By Christian ABURIME
“The time is always right to do what is right” Martin Luther King Jr.
Once in the life of a country, community or society, comes a time decision has to be made. A decision that could either take the country, community or society backward or forward.
This is the obvious decision Ndi Anambra made on November 6, 2021 by voting overwhelmingly for Prof Chukwuma Charles Soludo, the APGA gubernatorial candidate to win the Anambra governorship election.
By early morning of November 10, 2021, INEC officially announced Cee Cee Soludo winner of the election and Governor-elect.
But who exactly is this man called Soludo? Why is everyone rooting for him?
Soludo became very prominent to most Nigerians when he became Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria.
From a very humble beginning, the young Soludo was destined for the top. It was certain even though the heavens may not have displayed terrific lightening and torrential rainfall to herald his birth, he was marked out early in life as a child of distinction and greatness. Who was born to excel, a trailblazer whose life would be characterized by first class accomplishments!
Though he suffered the agony of losing his beloved mother at a very tender age, Providence was nonetheless kind to him.
He began his early life knowing fully well he had no option but to carve a niche for himself. He finished his primary and secondary schools with distinction grades. His leadership qualities became manifest very early when he became the Head Boy in his primary school, and the Senior Prefect in his secondary school.
Fondly nicknamed ‘Paragon’ by his secondary school mates ( a reference to his exemplary character and intellectual prowess), the young Soludo set an academic record in his secondary school yet to be broken till date.
His exceptionally gifted academic prowess was also to manifest at the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, where he performed the rare feat of obtaining a first class Honours in Economics at the first degree level. Not done, he went on to obtain, in another superlative performance, a masters and doctorate degrees also in economics at the same University.
Honour and Awards are not new to him. At the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, his academic exploits became legendary. His uncommon ingenious intelligent quotient did not escape the eyes of the University Authority. Excellence was his hallmark in school as he virtually swept the stakes and carted home every award that was available at the University of Nigeria, Nsukka.
He won the Vice Chancellor’s Prize for the University of Nigeria’s Best Graduating Ph.D candidate, (1988/89 session); Faculty Prize for the Best Graduating Ph.D candidate in the Faculty of Social Sciences; Best Graduating student (M.Sc class) 1987; The Faculty Prize for the Best Graduating Candidate in the Faculty of the Social Sciences (B.Sc programme, June 1984). The Departmental Prize for the Best candidate in the Department of Economics ( B.Sc programme June 1984) among several other prizes.
Soludo became one of the youngest Professors of our time at the incredible age of 38 in 1998 at the University of Nigeria, Nsukka – a record breaking achievement by the standards of the University of Nigeria. His meteoric rise in the academia was simply phenomenal. He went through three promotions at the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, jumping several classes.
Prof. Soludo also had cumulative 4 years of post-doctoral training in some of the world’s best institutions, including: The Brookings Institution, Washington, DC; University of Oxford as Rhodes scholar; University of Cambridge, UK as Smuts Research Fellow and Fellow of the Wolfson College; and University of Warwick as Visiting Scholar. He also attended over a dozen short-term, specialized courses in the UK and USA.
An avid reader and prolific writer cum researcher of international repute, Prof. Chukwuma Charles Soludo has to date published more than 80 scholarly publications, authored more than 15 books and over 250 monographs, conference papers and public lectures. Some of his books are bestsellers in the United States of America and read in many Universities abroad on African Economic Development.
Infact, it is often quoted that Soludo as at 1995 had garnered enough publications to make two professors.
It is also an open secret that the points he made when he was assessed for professorship could easily make three professors. This feat was not only amazing but incredibly awesome!