Soludo Builds For The Future

CHRISTOPHER OBUMNEME 

The difference is clear between Governor Charles Chukwuma Soludo, CFR, and the disjointed opposition challenging for his post. While Soludo is building Anambra State for the future, the antagonists are intent on taking us backwards to the dark ages.

There are politicians and there are statesmen. The run-of-the-mill politician gives out handouts in the bid to win the next election while the astute statesman like Soludo builds up institutions that will stand the test of time for the next generation.

Mr. Governor stands solid as a statesman who can never be shaken off the stride of strenuously building for the coming generation in his undertakings. Soludo’s position reminds one of the declaration by the celebrated Kenyan human rights activist and Director, Kenya School of Law, Prof. Patrick Loch Otieno (PLO) Lumumba who lamented that African leaders don’t plan for the future.

Governor Soludo remains a standard-bearer of the African leader who has comprehensive plans for the future. The future generation is on the front burner in Soludo’s grand plans in education, infrastructure, ICT etc.

Prof PLO Lumumba engages his audience by digging deep into the world of Ancient Greek Democracy where three kinds of people are identified to make up any society, namely: The Idiots, the Tribesmen, and the Citizens.

The first of the lot, the Idiots, may not be mentally deficient but are almost always completely immersed in private matters in a very selfish manner. They are totally absorbed with personal gains and interests such that they absolutely lack a public philosophy. They are thus unable to contribute to a flourishing society or community. With their unstinting commitment to personal pleasures and treasures, they can only be classified as upgraded barbarians!

The second lot, the Tribesmen, may not belong to a particular tribe but they do have a mentality that limits them to neither thinking nor acting beyond their small tribes and groups. Their religion is tribalism, and they are so afraid of things that are different or are a little alien to them. The Tribesmen only worship the warrior because war-making is their stock-in-trade. .

The final lot, the Citizens, may not refer to legal or political status or the circumstances of birth and parentage but these are people who have the skills and knowledge to live a public life, who are able to live a life of civility. The Citizens recognize that they are members of a commonwealth and thus will always strive for the common good. The Citizens know their right in a society and also know their responsibility to society. It is Citizens that make up a civilized society.

The choice is there for Anambra people and Nigerians at large to develop as Citizens, and that is the essence of the Governor Soludo example. Nigerians can ill-afford to be Idiots living only for themselves or Tribesmen unable to think beyond their limited tribes.

That is why Soludo employs all Nigerians to work in Anambra State. Making true citizens out of Nigerians who give their best to Anambra requires committed leadership that is poised on the common good for all, from the downtrodden to the potentates.

According to Prof PLO Lumumba, “You must always remember that no matter how good you are, you must be part of the team. If the team is to succeed, the chain is only as strong as its weakest point. And sometimes the leadership is the weakest point because the leadership is nepotistic, myopic and all these may affect an individual who calls himself or herself a leader.”

The unwanted leaders are suffused in greed and avarice such that they have damaged and retarded their people’s future. These are the archetypal politicians who think only about the next election instead of being statesmen who think about the next generation.

That is the difference that Soludo brings to the table. He is building a creditable future that generations ahead must cherish. It is of course noteworthy that the Western countries and their cities that African leaders and potentates admire and visit very often were built hundreds of years ago by statesmen who had long since departed. Soludo is the leader who thinks ahead. He has the future generation in mind. The size of the roads, sewage, water system and sundry infrastructure he has been building attest to this. Mr. Governor understands that the world is not static and that our offspring who will succeed us do have a right to a better life.

Governor Soludo and his team think of the next generation because that was how the developed world was built. The state government’s steps at quality control on roads and other infrastructure cannot be gainsaid.

The transformative journey undertaken by Governor Soludo in youth development stands Anambra State in good stead in lieu of the future generation. Digital transformation is all the rage in Anambra State of the here and now, and the future!

The multiform youth-oriented programmes are aimed at developing the budding human capital to be employable locally and exportable abroad. Building a sustainable society for the next generation is Governor Soludo’s statesmanlike gift to the fatherland. He has no competition whatsoever in Anambra State.

– Dr Obumneme is a political researcher based in Awka, Anambra State.