By CHIEDU UCHE OKOYE

It is believed that Gov. Chukwuma Soludo’s alleged misspeak and seemingly inability to rein in the excesses of the Anambra state’s security outfits – Ocha Brigade, SASA, and Agunechemba – have caused a huge setback to his reelection bid for the November 8, 2025 Anambra governorship election.

However, in spite of that, he is tipped to win the upcoming Anambra governorship election as he has recorded outstanding achievements as the Anambra state governor in the last four years. He has left impressive leadership imprints in such areas of governance as infrastructural development, agriculture, education, economy, health, and others. His standout performance as the incumbent governor of Anambra state coupled with his possession of moral probity and leadership qualities have made him the man to beat in the November 8 Anambra governorship election.

However, recently, his verbal jousting with Hon. Uche Ekwunife and the acts of barbarity perpetrated by the Anambra state’s security outfits have tended to whittle down his popularity among the Anambra people. But the fact of the matter is that he did not order SASA, OCHA Brigade, and Agunechemba operatives to carry out those acts of barbarity and incivility.

Again, his taking a broadside at Hon. Uche Ekwunife, who is the APC deputy governorship candidate in the forthcoming Anambra governorship election, is a demeaning act that is beneath him. Expectedly, Hon. Ekwunife shot back at him. And the echo of her uncomplimentary riposte is reverberating throughout the country. Their bitter and uncomplimentary verbal exchanges, which border on matters outside Anambra state’s pressing problems, have replaced, though temporarily, their electioneering for the topmost political post in the state.

But electioneering premised on issues ought to precede the 2025 Anambra governorship election so as to enable the Anambra electorate make the right choice. So the governorship candidates vying for the Anambra state’s topmost political job should showcase their leadership achievements to us, state their leadership qualities and experience, and broach the details of their manifestos and programmes of actions to us. Treating us to verbal theatrics is the least we expect from them. Rather, we want a reenactment of the first and second republics’ electioneering.

During those past political eras, Nnamdi Azikiwe, Obafemi Awolowo, Tafawa Balewa, and later, Chuba Okadigbo would regale the masses with disquisitions on economic cum political ideologies and theories. And they did give memorable speeches, which were considered roadmaps for the deepening of our democracy and national unity.

So, it is expected that Gov. Chukwuma Soludo’s electioneering for his reelection bid should take an intellectual bent and dimension as he is a professor of economics. That is why the verbal exchanges that erupted between him and Hon. Uche Ekwunife, which were characterized by the use of foul, uncouth, and gutter language, do not befit them. Both of them had acquitted themselves very well in the various leadership positions they occupied the past. While Hon. Ekwunife, as a lawmaker, traversed the National Assembly, Gov. Soludo taught in universities and worked as the CBN governor before becoming the incumbent governor of Anambra state.

Sadly, their verbal slugfest is a negation of the Anambra state’s slogan, which is “The Light of The Nation”. Is Anambra not the home state of great achievers in their respective careers and endeavours? I would like all the governorship candidates contesting on different political platforms for the November 8 Anambra governorship election to bear that in their minds.

Anambra is the home state of renowned international personages such as Chief Emeka Anyaoku, former commonwealth of nations secretary general; the late Hon. Nnamdi Azikiwe, a freedom fighter and one-time governor general of Nigeria; the late Chinua Achebe, one of the founders of the modern African literature; Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, an internationally acclaimed award-winning novelist; the late Osita Osadebe, a highlife music maestro; Mary Onyali-Omagbemi, a one-time African sprints queen of the tracks and countless others I will not list here for the reason of space. Anambra politicians should not dim the light put on by the aforementioned personages through their perpetration of crude, antediluvian, and self-centred deeds.

But then, I beseech Gov. Soludo to keep his politicking and electioneering civil and urbane as his deviation from that path will detract from his electoral worth. As far as the Anambra people are concerned, he is the man to beat in the upcoming November 8 Anambra governorship election. He stands head and shoulder taller than other contenders for the Anambra governorship post, considering his possession of knowledge and moral probity and his lofty achievements as the incumbent governor of Anambra state.

Didn’t Gov. Soludo carry out the gentrification and transformation of Anambra state from a slum to a livable, habitable urban space? And now, newly constructed roads, which gleam in the sun, crisscross the entire length and breadth of Anambra state, thanks to Gov. Chukwuma Soludo. Bad roads in the state are being repaired, too, in addition to the Solution Fun City, which he built.

More so, noticing that there was a shortfall in the number of teachers required for our primary and post-primary schools, Gov. Soludo recruited thousands of teachers to fix the problem. And he is recruiting health workers for the health institutions in the state, now.

Although his lofty achievements in office as the Anambra state governor and possession of moral probity and leadership qualities have stood him in good stead and vantage position to win his reelection bid, his alleged verbal gaffes and seemingly failure to curtail the excesses of OCHA Brigade, SASA, and Agunechemba are dogging his heels in his reelection bid.

Now, happily, Gov. Soludo has dangled the axe on the errant operatives of the Anambra security outfits, namely OCHA Brigade, SASA, and Agunechemba. But he should learn how to bite back his words when he is provoked and tempted to engage in verbal fights with other contenders for the November 8 Anambra state governorship election.

•Chiedu Uche Okoye writes from Awka.