Obiora Okonkwo is Jealous, Lonely, and in need of a Dire Political Massage
BY IZUCHUKWU Adichie
The Obiora Okonkwo’s verbal attack on Governor Soludo comes from feelings of envy, loneliness, and a desire for transactional politics. It is important to note that Obiora’s jealousy intensified after his defeat in the last gubernatorial election, where he even failed to secure victory in his polling unit against Soludo.
Obiora made false claims about Soludo, including accusing him of acting like a warlord in enemy territory and driving on armored personnel carriers. However, he failed to acknowledge that Soludo has maintained a modest lifestyle, using the least expensive official car — INNOSON and convoy and maintaining the least protocols. Soludo’s convoy proudly showcases vehicles exclusively MADE IN ANAMBRA.
Obiora also mentioned that Anambra is like a ghost town, but failed to acknowledge that his airline, United Nigeria Airlines, still operates daily return flights from Chinua Achebe Airport, Umueri, and still benefits from Anambra’s ranking as the number one among seventeen Southern States from the Presidential Ease of Doing Business.
Before Soludo took office, nine local governments were under siege by criminals, with unknown gunmen, kidnappings, arson, and assassinations prevalent. However, after assuming office, Soludo took decisive action to drive the criminals out and initiated the security rebuilding process. In 2023, for the first time in many years, Ukpor, Osumenyi, and several other communities experienced a massive Christmas return, with flights and hotels fully booked.
Soludo successfully reclaimed nine local governments of Anambra South, including Ogbaru and Awka North, which were taken over by criminal elements. He has held around seventy town hall meetings, bringing together security chiefs, community, church leaders, business leaders, political class, and other key stakeholders in the security sector.
These meetings aimed to leverage goodwill among the government, the people, and security agencies in the state to record modest achievements in the fight against insecurity. Soludo has been working tirelessly to retool Anambra’s security architecture and has seen significant contributions from private citizens and corporate organizations to the Security Trust Fund.
His administration has also led to the formation of:
• The state central vigilante strikeforce
• Local governments and community vigilantes
• Anambra Special Anti-Touting Squad
• Reinforcement of the Joint Task Force comprising all security formations in Anambra state
Thanks to these efforts, the once embattled state is now a safe and secure place for its citizens, and Monday’s sit-at-home has ended.
