Follow Us on Google
By Chiedu Uche Okoye
William Shakespeare is, unarguably, the greatest dramatist of all times. His dramatic works, which have diverse themes, are written in poetic language.Those works wow us to no end. And some lines in his works , which are apt and quotable , can be used to contextualize happenings in today’s Nigeria, and the world at large. But it seems William Shakespeare had Professor Charles Chukwuma Soludo in mind when he wrote this: “Some are born great; some achieve greatness; and others have greatness thrust upon them.” Professor Soludo was not born with a silver spoon in his mouth. And his parents were not rich while he was growing up. Now, sometimes, he would joke about his lowly background, saying that he is the son of Nwa Mgbafor. But he pulled himself up by the bootstraps and rose to become a great man by a dint of hardwork and providential help. A very brilliant fellow, he earned a first class degree in Economics from the University of Nigeria, Nsukka. And he taught Economics to Students in world class universities, crowning his teaching career with a professorial post. His becoming a professor at a young age is a measure of of his pedagogical competence, brilliance, and hardwork.
Before becoming the Anambra State governor in 2022, he had tried several times, though without success, to become the Anambra State governor. While trying to win the Anambra State governorship election over the years, he formulated a programme of action on how to re-make Anambra State and transform it to an industrialized state like Taiwan. Again, Professor Charles Soludo, the Anambra State governor, is familiar with the Anambra State’s developmental challenges, ecological problems, infrastructural deficit, security challenges, and others. That is the reason why he has been proferring solutions to the state’s hydra-headed problems, effortlessly. Unlike some political leaders, who acquired political power fortuitously, he came into office fully prepared for the arduous task of taking Anambra State to an enviable height in the areas of education, agriculture, economic development, health, and others. And, unlike some state governors, who dilly-dallied and shilly-shallied before forming their executive cabinet, Professor Charles Chukwuma Soludo hit the ground running, making appointments soon after he was elected into office. His executive cabinet is not surfeit with political aides, who idle away time. And no two political aides in his cabinet have duties that can be said to be duplication of functions.
Governor Soludo has, so far, demonstrated that he is faithfully committed to transforming Anambra State, positively. For example, he is reforming the system of collection of road taxes and levies in Anambra State in order to ensure that monies generated from it enters the coffers of Anambra State. The reformation of the system of collection of road taxes and levies will prevent touts from molesting and extorting money from commercial bus drivers. More so, knowing that education is the cornerstone of national development, he swung into action to fix the shortfall in the number of teachers needed in Anambra primary and post-primary schools. The teachers’ recruitment exercise, which was conducted awhile ago, was based on meritocracy, and not on the factors of political patronage, clannishness, and cronyism. Hiring young, knowledgeable, and competent teachers to teach in the Anambra primary and post-primary schools is one of the ways by which the government can shore up the standard of education obtainable in schools in Anambra State and transform our society for the better.
Teachers impart knowledge to students and mould the characters of impressionable youths. A young , well-adjusted, and energetic person, who is not found wanting in character and learning, can contribute meaningfully and significantly to the development of Nigeria. And reducing the number of unemployed people in Anambra State by recruiting workers will help to curb youth restiveness and crimes in the state . The young and unemployed people constitute the pool from which from terrorists and secessionists recruit their foot soldiers. A gainfully employed person will not risk his or her neck to perpetrate crimes like abduction of people for ransom and armed robbery. Do we not have this saying: “an idle mind is a devil’s workshop”?
Again, Governor Soludo has embarked on checking the ecological disasters ravaging the state. The massive demolition of buildings , which block flood pathways and the decluttering of drainages are ongoing in the state now. The demolished buildings, which are excrescences on the Anambra State landscape, causes ecological disasters in the state. In addition to all these, which Governor Charles Chukwuma Soludo is doing for the betterment of Anambra State, he is executing measures to rid the state of sundry crimes. Happily, his efforts in that area is yielding positive results. For weeks now, people living in Anambra State have been enjoying relative peace. We have not heard news about the grisly murder of prominent Anambra natives, as used to be the case in the recent past. The murderers who masquerade as freedom fighters have been put to flight. And some of the houses in which the kidnappers did keep their victims had been leveled; and the kingpins of the murderous and kidnapping gangs arrested.
With the restoration of peace and order in Anambra state, Governor Charles Chukwuma Soludo can now offer Anambra people qualitative political leadership, which will lead to improvement in the people’s standard of living and the transformation of Anambra State an economically prosperous and industrialized sub-national group.
Okoye writes from
Uruowulu-Obosi, Anambra State
