Soludo Is No Solution. By Pius Okaneme

Never have I seen the elite so fooled by every instrument that is built to protect their integrity. Gov. Charles Soludo was a professor. He was a Central Bank Of Nigeria governor. He has written extensively on the dynamics of public policies. Who would have thought he will fail categorically as he is presently as the governor of Anambra State. Woe betides us who belittled the street smartness of the Onitsha business men. They resisted him by saying that he does not have the native intelligence to be a successful governor in Anambra State.

The riddle is that in this scandalous media age, no colleague of his in the past offices he held released the empty profile of his credential for public digest. Was he so skillful in masking his inefficiency or did he possess the ammunition to subdue his oppositions? Nonetheless, one cannot dismiss his prowess in badgering the masses with his analytical sophistication. Now we know his erudition is like the sound of an empty drum. It echoes so loud but offers no solution.

The governor splashed the shine of his efficiency like the morning sun during his first year in office. Alas, the illusions of his impression have fizzled away. The aftermath of his drama has left the citizens debilitated in some places. The area of Nkpor/Umuoji road by Inland Doors has a bitter taste simmering in the mouth of commuters. It was roughly a year ago that the road was rehabilitated. Today, it is a nightmare to drive through the area. First, the repair work lacked engineering insight. It looked like a construction work supervised by the mad woman that lives by the dumpster located in the area. The side gutter is so shallow considering the strength of the flood that passes the area. Heavy amount of erosion covers the road when it is raining. Secondly, the construction work ended abruptly before fixing a major dilapidation on the same road.

Many residents of the state are beginning to assess the rhetoric of the governor as the flighty tales of a junky. They sound amusing but amount to useless gain. Most of the road network in the state are collapsing. You can blame the past governors of the state for one inadequacy or the other during their administration but they managed to maintain good roads. And of course, they held other unique strengths. All one hears about Gov. Soludo is that he is constructing a flyover bridge in Ekwuluobia. Where does Ekwuluobia lead in strengthening the social and economic condition of the state? Government policies should be focused in building up places like Onitsha, Nkpor and Nnewi, the main arteries that pump resources to support the entire state.

I believe the governor should expect to read more write-ups like this one. His grace period is over. Many citizens who expected wonders on the account of his policy analysis on the media are feeling bankrupt from dearth of new ideas in his administration. Organizing thugs to levy hard working citizens may bring revenue to the purse of the state but the burden is so cruel in the face of a depressing economy. Gov. Soludo should show us that he knows better with his big load of academic credential by improving the social condition of the people of Anambra State.

Pius Okaneme, political analyst and poet writes from Umuoji, Anambra State, Nigeria