Is Gov Soludo Envious Of Peter Obi?

By Ugoji Egbujo

President Tinubu was in Anambra. The timing of the visit was ominous. Anambra governorship elections are due in November. Southern first-term governors from opposition parties are defecting in droves to Tinubu’s party. Soludo didn’t defect but a defection might have been more hygienic. Soludo showcased his projects and swore allegiance to Tinubu. Soludo was within his right to twerk for Tinubu, but did he have to spit on  Peter Obi to magnify and enchant the president? 

*Soludo and Obi

The first line of Soludo’s speech was reeked with pettiness. He said that the last time a  President visited the state was in 2021 to commission the Premier Breweries which he called a private brewery project. That Soludo’s preferred hook was puerile.  Some might say it should be seen as political banter. But did Soludo need to introduce that famed line of bigotry peddled by Tinubu’s men in this welcome address to the president to the home of Peter Obi, Tinubu’s arch-rival? 

Soludo was free to preach unity or choose churlish partisan politics. He was free to say Tinubu is the father of modern Lagos who tamed the Atlantic and transformed a jungle into a bustling city. Nobody would challenge hyperboles. But Soludo didn’t have to sound like MC Oluomo or Bayo Onanuga riling up a Shinedu. He didn’t need to use Peter Obi as the red carpet. If Peter Obi had a dog in the November fight, Soludo might have had a little justification. But Obi, it appears, isn’t interested in the Anambra governorship, so why would Soludo seek to aggravate Obi’s supporters with a gratuitous motor park remark? 

Soludo is brilliant but many have said he lacks political tact and emotional intelligence. But tact isn’t required to abstain from irritating the youths in a state you govern. A brilliant Anambra governor in 2025 doesn’t need emotional intelligence to know that while courting Tinubu he must not fart into the faces of  Peter Obi’s supporters. Even if that would titillate Tinubu. It’s political maths. Obi will win any presidential election against Tinubu by a wide and wild margin. Soludo knows that. It wouldn’t matter if Soludo took APGA to live in the boys’ quarters of the APC. I understand the haste to ensure Tinubu doesn’t avail Nicholas Ukachukwu of the APC federal forces of coercion to attempt the Edo experiment, but did Soludo have to serve Obi as nkwobi to Tinubu to fatten his ego? Has Tinubu now become the oba of Nigeria at whose feet governors must grovel without compunction? Or is Soludo’s sporadic pettiness now incurable? 

Soludo once suspended a traditional ruler because he conferred a small village title on a serving senator, who was Soludo’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 cantankerousness. So perhaps Soludo’s penchant for the demystification of Peter Obi isn’t envy. 

Soludo had a first class. Obi had a colourless degree certificate. Both are from the University of Nigeria. Soludo raced to become  an Economics Professor and Adviser to international financial institutions. Obi on the other had a shop while he was a philosophy student at the UNN. He was probably eager to leave school and become a member of the famous OMATA. Their paths couldn’t be wider apart. While Obi became a trader importing wines and groceries, Soludo lectured, researched and advised. Soludo went on to become chief economics adviser to President Obasanjo and later the central banker governor. 

Obi survived the streets and the odds  to become a billionaire, Chairman of a commercial bank and Anambra governor. At levels, Soludo had no reason to envy Obi. Both of them have now governed Anambra state. Soludo, who fancies himself as the Solution is perhaps the better intellectually endowed of the two. Peter never discusses Soludo. Soludo never misses an opportunity to mock Obi.  Peter Obi has become a national political colossus. Is Soludo’s thinly veiled animosity borne of disdain or envy? Does Soludo harbour contempt for Peter, seeing him as a lucky political charlatan riding the wave of luck? Or does Soludo envy Peter Obi as the new dominant political figure in the Southeast? Why is Soludo bellyaching? 

Soludo had contested against Peter in 2009. In 2013 Peter backed Willie Obiano when a few thought Soludo was a better candidate. Willie became governor and fell out with Peter Obi. In a beautiful irony, Willie Obiano chose Soludo in 2021 and defeated Peter Obi’s protégé. So Soludo and Peter have enough tension between them. But there could be more.  President Yar’adua once toyed with the idea of grooming Soludo to be president. He recalled Soludo from the UK to get him to run for Anambra governor in 2009. Yaraduas death truncated that mission but the seed had been sown in Soludo’s heart. Obi parades an endearing simplicity, empathy, and a sense of frugality that has charmed the masses. Soludo, despite big ideas and great efforts, hasn’t been able to create that magic. If Obi goes to the villa, Soludo’s chances evaporate. Soludo owes Obi nothing. But he owes himself and the state political maturity. To worship  Tinubu with dignity: to bow but not roll on the floor. 

It was good to assemble all the traditional rulers in Anambra to bestow a title on the president. It’s courteous. But thanking the president for giving many Anambra citizens prominent federal appointments was going too far. That’s called shameless suffering and smiling. Tinubu’s Yorubacentricism is astonishing. Nobody expects Soludo to develop balls overnight and champion oppositional politics. In addition, Anambra needs to secure funds to check rampaging erosion. Anambra needs railway lines. Anambra needs to tap its gas resources. But Soludo could have conducted his good charm offensive without becoming a fact-bending Otimkpu. Anambra has only a junior minister. Ogun has more senior ministers than the entire Igbo land. Why does Soludo say things that would aggravate the sensibilities of his people?

If Soludo wants to win Anambra votes for Tinubu, he must do more than twerking and spitting at Obi. He must tell Tinubu the truth about Tinubu’s Terrible Tribalism. He can find him more traditional titles and even build him a retirement home in Awka but he must tell the president the truth of his pompous disregard for the southeast. The president may come to commission a thousand state projects and blow kisses at the people, but Soludo must point at the second Niger Bridge, which Buhari built, and inform  Tinubu that the southeast needs one or two multi-trillion naira project like the Lagos Calabar road. But this time, they must follow due process. Nigeria belongs to the Igbo too. Soludo should have told Tinubu that those who masterminded targeted violence against the Igbo in Lagos in 2023 wounded the foundations of the country, and Tinubu ought to have condemned and punished the perpetrators. 

To win in Igbo land in 2027, Tinubu must stamp out the insurgency militarily and address its root causes politically. He must renew the hopes of the Igbo in the Nigerian project. He must offer a transformative leadership that spreads peace, fairness, equity, unity and inclusive prosperity. A transformative leadership for national cohesion and development will treat opposition leaders like Peter Obi as indispensable partners rather than enemies and objects fit for ridicule. 

Soludo has a big brain. I don’t know if he has a large heart. 

*Dr. Egbujo is a commentator on public issues