By Sunny Igboanugo

Perhaps it has a great deal to do with the man at the centre of it all – John Chuma Nwosu. Like a Rolls Royce or Maybach on a smooth road – noiseless, sleek and smooth. That is why the din is apparently not deafening. But something fundamental is happening in Anambra State at the moment. Call it a quiet revolution.

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Yes, the din is not deafening yet, but it is building up gradually, but steadily and soon, very soon, the echoes would reverberate everywhere – too loud that even those in distant lands will hear.

To underscore this, pan to Nri, Anaocha Local Government Area of Anambra State on Friday, August 1, the day David Mark, Nigeria’s longest-serving Senate President, landed in the state, where a snippet THE of new wave in the political and social tempest was tested.

It was supposed to be a private visit. The retired military tactician, who is now managing one of the most humongous political events in the history of Nigeria in the name of the African Democratic Congress (ADC) coalition – an arrangement housing some of the biggest and most influential politicians in the country today – was in town to attend the burial of the late Justice Umeugbolu Emmanuel Okoye Nri-Ezedi, the Chief Judge Emeritus of Anambra State.

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But the event soon took a different turn – splashed with a dose of politics. The picture of Mark, Peter Obi, presidential candidate of the Labour Party (LP) in the February 25, 2023 election and the duos of John Chuma Nwosu, governorship candidate of the ADC in the November 8, 2025 election and Ndubuisi Nwobu, was all it took to paint the picture of the unfolding event – many have already seen as impending tsunami.

The grand reception of Mark, Grand Commander of the Officer of the Niger (GCON), National Chairman of the ADC, had indeed begun at the Chinua Achebe Airport in Anambra by Nwosu and other party leaders from the state including members of the JCN Governorship Campaign Council before being led in a convoy to the venue of the event.

From the reaction of the crowd who also gathered at the St James Anglican Church, Nri, Anaocha local government area of the state, during and after the event, presided over by Most Reverend Alexander Ibezim, Archbishop on the Niger and Anglican Bishop of Awka, it was obvious where the political pendulum in the state is now swinging.

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Indeed, if Charles Chukwuma Soludo, Governor, who was also at the occasion, was still in doubt that the tides are changing in the state and that his hitherto sure-footed grip on the political structures to guarantee his second term in office is fast waning, that event, must have been an eye opener. It was a clear indication that the ambition is slipping fast on a slopy ground.

That the people were donating the ululation the ADC team was quite evident. That the gentle breeze of the ADC initially wafting through the atmosphere, apparently buoyed by the Obi-effect, was fast turning to a whirlwind, could not have been lost him. Even the dumbest political imbecile could have been stirred to that reality.

Of course, this turn of events could not have been for nothing. Outside the Obi influence in the polity, Soludo’s underwhelming performance since 2022 when he took power seems not only unfathomable but inexplicable.

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It is obvious, many people are realising, albeit, too quickly too late that they have overrated him and entrusting him with power is a fatal mistake – one they are not too eager to repeat – thus the attractiveness of the prospect of a fresh option and alternative.

Else, what is the explanation for a Professor of economics and former Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), not attracting a single investment from outside the shores of Anambra in the last four years given his rich pedigree?

This fact is one of the issues at the heart of the Anambra question at the moment. To say that the people are in a state of flux is clearly an understatement. At no time have they been this disappointed in their government as many seem today in the hands of Soludo since he happened on the scene.

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Naturally, it would have been a different kettle of fish, more likely to have made more sense and left the people with clearer understanding, were it any other individual that was the subject other than their own revered star-boy of the South East, if not Nigeria, who had trounced the landscapes beyond the proverbial seven seas and seven wildernesses to bring the golden fleece.

What happened? What plausible explanation could Soludo adduce to support such a disappointing, if not dismaying performance? How could it be explained away that a persona posting such rich and enviable pedigree, could not find his feet at the job, where even crass illiterates are putting up somewhat appreciable shows?

So, it is not surprising that Nwosu’s profile is growing by the day. Outside all the candidates in the race for Agu Awka next year, he is the only one without any primordial baggage – straight from the private sector – without ever touching government money – like Obi – arguably the most credible and performing governor in the history of the state today.

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He is arguably the most-travelled, the most internationally-connected, with thriving businesses within and outside Nigeria and – more importantly – the most equipped to run government in the most modern way, as is the template across the world and as most desired, not only in Anambra, but in Nigeria today.

Founder, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer (MD-CEO) of Jetlink – a conglomerate of Information Communication Technology (ICT) concern, with global reach and tentacles spread across Ghana, Liberia, and other parts of the globe, his Security, Health, Education, Environment, Markets and Social Welfare (SHEEMS) Agenda, appears the only hope today to reverse the years of the locust under Soludo.

The story was told of how the late Shehu Shagari, Nigeria’s Third Republic President on arrival in then Anambra State, during one of the National Party of Nigeria (NPN) campaigns, stood in awe at the Head Bridge in Onitsha, to behold the wonders created by Ndigbo in the commercial capital – the highrise buildings and other edifices – at which he could not help but exclaim – is this the place the civil war was fought?

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Anambra State did not create that magic by calling out a genie from an Arabian magic lamp. They did not do so by sitting at home, ringing their hands in confusion. The resources were also not harvested from the Anambra soil alone. Rather, they farmed themselves out to all parts of the world in search of global resources. They not brought in finances, they built industries and other going concerns.

There are thousands, if not millions of them who are doing similar exploits both home and abroad today. Across the globe, beyond the West Coast of Africa, into the shores of other parts of the continent and far away in the farthest parts of the Middle East, Asia, Europe and America, they are waiting to donate, not only their talents but resources, if only they find a viable avenue.

Unfortunately, instead of harnessing and harvesting these potentials, Soludo, has resorted to digging holes in every part of Anambra land in search of obviously elusive, if not insufficient resources. The idea of unleashing all manner of roughnecks in the streets and community markets, chasing after lowly-placed locals and artisans, with all manner of crude implements, with some of them killed or maimed in the process in search of revenues, has since backfired.

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In place is coming the new idea of smart government – electronic, digital, Artificial Intelligence (AI), ICT-powered model. The SHEEMS Agenda, Nwosu, says, will come handy in combating crimes and keeping Anambra safe from the killers ravaging the state as well as pursue other programmes in captured within its fold.

Nwosu, the only man with the knowhow, the potentials and the resources to achieve that is already standing by. Surely, it is not likely to be a walk in the park. But with greater effort in spreading the message, the task would certainly be easier. Already, Anambra people are now nibbling at the option. By the time they will take the bite and see how delicious it is, they are sure not to hesitate to swallow the entire dish. Sure bet!

Igboanugo, a journalist, is Director, Media and Publicity, John Chuma Nwosu Governorship Campaign Council (JCN-GCC).

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