David-ChyddyEleke takes a look at the three years of Prof. Chukwuma Soludo as Governor of Anambra State and concludes that despite all odds, he has offered transformational leadership.

Last Sunday, Governor ChukwumaSoludo of Anambra State, held a large audience spell bound at the St Patrick?s Cathedral in Awka, the state capital where he celebrated his third anniversary as governor of the state.

For close to two hours, Soludo regaled the audience, which included dignitaries from within and outside the state with some of the challenges he has encountered as governor, and the many achievements he has registered since his ascension to office on March 17, 2022, and what lays ahead for the state as he wraps up his first four-year term.

Soludo?s three years in office has been laced with challenges, and the biggest of them has been threats of insecurity in the state. The governor ascended to the governorship seat at a time when the state was at its peak in insecurity. This was occasioned by separatist elements who formed a parallel government in the state, seizing many towns in about eight local government areas of the state. The threats were so high that during the 2021 governorship election, not even the party in power, using the paraphernalia of office could campaign in some of the seized local government areas. In some places where some political parties dared to campaign, they had to pay, to buy peace as far as the political rallies lasted.

The governor had quickly gone to work, and tackled this, but not long after he had reclaimed the seized local council areas than a new wave of crime hit the state. In the renewed wave, cultism, killing, kidnapping, car snatching became so rampant that it was difficult to truly report all such cases in the state in one day. Even though the governor prided himself as performing wonders in the area of infrastructure, the level of violence in the state almost permanently cast a slur on all his achievements, until recently when he woke up again. Seeking to tackle the insecurity in the state through its root cause, Soludo signed the Anambra Homeland Security Law into operation, which created a new security outfit, Agunechemba, and also a security operation, Operation Udo Ga Achi, which encompasses all the known security agencies operating in the state, all working with operatives of Agunechemba.

Beyond that, the homeland security law touched salient points that have direct nexus with the criminality in the state. For example, the law criminalized native doctors who prepare protective charms for criminals, and those who prepare get-rich-quick charms. Also, it sought for communities to know aliens who reside within them, and also be sure of their occupation and identity, among others. So far, insecurity in the state today has become past news as normalcy has again returned. With insecurity solved, Soludo can pride himself as doing wonderfully well in other areas, and of course many political watchers have commended him for plugging a hole that would have been the only campaign topic of opposition parties seeking to remove him from gaining re-election.

Soludo tells whoever cares to listen that his administration seeks to turn Anambra from a departure to an arrival lounge. During his third anniversary thanksgiving mass, he proudly stated that what his administration was doing was to build an Anambra that only an Anambra man who wishes to live outside as a matter of choice will do so, but not because there are no opportunities for them in the state.

True to his words, in three years, the governor prides himself as having performed so much. Like an inventor who is proud of his invention, Soludo has been sponsoring groups and individuals who visit the state to his projects in the last three years. These projects include about 700 kilometers of roads all scattered around the 179 communities in the state. The governor has also built bridges, flyovers, the new Government Gouse and Governor?s Lodge, the solution fun city, five general hospitals, employed thousand of teachers and medical doctors, just to mention a few.

There have been pockets of disagreements over the performance of the governor in the last three years. These are mainly coming from opposition politicians who taunt Soludo as talking more than he is capable of delivering. For example, almost all the seven governorship aspirants of the All Progressives Congress (APC), and four in the Labour Party have at one point or the other picked holes in the governor?s performance.

While security used to be the major topic in discrediting Soludo, but with the new efforts in the area, the topic has shifted to the governor?s verbose nature, his high sounding grammar, his inability to give the Dubai-Taiwan which he promised the state, or running a government that claims knowledge of everything and arrogates know it all to themselves. Infact, opposition politicians believe that as the governorship election draws near, Anambra people will vote out Soludo for underperformance.

But on the other hand, several private individuals and groups who have visited the state and had the opportunity of touring the governor?s projects insisted that he has performed more than expected. Former Secretary General of Commonwealth, and an elder statesman in the state, Chief EmekaAnyaoku, after inspecting the new Anambra Government House proclaimed it to be the very best in the country and favourably competes with the Aso Rock Presidential villa. Anyaoku who was taken on a tour of the project could not hide his amazement as he stated that: ?This is a mini-city?.

Also, the National Chairman of the Inter-Party Advisory Council (IPAC), Alhaji Yusuf Dantalle, who was also in the state and inspected Governor Soludo?s projects described him as a ?wizard?. Dantalle said: ?I?m impressed by the level of development in the state. Governor Soludo is a wizard!?

On his part, Bishop of Sokoto Catholic Diocese, Bishop Hassan Matthew Kukah, a known critic who does not shy away from speaking his mind, was also in Anambra during the third year anniversary celebration of the governor and had the opportunity of touring few of the governor?s projects. Speaking at a thanksgiving mass at St Patrick?s Cathedral, Awka, Kukah admonished Soludo not to strive to compete with anyone as he has already broken records. He rather urged him to compete with his own self, and work at his own pace, not to outdo anyone, but to satisfy his conscience about what he intends to achieve in the state.

Kukah said: ?I am happy that you are consolidating on the achievements of the greatness of your people and the past leaders of the state. Please I wish to urge you to complete with yourself and don?t try to compete with anyone and don?t try to break other people?s record but break your own record. Anambra State is special because this is a state that has been growing and improving from stage to stage and this is a state where former Governor Chris Ngige said his opponents are campaigning on the roads that he constructed.

?Former Governor Peter Obi came and brought Anambra state from the 22nd position to the first position in terms of education and Former Governor WilleObiano gave Anambra state a wonderful Airport and today you Governor Charles Soludo has given Anambra State a beautiful and befitting Government House and a Fun City. All those achievements you have made so far in the past three years without taking loans is commendable and you did not take the loan because you know the consequences of taking loans. There are some governors that kept taking loans and would continue to take loans and in my state Kaduna, I don?t know how many years it would take us to pay back those loans,? he said.

Even though 2025 is an election year for Anambra state, Soludo does not seem to be ruffled as he believed he has done well enough to merit the nod of Anambra people for a re-election. Speaking with a team of journalists on national television in a programme to mark his third anniversary, answering a question about why he has not declared his intention to seek re-election, despite the frenzy coming from other political parties, Soludo said: ?I am still in my first term, and I have one year ahead of me. For me, it is work, work and work. I told Anambra people that every penny they put in our hands, we will show them what we used it for. We will continue to work until the very last day.

?To answer your question, I will say yes, if my party nominates me for a second term, I will now seek the consent of my employers, who are the people. If they employ me for another tenure, I will continue to work for them. God has a reason for making me an Anambra indigene, and I believe this is the time for me to use this position to give back to the people. I have consulted for more than 25 foreign agencies. Which foreign financial organisation can you name, I have consulted for all of them. We want to now work for our people, that is why we are building Anambra into a mega smart city, and I must say that we are doing all these without borrowing a dime. We are the only state that pulled out of a World Bank loan. We came in and looked at the terms and it wasn?t favourable for us and we left it. We have also declined several others. Get me right, borrowing is not a bad thing on it?s own, but if we are borrowing, we must invest it in a project that can pay back on its own. For example, we have drawn the Anambra rail master plan. When we are ready for that, we can consider a loan if we think it can repay it.?

On the argument that he has not been giving out money as politicians are wont to do, Soludo said: ?It is counterproductive to be giving out money to people, it is not sustainable. We have roads that we have constructed and shuttle bus drivers have come to thank us because unlike before when they were always spending money at mechanics, the money is now in their pockets. Parents now have money back in their pocket with the truly free education policy we have in the state. Our free antenatal and post natal policy has also put money back in the pockets of those who would have spent money for such services. That is what we call empowerment and not just throwing money about.?

As the governor begins his fourth year journey and possible re-election, he promised not to relent in ensuring that he meets his promise to the people. According to him, ?Anambra ain?t seen nothing yet?. (THISDAY)

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