“Is poor performance or unmet expectations enough to Prof. Soludo from a second term? “ —Ebuka Onyekwelu
With only a few days to the commencement of political campaigns ahead of the November 8 Anambra State governorship election, the opposition has remained resolute in their decision to unseat Soludo. Governor Chukwuma Soludo, who has been governor for over three years, is accused of poor performance and inability to transform vision into the real experience of the people of Anambra State.
First, Soludo’s government was burdened by intense insecurity of a kind that had never been seen before. Anambra became the kidnapper’s delight and was dotted with all manner of criminality that went on unchecked. This led to the demise of so many people, while others are still missing. However, in an election year, and after he had spent almost three years in office, the governor started his first response to the security challenges in Anambra State, which had taken root. About five months into the operations of the Udogachi security outfit, not only are there questions of accountability and quality assurance, but there are also fundamental questions regarding the identity of the security personnel under the Udogachi operative.
One of the areas where Soludo’s government prides itself on having done well is road construction. But, again, not only that the government waited till the eve of an election year to award roads that are of some significant reckoning such as the Awka to Ekwulobia to Nnewi to Ihiala road, for the most part, many competed road projects like the Ochanja market road in Onitsha has not been able to speak to the government’s avowed value in quality of these roads. This is to say that the state is back to the problem of poor-quality road construction. Since this month, each rainfall deeply reveals the fault lines of these road projects and the accompanying drainages, as flood waters overrun the drains and the roads with a force capable of moving any blockage in their way. This problem has brought to the fore a deeper environmental challenge that remains unresolved by the government. The newly constructed roads, which the government claims have long lifespans, have also been washed away in many other parts of the state, effectively putting the longevity claims of the government over these roads to rest.
Therefore, beyond the more popular scourge of insecurity, the opposition is insisting that Soludo has not been able to give a fair account of himself as a leader and governor of Anambra State in the last three years.
Maintaining his position that Anambra State under Governor Soludo is struggling with governance challenges, Uzu Okagbue, the Deputy Governorship candidate of the Young Progressive Party, YPP, said that Soludo’s government is rattled by the burden of proof. Citing so many areas where the government’s claims do not reflect the reality on the ground, Okagbue said that because it has failed to deliver any real and meaningful result, the current administration in Anambra State had resorted to rhetoric. “Lets take a look at the claim of hiring thousands of teachers in Anambra State. This claim is laughable given Anambra’s declining fortunes in education. A government that hires teachers and pays them N50,000 cannot extract the best from those teachers, even if they are qualified. Only a few months ago, the governor added N30,000 flat across the board to the salaries of civil servants, so they now earn N80,000. We are talking about graduates who are senior civil servants in Anambra State. This is grossly inadequate. This leads us to the productivity of civil servants in Anambra State. Their productivity is below average. They can’t even afford their transportation, so they go to work only maybe twice a week. This is the current governance situation in Anambra State,” Okagbue regretted.
The YPP Deputy Governorship candidate, who also took a further swipe at Soludo’s administration, said that in the State secretariat, many offices lack electricity and functional toilet systems because of a lack of water supply. “Many offices, like the Ministry of Health, at the State Secretariat have not had light for the past 2 years,” Uzu Okagbue claimed. On accountability, Okagbue said that “accountability is low and the worst so far. Soludo signed into law a bill to take away 80% of LGA funds. This is what they use for road construction without crediting the LGAs. To start with, it is shameful that at this age, a government that has high expectations is still discussing road construction. They have now announced N50,000 monthly stipend to community youth leaders, a clear intended vote buying,” Okagbue said.
These views reflect a critical assessment of Soludo’s three-year-old administration, which, on the whole, had left far more people disappointed given the high expectations that ushered the governor into the Government House of Anambra State.
To be or not to be is the question. Is poor performance or unmet expectations enough to stop a Nigerian politician like Prof. Chukwuma Soludo from being reelected into office? For the opposition, and especially the YPP, the answer is yes. But, how do APGA and Soludo see it? Recent developments suggest that the government might stop at nothing, even if it means bankrolling the voting public in a ‘social security’ of sorts, as he just did with community youth leaders across Anambra State. These are the issues that will dominate campaign conversations. But in the end, Anambra voters will have their say.
♦ Ebuka Onyekwelu, journalist and trained political scientist, is a writer and columnist with the West African Pilot News
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