Soludo Standing tall above the babble

Joe C. Anatune

There is a battle between light and darkness in Anambra State today for the minds and souls of Ndi- Anambra. It is a battle between those who care for the future of the state and the mercantile failed guardians of its past. Regrettable and tragically, they, the mercantile failed guardians of the past, have chosen a very wrong time.

While Governor Willie Obiano, his crack team and public spirited individuals such as Prof. Chukwuma Soludo are busy day and night waging a relentless battle to prevent the deadly Coronavirus from having a foothold in the state, they derive great, sadistic joy in spewing out falsehood and hostile, recycled articles against the person of Prof Soludo. We shudder.

Elsewhere in the world, all hands are on deck at the moment to save humanity from Coronavirus, politics apart. In these efforts, governments are the fulcrum with other individuals and corporates queuing behind and offering assistance according to their abilities. Soludo did just that amidst public applause and hell was let loose apparently in a crude war for Anambra Guber 2021. They unwittingly forget they, like all others, have to be alive first, before they can rule.

Soludo refuses to be drawn into their needless battle of attrition. Yes, needless because there are weighty issues to attend to.

Instead, Soludo as usual is working with the Anambra youths, men, women and government fighting to overcome this dangerous virus that is wreaking havoc across the globe. And we are of the well-considered opinion that this is the proper thing to do. Not just here, but everywhere across the globe. Collaborating and aligning to save humanity is his preoccupation, in addition to doing what he loves best – envisioning a future for Anambra where we shall all be glad to live, work, enjoy and find fulfillment.

Here, Soludo sees beyond the infertile minds of the mercantile guardians of our past, like John F. Kennedy who on 25 May 1961, spoke to a joint session of the US Congress in these words that are now famous: “…I believe that this nation should commit itself to achieving the goal, before this decade is out, of landing a man on the moon and returning him safely to earth. No single space project in this period will be more impressive to mankind or more important for the long-range exploration of space; and none will be so difficult or expensive to accomplish…’’ In 1969, Neil Armstrong walked on the moon. What made this possible? Some scholars say it was the cold war and America’s battle to dominate. True, the cold war was the context but leadership and vision got Armstrong to walk on the moon. Obiano has provided the leadership by setting up the Anambra V-2070 committee with Soludo as chairman.

Not new to the turf of visioning and executing, Soludo recently took his team to a resort by the lake in Agulu for a two-day brainstorming and another day of interactive session with stakeholders in Awka. Notwithstanding the lockdown, the committee members are working round the clock in sub-committees through virtual platforms to envision the future Ndi-Anambra want. This Anambra plan will also receive inputs from all the towns and other stakeholders.

So if truth must be told, there is, according to a friend of mine, a bigger fish to kill and fry, which is Coronavirus, for the world, for Nigeria, for Ndi-Anambra and indeed for humanity to be safe and free. All men and women of good conscience must join hands with the government, except our failed mercantile guardians who are in the wings, waiting to rule over dead people. This aberration currently witnessed in Anambra State is confounding and runs contrary to our culture and norms. And certainly, Soludo will stand above such prattle.

Anatune writes from Awa in Orumba North LGA