This has been posted elsewhere but still worth reading. Quite long: about 8-10min reading

I read the actual text of Soludo's recent piece (https://www.thecable.ng/history-beckons-and-i-will-not-be-silent-part-1/). There were multiple problems with his piece but people are bashing him for the wrong reasons. They are misreading the main thrust of his write-up, one in which I—and, incidentally, Peter Obi— wholly agree with. Nevertheless, I'll first address issues with the piece, while showing where it is correct.

Despite claiming that he acknowledged the achievements of all his predecessors he did not try, in his write up, to present any sort of balance on Obi. Rather, he appeared to unearth all possible disagreements with his legacy that he could claim while failing to state any positives.

Particularly worrying would be his claim to certain statistics that directly run counter to what is known Obi achieved. For example, it is well documented that Obi improved the economic and educational metrics of the state such that, as even judged at the time by the economic teams of rival governors, he was voted the best. Thus, if things were really X bad with Obi, they were sort of X² bad with others.

He even presented his efforts (looking out also for corrections and advice to improve) in their then organised forum for accountability and better governance: the first to do so. No other governor agreed to present afterwards, thus, such laudable ongoing series was forced to die.

The metrics of education, power supply (eg, provided transformers widely among other efforts), health ( eg, water supply to primary health centres) and, overall, what was palpably experienced on the ground was clearly better at the end of his tenure than at Obiano's end. Even Obiano's signature projects —eg, the Awka flyovers he engraved with his name and the airport— were started by Obi and funded by Obi's savings: as expected, since Obi's tenure was during a more buoyant oil revenue period.

The insistence of saddling Obi with the moniker of someone who was only interested in hoarding funds is very untrue and beginning to seem a deliberate effort (particularly by an economist). Obi actually spent more on state needs from his revenue than his predecessors and successor. Had he stayed a 3rd term, the airport he had just relocated to northern Anambra would have been constructed by him and those flyovers in Awka (he had already redone Onitsha's roads and the notorious Upper Iweka: all much more than anything Obiano did road-wise). His uniqueness was in trying to conserve where expenditure (especially in cost of governance) was deemed not necessary, with an eye for investment in the future of the children of the state.

In doing so he made some mistakes. I agree with Soludo that a number of the roads Obi built for rural towns and villages were not as durable as those made by Ngige. He seems to have chosen road options that would bear light vehicles transporting farm produce from such places to towns for sale. The breakdown of the major federal roads made most heavy traffic divert to such new and good roads so they degraded faster than planned. Despite this, they lasted 7-10 years.

Someone once told me that the most important issue in building a structure is committing oneself to the maintenance one's initial choice for the structure would demand. Just as he first built those roads out of virtually no roads, he would have been very well capable of maintaining them as due. Unfortunately, the time for their maintenance started occuring largely in the middle of Obiano's time, who simply neglected them to completely fall apart. Despite it being possible that a better option could have been reached, the most important thing here is that Obi had a plan and executed it fairly, a plan that did not deprive his people of their resources in any way. Moreover, his humility helps him learn from substandard situations.

Similarly, I am befuddled by what metric is Soludo claiming the jump in poverty under Obi and a significant shrinking by Obiano's end? I am not an economist but it is only the opposite I experienced in my wide interactions within my state. This could be one of those situations where one users an unnatural metric to extrapolate: "Lies, damned lies, and statistics" is a phrase describing the persuasive power of statistics to bolster weak arguments, "one of the best, and best-known" critiques of applied statistics (https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lies,_damned_lies,_and_statistics). A present-day one is that from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), which says Nigeria's real Gross Domestic Product (GDP) at basic prices grew by 3.11 per cent in quarter one of 2022 on a year-on-year basis. Does this seems to indicate that we are 3.11% better than last year? Is this what is actually being felt on the ground? Why people are running out of the country faster now than ever before? Bear in mind that even the "almighty" NNPC has not been remitting anything to the states.

The problems with Soludo's piece are why many consider this saga to simply be yet another step the political elite are taking to crush the groundswell threatening to disturb their "business as usual". This is also the main reason Obi keeps travelling around to speak with them: to ensure they, at best, be neutral instead of working assiduously against him. He will need all hands on deck (one way or another) to help reverse the sinking ship that is Nigeria.

Let us not forget that the only reason Obi became governor is the personal conviction of Ojukwu in his person. Ojukwu, after interacting with him, declared him as the man to lead our people forward. I remember him begging Ndi Anambra that he was an old man soon to pass on but that they should do this for him, that one time, because they were really doing it for themselves and their children. Despite all that, it was Ngige's falling out with the PDP godfather, and refusing Abuja's directive to make up with him, that enabled Obi to prevail at court. Obi was then impeached by the elite (but saved, again, by the courts) when they could not resurrect their business as usual.

Good arguments, some already given by Soludo, can be given for it being better for Obi to have stayed put in that one party: APGA. However, other good arguments can be made for the opposite, especially for someone hoping to do good at Aso Rock. Why should someone —a real businessman— persist in a venture that had no hope of success, simply because it is an Igbo party, a success that is not supposed to be for the Igbo people alone? In fact, for simply being APGA, most in other parts of the country would not have voted it. Labour is clearly tribe agnostic (for now). It also lacks the bad history of PDP. So, if APGA can only win in Anambra —a state that Soludo even agrees Obi in Labour is likely to win it's presidential votes— contesting on the APGA's platform will be a minus nationwide where it lacks Labour's clean slate. The only place APGA has formidable structure is Anambra. Moreover, Labour connects an aspirant with all public workers and Labour activists nationwide who, with the aggrieved youth, give one a much more credible 3rd way than APGA ever could. Obi then buttressed it all by explicitly telling people not to vote for him if it is simply because he is Igbo.

I also agree, in a large part, with Soludo's assessment of the quest for Igbo presidency and the lack of long-term strategy by Ndi Igbo. This is borne out of the understandable desire to have some from the SE rule in turn with others: very difficult due to not being enshrined by law and low overall voting clout. Unfortunately, nationwide we largely now have a culture of turn-by-turn chopping or turn-by-turn development through one's town's man at the top. For example, this is how Enugu State now runs. However, as said earlier, saddling Obi with merely a realisation of Igbo rule —however laudable one's reasons may be— is myopic, stunting and not what he presently stands for. So all that assessment is irrelevant.

I agree with Soludo's knock on Obi's investment of state funds in a business of which he was a member of its board. It raises ethical questions. However, remember who we are talking about and you see its consistency with his erstwhile actions. He is a trader who deals with what he knows, even when trying to act selflessly. He returned to Missionary systems for previously missionary schools because he knew them to run well when they had them. He, seeing some surpluses in state funds, wanted to invest them in structures he had personally experienced and believed were on an upward trajectory, so much so that if the state ended up losing money, he too will lose money because his money was there too. In fact, their value only started to dip following the overall distress businesses were experiencing (more businesses failing) during Obiano's latter years. It first proves that there was more poverty during Obiano and, secondly that Obiano's economic team should have been monitoring the investments to know when to sell them and buy other upwardly mobile shares. Nothing stays permanent.

All the above not withstanding, many Obi supporters are acting like the present day Western "progressives" who do not allow others to have a point of view different from theirs without trying to bury them. That is wrong. Live and let live. Engage their points and, if you both remain with your initial convictions, simply agree to disagree. Even inconceivably worse are those who try to harm Soludo (or anyone else) who simply disagrees that Obi is the right option.

Now to be clear, this is not in any way the fault of Obi. It is a groundswell of frustrations of people seeing their future evaporate and, thus flailing and grasping out for a support. It is well known that one has to be very careful (and, better, trained!) before trying to rescue a drowning man. His desperation may sink you too. See the widespread protest in Iran. Their corruption is no where near ours but see the reactions. If there was even a modicum of opposition leader there, would it not have been false to saddle him with the responsibility of violent protests, simply because he is seen as an alternative to the rulers?

Obi himself has announced to his supporters the need for moderation and respect multiple times (as is well evident in his person). In fact, there is absolutely no evidence anyone can present that shows Obi egging anyone on. So, how can he, in good conscience, be saddled with the responsibility of the actions of drowning men, men being drowned by the effects of successive PDP and APC leaders?

In any case, please let us be civil. Thank you for the patience to read this very long piece.

I never chop to read this oo

Balanced and unbiased.

Ok

Prof. Soludo is an intellectual that abhors bullying. Once you impose herd mentality like supporters of Peter Obi are doing, intellectualism becomes diminished as nobody is allowed to interrogate and differ from the popular opinion.

Democracy is about interest and choice. It's about freedom of expression. Democracy abhors mob dictatorship.

I was a big critic of obi as regards to road construction, he did badly on that aspect but in terms of fund management, he was a bit meticulous than his contemporaries and the main reason iam supporting him today is because he doesn't have structure.
People need to take power back and that is why most of the political class are rattled but soludo's own is too petty for my liking.

Ckonnet:
I was a big critic of obi as regards to road construction, he did badly on that aspect but in terms of fund management, he was a bit meticulous than his contemporaries and the main reason iam supporting him today is because he doesn't have structure.
People need to take power back and that is why most of the political class are rattled but soludo's own is too petty for my liking.

Soludo is not petty. He is the only APGA governor and technically the leader of APGA. Now, APGA has candidates across the constituencies in Anambra State in 2023 election and they stand the risk of being upstaged by Labour Party unless an aggressive campaign is done led by the APGA leader.

Don't forget that 3 AD governors in SW lost their seats because they were on the fence as a way of allowing Obasanjo a lee way to get required votes. Yes, Obasanjo won along with PDP governorship candidates while the 'helpful' sitting AD governors became jobless. History is full of lessons.

Gov. Soludo committed no offense in protecting his interest and that of the party that gave him platform to become governor.