Governor Charles Chukwuma Soludo of Anambra State has built his governance philosophy around what can be called “Soludo Humanism”, a value-based and people-centered approach. His policies and executive actions so far reflected the integration of Inclusion, Industrialisation, and Social Transformation. Inclusive policy and actions in his governance philosophy are a pursuit of the greatest happiness of the greatest number of people in Anambra irrespective of classes, social stations and religion.
This is logically embedded in a backward integration and environmental renewal that is unprecedented in the history of the state. Industrialisation is humanism’s secular demand that nurture must be exploited scientifically for the benefit of man, with dignity in his labor, reward and gainful employment in the service for humanity. And social transformation is re- engineering of the entire economic and social fabric of the society within the context of law and order. The accomplishments by Professor Charles Chukwuma Soludo on these pivotal sustainable development goals have spotlighted the state as a possible subnational habitat for United Nations heritage of best international practices.
Aggregating in perspective, his inclusive philosophy is hinged on the stoic conviction that humanity is one, and human beings, irrespective of religion and class, is the same. Soludo’s policies were, there, aimed to create an inclusive society where no group is left behind, especially the poor, women, youth, and rural dwellers. It is an index of ordering the society for sustainable values, truth, justice and development. Also, as a normative foundation for a livable Anambra state it would in the long run aggregate and catalyze the society and her citizens for sustainable livelihood, and ultimately the state as a livable and prosperous homeland.
The categorical assertion of these Policy and Executive Actions have been articulated in Free and Quality Education Policy that had been made free in all public schools up to JSS3, with improved infrastructure and teacher recruitment. This opens doors for children from poor backgrounds. Also, within the compass of humanistic trajectory of inclusion, the Soludo solution initiated Youth Empowerment for various skill acquisitions with grant programs targeting youths, women, and artisans, particularly in rural and semi-urban areas.
The ideological and progressive plank of Soludo governance is coded and conceptualized as “Sustainable Neo-Welfarism and Progressivism-leaving no one behind”. It is an iconic amalgam and synthesis of functional pilot schemes of social transformation based on deepening infrastructure revolution, re-jigging security, law and order, rural and urban regeneration, education and digital economy, mechanised Agriculture and sustainable livelihood, tourism development, economic transformation and unlocking of generational opportunities.
Public Service reforms had been upscaled to inclusive levels with merit-based recruitments into public service, including open and competitive recruitment of teachers and health workers. Healthcare Access Programs is also one of the governance trajectory in which inclusion is articulated and concretised. As a recipe for sustainable developments and general well being of the citizens, it is focused on revitalising primary healthcare centers and making health services accessible to rural and underserved communities.
On industrialisation, Soludo solution is a production-based economy, moving Anambra away from a consumption economy. This had been driven with a tech-driven and industrially productive state machinery with sustainable policy and executive actions and inclusive initiatives like, One Youth Two Skills, Awka Industrial City (AIC) and Export Processing Zones (EPZs), Investment in Infrastructure and Promotion of “Made in Anambra” Products. In One Youth Two Skill, a skill development and enterprise creation initiative is aimed at training over 10,000 youths annually in digital and technical skills tied to industrial clusters.
In transforming Awka and Anambra state into industrial State, zones were being developed to attract investors and create industrial hubs for manufacturing, ICT, and agro-processing. This had yielded investments in infrastructure in terms of 400 km of road projects across the state, aiming to create enabling environments for businesses and industrial activities. It had also resulted to policy empowering public procurement to prioritise locally-made goods, especially in the shoe and garment industries.
Social transformation as an inclusive scheme is a process of integration without sectional, religious and class biases. It is a scheme that is structured in the sectors that impacted directly on peoples essential well being. Hence, it entails “structural changes in institutions and societal values to shift from rent-seeking to productivity.” Multi-sector-ally, environmental Sanitation and Urban renewals is a campaign that had injected a new consciousness in the citizens and driven by technology and urban re- renewable efforts, especially in the state urban centers, aimed at improving livability.
Falling in tandem with these developments in all sectors, reformation and transformation of the state’s IGR system had been designed to reduce multiple taxation while broadening and bolstering the tax base with revenue reinvested in social amenities and development. This had been driven by transition to an e-government model for transparency and efficiency, reduction in corruption and improvement in service delivery.
Also, on the front burner of social re-engineering is recalibrating the security architecture and strengthening of the local vigilante groups in partnership with the police to combat crime, especially to create an enabling environment for transformation.
Soludo Humanism as an Ideology of inclusion, industrialisation and social transformation is, therefore, grounded in his vision of a “liveable and prosperous homeland”, reflecting equity and justice, shared prosperity, environmental consciousness, civic responsibility and public-private partnership as a development model. This had been aptly shared in the popular consciousness of Anambra people as “One State, One People, One Agenda” envisioned to become the African Dubai-Taiwan in Nigeria with a Silicon valley comparable to that of USA.
Prof. Dukor is the President/Editor-in-Chief, Essence Library (Cultural and Scientific Department Center) Department of Philosophy, UNIZIK.
