Mr. Peter Gregory Obi is not a new name to Nigeria political scene. After leading a people centered government, he went the way of most Nigerian politicians (anointed a successor), but unfortunately little did he know that his support for his erstwhile secondary school fellow alumni to govern Anambra State was going to be the death of the beautiful relationship they had always shared.

The funny reality is that none of these past governors in the state has ever had a thriving relationship with their successors.

Chief Willie Obiano with the fierce support of his predecessor, out maneuvered Prof. Charles Soludo to become the Governor of the State.

After the eight years of Chief Willie Obiano in office as the governor and having parted ways with his predecessor, Prof. Charles Soludo finally became a huge beneficiary of the friction between Mr. Peter Obi and his successor, as Prof. Soludo became the most preferred gubernatorial candidate for All Progressive Grand Alliance (APGA) in the 2021 elections.

Professor Charles Soludo in all honesty was coming to the political space at the time with so much experience in governance and administration. Some argued that he came with more than the requisite qualification for the job he was seeking.

No state would deliberately play down the hope of a possible societal transformation a former Central bank governor, Chief Economic Adviser to the president, Chief Executive Officer of the national planning commission and member of President Buhari’s economic advisory council offers to his people, if elected to office. It became so bad at a time, that this realization of an excellent curriculum vitae made Prof. Soludo give off the energy that he was coming to do ndi Anambra a favor to serve them, during the campaigns.

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So, when Prof. Charles Soludo was announced as the winner of the 2021 Anambra gubernatorial elections, ndi Ananmbra in their numbers rejoiced because to them a new dawn had come and was worth rejoicing for.

Unfortunately, the then newly elected governor did not factor in that he was going to face very stiff opposition with respect to the security of the State.

The reason why Anambra State is not overpopulated as we speak is because of the insecurity in the state that cannot be wished away.

 The security of lives and property remains an aspect of the State that the Governor has not been excellent at in so many ways. The Governor has witnessed an unprecedented number of deaths in the state under his watch for which we are yet to have justice done for such deaths.

Therefore, kindly permit us to share some other observations of ours about the state with you all, our most esteemed readers.

After the eight years of Chief Willie Obiano who was all about making ndi Anambra happy the way he deemed perfect (literarily opening the state vault for the masses), Anambra State definitely needed a man in the mold of Professor Charles Soludo to put the state on a path of fiscal discipline, infrastructural development would later translate to economic growth.

The boldness with which Prof. Soludo is pursuing some reforms in the state must be commended as it takes a deliberate leader who is intentional about the future of the state to take such steps. He is paying a heavy price for daring to implement these reforms in the state.

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Most remarkably is the emphasis he subtly placed on political players having other things to do to earn, to avoid unnecessary dependence on state resources to fund their lavish lifestyles.

Awka as a state capital is wearing some striking new looks and this underscores the efforts of the state governor and his team to do things differently. The policy that is being implemented with the aim of having landowners in some estates in Awka develop their properties or face revocation is a welcome one.

It is also exciting to see that for the number of years Charlie Nwa Mgbafor has been on the saddle, that he is yet to take his first loan on behalf of the state unlike other governors who are already neck deep in unsustainable debts. Doing this comes at a great sacrificial price for a Nigerian politician.

The fact that the governor and his team members have managed the available scarce resources well enough to be able to fund the many infrastructural projects being executed in Anambra is a testament to the fact that the governor is doing some great jobs.

Atleast as an Economist, his knowledge of scale of preference, opportunity cost, comparative advantage, forgone alternative and distribution of available scarce resources has been helpful.

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His ability with the support of his team members to effectively clear some accumulated gratuities of retired civil servants which had piled before his administration must be commended in clear terms also.

The public academic sector space has also been a huge beneficiary of the governor’s doggedness and this you can see when government owned educational institutions from Anambra State go for international competitions. This is an area that the State has been excellent at.

Have you heard about the government’s plans to close down schools that didn’t meet the basic minimal requirement to operate as schools in the state?

When you look at the successes achieved by the Anambra State Health Insurance agency, it dawns on you that the State stands tall in the Southeast in terms of health insurance for its citizens and this feat would not have been achieved without the support of the governor.

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While we can unanimously agree that Prof. Charles Chukwuma Soludo has not been sharing money with APGA party stakeholders which is commendable neither has he been employing influencers to lie on behalf of the State to make him more popular in the media space, he has been consistent about his conviction to serve and his drive to make the state work in his own self-styled way.

As the governorship election draws close in a year’s time, the truth we must tell ourselves remains that there are so many reasons why Prof. Charles Soludo has to be supported to do a second tenure.

This we must be deliberate not to offer him on a platter as he must clearly spell out to us why he has not been able to provide the so much security we need in the State.

Mr. Governor must show us his track records in agriculture and health, while showing us clearly his road map for the next four years.

He has been very poor at communicating with ndi Anambra and this must be addressed if he really wants a second tenure from the electorates.

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 Finally if in an extreme case, that he is not able to secure the support of ndi Anambra for a second tenure, then whoever must ascend that seat must commit to carrying on with the projects of the governor with a well mapped out path of implementing the 50 years strategic plan for the state for the period he or she would be in power, as in its implementation lies the making of the State an economic super power in Africa.

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