from a Soludo to the chattering of an induced Deji is the fact that a sane man must behave like a human being if he must catch a hopping Monkey. For if he decides to behave like a monkey to catch another monkey, passersby would see two monkeys.  

Deji has further alleged that Soludo only recently moved from the APC to APGA. How he came about this remains a question for those who must evaluate his state of mind. Again, he descended even further by referring to APGA — the third largest National party in the country — as a “Biafran Party”. Forgetting that APGA has in recent times won elections in Kogi, his home State. This is not a character  to be taken seriously.  We sincerely hope that young Persons like Deji must learn the honour in saying “No” at important moments — the times when unscrupulous politicians approach them to defy logic and courier falsehoods brazenly through cash inducements. In this era of the internet of things, it becomes difficult to recant a stand borne out of ignorance, for as in the Law, technology has really proven that ignorance can not be an excuse for thoughtless mistakes, let alone one that sounds diminishingly premeditated.

– Mazi Ejimofor Opara writes from Awka Anambra State.