Ugo Egbujo And His Social Media Influenced Quibbles

MAZI EJIMOFOR OPARA 

The social media is loud, really very loud that only a human juggernaut like Soludo can boldly put a wedge on its tide and damn the consequences. The social media hypemen have had a very bad day following the mass return that characterized the yuletide season in Anambra. As many who fed long on misinformation peddled across social media platforms saw a stark difference between what they were fed and the reality that Soludo had put on ground in less than 21 months in office.

If only an Ugo Egbujo was a part of this lot who visited Anambra he perhaps would have encountered his own mental salvation like my friend who could no longer recognize the road to her Father’s house in Ekwulobia, or the Visitors to Onitsha who have described the urban regeneration of Onitsha as a Miracle. Awka? This one is a new omen that has left both indigenes and non-indigenes wondering how possible it is that Anambra’s capital can be on such a fast rise to a place befitting of the quality of humans Anambra parades both at home and in diaspora.

At this point, one wonders what Ugo Egbujo means when he asked, “who would have thought he (Soludo) would be a champion for small things?” If small things in Ugo’s reckoning are those micro issues of law and order, like breathing life into extant laws made before Soludo became a Governor, then we must have to remind Ugo Egbujo and his readers that it takes little (small) foxes to spoil the vine. Like a Father who is spending great time building great wealth and fortunes for his children without committing more time attending to their “small” behavioural defects, only to realize that he has built great fortunes and wealth for incompetent heirs. Nothing is more deprecating than the regrets of such a man.

How we treat the smallest of laws or observe the most basic etiquettes says so much about our social outlook and has consequence on our drive towards economic prosperity and progress. Okpoko under Soludo’s 21 months leadership is not the same again. The roads are breathing new lease, with a brand new general hospital built to cater to the health needs of the people, a fundamental paradigm shift has occurred in the area that today, Okpoko people and Residents now confess implicit confidence in government. Ugo Egbujo should take a trip to reality and quit the phantasmagoric narratives of Social media hirelings.

The “small things”, like the Anambra State Burial Law (2019) and the Anambra State Traditional Rulers Council Act of 2007, amended in 2020 are foretastes of the commonest test of civic responsibility of the Anambra people. Their appositeness or otherwise now exist in the realm of subjectivity and cannot vitiate their importance as a tool for social control and order. If these laws do not reflect the overall aspiration of ndi Anambra, there are laid down procedures for a repeal. In the interim, what Soludo swore to is to uphold the laws of the State and apply same without fear or Favour irrespective of who is involved.

As a fine Economist of global standard, Soludo understands the place of building models for development, one that will be to the greater good of all and outlive its Designers. This is why his Anambra Dubai/Taiwan vision has been painstakingly calibrated into a measurable 50year development plan captioned “Anambra Vision 2070”. The road to a liveable and prosperous homeland is a marathon, not a dash. If Ugo Egbujo and others like him would objectively evaluate Soludo’s less than 2years achievements infrastructurally and otherwise they would realize that the Man Soludo has already scored points that previous governments could not contemplate in 8years.

To implement the law in a place like Nigeria and Anambra in particular one must be ready to be misunderstood. Especially by those who derive pleasure in disobeying the law. Everything would seem wrong or right relative to one’s stand and prism of evaluation. If Ugo Egbujo’s judgment of Governor Soludo is based on social media appraisals, then I can concede to him that he is correct. However, if Ugo wants to truly know the actual height of Soludo’s 21 months of exploits, he would need to take a quick trip to reality. Speak to pregnant women in the State who have been enjoying free antenatal and free delivery since July 2023. Parents who now pay nothing for their children and wards in Primary 1 to JSS 3. Ugo should seek out the 5000 school Teachers recruited by Soludo in the December of 2022 or the 5000 young people trained across various skills and empowered with the sum of 2 billion Naira. He should check with over 900 health workers, including Doctors and Nurses who were recruited in 2022 and deployed to various public hospitals in the State.

For Agbero in Onitsha those ones have become the exceptions and no longer the norm, if Ugo Egbujo was in touch with reality, he should have known this. All this and more are the “small things” Soludo has focused on in 21 months (less than 2 years). Ndi Anambra can only imagine how small is small. On Foreign Direct Investments, the Soludo Administration has mapped out key areas of intervention to enable a seamless flow of FDI at directional and targeted sectors. The Pharmaceutical hub in Ogboji, and the Export emporium coming up in Dunukofia will form major levers for FDI in the months ahead. With over 450km of roads already at various levels of completion across the State, ndi Anambra are certain that Anambra’s journey to being a smart megacity may barth faster than anticipated.

Ugo Egbujo, I insist, must take a trip to reality, and his guide should be Soludo’s manifesto and the Anambra Vision 2070 document. This way, I am certain Ugo would write a quick recant of his initial social media influenced piece.

— Mazi Ejimofor Opara
is the Senior Special Assistant to Governor Soludo on New Media, and the National Publicity Secretary of APGA.