Soludo: When philosopher becomes king

In his seminal work, ‘The Republic’, the renowned Greek philosopher, Plato, introduced the idea of the Philosopher King, which makes the indisputable argument that a leader needs to be endowed with wisdom and knowledge to make an extraordinary impact. Plato’s statement on the philosopher king is exemplified by Anambra State Governor, Prof Chukwuma Charles Soludo CFR, and his visionary and daring leadership, which is lifting the state into prosperity and livability in an unprecedented way.

The governor, Soludo, has proved that everything rises and falls on leadership, exactly why leadership is the single most critical factor responsible for the development and happiness of the people or lack of it.

Soludo’s Peoples Manifesto is Anambra reimagined and designed to transform the State into a Dubai-Taiwan in due course. The foundation has been fully laid, and building in most aspects commenced. Soludo has added to his vision of a new Anambra as Africa’s Silicon Valley, with IT and digital infrastructure, digital literacy, and manpower. The digital infrastructure is being laid, and the 1 million digital tribe to own and power the future Anambra as one smart mega city is being trained. The first batch of 25,000 has already graduated and is empowered to be useful at home and employable abroad.

Toxic leadership and extraordinary leadership are the two extremes on a continuum. While exceptional leadership is the best that leadership can offer, toxic leadership, the opposite, leaves the organisation or state/nation in a worse state than when it met it. The former is disruptive, and it is to it that a country or organisation owes its revolutionary reforms and significant advancements in development, like those that Governor Soludo is bringing about in Anambra State.

When Plato developed the concept of the philosopher king as the ideal leader, he certainly had Soludo in mind. Plato effectually said, “The society we have described can never grow into a reality or see the light of day… until philosophers become rulers in this world, or until those we now call kings and rulers really and truly become philosophers, and political power and philosophy thus come into the same hands.” Governor Soludo successfully combines political sagacity with philosophical sobriety, and he has ingrained the word “solution” into the political system.

He recognises that security is the first fulcrum of a stable society. Before he came into office, Anambra State was under the siege of daredevil criminals who had gained virtually entire control of eight local governments in Anambra State, namely Aguata, Ihiala, Ekwusigo, Nnewi North, Nnewi South, Ogbaru, Orumba North, and Orumba South.

The situation was serious and necessitated an unorthodox response. For the first time in the history of Anambra State, Governor Soludo founded the Ministry of Homeland Security and also appointed a Special Adviser on Security and much later, added a Special Adviser on Community Security. The task of confronting the raging criminals head-on fell to members of the Anambra Vigilante Group (AVG), which is now retooled and rechristened Agunechemba by the new Anambra State Homeland Security Law 2025, which is pivotal in the new strike force, Operation Udo Ga-Achi, launched by Governor Soludo on January 18, 2025, when the Homeland Security Law was also signed into force.

The so-called “unknown gunmen,” initially thought to be Fulani herders, were found to be mostly Igbo, over 70% of whom are from outside Anambra, who have migrated to the rich state for kidnapping and robbery, as the insecurity war reveals. Full-blooded Igbo men and women are essentially responsible for the insecurity in the state. The Soludo government had to change gears to fully confront insecurity. There are now more boots on the ground (over 2000 men and over 200 trucks and SUVs to ensure statewide coverage), a Command Control Centre, a top-of-the-range tracking system, and a Call Centre for information on the criminals in an inventive way to address the nearly intractable security challenge. “If you see something, say something, earn something! Call 5111 and the call centre will process the Intel with the utmost confidentiality.” “Everything technology, technology everywhere” has become the mantra of the Soludo government.

Anambra is now too hot for robbers, fake and evil Ndi-Dibia, Ndi-Ezenwanyi, and the Okeite magic pot providers since Soludo launched Operation Udo-Ga-Achi and unleashed the Agunechemba on the criminals, resulting in calm returning to Anambra and Oso Soludo (scampering of criminals, including fake and native doctors and fake prophets). Receding insecurity has now revealed Soludo’s transformation of Anambra State with historic infrastructure improvements like the construction of stone-base roads, bridges, flyovers, and dual carriageways; the return of drinking tap water to the urban centres; the first-ever gift of a government house and lodge to the state; the creation of the state’s ultra-modern Solution Fun City; lighting up the state with streetlights everywhere; constructing general hospitals and schools; hiring thousands of teachers, doctors, and nurses; and more—all without borrowing one kobo.

Soludo is also developing three brand new cities, namely Awka 2.0, Onitsha 2.0, and Anambra Mixed Industrial City (AMIC). The railway infrastructure is also in the offing. With free education up to senior secondary school, which is breaking generational poverty transfer, and the 1Youth, 2Skills programme and digital and IT training by the Solution District (SID), the philosopher king, Professor Chukwuma Soludo, is not only physically constructing the new Anambra but also developing a digital and literate population that will live in the emerging new State.

All of Anambra State’s vital signs are under the philosopher king’s control. Soludo arrived prepared and started to work in Okpoko the next day after swearing in. Today, Okpoko, the largest slum east of the Niger, is now a new haven, a signature of Soludo’s urban regeneration. He is always grateful to Ndi Anambra for hiring him for the position. And the people are extremely grateful for the excellent work that the hard-working Mr. Governor has done. One happy citizen has nicknamed Soludo “Oluatuegwu”—He who never hesitates to take on any big project!

Soludo is probably the only governor, past and present, to reverse capital expenditure and concurrent spending parity in the state’s annual budget up to 70% in favour of capital. Anambra State’s 2025 budget is currently 77% capital and barely 23% recurrent. This explains why Soludo has accomplished so much without taking out loans in about three years he has been in office. He has won awards for having the highest fiscal discipline and transparency in the nation. He has also been awarded Governor of the Year and Man of the Year by major newspapers in a variety of categories, from tech to infrastructure to human capital development. In the recent primary health care national challenge, Anambra was ranked first in both Southeast Nigeria and Nigeria overall.

The antecedents of Soludo are indeed luminous. Let’s not forget that before he even became Governor of Anambra State, Soludo had saved the Nigerian economy from collapse through his 2004 banking consolidation project when he was the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN). ‘The Power of One Man: How the Soludo-Engineered Consolidation Transformed Nigerian Banks to Global Players’, written by Dr. Ray Echebiri, was presented at Eko Hotels & Suites, Victoria Island, Lagos, on Saturday, July 6, 2024, to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the revolutionary banking reforms that, under Soludo’s supervision, resulted in the emergence of 25 banks that beefed up their capital base to a minimum of N25 billion. Before Soludo’s banking consolidation, the combined size of all Nigerian banks could not equal one South African bank. The recapitalisation initiative ultimately created 25 large banks out of the 89 struggling banks that were previously in existence in the country.

In other words, Soludo is a philosopher king who has used his deep knowledge and affective commitment to govern Anambra State. His impressive credentials, which include the coveted First Class in Economics from the University of Nigeria, Nsukka (UNN), are so obvious for everyone to see.

As Soludo has proven, the future becomes the present when a philosopher becomes king. Soludo has brought forward Anambra’s future with his master plan for the physical and human capital development of Anambra State. By cleansing traditional worship, ridding it of fake and evil native doctors, and refocusing Ndi Anambra on their traditional path—Uche, Uchu, and Egwu Chukwu (i.e. integrity, hard work, and fear of God), a renewed Ndi Anambra is emerging.

Indeed, Anambra, as one smart mega city and the Silicon Valley of Africa, is on the horizon, thanks to the philosopher king, Soludo, why Ndi Anambra say: Solution is here and call Soludo Mr Solution!

Law Mefor, PhD, is the Anambra state commissioner for information