RIGHT OF REPLY

By ROSE ORANYE

As more reactions trail the suspension of the traditional ruler of Neni, Anaocha Local Government Area of Anambra State, our attention has been drawn to an article by Ugoji Egbujo, published in Vanguard of January 20, 2024, titled: ‘Soludo and his Small-minded Solutions’, where the writer referred to the governor of Anambra State, Prof. Chukwuma Charles Soludo as a lover of squabbles and “a champion of small things”, among other things.

For the avoidance of doubt, Governor Soludo of Anambra State is not squabbling with anybody.   He is just a stickler for law and order to enable his beautiful ideas and plans for the state come to fruition.

Interestingly, the writer described Mr Governor as a champion, though of “small things”, which we will not hesitate to commend him for since the governor, in whatever angle one wants to look at it, is a champion for real. What the writer failed to understand is that it is good that the governor is interested in “small things” because it is from the “small things” that the big things he has for the state will be achieved. “Rome was not built in a day” and “a journey of a million miles starts with a single step”.

It is obvious that Soludo is a man of ideas and has brought solutions to various problems of the state. Therefore, those who talk about “small minded solution” in Anambra are either armchair analysts trying to evaluate the governor from afar based on hearsay or they are totally blinded by hate or jealousy to clearly see what is happening in the state.

Inasmuch as a good leader needs to be both “small” and “big” minded to fully understand and address the needs of the generality of the populace, it is unintelligent for Egbujo and his likes to only see the “small things” like sanctioning an Igwe for a glaringly established case of infringement of law without observing improvements in security of lives and property, grassroots development, standard of education, basic healthcare, youth employment and human resources, among others since Soludo came on board. What other template for effective moral and transformative leadership is greater than these?

The truth is that the governor’s plan to make Anambra an affluent and liveable state is not a “small” plan and it can only be achieved by first, bringing back law and order as necessary preconditions for growth, development and transformation of the state.

If a governor, as enlightened as Soludo, doesn’t deal with lawlessness, who will? Or is it because traditional rulers and highly placed people are involved?

As a matter of fact, the major problem Anambra has from inception has been the difficulty in establishing peace and order. People have always constituted laws unto themselves – trading, constructing and behaving anyhow they pleased. This is why the state was in disarray and even unknown gunmen almost took over the state before Governor Soludo’s intervention.

*Oranye wrote from the Ministry of Information, Awka, Anambra State