Soludo And ‘His Excellency’ Tag

By: Ibelema Jumbo

The November 9, 2021 declaration of Professor Charles Chukwuma Soludo of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) as winner of the Anambra State Governorship Election did not come as a surprise to keen observers of the exercise. In fact, not only was the outcome easily predictable, its acceptance by nearly all the other gladiators attested to a neat emergence.
Soludo, a professor of economics and former governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), had since made some pronouncements that seem to set the tone for his incoming administration. For instance, his constitution of an 80-member transition committee dominated by notable personalities like Dr Oby Ezekwesili, Prof Pat Utomi, Olisa Agbakoba (SAN) and Chief Osita Chidoka speaks volume of his desire to place governance beyond the usual sphere of political agberos. It also hints at his willingness to reach across the Igbo-speaking states and several political divides to engage the best available talents. Equally significant is the choice of a woman (Ezekwesili) as the committee’s chairman.
Speaking at the inauguration of this obviously unwieldy assembly of eggheads in Awka on January 26, 2022, the governor-elect was reported to have defined the template by which Anambra people would address him, going forward.
“I was called His Excellency a while ago, but may I plead that that ‘Excellency’ tag should please wait for now. That is part of what we will discuss in this committee.
“You may just need to learn how to call me by my name, but if that isn’t good for you, then may I request that you simply call me Charlie Nwangbafor (Charlie, the son of Mgbafor).
“If that one is so difficult for you that you must be formal in addressing me, then you can address me as Mr Governor,” Soludo implored.
The victorious APGA gubernatorial candidate will also have his wardrobe significantly altered by his zeal to promote the local fashion sector. According to him, “My Akwete dress is not just a dress, it’s a statement. I want to make a statement with it. You know, in the entire South East, this is the only textile thing alive, and it’s handmade by the women of Akwete in Abia State.”
While promising to leverage his international connections for the benefit of Anambra people, Soludo also announced his plan to support the local car manufacturing industry by insisting on the use of the Nnewi-made Innoson vehicles in his official fleet.
It is almost certain that Nigerians will, even beyond his swearing-in on March 17, 2022, continue to be regaled by Soludo’s plan for Anambra State. His mission and vision have sounded lofty, so far; but I doubt if the issue of which simplistic way to address a governor is worth a committee’s attention. Honestly, I think that presenting such matter before a huge pan-Igbo committee chaired by no less a personality than a former World Bank vice president will amount to an unnecessary distraction.
Moreover, while I concede to a governor-elect having the right to decide how best to be addressed, let me caution that such officer should endeavour to look beyond the immediate. This is because the Excellency tag which Soludo is hesitant to bear is also commonly applicable to the positions of president and ambassador. If after his tenure in the Awka Government House, our man finds himself in Moscow as Nigeria’s resident envoy, for example; will he still wish to avoid being addressed as His Excellency over there in preference to Mr Ambassador or Charlie Nwangbafor?
In fact, I had thought that Soludo’s scruple was couched on the excuse that he did not wish to play God — just like a judge or bishop who may object to being addressed as His Lordship because of its seeming profanity. Well, whatever his wish, I suppose that most of his close acquaintances are already used to calling him Prof. And that should suffice.
Soludo’s desire to run a low-key administration can be likened to that of former US President Jimmy Carter immediately after his inauguration in 1977. Against the norm, the then erstwhile governor of the State of Georgia is on record as the first American president to walk from the Capitol to the White House – a distance of more than 2.5 kilometres or 45 minutes (by foot) – in a post-ceremony parade. He was also said to have requested a cancellation of the traditional inaugural luncheon usually hosted by the Joint Congressional Inaugural Committee.
But even with all these melodramatic early signals, Carter’s presidency was short-lived courtesy of a landslide defeat by Governor Ronald Reagan of California in 1980. His four-year Democratic administration was dogged by economic malaise and the hostage-taking of American embassy staff in the Iranian capital, Teheran.
Just like somebody did advise in a newspaper article during his tenure as CBN governor, with the witty title of ‘Soludo: Banking Is Not Ludo,’ I would want to suggest that rather than spend precious time tinkering with a suitable official appellation, his priority should be to ensure that peace reigns in the state that prides itself as Light of the Nation. If the name Soludo means what people say it is, then the Anambra voters who filed out for last November’s ballot surely elected to ‘toe the path of peace’.
Therefore, his emergence should serve as the tonic that is needed to engender a roll back of the weekly losses incurred by Anambra residents owing to the proscribed IPOB’s now controversial Monday seat-at-home order throughout Igbo land.
In terms of direct investments, I doubt if anything serious can result from Soludo’s enviable local and foreign connections for a state that exemplifies such high level of insecurity in the South East. Indeed, Anambra – like several other states in Nigeria — needs a more peaceful atmosphere to facilitate the provision of more public services and creation of a suitable environment for socio-economic growth.
No one is suggesting that Soludo commands a magic wand. But, going by his pedigree, I am willing to wager that all this early posturing will not turn out to be an initial gra-gra.