Soludo: When a professor lacks emotional intelligence
The Anambra State governor, Professor Chukwuma Soludo is always in the news for the wrong reasons among Ndigbo. Since he joined the murky waters of Nigerian politics, his rating by most people of Igbo extraction continues to dwindle. Many see him as a politician who prioritizes personal gain and advancement over the collective interests of the Igbo people. Indeed, not a few see him as anti-Igbo; a man who is ready to sacrifice his people’s collective interest to further his political ambition.
To many Igbo stakeholders, yes, Soludo may be an outstanding scholar but lacks emotional intelligence of a true leader. In their estimation, the Anambra governor does not understand Nigeria and her politics. Many Igbo commentators see him as a man struggling to please the power elite to the detriment of his people just to get some political mileage.
Increasingly, the professor who prides himself as ‘Nwa Mgba Afor’ has continued to reinforce the negative perception of Ndigbo about him.
Recently, Soludo, during a town hall meeting with Anambra residents in the United States of America (USA), had claimed that 99.99 per cent of criminals arrested in Anambra State were not Fulani but Igbo, adding that armed criminals illegally occupying forests in the state were Igbo.
It was not the first time Nwa Mgba Afor made such a claim without verifiable facts to prove it. But that is not even the issue. He is not only demarketing his people but what he has forgotten is that such statements from any Igbo leader would encourage overzealous security agents to pounce on youths of the extraction. It would further encourage the powers that be, to increasingly militarise the South East.
Senator Enyinnaya Abaribe, representing Abia South in the Nigerian Senate, recently decried the heavy policing of the Southeast, describing it as a deliberate oppression against the region.
Speaking on Channels Television’s ‘Politics Today’, Abaribe highlighted the inequities and injustices faced by the Southeast, and called for fairness and respect for the rule of law.
Abaribe criticised the excessive security checkpoints in the region, describing them as unparalleled anywhere else in the world.
“From Onitsha to Enugu, a distance of 120km, there are 60 checkpoints. From Owerri to Aba, just 36km, you’ll encounter 30 checkpoints. The Southeast is the most policed area in the world”, he said.
The senator argued that the excessive militarization only fuels unrest and urged the government to address the underlying issues.
It is for that situation in the South East that many think that Nwa Mgba Afor is playing into the hands of authorities who are always in a haste to carry out their excesses and overzealousness in the zone.
In Nigeria, it is nearly impossible to find any leader or politician from other ethnic regions who would boldly pass a verdict on his people with such reckless abandon as Soludo did on Igbo youths. Despite the atrocities happening in various parts of the North, their leaders still pamper and patronise them. Some of their leaders including governors have gone to the extent of negotiating, rehabilitating and extending all manner of incentives to Boko Haram members.
The Federal Government has spent about N1.4bn for the rehabilitation of repentant terrorists and the establishment of centres for terrorism trials in the country.
It also established the National Counter-Terrorism Centre following late President Muhammadu Buhari’s assent to the Terrorism (Prevention and Prohibition) Bill on May 12, 2022.
In December 2022, the government announced its decision to establish two disarmament, deradicalisation, rehabilitation, and reintegration centres for repentant members of Boko Haram and other terrorist groups in the country.
Leaders of other tribes unlike Soludo rather than demonise their youths, adopt various strategies to reform and rehabilitate vulnerable citizens.
But among Ndigbo, there is evidently a huge gap between the youth and leaders like Soludo. There is maximum suspicion of betrayal, stealing and callousness against the people of the region by their leaders. Such leaders deliberately created a wide margin that has existed between them and their followers because of their greed and selfish interests. They have impoverished the people, denied them of development and a decent living.
In the build up to the 2023 presidential election, Professor Soludo also exhibited lack of emotional intelligence when he openly created hurdles before Peter Obi, the candidate of the Labour Party. While he welcomed President Bola Tinubu who was the APC candidate and Alhaji Atiku Abubakar of the PDP with open arms to his state, he literally stopped Obi from campaigning in Anambra, a state he once governed for eight years. His attitude did not resonate well among Ndigbo who massively supported Peter Obi.
Also, Professor Soludo in May, committed a faux par during the recent official visit of President Tinubu to the state. Rather than concentrate on getting a commitment for the President to increase federal presence in the state, he was more preoccupied with making snide remarks against Peter Obi.
Soludo once suspended a traditional ruler because he conferred a title on a serving senator, who was the governor’s political opponent. That unnecessary act of vindictiveness attracted a long letter of rebuke from the usually quiet Obi of Onitsha.
Soludo once attended the funeral ceremony of the mother of a popular catholic priest in Anambra. At the funeral service, he cast aspersion on the bereaved priest and his family because they printed posters and brochures for the funeral. He said the burial contravened the state’s burial laws, which he dusted up on the assumption of office. Soludo’s outburst attracted an acidic letter of reprimand from the Catholic Archbishop of Onitsha. The Archbishop said the governor had abandoned critical affairs of government to pursue shadows. He urged the governor to distinguish himself with big ideas rather than become cantankerous toward the people.
Many commentators agree that Professor Soludo needs to tone down his emotions and apply more of his emotional intelligence in his public life.
