Soludo’s Truth Commission

Charles Chukwuma Soludo

BY UGOJI EGBUJO

Gov Soludo has hit the ground running. But while running on slippery ground, haste should be made slowly.

Soludo has taken the bull by the horns. He is courageous. But with an angry bull, deep in a china shop, courage must be tempered with tact. While brimstones are still falling and daggers are still drawn, what’s the incentive to tell hurtful self-indicting truths? If Soludo had timed his truth commission with tact, he would have scheduled it for the post ceasefire period.

The magnificent Aguata local govt headquarters has been razed. A senseless culture of arson is afoot. It was razed the day Soludo named a truth commission. Hands and feet must be on deck to check the menace.

But a truth commission, no matter how noble, is not a fire bridge squad. A truth commission is supposed to excavate skeletons hidden by the rubble so that the living can heal. So that tomorrow can see yesterday. A truth commission constituted in the active case of atrocities will become, at best, a commission of inquiry. If Soludo wants a spade, let him go for a spade.

It’s important to make haste to alleviate poverty. A sensible governor must hurry to clear the mountains of filth choking and dehumanizing Okpoko people. Gov Soludo started well. Prosperity and well being can’t return without security. So Soludo started well. But politicians are politicians. And sometimes, the cheering carries them away.

So instead of running, they start galloping. Otherwise, how did Soludo, who touts himself as a solution provider, seek to inject a truth commission into the crises in the southeast without involving the other governors. Truth commission sounds lofty. And politicians want to claim ownership of ideas. But even lofty ideals, hastily and poorly conceived, can be grandiose.

Truth Commission is Restorative justice. The aim always is to unearth and consequently help healing and prevention. It’s hoped that Soludo Solution, at its core, isn’t this roadside cosmetology that this Truth Commission reeks of. It can’t be arrogance. And it’s not charlatanism. Soludo should know; he should know that going solo would be futile.

He should know that true leadership involves the building of cohesion. His first task ought to be the mobilization of his brother-governors and Igbo leadership to collectively pull in the federal government. A clear-eyed, soberly reflective pan Igbo village meeting with the full involvement of the southeast governments and the federal government is the only solution.

Hopefully, Soludo isn’t playing to the gallery. Because he is a breath of fresh air. It would be sad to see him fall prey to charlatanism which has crippled Igbo politics. Any truth-telling must start from Soludo and to Soludo. If Soludo bothered to study the South African Truth Commission, he would have appreciated the caliber of the head of that commission. And the pivotal role the acceptability of the head of the commission played. A divisive character can’t head a truth commission. If Soludo had reflected on the Oputa panel, he would have appreciated that everything rested on the gravitas of Justice Oputa. Any truth commission instituted in Igboland over this crisis must be headed and peopled with people like Justice Oputa and Desmond Tutu.

A truth commission is not a playfield for rabid sensationalism and cunning political chicanery masquerading as human rights crusading. Of what use is a truth commission in which the stakeholders have not expressed any confidence. How will that commission attract confidence if it looks like a knee jerk contraption? Bringing in people from across the Southeast states to participate in an Anambra Truth Commission is divisive in itself. The Igbo nation should sit together, Oha and Ezes, to harness the power and spirit of the collective. The Igbo need thoroughgoing, bone-deep unity, not facades. This isn’t the time for showmanship.

Soludo’s immediate job is fire fighting. Since he looks like the natural leader, yet a newcomer, he must stoop to forge fellowship with other Southeast leaders. Then the governors must come together to reason with the youths. The IPOB and the other youth groups should yield to dialogue with the governors and southeast politicians, and religious leaders. That way, any criminals feasting on the motherland can be isolated. When common grounds are reached, the governors and other leaders should go to the federal government with demands, concessions and guarantees. It must be done in the spirit of give-and-take. A concerted political effort from the southeast will yield peaceful and progressive outcomes.

Any one-man show is a kindergarten comedy.

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Soludo, Uche Onyeagocha And The Igbo Patriots

Charles Chukwuma Soludo

BY KENNY GUY

Beside the irrepressible elder statesman, Chief Mbazulike Amaechi, the other two prominent Igbo men , who have been very consistent and at the forefront of demanding for the unconditional release of ONYENDU, MNK, are Hon Uche Onyeagucha and Governor Chukwuma Soludo ( Charlie Nwa Mgbafor)

Any honest Igbo man , who have followed these great men , will acknowledge without any shades of doubt that unlike other political bandits of Igbo extraction , these men are full blooded Igbo men, who love Ndi Igbo and are working tenaciously to achieve the renaissance of the Igbo heartland.

Over 95% of Ndi Igbo , beside the greedy political bandits and their minions are happy and proud of the emergence of Prof Soludo as the Governor of Anambra state. We all support and pray that he succeeds and pave the way for the emergence of other honest , pragmatic,development minded and sincere Igbo men in the commanding heights of politics and political offices in Igbo land and beyond.

For most honest and sincere Igbo men, the IPOB struggle represents the average quest of Ndi Igbo in Nigeria. IPOB truly speaks the mind of the average Igbo man . We may not all agree on their approach, but the message and reasons behind the struggle are just and unimpeachable.

There is nothing that Onyendu , MNK stated that will happen in Nigeria under bubu in 2014 , that have not happened and more . There is no honest Nigerian , that will not acknowledge the truth that the average Igbo man has been marginalised and denied their right of place in Nigeria .

It is the height of compound foolishness for anyone or group of people to assume that they can hold the Igbo nation of more than 50million people down and have peace and progress . No way !!!.

It may not be politically expedient and convenient now for Prof Charles Chukwuma Soludo to come out swinging on all cylinders on the Igbo question in Nigeria ,but if I am close to him , I will advise him to find back and front door Channels to reach out robustly to MNK, the IPOB leadership and even the hard hitting Ekpa Simon , to dialogue and find a way of bringing peace to Ala Igbo .

We need peace and tranquility in Anambra state and Igbo land to make progress .

The average Igbo youth have been greatly wronged and massacred by the agent of the Nigerian state since 2014 to now . We must start by acknowledging the truth that Nigeria and her agents committed crimes and genocide against umu Igbo and IPOB . And beg them to forgive . You cannot wrong a man, be arrogant and intransigent in your evil and expect peace to reign.

This open acknowledgment and plea for forgiveness by the Igbo intelligentsia and progressive political leadership , led by Prof Soludo will go a long way in assuaging their anger and wrath .

I am happy that Prof Soludo has called for a town hall meeting for us to discuss the way forward for peace to reign in Anambra, and Igbo land . But beyond this public meetings, backdoor and front door channels must be established to court and make peace with our youths , who have been totally wronged . We need to build trust . We need to convince them that we are committed to the course/cause of freedom and self determination and pursuit of the unconditional release of MNK.

Personally, I am convinced that Nigeria as presently structured is not redeemable. I am also convinced that a majority of the current political office holders and gladiators are not ready , willing and able to stand for what is right and just . They are mainly after what they will steal , loot and destroy.

I also want to use this medium to appeal to the leadership of IPOB and Mazi Simon Ekpa Group to call off the sit at home order in Ala Igbo and partner with Honest and sincere Ndi Igbo, like Prof Soludo to push for the release of Onye Ndu MNK. QUEST for Self determination is not a sin . We need to protect our people and industry..we need to create the atmosphere for peace in Ala Igbo . We should never lend ourselves to pronouncements and actions that the enemies of Ndi Igbo and 5th Columnists can leverage upon to create Havoc in Ala Igbo

Onye Ndi Iro gbara gburu gburu na eche ndu ya nche. I truly come in peace.

God help us

------------------STANDARD OBSERVERS

Soludo's Solemn Submission

 Charles Chukwuma Soludo takes Oath of Office March 17, 2022. Image via ABC

BY CHUKS ILOEGBUNAM

The Governor’s promise to Ndi Anambra came in the 14th of his 50-paragraph inaugural address of March 17, 2022: “I feel your pulse,” he intoned. “For your sake I keep awake at night, sometimes having palpitations about not letting you down. Well, since God is the Miracle Worker, I will look up to Him in prayer and faith as we all start the work ahead of us. I see and feel all the humungous challenges… But here’s my promise: I will give it my all. I will work very hard every day, with you, to make Anambra proud. Every kobo of your tax money will be deployed to provide you maximum value.”

A cynical listener, whether via the electronic/social media or physically present at the Government House concourse in Awka, would have been forgiven for responding thus: “There’s nothing new in the sight of a bow and arrow carrying Hausa man.” That’s an Igbo way of saying that Nigeria’s politics is like a raft tossed about in an ocean of flowery promises.

But I believe Governor Soludo. For a number of good reasons, Ndi Anambra have also placed their confidence in him. Foremost is trust, something he dwelt on while thanking those that aided his journey to the governorship. “Let me particularly thank my friend and outgoing governor of Anambra, HE (Sir) Willie Maduabrochukwu Obiano, for being an honourable gentleman and leader. On Sunday, 20th November 2016, I accepted your proposal for gentlemen’s understanding and partnership. I kept my part in 2017 and even after five years, you still kept yours in 2021. I always emphasize this point because it is rare these days to find people who keep their word in politics, and we will never take your support for granted. You are indeed a great leader. Thanks for believing in me. We will work hard to make you and Ndi Anambra proud.”

What had November 20, 2016, 2017 and 2021 to do with March 17, 2022? Everything! In 2016, Chief Obiano proposed Professor Soludo as his successor. They entered into a gentleman’s agreement. The unwritten pact meant that Soludo worked for Obiano’s re-election. Every Anambra observer cannot but remember that during the 2017 gubernatorial campaigns, Obiano and Soludo were like conjoined twins at every stage and every stop of the hustings. Re-elected, Obiano, the gentleman, remembered that a hen never forgets the hand that pulled its feathers during the rainy season. His unwavering support for Soludo ensured that the man won both the APGA primary ballot and the governorship poll.

A man who makes public capital out of a private question of trust is unlikely to betray the trust already reposed in him by his people. Personal experience lends credence to this proposition. Said Soludo: “For me, this issue is personal and emotional. My mother died during the civil war; our last born, Chukwuemeka died during the war; my father bore a bullet inside him for years; my elder brother – at 16, was in the ‘Boys Company’. At 8, I became the “man of the house”, with all the men at the war front. My uncles, cousins, etc., died during the war. This is 2022, and there are certainly far better ways to protest than shedding the blood of the innocent or resorting to criminality. That is why I call on all of us today to join hands with me to execute the real agenda—a liveable and prosperous homeland of opportunities and jobs for our youth while maximizing the benefits of a united Nigeria/Africa.”

Soludo’s solemn promise to faithfully serve Anambra State appears with phrasal distinctions in eight other paragraphs of the 4,700-word essay. It appears in paragraph seven as an apostrophe to his immediate family: “As I repeatedly promised, I will work hard every day never to disappoint you. My 90-year-old father is watching this live, while my beloved mother, Mgbafor, is smiling in her grave.” In paragraph 22, it takes a more generalized form: “Ndi be anyi, what we propose is that we collectively build a new social and economic order that guarantees and defends economic freedom and reward of private enterprise to secure our future such that any child born in Anambra will have little incentive to rush elsewhere in search of opportunities and anyone persecuted anywhere in the world can return to a happy and prosperous homeland.”

Governor Soludo’s cerebral disposition is taken for granted. Yet, he does not claim to know all the answers. He does not exhibit superhuman airs. He does not assume that the job of mending a fractured people, of reawakening a collective consciousness thoroughly battered and bartered by calculated and systematic injustices indexed in the impunity of the superstructure and the tyranny in the substructure, is a task accomplishable by the waving of a magic wand. Therefore, he appeals for every hand to be on deck for the salvage operation just begun.

In adorning his mandate with collective raiment, he employs personal and collective pronouns to clinch his arguments: “I have done some homework,” he says. “Our detailed Plan rests on five key pillars: law and order (homeland peace and security); economic transformation as Nigeria’s next axis of industrial-tech and leisure; competitive and progressive social agenda (education, health, youth, women and vulnerable groups); Governance, rule of law and a rebirth of our value system; and aggressively tackling our existential threat posed by the environment—towards a clean, green, planned and sustainable cities, communities, and markets. For me, this agenda is also personal: I am here to build a society where I would be proud to live in after leaving office.”

These key pillars are tied to the brainwork that produced three seminal documents that posit a social contract with Ndi Anambra: “(a) ‘Anambra Vision 2070—a 50-Year Development Plan’ which I chaired the drafting; (b) ‘The Soludo Solution: A People’s Manifesto for a Greater Anambra’; and (c) ‘The Transition Committee (Combined) Report’—which built upon the first two.” These are a schedule in the gubernatorial tenure. There are, however, problems in need of prompt for redemptive action.

Foremost among them is the deleterious impact of the Monday-Monday sit-at-home regimen trending in the Igbo country. The others include a revenue collection schema that since converted Anambra into a vast cantonment of touts. How does Governor Soludo intend to grapple with these challenges? First on IPOB, his position is perceptive: “I endorse the recent statement (March 7, 2022) by the Joint Body of South East Council of Traditional Rulers and Bishops/Archbishops on Peace and Conflict Resolution, requesting for a tripartite discussion between them, The Presidency, and South East governors to deal with the conflicts in the South East especially in relation to Nnamdi Kanu and the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) and the Eastern Security Network (ESN). There is no conflict that dialogue, in good faith, cannot resolve. Our government is determined to urgently restore peace and security in Anambra, and we will seek the active cooperation and collaboration of all stakeholders.”

The logic is straightforward. Once there is jaw jawing, war warring gets sentenced to the backburner. It is hoped that with both hands those called upon to staunch a haemorrhaging entity will immediately grab his challenge. A point needs to be made, nonetheless. It is impossible to discount sheer criminality as a major impetus to the violence currently tied to the sit-at-homes. Fear pervades, and most people dare not breach the “order” and get outdoors on Mondays, even after Mazi Nnamdi Kanu had unambiguously denied ever giving the go-ahead for people to barricade themselves indoors every first working day of each week. Is it rationale to assume that the disregard to Kanu’s order to halt the sit-at-homes is simply down to his followers?

Only dubiety will contradict the Governor’s anti sit-at-home argument: “No, we refuse to turn our homeland into a crime scene and all manners of criminality. No group has ever succeeded in any struggle in history by turning the sword against themselves.” Also, “A significant part of our state economy is powered by artisans, keke drivers, vulcanizers, hairdressers, cart pushers, petty traders, bricklayers, women frying akara, and all those who depend upon daily toil and sweat to feed their families. Every day, there is a “sit at home,” these poor masses lose an estimated N19.6 billion in Anambra alone. Due to the protracted breakdown of law and order, businesses are relocating outside Igboland, with growing unemployment, and traders who used to come to shop in Onitsha, Aba, etc., are going elsewhere.”

Of the many gems in the address, one of the most uplifting is the promise that every Anambra citizen, inside and outside the State, is to be issued with an ID card. It is an antidote to deviant behaviour. Once you know your numbers, you also know those among you that are acting out of script. Thus, using moral suasion or the horsewhip to get them back into the line of sanity and good citizenship becomes a fait acompli.

It is no surprise that a Governor that came to power through transparent elections is rooting for the democratic process to go down to the third tier of government. Neither in Anambra nor elsewhere in the country has any serious attention been paid to local government elections in this Fourth Republic. Happily, Governor Soludo promises that, “We will conduct local government elections… Over the next two years, we shall review/amend the relevant legislations, reform and strengthen the system for efficiency, restructure/strengthen the Anambra’s Independent Electoral Commission, and conduct local government elections.”

What else to say? Yes, there is the emphasis on digitalization. “The land registry will be digitized; we shall leverage technology to ensure a responsive and accountable public service together with our initiative for an ID Card for every Anambra person… and a code of conduct for political appointees to mainstream servant leadership by example.”

Celebration, says the Governor, is on its way. Its arrival will coincide with when security of life and property is guaranteed, public utilities are functioning optimally, healthcare delivery is generally accessible and affordable, while children of school age are receiving 21st century education for the digital age, and meaning is given to the lives of the vulnerable. In short, Anambra’s celebration will come in the mode of the feel-good factor.

It could be argued that the inaugural’s length is not its strongest point. But the Governor’s employment of the rhetorical device of reiteration is intended to appeal to the people and win their cooperation. Besides, will it not be antipathetic for someone with a pedagogical pedigree to display a lack of fondness for minutiae?

In all, it is a glorious new dawn for Anambra State, an entirely new era led by a determined and seasoned administrator and technocrat with a human face, who intends a new heart in his people, a new lease of life for a novel society of peace, plenty and justice, which is “the first condition of humanity.” I believe.

Iloegbunam is the author of The Case For An Igbo President Of Nigeria

No One Can Possibly Go Through What HE Peter Obi Did Without Snapping.

BY TAI EMEKA OBASI

Deputy governor of Anambra state, Dr Ibezim, wife, Former governor Peter Obi and Bianca Ojukwu during inauguration of Prof Soludo

When I saw the picture of HE Peter Obi sitting calmly at the Slapping Arena last Thursday, I fought hard to hold back the tears. To me, that was the picture that mattered most in all the activities that heralded the coming to power of Governor Chukwuma Soludo.

Ex-Gov Willie Obiano exited in characteristic fashion with his wife exhibiting the rascality that marked their eight very regrettable years in Anambra State Government House. History has a way of shaming liars and propagandists. Mrs Ebele Obiano proved to the visitors that witnessed her madness that most things, if not all, written about her uncultured excesses were fact-based.

But this is not about the Obianos and their weird behaviours.

This is rather mainly about that man that came far ahead of his generation.

Around May 2018, shortly after Obiano was sworn in for the second term in office, I was privileged to be part of the team that went to the Akanu Ibiam International Airport in Enugu to welcome the man we call Okwute home after about a three-week trip abroad.

We were in a four-vehicle convoy and I was with him in his vehicle. We had passed Four Corner and into the usually lonely stretch through Udi Hills on our way back to Onitsha. I was going through the daily newspapers we bought at the Airport when the Boss suddenly said, "Tai, did you see that?"

I snapped to attention, "what Sir?"

"That Sienna vehicle parked inside the bush?"

"No, Sir. I was busy with the papers..."

Okwute ordered his own driver to stop and turnaround. Only the three of us in the vehicle knew why we were reversing at that very dangerous spot. But the rest, including the DSS and other security personnel in the other three vehicles, knew that odd moments abound when your itinerary involved being part of Okwute's convoy. They all reversed and followed us to the spot.

"She could be in danger," was all that Okwute muttered as we arrived at the scene. I now noticed for the first time that a Sienna vehicle was parked inside the bush, about five metres from the road. A woman was visibly sitting behind the steering, the lone passenger in the vehicle.

Our DSS leader of the security was down from the vehicle in a flash, his right hand behind his back. Knowing where he preferred keeping his gun, I needn't guess what that right hand was romancing.

But because only Okwute's own driver and I knew why we turned and the driver shouldn't leave the Boss' vehicle at such situations, I knew exactly what to do. I came down quickly. The other policemen in the leading and rear Hilux vans had all come down, their AK 47s at the ready.

I quickly told the head of our security, who had already guessed. Give it to Joe, he's as smart as they come.

Arinze, the indefatigable PA was also down from the second jeep. He was approaching to know why we stopped but Joe waved Arinze and I back. Joe now approached the Sienna with professional caution, with all the other security personnel covering him. It was then that I realised how dangerous a mission we had undertaken. If that was an ambush there could have been sad tales.

Joe just ordered the woman to come out of the vehicle. The woman, shaking like a leaf, hastily obeyed.

She was alone in the vehicle as Joe confirmed. She was not being kidnapped or robbed. Her vehicle didn't veer off the road. They were there to harvest vegetables from the farm. We saw two other women doing the harvesting about 50 metres away.

Seeing all was clear, I moved in to reassure the very scared woman.

"Don't be scared. We thought you were in danger and only wanted to help. Have a nice day Madam," I offered, believing she needed such assurance from a civilian.

The woman relaxed for the first time and started thanking us for such thoughtfulness. She must have been a teacher. I noticed she was directly all her nice words at me. We waved bye, entered our vehicles and resumed our journey.

"That was very thoughtful and kind of you, Sir," I told the Boss once we went on our way.

"We should always do what is required of us at all times," he returned.

"But I took your glory, Sir. You should have come down. I'm sure she would have recognised you. That woman's story is incomplete without the man behind such gesture," I countered.

"Tai, I didn't do it for the woman to applaud me personally. I did it because it was the right thing to do. We're privileged enough to be moving with security. It is our duty to use same security to save people who voted us into power when we meet them in such conditions. Always learn to do the right things to enhance the society. Don't bother about the applause. Just do what is right and move on," the Boss educated.

"Thank you for this education, Sir," I returned and went into deep thoughts, the newspapers forgotten. Staying close to Okwute may not improve your bank account balance. But growing in wisdom is a huge certainty.

I suspected before but I affirmed from that day that the former governor was not grieving for any ill-treatment from the man he put into power based on personal basis.

Okwute was deeply pained when he saw the education he had put on the top of the ladder amongst other states in the nation gradually deteriorating while propaganda and outright lies were being used to cover up.

He grieved deeply when he was told to stop visiting and giving money to schools in his state.

He was deeply pained when the projects he initiated for the good of his dear state were all abandoned.

He mourned when SarbMillar relocated a project meant for Anambra State to Ogun State. His only consolation here was that he helped to make sure that the South African Brewers didn't leave Nigeria entirely.

He held back the tears when the money he saved in dollars were withdrawn and squandered.

He grieved when he was stopped from paying taxes that would have helped to develop his state in Anambra. Even though paying in neighbouring Enugu State isn't a sin but that was one IGR generation gone astray.

He felt deep pain that the man he put in office didn't match UBEC's counterpart funding for education and didn't draw from it for eight years.

He mourned when all the ICT and internet facilities he installed in Anambra schools were allowed to rot away.

He mourned...

All through eight years of HE Obiano, Okwute was never invited to any state function. So when I saw him present at Prof Soludo's inauguration, I prayed that the man from Isuofia could do me the favour of going back to all that were damaged by his predecessor and then push Anambra really forward again. That is all he owes Okwute and not even the allowances due him as governor that Obiano seized for eight years.

Nobody could have endured what Obiano did to this great man without one public word to fight back. Okwute is a rare breed. God loves Anambra to have given him to us. Nigeria should be much better to tap from same blessing.

God bless Anambra!

Soludo Inauguration: Bianca Ojukwu, My Story

Bianca Ojukwu

As the inaugural ceremonies for Prof Charles Soludo and his deputy began and all guests were seated, the Former First Lady of Anambra State, Mrs Ebele Obiano, was noticeably absent.

She then arrived some one-and-a-half hours later while the ceremony was on. I didn't pay any particular attention to her arrival. Surprisingly, she then walked towards me and I thought she was coming to greet me.

Instead, she verbally attacked me with her voiced raised, taunting me and asking me what I was there to do using unprintable vile language. She asked if I had come to celebrate their last day in office.

But I ignored her completely. Then, she kept aggressively putting her hands on my shoulders and shouting. While I ignored her verbal onslaught, as advised by those sitting around me, I requested twice that she refrained from touching me with her hands.

She proceeded to do so yet again and tried to touch my head and remove my headtie. It was at this point that I stood up to defend myself and gave her a dirty slap to stop her from attacking me. As she made towards me, I then pulled away her wig.

She then held on to her wig with her two hands and tried to take the wig away from me. The former APGA Chairman, Umeh, told her to leave me and told everyone to leave.

I was stunned by the stench of whisky in her breath at such an early hour of the day. How could a first lady be so drunk at that time?

I stayed back to watch the ceremony to the end and left with my dignity intact.

Governor Soludo: Is Over 1000 Entry-Level Info-Tech Jobs in 100 Days Possible?

 BY EMEKA MADUEWESI

Charles Chukwuma Soludo

In Silicon Valley, you launch fast and early, then you iterate, reiterate, and iterate again and again until your product attracts fewer consumer complaints. You don’t launch a perfect product, rather you strive for perfection. Can Governor Soludo create 1000 information technology jobs in his first 100 days in office? My answer is a resounding “YES!” The next question is, “HOW?” Let’s go for low-hanging fruits with high local human development impact and global reach.

Anambra State has 275 public secondary schools and over 1200 public primary schools. If you employ just one Information Technology Evangelist for each public school, that’s over 1000 IT jobs. Simple. But what would be their job descriptions? What would be their responsibilities?

My idea of an Information Technology Evangelist (TE) for each public school in Anambra State is an entry-level website developer who will work with a team to create a technology template for the Anambra State school system. Each TE will be posted to a school and should be able to create blogs, microsites, landing pages, and update that school’s standard website daily with activities in the school and the school community. Being always deliberate, it would be my suggestion that TEs should be sent to the same primary or secondary school they attended.

The TEs will maintain and update the personal and contact data of the students, parents, and teachers (Parent Teachers Association) as necessary and track any ongoing governmental and community projects for auditing and reporting purposes. The TE will also be responsible for communicating and updating the PTA through newsletters, social media, phone calls, surveys, and emails as needed. The job title is “Technology Evangelist” because they will be required to teach the basic principles of computer hardware, software, and information technology to the students, parents, and teachers to develop their computer literacy skills.

Let me go into history. It used to be that if you were late to school, the headmaster or headmistress, or your class teacher would punish you. Your parents may not know you were late that day or even for several days. If you were absent from school, your parents may not know that you left home but did not attend school, and the school will mark you absent. From Governor Peter Obi’s account, I learned that some schools may lack certain teachers but the Principal would lie to the Governor that the school lacks nothing. The Governor had to give his own phone number to the Senior Prefects for direct contact.

Since Governor Soludo wants to run a smart and transparent government, he would be needing true and accurate data for each student, their parents or guardians, each teacher, every home, every house, and every community around every public school. It would be the responsibility of the TE to source this data and deliver them to the government or the public through the school website as the case may be. A parent who needs to speak to the child’s Math teacher should be able to do so by phone or email. A parent whose child was late should know by 9:00 AM that day. A parent whose child was absent should know by 12:00 Noon that day. It would be the responsibility of the TE to ensure that this data is available. The school and parents need to know how many times a child was tardy or absent in a term and why.

A few weeks ago, we read the sad news of a 19-month-old pupil of Arise and Shine Nursery and Primary School, Asaba, Delta State, who was reportedly flogged to death. The deceased was the son of a single mother who registered him at the school about three weeks before this incident. Though this was a private school, it would be the responsibility of the proposed TE to ensure that a parent could be reached in a matter of minutes to pick up a child whose condition or conduct is not conducive to a learning environment.

Recall that I said that the TE would be part of a “team” that will create a technology template for the Anambra State school system. It would not just be over 1200 TEs scattered all over Anambra State. Each TE is part of the local government team working together to identify problems facing their community that may require technology solutions. For example, a local government TEt team could collaborate to solve traffic problems at road junctions in the community. They could also work on creating alumni (old student associations) for the school, if there was none, or strengthen the existing ones to be more efficient and productive.

Since this is an entry-level job with no growth path in the school system itself, the TEs would be required to engage in continuous technology education and certification to re-skill and up-skill their knowledge for their professional growth. In fact, the TE job should be seen as a temporary opportunity to prepare TEs as thoroughbred professionals with up-to-date knowledge for their niche specializations in the global market.

As iron sharpens iron, the TEs would be expected to participate in online and in-person studies and certifications that will make them competitive in the global market and be sought after by the MAANA group (Meta, formerly Facebook, Amazon, Apple, Netflix, Alphabet, formerly Google) and Microsoft. This process could also spark their inventive juice to create products, become entrepreneurs, or work local and international gigs on contract.

Could TEs generate revenue? Of course! They could run very narrowly targeted, educationally-themed Google Ads and Amazon affiliate accounts. They could also generate revenue from small business ads and events announcements in the community, provided the school’s websites are not cluttered. Yes, they could generate revenue for the government.

To conclude, I’m not expecting a perfect program and performance in 100 days. However, creating this job opportunity to keep ụmụaka Anambra busy and productive, with a growth path of continuous technology education and certification, and preparing them for the global market sounds right to me. Trust me, this information technology/community organizer combo would look awesome in their resume. Human development is more important than concrete buildings and flyovers. Let’s start first and refine as we go. It’s also high time we stop empowering our youth with Sienna vans and wheelbarrows.

Ndi Igbo, chetanụ n’ọbụ aka n’eme azụ mgbakụlụ!

Emeka Maduewesi, Esq., LLM

Soludo As Moses Of Igboland?

BY SUNNY IGOANUGO

Chukwuma Charles Soludo

I was one of those who agreed that Chukwuma Charles Soludo, had grown beyond being governor of Anambra State. As one of the star-boys of the Southeast, if not Nigeria, I supported the view that he should rather be gunning to be president.

So, when I heard some people asking, what he is looking for in Anambra, I couldn’t agree more. But beyond this, I also had another personal grudge against him. I wasn’t enamoured of his politics. That I must confess.

Here’s why! I was completely scandalised by his apparent approval of the shenanigan of the crowd in Awka either from the government in power or the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA), in recent years, as it seemed to me then.

His notorious statement in the wake of the 2017 governorship election that Anambra was not broken and needed no fixing really did it for me. It practically gnawed at my innards.

Firstly, coming from Anambra I could attest that Soludo’s position was not factual. Anambra was broken on many fronts then and even to a great length. Besides, the manner he emerged APGA candidate for the November 6, 2021 governorship election after the party switched to its invidious tactics of banning potential threats, was for me a confirmation of my worst fears.

But look at me now taking the front seat as a cheerleader. I’ve already gone full circle. His actions and pronouncements are the turning point.

I have begun to see signs that Anambra, my state might, just be on the verge of another clean break, in the same manner Chris Ngige and Peter Obi, broke away from the Chinwoke Mbadinuju parlous era.

Soludo’s high-priced academic credentials have never been the major appeal to me too, because many leaders I know with similar pedigree had failed in the past and are still failing now. We’re currently dealing with one of them in the Southeast, making waves in the media for his many gaffes. The use to which those credentials are to be put, was, for me the important issue.

You can now see why I find the vibes coming from Awka, as quite alluring. One, that Soludo was able to gather the 80-man Oby Ezekwesili-led transition committee in such a jiffy is a feat only a man with immense reach and capacity could.

As Woodrow Wilson, former US president wrote in his book, What is Progress? ”The direction is just as important as the impetus of motion.”

This early hand Soludo has shown looks good. It is a fundamental departure from the current picture in the state. What is more? To think that the eggheads are conducting the task on pro bono basis, also says quite much. Many had wondered from whence Anambra would source the funds to pay them, given their pedigree.

Imagine what this committee, which parades the very best of the Nigeria’s elite thinkers in all the sectors of the economy and the professions is capable of coming out with. And without pay to boot.

Again, the man of the moment hits another bulls eye. He has shunned flamboyance for a lean government structure. He has dumped the tag, Your Excellency for his first name, Charles. “Call me Charles, Charlie, Charlie Nwamgbafo, or Mr. Governor,” he says.

Not a few have complained that in recent years of Governor Willie Obiano, Anambra government house and around it had turned into places of obnoxious revelling, uncontrollable binges and other illicit activities, at the expense of the people’s commonwealth.

In fact, you may have heard that the governor-elect is currently at a loggerheads with the powers in Awka over the budget of his inauguration, insisting that it be cut down from the more than N600million to just N20million and that instead of a fanfare at the new International Conference Centre, in Awka, he would prefer to be sworn in inside government house banquet hall. The way to go, you might say.

But that is not the true picture. Hear the correct version from the man himself: ”I do not wish any event, dancers or players and all that. I just want to show up for work, like every first workday. Though it is going to be a Friday, which is the weekend, I’m going to work for over eight hours that day.

“No ceremony, no event, no party, nothing. Not even 10 Kobo will be spent. So the people who are saying N20million has been budgeted should go and tell us where they will get that money. It is going to be work, work, work, and that is what we’ll epitomise.”

Then the icing on the cake: “If a Pakistani will give us 24 hours of electricity, I will bring him and make him commissioner for utilities. What the people care about is the services they get and not necessarily who did it. We want to get good results here. What matters is the result. Accountability is a must here.” Okwu agwu! Palava finish!

But here comes the bigger task. Outside fixing Anambra, the larger picture is the mandate the governor-elect has been grappling with since July 2017. Ohanaeze Ndigbo, the apex decision-making body of the Igbo in Nigeria and worldwide had handed him with the job of creating the template for transforming the fortunes of Igboland, by designing a new economic and political development agenda for the people.

This task was laid on the shoulders the ex-CBN boss, who is leading a 100-member Planning and Strategy of a body drawn from the seven states under Ohanaeze’s influence – the five core states of Igboland, plus Delta and Rivers.

Named South East Development Company (SEDECO), the body created by former President General of Ohanaeze, Nnia Nwodo, also has the likes of Mazi Sam Ohuabunwa, Deputy and Ferdinand Agu, as part of the membership.

But no sooner after, it was beset with lethargy arising from the attitude of the Igbo governors who were supposed to provide it with the financial and political lifelines, achieving very little as a result.

But with Soludo, becoming the governor, the idea, may soon receive the jolt in the arm it requires to give it life once more.

Imagine that all Igbo states are able to grow one million palm trees in each of the states, yearly within the next five years with a corresponding growth of processing industries for the palm produce both on high, medium and small scale levels, maximise its coal resources for power generation. Part of the mandate given to committee is to design the framework for achieving this.

Other items on the card is to take inventory of all mineral resources and design a carefully scripted plan for engaging the federal government in their exploitation; the development of a refinery for petroleum resources; a paradigm shift to greenhouses methodology for vegetable production using the Netherlands experience as a typology and a deliberate policy for the development of ICT hubs in the states of the region to encourage human capital development.

Soludo and his team were also directed to work on the educational curriculum of the zone that would focus on the development of skills among men and women and recommend appropriate policies to states to improve the educational standards in their schools at all levels and growth of reliable financial institutions for mortgage, small scale business financing and research.

Imagine if, as he did with the Ezekwesili committee, he is able to convince and mobilise his colleague-governors to toe this line and therefrom, provide the wherewithal for the attainment of the agenda. How would Ala Igbo turn out before the expiration of his eight years?

He has already demonstrated his ability to mobilise, meaning that transforming Anambra into a dream Taiwan or Dubai, may not be a tall order after all.

If he adds into the kitty, the integration of Igboland to produce a giant economy, given its immense human and natural resources, what else would prevent the area from joining the elite club of a first world?

Indeed, some people believe Soludo already has his job cut for him. For instance, they say that raising N50trillion from Ndigbo is as easy as sleeping and waking up. It only needs someone who knows what keys to press on the piano to produce a melodious tune.

Incidentally, the Soludo committee was Ohanaeze’s response to the quit notice given to Igbo people by some groups in the North in that year. With the signs of social, political, and economic danger still hanging in the air like the sword of Damocles, many believe that an economically-viable Igboland is the buffer to withstand such a threat. With a self-sufficient Igbo enclave, who needs a Nigerian president?

When ala Igbo becomes an economic superpower, who says Nigeria won’t beg them with kolanut and spirits to send them a son for the same redemption? And who is likely to be the one?

Would Soludo be the Moses to lead Ndigbo out of Egypt? The naysayers are already accusing him of talking too much. But what if he matches action with words? Wouldn’t that divide the Red Sea and allow free passage of the people?

Chukwuma Soludo: Time To Rebuild Igbo Politics

Charles Chukwuma Soludo. Image: Twitter

BY UCHE UGBOAJAH

 ucheugboajah@gmail.com

A few days ago, Professor Chukwuma Soludo, the governor elect of Anambra State released the list of members of his transition committee. In that list were names of very distinguished Nigerian men and women from all walks of life and beyond the geography of Anambra State. The quality of the membership of that committee to be headed by Mrs. Oby Ezekwesili has set the entire Southeast buzzing for the right reasons. For many, Soludo even before being sworn in has offered a dizzying peep into what to expect from him as governor of arguably the most prominent state in Igboland. That Igbos were grinning from ear to ear after Soludo’s victory at the polls was not for no reasons.

The quality of governance and leadership in the Southeast has dropped significantly at least in the past eight years and the evidence of the repercussions therefrom are littered all over the Igbo political ecosystem.

Clearly, this is not the best of times in Igboland of Southeast Nigeria. A part of the country largely known to be one of the safest in the past has lately become one of the most dangerous places with its consequences on livability today. Instead of the famous buying and selling in the cities of Onitsha, Aba and Orlu, the amazing fabrication of motor spare parts and other technological effervescence in Nnewi, the cool and enlightened ambience of Enugu, the entertainment and jollying in Owerri, what obtains in the major cities of the Southeast today is the destruction of lives and property. The orgy of violence started with the renewed agitation for a separate country by some young people, under the auspices of Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) headed by the fiery Mazi Nnamdi Kanu.

When Kanu started out with his group, many people in Igboland were not bothered for a few reasons. First, their anger against the country Nigeria is mightily justified.

The kind of marginalization or even outright neglect of the Southeast region in the governance of the country over the years is inexplicable. Since the civil war ended up until now, it is difficult to point at a few federal government presences anywhere in the region. To add to that, it was as if the system was stacked against the young people in the Southeast. From the 80s many bright Igbo chaps (including Nnamdi Kanu) with high JAMB scores could not be accepted in any Nigerian university because of what Oby Ezekwesili as minister of education termed, the funneling syndrome. Unfortunately, there were even fewer federal institutions in the region, being part of the systemic marginalization. Thus, there were too many qualified candidates for limited admission spaces in universities. How do you expect to command loyalty from young Igbos in Nigeria when they saw that their 270 score in JAMB could not guarantee them admission in a Nigerian university of their choice while they watched their counterparts from other regions, especially, the North comfortably accepted with scores below 200? Even after managing to fight through school, the odds get even higher for them in securing jobs even against less qualified fellow citizens.

Perhaps, the second reason many Igbos did not pay attention to Mazi Nnamdi Kanu and his IPOB group in the beginning was due to the fact that they were non-violent. To many, especially those who experienced the nastiness of the civil war, the young people were merely romanticizing with war. But all that changed when the Federal Government resorted to a very muscular response to these young people. As many of them began to be mowed down in scorched-earth military operations under a very intolerant Buhari government, it was a no-brainer that these young people became increasingly more agitated. When government decided against facts on the ground to declare IPOB a terrorist group, it appears that in conformity with the psychological theory of labeling, the group has apparently owned up to that identity. The Southeast has thus degenerated to a war zone today with killings and destruction of both public and private property attributed to “unknown gunmen”. As government continues to point fingers at IPOB, the group has consistently insisted that it knows nothing about the attacks claiming that the government is using its security operatives to deploy violence in the Southeast just to justify its tag of “terrorists” on them.

Yet, it is important to recognize that IPOB is not only fighting the Federal Government; it is against any form of constituted authority in the polity – be it state, local government or traditional authority. Beyond that, IPOB in a significant manner has become a metaphor for the failure of politics and political leadership particularly in the Southeast. In any discourse on terrorism in the Northeast and the growing banditry across the Northwest, one factor that experts continuously highlight is the presence of large swathes of ungoverned spaces. In the case of the Southeast, it is not difficult to see that what we have is the presence of ungoverned states, not spaces. The way IPOB has seized authority from the governors in the region, issuing orders and expecting compliance can only confirm this assertion. The governors appear powerless, helpless and clueless on how to confront the emergent security problems in their region beyond running to an even more clueless and vengeful Abuja.

When governors of other regions in the South were brainstorming on how to secure their peoples, what did the Southeast governors do beyond mere hand-wringing and empty pronouncements? For example, the so-called Ebubeagu outfit they claimed to have set up to confront insecurity in their region only exists in their infertile imagination. Even in the larger forum of Southern governors, many of the Southeast governors do not consider the Meeting important enough; they prefer to see it as an anti-Buhari gathering and would rather send their deputies anytime they meet probably to spy for Abuja. Indeed, the governors in Igboland today appear to be lacking in inspiration; they are diffident, vacuous and jejune in their policies. Yet, it is proper to clarify here that not all the governors are equally yoked. A couple of them from the old Anambra may not be as terrible as their other colleagues.

Whatever the governors are, they are products of the nascent Igbo politics.


Before the civil war, politics in Igboland was a nobble service which attracted decent men and women whose only goal was to improve the life chances of their people. It was not for the nouveau riche or people of questionable background as today. The Azikiwes, the Mbonu Ojikes, the Mbadiwes, the Okparas, the Akanu-Ibiams, the Ikokus, the Mokwugo Okoyes and their like were all great men of high intellect and integrity who stood for the interest of their people. Sadly, the civil war dealt a deadly blow the Igbo body politic. Although the brilliance of the oasis of men like Sam Mbakwe concealed greatly the negative impact of the civil war on Igbo politics during the interlude of the Second Republic, it did not take time for the decay to front-load in the quality of governance in the Southeast since 1999.

Yes, there is this argument of how the Igbos quickly and admirably recovered from the devastation of the war and rebuilt their land as if the war was merely episodic. Even then, the question remains, at what cost? Our politics and society have been broken by that unjust war levied on our people. Before the war, Igbo value system was primarily based on honest hard-work, knowledge, and community spirit.

After the war the near absence of opportunities appeared to have driven our people to far flung places within and outside the country in search of lucre and survival lacking in the eastern landscapes. In this quest for survival, many Igbos ended up outside Igbo land doing all manner of businesses both dignified and undignified. Some of them even ended up as contractors supplying all manner of products when they are not pimps to big Alhajis and even sissies all in the name of succeeding. The way the immediate post-war Nigeria was organized, for an Igbo man to get any contract or big job from the Federal Government, he had to submit to the suzerainty of perhaps an influential northerner. It was that bad. And you must have heard Chief Arthur Eze for instance, justifying recently, his loyalty to the northern establishment by claiming how all his wealth was by the grace of northerners who favoured him with contracts.

This economic incarceration of the people of the Southeast after the war has profound consequences on post-war Igbo politics, especially now. One of such consequences is the lack of autonomous capacity of Igbo politics. What this means is that many political decisions that will affect Igboland unfortunately are taken outside of Igboland. These decisions include who becomes governor of an Igbo state, who is appointed minister from Igboland and who represents Igbos at the senate, among others. I am sure you listened to how Senator Orji Uzo-Kalu said in an interview that General Babangida told him in 1999 that he wanted him to go to Abia State and become a governor. And only very recently, after Imo people had voted their choice of governor, the powers that be outside Igboland hiding under the judiciary disrobed them of their sovereignty and installed a governor they never voted for. These are just a few examples. But the most worrying consequence of this lack of autonomous capacity of Igbo politics in a democracy is that you now have governors, ministers and senators in Igboland who do not owe any loyalty to the people but to the external forces that propel them.

When last did you hear a governor in the Southeast defending the interest of his people as Nyesom Wike daily defends the interests of Rivers people? How many Igbo ministers in President Buhari’s cabinet had lifted a voice over the unrest in their region? Instead, you will hear a governor questioning the right of a citizen who doesn’t own a car to ask question about a flyover being constructed with his tax money. You will also probably hear another governor recite repeatedly like catechism how the insecurity in his state is “an attempt to bring down the government of President Muhammadu Buhari.” Yet, another will bore you with stories of how he loves President Buhari and how they share a father and son relationship – forgetting that federalism is not a father-son relationship but a brother-brother relationship.

Lest we forget, Peter Obi did a fantastic job as governor of Anambra State and for sticking out his neck to serve only the interests of Anambra people he was “impeached” by the ‘bridgeheads’ working on the promptings of outside forces. He also stood his ground to ensure that Willie Obiano succeeded him as governor in line with the zoning principles of the state. Obiano can have all his sins forgiven for having the presence of mind to support a strong character like Chukwuma Soludo to take over from him. An inherently bad governor would rather have his son-in-law take over from him the way Rochas Okorocha planned in Imo State. But the story in Enugu, Ebonyi, Imo and Abia states in the past eight years reeks of near collapse and absence of governance. Is it, therefore, any surprise that Mazi Nnamdi Kanu has moved in to fill the vacancy of leadership existing in the South-East?


Yet, there is renewed hope in the Southeast. Soludo is coming! Although elected to govern Anambra State, this great character is expected to provide leadership in the entire Southeast by a domino effect. He is well educated; he is not one of the roughnecks that have been troubling our region. He knows his people and his people know him. He may not solve all the problems, but in Soludo, Anambra people have provided the entire Southeast the ground to rebuild its politics. In electing Soludo, Anambra is telling the entire Southeast that background checks are necessary in choosing our governors, senators, and other representatives. Yes, it is important that those who present themselves for elective positions in the Southeast going forward must show evidence of sound education and untarnished record of service in the public or private sector. Interestingly, many of those who contested the last Anambra gubernatorial election satisfied those conditions unlike in Imo State where the nondescript appear to be having a field day since Governor Achike Udenwa. And it is showing in the poorer quality of governance in the eastern heartland.

In 2009, I had a chance meeting with Professor Soludo when he ran for governor under the PDP. I told him in the office of the political adviser to the PDP national chairman that I would prefer to see him run for President. I went ahead to support his candidature then with a Guardian opinion piece titled Anambra: Who is afraid of good governance? Even today, I am asking in a more general sense, who is afraid of good governance in the South-East?







In a couple of months Soludo will be sworn in as the next governor of Anambra State. As he mounts the saddle, he must remember that he is carrying the hopes of not just Anambra people but the entire Southeast region. He must equally understand that there are many cynics and naysayers lining the roadside and offering prayers and sacrifices for his failure if only to prove that good education and solid background alone are not sine qua non of good performance in government.

Professor Charles Chukwuma Soludo must disappoint all the roughneck politicians in the Southeast and post an excellent performance. In doing so, he would be laying the foundation for the rebuilding of Igbo politics and pointing the trajectory to Igbo political renaissance. In Soludo, Igbos are reaffirming their belief in the age long philosophy of politics and good governance, “Onye Uru Anaghi Achi Obodo.”

Dialogue With Igbo’ll Address Agitations, Says Soludo

Charles Soludo

BY GODFREY GEORGE

PUNCH

A former governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria and candidate of the All Progressives Grand Alliance, Prof Charles Soludo, has said any dialogue that will quell agitations in the country must have Igbo in the front seat.

He stated this during a consultation of Anambra indigenes in Lagos on Friday.

Stressing that the platforms available at the moment may not be favourable to the Igbo, he suggested that they came together, joining forces to become a formidable force to champion the needs of Igbo people.

Soludo said, “Yes, there are agitations and I respect them. But dialogue is the answer. They must dialogue; Igbo and Nigeria. That will settle it once there’s an organised platform, where the Igbo will be in front seat. Forget about the APC and PDP. For us to negotiate our way to the centre, we must come together and form a formidable force for doing this.


“I call on all Igbo to come together, step out and build our land into a liveable homeland.”

Speaking further, he said that the reason for the unrest in Anambra State and in other parts of the South East was the deep-seated unemployment in the region, adding, “Our answer to these unrests is prosperity and job creation. Once there are jobs everywhere, all of those people will come out of the bushes and do something productive with that lives.”

Soludo said he had over 40 support groups pleading with him to be governor of the state.

He stated that he had to give it a good thought before accepting in February, 2021, because he wanted to make Anambra a liveable homeland for all.

How I Oppressed Chukwuma Charles Soludo!

Charles Chukwuma Soludo

BY UZOR MAXIM UZOATU

Now that the erudite former Central Bank Governor, Professor Chukwuma Charles Soludo, is the odds-on favourite to become the next governor of Anambra State, I am in deep fear over a sin I committed against him in the past.

I oppressed him when he was still in secondary school and I was what was then called an auxiliary teacher. Back in my secondary school days, I was seen as something of a rebel, earning bad nicknames such as “Anarchy”, or “Young Dimka” – after that drunken “dawn-to-dusk” coup-plotter named Buka Musa Suka Dimka.

While other students were excited about getting into the university, I was more interested in starting my revolutionary activities in the manner of Che Guevera.

God sort of answered my prayers when the school certificate results for the year, 1977, otherwise known as “Expo 77”, were delayed for a long time such that entering the university became impossible because I could not have gone to Nsukka, where I had won an admission, without a school certificate to show.

Of course I had no occult powers to foresee that one can even become a president without any certificate. There was talk by my parents for me to do higher school studies at Christ the King College (CKC), Onitsha where I had lived in the staff quarters all through my primary school years with my uncle, Job Okwuoma Aginam, who was a teacher in the elite school.

I had other ideas. I felt I could actualize my revolutionary drive by taking up a post as an auxiliary teacher on N96-per-month salary.

Incidentally the education ministry in the state then was under the charge of my future father-in-law, Chief Innocent E. Ofor, whose daughter I would marry many years later. I camped in his Savage Crescent, GRA Enugu home to get the auxiliary teacher job and was posted to the newly-minted school in my hometown, Umuchu High School, just a stone’s throw from the Uzoatu family compound.

The school was actually established that year and had only Class One students.
I had my mother’s mobylette to cruise around town with, and I caused such a stir that after a paltry six months the school principal threatened to revoke my appointment if I did not carry my antics to the university.




All the students instantly took to the new Che Guevera in town. Even as the brand new school could only boast of its pioneer class it competed in every sphere with all the major schools in the state that had the full complement of classes and teachers.

In football matches, you may see the teacher playing as a student. Soccer mercenaries were hired from far-flung places such as Enugu and Aba; this way, soccer stars like Ndubuisi Ajomiwe and the late Benjy Okorogu played for the school when they were not registered students!

Don’t ask me about the morality of this enterprise! As Bertolt Brecht, the great German playwright and socialist would say, don’t speak to me of morality but of its victims.

I served as a self-appointed games-master, as opposed to the actual games-master Jide Ezeani who earned the monetary allowances. I took the school’s champion table tennis player, Victor Ibe, alias “Action”, to the Aguata divisional championships.

His opponent happened to be a certain Charles Soludo from Uga Boys High School. There was something familiar in the lad because he was a native of Isuofia, my mother’s hometown, and my maternal cousins, Dr Arthur-Martins and Dr Obijiofor Aginam, had told me of his brilliant activities in the town’s student union.

Even as I had some sympathy for Soludo in the tennis contest, I had the extra motivation to make my student win because I was the last person to hold the title as the table tennis champion of the selfsame zone!

But for the fact that I had left school, I was the defending champion, and all the top divisional sports officials knew and hailed me. I desperately wanted my boy to win the title back for me.
I
t was decided that the table tennis match-up will be decided over the best of five sets. My boy easily won the first set. He equally took the second set, but I could use my trained eyes to see that Soludo was coming on strongly.

I decided to act fast. I said that the game was over since Soludo had nothing more to offer.

It was quite remarkable that Soludo protested, insisting that the next game must be won by my boy before the contest could be over.

There was a kind of stalemate, and the officials who of course bonded with me as the former champion had to appeal to me in the end.

That was how I decided to end my oppression as a teacher over the protesting student Soludo!

As fate would have it, Soludo won the next three games on the trot to take the match and the title!

Having experienced this come-from-behind victory of Soludo, I am keenly waiting with bated breath to see him win the Anambra State governorship polls, especially now that the Supreme Court can appoint a governor with the finality of bad arithmetic!

Now if Soludo wants to oppress me back in retaliation on winning the Anambra governorship, I will as a “Nwadiani” report him to the Isuofia Town Union!

-Uzor Maxim Uzoatu, poet, writer, journalist, writes from Lagos