The Anambra Agenda: Soludo’s Path To A Model State

Professor Soludo’s vast exposure to development economics (in the academia and empirical realms) and his characteristic zeal to lift his homeland up from squalour economy to civilised structural plains give impetus to the depth of his vision and the height of his resolve for its actualization. It should however be known that Soludo’s “Anambra Dubai-Taiwan” is only a metaphor for an infrastructural development and value reappraisal that satisfy the yearnings of decent humans for a good life. Since states are distinct geopolitical entities which, though enjoying neither political nor economic independence from the nations of their domicile, reserve allowable dose of individualities that could define the modes and spate of their engagements and growth as sub-nationals, Soludo proffers a domestication of the possibilities in civilised polities to suit the context of Nigeria’s political space. So, since the All Progressives Grand Alliance, APGA, whose platform he holds has hindered reach to the national patrimony and the influences needed for his state’s growth, and since he finds the policies of the national ruling party persuasive, he readily solicits a working understanding with the All Progressives Congress’ presidency for the good Anambra State. This principle of “for the greatest sustainable good of Anambra State” is seen to prevail in Governor Soludo’s acts in the state’s governance.

Thus far, the commensurate distractions dotting the march to the target have only succeeded in proving Soludo’s surefootedness in its pursuit. His words and actions from the day of his inauguration till date have shown a situational deviation from an off-the-cuff approach to governance to intentionality in walking a strategically laid-out master plan for futuristic legacy attainments. For instance, Soludo speaks to the existential essence of the environment, and goes head-on confronting obvious signposts of environmental degradation in the state, turning erstwhile urban slums and environmentally degraded localities model liveable communities endowed with good roads, solar-powered lit streets, well-appointed government health centres, hospitals and functional schools. Soludo’s insistence that the environment should be pampered in the interest of humanity is enforced by the Operation Clean and Healthy Anambra (OSHA Brigade), a monitoring and enforcement agency of government which ensures compliance with healthy environmental ethics like desilting of drainages and other environmental concerns. He established serviceable refuse dump sites and sustainable logistics for effective refuse collection, evacuation and management.

Not supportive of a ragtag approach to governance, the Soludo administration has laid out institutional guides in terms of policies that instruct the ways and means of delivering time-factored measurable goals in all the sectors of government interests. For instance, because the government considers education as the bedrock of sustainable growth, it rolls out policies like free primary and secondary education; he employs qualified teachers and adopts other measures with futuristic bent like tweaking the school curriculum for maximum effect of foundational education on pupils’ and students’ capacity for self-reliant post academic economic ventures. Soludo adopts the same bold step in engaging road infrastructures by paving rather ambitious roads that go beyond attending to today’s traffic demands to responding to the anticipated traffic needs of a more populated and more advanced Anambra economy; innovative roads that meet the unfolding development tides that his administration is facilitating.  Professor Chukwuma Soludo’s approach to Anambra State governance demonstrates the difference between power for its sake and power for tangible and intangible legacy attainments – dedication to definite vision and mission. ‎So when Soludo yields to his resolve to free Anambra State from commonplace economy to a positively recognizable global brand by embarking on groundbreaking ventures and by domesticating his amazingly globalised thought projections, he speaks to an evolving Anambra Dubai-Taiwan.

But for the features of democratic practice that necessitate leadership selection at given intervals and encourage diverse interests in who rules, one would have unrestrainedly vouchsafed Soludo the compliments of an unchallenged second term of four years, given his brilliant vision and the success he has made bringing it about in his first term that is running out. As the November 8, 2025 Anambra State governorship election closes in, the Anambra electorates, cognizant of Governor Soludo’s impressive stewardship, increasingly reaffirm their faith in his vision to recreate the state thereby making it a preferred destination for all those seeking a good life and are capable of adding value to the state’s sociocultural and economic ethos. As the Chairman of “Anambra Vision 2070” which (before his ascendance as governor) ruminated over the future of the state and came up with a blueprint on the project, Professor Chukwuma Charles Soludo adequately fits the bill for effectively founding the tenets of that document and more. Ndi-Anambra have a date with history, come the gubernatorial poll, and they are determined to resoundingly recharge Mr. Governor’s mandate to further his foundational institution of a model state in Anambra.

 *Chiagoziem, a sociopolitical analyst, writes from Abuja*