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Soludo: Is second term so sweet to be bought at the price of cowardice?
By Sunny Igboanugo
“As we approach the 250th anniversary of our Nation’s Independence on July 4, 2026, we look to Patrick Henry, a son of the frontier, the first and sixth Governor of Virginia, an unflinching advocate for American Independence, and a true man of his moment.
“Today, we invoke his courage, we honor his legacy, and we fearlessly summon the spirit of 1776 to build a future that we will be proud to impart on our children. Like Patrick Henry and the giants of American liberty who came before us, now is our time to ring that great bell of American freedom and to propel our Nation into a new and radiant golden age.
“NOW, THEREFORE, I, DONALD J. TRUMP, President of the United States of America, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the Constitution and the laws of the United States, do hereby proclaim March 23, 2025, as a day in celebration of the 250th anniversary of Patrick Henry’s speech to the Second Virginia Convention.
“In witness whereof, I have hereunto set my hand this twentieth day of March the year of our Lord two thousand twenty-five, and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and forty-ninth.”
These were the words with which Donald Trump commemorated the 250th anniversary of Give Me Liberty or Give Me Death, that epochal declaration on which America stood to unsheathe its sword from the scabbard to fight for independence.
Yes! On March 23, 1775, at the Second Virginia Convention, Patrick Henry, a lawyer and preacher, rose to his feet to address the over 100 delegates including George Washington, Thomas Jefferson and many other statesmen, who had gathered to decide the American fate in the hands of the British authorities.
So fiery were his words that these 100 men and many more, who had been wringing their fingers over their parlous fate decided to take that decisive option, which has now transformed their country to the most powerful on earth today – fight!
Fresh in their hearts was the memory of the bloody Boston Massacre and the British Parliament’s authoritarian imposition of the Intolerable Acts – which closed the Boston Harbor and stripped New England Colonists of their right to self-govern, and amid the escalating tensions between the Patriots and the Redcoats, these great men, still torn between continuing the pursuit of peace, or as a final recourse, to take up arms in the rebellion.
Then came Patrick Henry! Bystanders, who watched the scenario, said there was “an unearthly fire burning in his eye.” So moving, powerful and captivating were his words that one of the listeners standing by the window made a wish that he be buried at the exact spot he stood to listen, which was granted at his death.
Here are those words which made America what it is today: “Why stand we here idle? What is it that gentlemen wish? What would they have? Is life so dear, or peace so sweet, as to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery? Forbid it, Almighty God! I know not what course others may take; but as for me, give me liberty or give me death!” , had no further reason to tarry. With that push, those great men went on to sign the Declaration of Independence. And America was born!
On Thursday, June 12, 2025, Charles Chukwuma Soludo, Governor of Anambra State was on hand with a similar outing. At the 2025 edition of The Platform – a national development initiative, and a yearly event put together by Poju Oyemade, Senior Pastor and Founder of The Covenant Nation (TCN), a church founded in 1994 with headquarters in Lagos, Soludo, displayed rare quality of oratory and superlative knowledge.
Listening to him, evoked the same emotions that must have made that bystander declare that he be buried at the spot he stood to hear Patrick Henry. I couldn’t be prouder that I breathe the same air with him as onye Anambra and more particularly, onye OAU. How couldn’t I? How many Nigerians could deliver half of the enchanting treatise, I had just listened to?
But of course, it is in the blood! O di na-obala. Nnamdi Azikiwe, Odumegwu Ojukwu, Chuba Okadigbo, Peter Obi, Soludo et al! Remember Obi’s stellar performance at the same The Platform in 2016, where he not only mesmerised the same audience, but practically sold himself to Nigerians and garnered the momentum, which has continued to bourgeon till date.
Yes, this tiny South East state not only posts the unique DNA of producing gifted speakers who could with words make men dare lions with bare hands, but men of courage who dared the same lions with their own hands as well.
Was it Zik, the Owelle of Onitsha, the undisputed father of Nigeria, who combined the power of oratory and rare courage to rally other compatriots to action against colonial masters for Nigeria to gain independence?
Was it Ojukwu, who displayed a yet to be matched courage and oratory to stop the monster eating up his people when he drew a line in the sand to provide safety for them as they fled the scenes of mindless butchery across the country and thereafter sustained a 30-month civil war, with a history that has remained a major puzzle in global military circles till date.
Had Okadigbo traded courage for compromise, if not cowardice, he would probably have served out his tenure as Senate President, and probably been alive today. But he chose the former, chose to fight. Yes, he not only lost his position but also his life. But great men like him, his place is firmly etched permanently on the positive side of history.
Today, could anyone speak of politics in Nigeria without Obi? But it comes with its own scars, earned in sustained political wars. Denied victory at the polls he fought his way to power. Impeached from office he returned. While Soludo was at The Platform and the entire gamut of Nigeria’s political leadership were jesting at the National Assembly and mocking Nigerians, Obi was showing the stuff he is made of, by addressing Nigerians on the real issues.
Now, picture if Soludo had chosen the part of rousing Nigerians to action with that breathtaking delivery decked in those powerful words which held his audience spellbound! But no! What followed was the direct opposite. He rather used the platform to offer lame and obtuse excuses spelt every bit disgrace than valour.
In my head since has been ringing this persistent bell: Where is Soludo’s own Anambra DNA of courage? Where, my compatriots? He couldn’t be that bereft of that basic essential that marks out the Anambra man. I ask because that is the only credible reason for this nauseating display of fawning and clowning around President Bola Tinubu, which has become his trademark in recent months. Nothing else!
How could Soludo, look Nigerians in the face and declare to them that Tinubu is not responsible for the current suffering in the land today? But that was the rotten egg the selfsame Soludo threw in the face of his audience after posting that classic delivery on Thursday.
Pray! If Tinubu is not responsible for why more than 30 million Nigerians have suddenly found their way into multi-dimensional poverty and why the country is the global poverty capital, who is?
It wasn’t enough that Charlie nwa-Mgbafo virtually poured vinegar to the festering wound of his people by rolling out the drums to celebrate the same man, who has wantonly cheated them daily, treated them like trash and reduced them to fourth-class citizens, but he had to climb the podium and with the klieg light and camera beamed on you, regale the world with such unearthly fallacy!
All because of second term? Haba! On that podium 250 years ago, Patrick Henry had challenged his compatriots, when he asked that famous question: “Is life so dear, or peace so sweet, as to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery? Today, I ask, is second term so dear to you, Charlie nwa-Mgbafo as to be earned by cowardice?
My name is Sunny Igboanugo, I’m The Tiny Voice!
A win bought with cash is a loss for democracy, John Nwosu, candidate of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), said on Sunday, flatly rejecting the result of Saturday’s polls, hours after it was released by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), announcing, Charles Chukwuma Soludo as winner.
In the result announced by INEC Returning Officer, Edoba B. Omoregie, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), and Vice Chancellor of University of Benin announced the total tally for the election, said Charles Chukwuma Soludo, incumbent, who ran on the platform of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA), scored 422,664 to win the contest and stood re-elected,
Omoregie, who said that Nicholas Ukachukwu of the All Progressives Congress (APC), came second with 99,445, Paul Chukwuma of Young Progressives Party (YPP) 37,753, George Moghalu of the Labour Party (LP) 10,576 and Nwosu credited Nwosu with 8,208, votes out of the registered voters of 2,788,864, and accredited voters of 598,229.”
But pooh-poohing the entire process, Nwosu said it lacked credibility, which was the highest element for consideration in any election, adding that in almost all the polling units where the exercise took place, there were noticeable acts of buying and selling of votes akin to a market place, a development that negated democratic principles and clearly unacceptable to the ADC and himself.
Conveying his position in a statement he personally signed, he said: “I, John Chuma Nwosu (JCN), the governorship candidate of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), hereby categorically reject the outcome of the just-concluded gubernatorial election in Anambra State. What took place yesteday was a ruse and total subversion of the people’s will, marred by massive vote buying and shameless financial inducement at polling units across the state. By every account, the people have not spoken.
“In almost every polling unit, voters were openly induced with cash ranging from ₦3,000 to ₦20,000, turning the entire process into a marketplace rather than a democratic exercise. This is a national embarrassment and a direct assault on the integrity of our democracy.
“Let it be clear: True victory is judged not by the outcome but by the integrity of the process. An election riddled with corruption, manipulation, and vote trading cannot and will never represent the voice of the people. Moreover, a shambolic election confers a shambolic mandate.
“The conscience of our democracy has been wounded. When votes are bought, the future is sold. What we witnessed was not the expression of choice, but the glaring triumph of desperation and greed over the principles of justice and fairness.
“I strongly condemn the failure of relevant institutions to safeguard the sanctity of the ballot. When the system fails to uphold fairness, it loses the moral right to declare winners. This culture of electoral corruption must end if we truly desire a prosperous and just society.
“To my Party members , campaign team , volunteers, and every supporter of our movement — I say thank you. You stood firm in the face of intimidation and inducement. You chose honour over compromise, truth over deceit, and conviction over convenience. You are the true defenders of democracy.
“Our mission has never been about winning at all costs; it was about redefining governance and building a new Anambra anchored on values, transparency, elimination of corruption, and a secure state driven by the innovative use of technology.
“This struggle continues. We will not surrender. We will not be silent. Our movement will keep pressing until the people of Anambra can freely choose their leaders without fear or inducement.
“Anambra deserves better — and together, we will build it.”
By Sunny Igboanugo
Today, November 6, 2025, the campaigns end for all the political parties that will participate in the governorship election, scheduled for Saturday. These parties have put their messages out and now it is decision time. That decision is in your hands. The fate of Anambra is firmly in your hands. How do you go?
But as you ruminate on what you have heard these past few weeks and months it is apposite to pause, take a deep breath and look at the issues clearly. You must reflect on how the journey started, where you were yesterday, where you are today and where you are likely to be tomorrow, given the variables before you. Take time to look at all sides of the coin.
Four years ago, faced with the same setting you donated your votes to Charles Chukwuma Soludo. You didn’t make that choice in a vacuum against a set of agreements. Now rev your minds and recall the key issues against which you took that vital position and ponder on them. I’ll help you.
Security: Were you not promised that thenceforth, you were going to sleep with both eyes closed? Are you doing so today?
Lest we forget: In December 2024, Reverend Father Emmanuel Obimma, the outspoken Catholic cleric, popularly known as Ebubemuonso declared Charles Chukwuma Soludo as possessed of a reprobate spirit. Please, google what that expression means. I’ve just done and what I found are not palatable at all. Now, why would a clergyman, no less a Catholic cleric, known for reticence and measured approach go that far to use such an extreme phrase to capture the persona of the governor?
The answers are not farfetched. At the time Ebubemuonso spoke, he was reflecting on the parlous state of security in the state, occasioned by the massive carnage, kidnappings and other forms of high crimes and the apparent insensitivity, if not the complicity of the government of Soludo towards tackling it.
In fact, at that time, one of the brother-priests of the vocal cleric, who just returned to Nigeria from the US, was undergoing a testy time in the hands of kidnappers who abducted him at a filling station, where he had packed to buy petrol.
Just as the wincing of the abducted priest was reverberating across the state and beyond, news again broke of another high-profile case – the seizure of Justice Azuka, member representing Onitsha North 1 constituency at the Anambra State House of Assembly, with the government, still, paying scant heed to the development.
Obimma’s heightened frustration was therefore not only obvious, but understandable. He also not only spoke out, but loudly and clearly. Against the backdrop of his palpably lacerating comments, the government was finally roused to action from its hitherto slumbering mode.
The result, after unleashing a horde of attack dogs against the priest and the few other compatriots, who cared to speak out, was the birthing of Operation Udogachi, what it termed the Anambra Homeland Security Laws, under which the now dreaded Agunechemba outfit currently operates.
But compatriots, what is the result? Is Anambra State safer today, even with the frenzy and audacious commentaries that flowed ceaselessly from the government? I leave you to answer. But before you do, consider the fate of that lawmaker. Yes! What has happened to those people you were told were the culprits in his abduction and subsequent murder?
Yes! Azuka’s remains were later recovered at the foot of the Second Niger Bridge, Onitsha, several weeks later in February – meaning that he was actually in the confinement of his assailants for a long time without rescue. Yes! A lot of fever was generated by the news of the arrest of the abductors. But how has it ended? The matter, as we say here in Nigeria, has entered voicemail.
Indeed, the last I heard of that case was that some of the said culprits escaped from police custody. Now, you needed hear the circumstances under which they were said to have made good their escape. Even a complete retard – an irredeemable imbecile or Mongolian idiot, would be bemused with their incredulous tale.
But let us assume, though difficult to believe that this official side of this sordid story, is credible, have you heard anything else about the other culprits. Shouldn’t their trial have been concluded before now in court and their fate decided? Has Azuka gotten any form of justice.
Now, I ask, my dear compatriots, is this the government you’re going to endorse on Saturday? Do you not smell a rat? Is it not obvious that something is amiss? Can you trust this government? You must consider the answers to these questions. It is not only imperative; you have a right to ask them as well as provide the answers. Yes! It is your right!
Economy:
Lest we forget: By this time four years ago, you were told that in four years, Anambra would be transformed into the Dubai-Taiwan of Africa. Has that happened? Is there any part of Anambra State that resembles Abuja, Accra or even Lome, not to talk about Dubai or Taiwan? Is there any likelihood that in the next 50 years at the pace of development any part of Anambra would look a fraction of Dubai? Aren’t you smelling deceit? Senator Natasha’s Airport antics and the theatre of distraction
Today, having failed woefully to deliver, they have tactfully changed the narrative. They now tell you that they are building the FOUNDATION. Foundation? Is it in the Uga-Amawbia Road – that unending project that is already undergoing patches and rehabilitation in many areas even before it is concluded?
Compatriots, take a drive through major streets in Awka, Nnewi, Onitsha and other major places in Anambra to understand the psychology and philosophy of the Soludo government. It’ll explain the obvious panic mode that you see today around Soludo and his officials. You’ll begin to realise the reason for you to apply your votes wisely on Saturday.
Ask yourself, what would make a government go into the frenzy of knocking down people’s buildings, and business places including INNOSON Motors Showroom on the pretence of dualising their road, only to engage in the horse and buggy pace the project has witnessed?
You must have heard about the Anyamelum hospital saga, where your dear governor, claimed to have commissioned the “first-ever General Hospital. Lacing it with salt and pepper, our dear Charlie Nwa Mgbafor regaled his audience with the seducing tale of how he not only personally visited the patients upon whom four surgeries were performed “in one day, free of charge,” but gave them “something” for their transportation back home?
Didn’t you hear how this tale was busted no sooner thereafter with video evidence that your governor lied and that the hospital was still in fact uncompleted, let alone having the more than 200 patients and the 65 staff the governor claimed? How does that resonate with you.
Compatriots! Did you also miss the drama of communities donating money to his campaigns? How much did you contribute in the N250 million your community contributed in aide of support for him to return as governor. My Ogidi compatriots, how much did you donate? Was it to thank the governor for abandoning your community that was almost swallowed by flood recently.
To you students of Nnamdi Azikiwe University, you were said to have also donated from your savings to “encourage” your governor and to thank him. It was your gesture of gratitude that he has refused to grant you bursary award or any form of financial relief.
Welfare:
Lest we forget: Compatriots, are you aware that Anambra is among the very few states in Nigeria that is not paying minimum wage. What do you say to a professor who knows the difference between the quality of money as against the quantity of money posting such a dismal outing?
Ndi-Anambra, I do not wish this letter to be too long. So, let me stop here. But before then, you may have heard your governor suggest that only first-class brains in terms of education are fit to govern you. He readily cites Nnamdi Azikiwe, Odumegwu Ojukwu, Akwaeke Abyssinia Nwafor Orizu, Chinua Achebe and the rest. But let me ask which of these great sons of the land has he mimicked in terms of courage and character.
Zik, it was who confronted the white man and brought independence to Nigeria. Ojukwu, for three good years commanded an army which withstood the whole world – Nigeria, Egypt, United Kingdom, United States and even Russia, who either took direct part in the attempt to annihilate his people or provided deadly weapons to carry out the blitzkrieg that became their lot under the Biafran effort.
What about Nwafor Orizu? Please read up his historic courage as Senate President during the January 1966 coup saga. Now, were you not here when twice, Chinua Achebe threw the national honours awarded him by the Federal Government to their faces? Could this be said of your governor?
If high education is all it takes to be in governance why should the most arguably educated and endowed governor be trembling before a President whose own certificates have remained a subject of controversy and who has not shown publicly proof of primary school education, let alone other levels such attainments, simply because you rely on him for your second term. Where is the courage – the character of Zik, Ikemba and Ugobelunenuoji?
Yes! Our dear governor is a Professor of Economics – of world renown at that – consulting for the highest global institutions. But where has that led us? How better is he head-on with those he claimed to be illiterates and should never be allowed near governance. Has he discharged himself in anyway to suggest his best-brain education?
If yes, in what way? Is it in awarding road contracts? Even a confirmed retard could put pen on paper to award contracts for roads and other projects – not to talk of those that have managed their own businesses, employed labour and empowered people therefrom. So, where does the education bragging rights derive? Wherein lies the prestige of high education when all we see is the crudest form of government business.
Would Zik, et al, condone the breaking of people’s spines with aka-odo or engage in market-women altercations such as we have witnessed today? Would Achebe be silent after the NYSC lady was stripped to her birthday suit? Ponder on this, my people. You have more than 72 hours to do so.
As you approach the polling booth to cast your votes, ask yourself, where are the Ocha Brigade men that slaughtered four people in Onitsha, including a pregnant woman? What has happened to the culprits that killed the Owelle Ezukala three and other victims of trigger-happy state-sponsored actors? Where are those who killed Okechukwu Akanaeme? How come nobody has heard about the ruffians that stripped the NYSC lady?
Since Dubai-Taiwan is no longer feasible or possible, the next question is what next? What will be the fate of Anambra in the hands of Soludo, four years on if you donate that vote to him? Would you risk it? Think about it!
My name is Sunny Igboanugo – The Tiny Voice!
BREAKING: Nwosu, ADC candidate, rejects result of Anambra polls over vote-buying
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