Soludo’s Imitation Of Christ -By IfeanyiChukwu Afuba

Professor Charles Soludo had a tight rope to walk the other day. Of course, every man or woman, once in a while, meets with a dilemma. I recall a newly married man who was faced with the tangle of his dear mother and beloved wife hurling accusations against each other and eventually invited him to judge their quarrel. The young man, God bless his spirit, breathed deeply, looked straight at his mother and wife in turns and said. “Men don’t bicker like this. This is about female attitude. Please settle it yourselves.” The exceptional young fellow left them gaping as he excused himself supposedly to keep an appointment.

There was also this post – June 12 1993 interview – incident involving Newswatch magazine editors and Bashir Tofa, the NRC Candidate in the 1993 presidential election. In the process of formulating a question, one of the interviewees drew Tofa’s attention to a caustic categorisation of the candidates in a foreign magazine. The publication reportedly said of the two candidates: “one is an idiot surrounded by rogues and the other a rogue surrounded by idiots.” In a dramatic twist, Tofa interjected and asked his interviewers, “which do you think is me?” We learnt the panel navigated out of their profound dilemma with convulsive laughter.

On Friday, August 22, 2022, the bold reformer at Awka, played host to Mr Peter Obi, presidential candidate of Labour Party. The event was striking for a number of reasons.

Eight months back, Professor Charles Soludo and Mr Peter Obi were pitted against each other in the State’s governorship election. Obi, then a presidential aspirant and leader of PDP in the State sought to enthrone his choice candidate as Governor. It was his second unsuccessful attempt to dislodge APGA from power. The campaigns were violence – free but not without altercation and mudslinging. The visit therefore symbolised welcome embrace of politics without bitterness.

But the engagement was also coming on the ripples of Mr Obi’s phenomenal presidential ambition. A convergence of certain political agenda, especially power rotation, push against Igbo marginalisation and increasing disdain for career politicians, had quickly impacted on the former PDP vice presidential candidate’s aspiration to be President. In a short space of time, Obi was seen as a frontline contender for Nigeria’s most powerful office.

This earned him increasing public attention. In an age of social media sensation, he was mobbed for photo pair – ups by status – seeking citizens. But the widening acceptance renewed Obi’s large appetite for media limelight. He sought to uphold a reputation as an achiever and to impress as a leader with command of development statistics.

Since leaving Government House, Awka, in 2014, Obi has maintained strident presence in the media. The extensive media profile had the effect of exaggerating his above – average performance as Governor. By extension, controversial declarations either by Obi himself or his assistants, were presumed correct, having escaped verification in the media. Yet, a trend of avoidable contestation has continued to dog Obi’s political path.

There was a wide gap between what was said to be the State’s financial balance at the time of Obi’s impeachment in November 2006 and what the Virgy Etiaba interim governorship acknowledged as the financial position. The orchestrated handover assets of 2014 were disputed in parts by the Willie Obiano administration. And the accompanying declarations of debt – free transition have been contradicted.

Soludo entered the picture on June 20, 2022. Mr Governor was forced to speak out on a recurring story of $20m investment by the Obi administration in SabMiller, admonishing the purveyors to market their candidate without misleading the public. The next day, the State Commissioner of Finance, Ifeatu Onejeme followed up with a statement clarifying that the said investment value was $12m only.

It was against this delicate background that Soludo received Mr Peter Obi on Friday, August 19, 2022 at Governor’s Lodge, Amawbia. But the setting was made more complex by the socio – political milieu of Obi’s candidacy on one hand and the dictates of party agenda on the other. Beyond Obi’s glowing credentials, his aspiration now ranks more, for many, as a counterpoise to the ethnic affiliation of Atiku Abubakar’s PDP and Bola Tinubu’s APC. Nor could anyone be more conscious of the APGA’s quest to be part of the power equation than, Soludo, on whose shoulders the task of growing the party presently rests.

Matters couldn’t be knottier. The peace prevailing among the ranks of APGA and Labour Party faithfuls in Anambra State today, at least, partially flows from the handling of c competing interests challenge. Displaying statesmanship, Soludo said: “He (Obi) is a friend and brother and of course, happened to be one of the two major candidates from Anambra State. He is of Labour Party and there is Professor Peter Umeadi who is the presidential candidate for APGA. I wished them the very best of luck. We are all going to campaign freely and so on and Nigerians will make their choice.”

You could literally hear the sighs of relief sweeping across sides of the political divide. The disposition was not just considerate, but reconciling. A misstep would have been a bad fall, a storm for everybody. Thank God, mature leadership fostered good inter party relations and healthy social fabric of governance. And Soludo’s inspiration must have come from Christ; the model of equity. For, this political co – habitation evokes the wisdom of rendering to God and Caesar, each their due.