By Fr. Emeka Nwosuh
1. Since his second-term inauguration a little over a month ago, Soludo has intensified his despicable habit of mental masturbation and crude displays of power—tendencies evident since he assumed office as Governor of Anambra State.
2. Soludo appears to derive uncanny pleasure not only in disparaging Peter Obi, but in denigrating the entire Igbo people.
3. In his recent public outing, Soludo declared that “Ndigbo needs Nigeria far more than Nigeria needs Ndịgbo.” He premised this on the contention that the entire Southeast contributes merely 8% of Nigeria’s GDP—and therefore, he concludes, the Southeast’s economic collapse would barely ripple through the rest of Nigeria.
4. Caught up in this exercise of intellectual vanity, Soludo dismisses the immense contributions of Igbo enterprise across every sector of the nation.
5. But let us, for the sake of intellectual debate, grant his thesis—stupid as it is. A single question suffices to dismantle this puerile logic: if Ndịgbo needs Nigeria more than Nigeria needs Ndịgbo, why does Nigeria not permit Ndịgbo to go their own way?
6. If Ndịgbo needs Nigeria to survive, why was genocide visited upon them for seeking self-determination? And why, fifty-nine years later, does Nigeria still refuse to grant Ndịgbo a referendum to decide their own fate?
7. Soludo may hold a professorship in Economics, but he is apparently ignorant of history and international politics. In 1965, Malaysia harbored the same certainty as Soludo—that Singapore needed Malaysia far more than Malaysia needed Singapore. In her arrogance, Malaysia expelled Singapore from the federation, confident that a nation contributing very little to her GDP would sink into ruin. History proved otherwise.
8. Many Ndịgbo would welcome the Malaysian solution applied to Nigeria.
9. Soludo claims he seeks to save the Igbo from collective suicide, but this is presumptuous. He mocks the Southeast for contributing a paltry 8% to national GDP, yet he has demonstrated no major economic initiative to reverse this figure.
10. Despite groveling before Buhari and Tinubu, Soludo has failed to secure a single major federal project for the Southeast. When Tinubu recently approved railways and seaports for other regions, the entire Southeast was excluded—yet Soludo feigned indifference.
11. Soludo demands higher GDP contributions from the Southeast, yet cannot provide stable electricity to Nnewi and Onitsha, the economic engines of his own state.
12. Governor Otti has repeatedly invited Southeast governors to join the Geometric power project to guarantee stable electricity across the region. Soludo’s inflated ego will not permit him to learn from his better performing peers.
13. Soludo further declared during his mental self-stimulation: “The Igbo want the presidency, but we must first declare where we stand—whether we are fully in Nigeria or not. How can you govern a place you do not believe in? Nigeria cannot trust the Igbo with power when we are not sure of where we belong.”
14. The observation appears shrewd. But rather than demand that Ndịgbo declare where they stand, should not Soludo ask Nigeria to declare where it stands regarding Ndịgbo—whether it truly wants them as full and equal members of this federation? Our uncertainty about belonging is not of our making.
15. Nigeria’s ambivalence toward the Igbo echoes in Soludo’s own words. Nigeria acts as though it has no need of the Igbo, yet refuses to release them. We are trapped in a paralyzing contradiction: remain in a nation that perpetually makes us unwelcome, or forge our own path.
16. Yes, Ndigbo still aspire to the presidency, harboring hope that Nigeria will eventually grant Ndịgbo their rightful place despite mounting evidence of exclusion. Yet we understand that the presidency alone cannot resolve the Igbo question—deeper structural injustices demand redress.
17. This complexity appears entirely lost on our so-called professor.
18. For all his vaunted credentials, Soludo has yet to master the fundamental lesson of Igbo philosophy: _ofu onye anaghị akari ọha_—no individual decides what is best for the collective. It is monumentally presumptuous for Soludo to imagine he understands what serves the Igbo better than Ndịgbo understand themselves. Such megalomania fuels his despicable mental masturbation.