Professor Charles Chukwuma Soludo’s inauguration as governor of Anambra State just two weeks ago, on March 17, will be remembered for many things. But his inaugural speech stood out. As I watched the inauguration on television, I was gripped not only by Professor Soludo’s enthralling delivery of the speech in his trademark deep rich voice but, more importantly, by the captivating content and substance of the speech.
In a country where ministers, governors and, even, president give vacuous and boring speeches, Professor Soludo’s inaugural speech was a rarity. It was utterly striking for its intellectual depth, philosophical underpinnings, policy principles, strategic direction, and the explicit enunciations of personal beliefs and governance style. Without a doubt, Soludo will be a very cerebral and action-driven governor. Few can doubt the emergence of a true philosopher-king in Nigeria!
Of course, it’s still early days; indeed, far too early for a definitive characterisation, which must be anchored on empiricism. But this early observation, based on Soludo’s inaugural speech, is set within the wider context of what, from ancient times to the present, great philosophers have told us about who should run the affairs of a state.
But the inaugural speech showed a deep thinker, with strong ideological orientation and moral compass, who had thought deeply about how to overcome Anambra State’s problems
In ‘The Republic,’ Plato made the case for philosopher-kings. He argued that philosophers should rule because they possess the special knowledge (gnosis) to create an ideal society. For a political community to be governed well, Plato said, “those with the most intelligence should rule it.”
In ‘De Re Publica,’ Cicero similarly argued that those who govern a country “should be the best and brightest in the land”. Cicero posited: “If leaders don’t have a thorough knowledge of what they are talking about, their speeches will be a silly prattle of empty words and their actions will be dangerously misguided.” That’s hard to dispute!
Today’s scholars follow in the footsteps of the ancient philosophers by arguing that a precondition for good policy is that technocrats are in charge of making it. The Concise Oxford Dictionary defines “technocrats” as technical experts who use their expertise to organise and control a state’s resources “for the good of the whole community.”
Traditionally, the term “technocrats” referred to civil servants, but there are a different kind of technocrats that are not bureaucrats. They are called “technopols,” a term coined by economists Jorge Dominguez and Richard Feinberg to describe “technocrats who assume positions of political responsibility.”
In the seminal book entitled ‘The political economy of policy reform’, the famous economist Professor John Williamson argued that successful technopols possess two qualities. One, they are “able to judge what institutions and policies are needed in specific circumstances in order to further the common good.” Two, they have “the skills of a successful politician, able to persuade others to adopt the policies they judged to be called for.”
Thus, a technopol is like a philosopher-king, who has a unique knowledge to judge what should be done and the persuasive ability to carry others along to get it done.
Now, given what we already know about Professor Soludo – first-class economics professor, influential chief economic adviser to a president, successful CBN governor, and respected consultant to multilateral institutions, – there’s little doubt that he ticks all the boxes: he’s a “philosopher-king”, one of “the best and brightest in the land”, and a “technopol.”
But the inaugural speech showed a deep thinker, with strong ideological orientation and moral compass, who had thought deeply about how to overcome Anambra State’s problems.
But there is a little snag. We know that Soludo has the special knowledge, the “gnosis”, to create the Anambra of his dream, but does he possess “the skills of a successful politician” to persuade others to help achieve that dream? Well, we have to wait and see, in the coming months and years, how he performs on the ground.
However, everything starts with the right vision, with strong intellectual and problem-solving mindsets, with integrity and strong moral character and with a governance style that is transparent, inclusive and rooted in servant-leadership. And Professor Soludo brilliantly captured all these critical success factors in his inaugural speech.
Take personal philosophy and governance style. Soludo’s belief in servant-leadership is unmistakable with statements like “I applied for this job and you – Anambra people – employed me as your chief servant” and the repeated commitment to “work very hard every day”. He vowed to shun profligacy, by setting out two guiding principles on spending: 1) “If this is my money, will I spend it this way?” and 2) “Is this the best way to spend the tax collected from the women selling pepper on the roadside or the Okada/Keke drivers?”
Professor Soludo also promised inclusive governance with the “One Anambra, One People, One Agenda” philosophy, while acknowledging, almost without exception, “all the stakeholders of ‘the Anambra project’”. What’s more, he showed that he is a family man and a man of faith. For instance, he gave a fond shout-out to his family in his speech, and while debunking the view that he might be a “Miracle Worker”, he vowed to “look up to Him in prayer and faith” in facing the monumental challenges ahead.
So, we know what Professor Soludo personally believes and how he wants to govern, but what about his political ideology? Beyond personal beliefs, political leaders need an ideological orientation that shapes their worldview and that drives their policy choices. Sadly in Nigeria, politicians are motivated purely by self-interest with no iota of normative values, while political parties lack ideologies. That’s why it’s refreshing that Professor Soludo fully articulates and embraces an ideology.
First, Soludo linked the origins of his party, All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA), to the United Progressives Grand Alliance, (UPGA), in the First Republic, saying that APGA was “a nostalgic rebirth of” the grand alliance of progressive parties, comprising Dr Nnamdi Azikiwe’s National Council of Nigeria and the Cameroons (NCNC); Chief Obafemi Awolowo’s Action Group (AG); Dr Joseph Tarkar’s United Middle Belt Congress (UMBC) and Alhaji Aminu Kano’s Northern Elements Progressives Union (NEPU).
Read also: The Soludo solution: Bold visions and great expectations
Second, Professor Soludo traced his party’s ideology to a combination of Azikiwe’s “neo-welfarism”, Awolowo’s “scientific socialism” and Kano’s “democratic humanism”. From these ideologies emerged APGA’s “Pan-African market progressivism”, which Soludo defined as “a Pan Africanist ideology that integrated the social democratic values with the principles of competitive markets”. He said: “Anambra under our watch will mirror this ideology”, adding: “and we believe that this should be Nigeria’s compass to the future.”
This is fascinating and it’s music to my ears. I have long argued that Nigeria needs a party that combines economic efficiency, underpinned by free and competitive markets, with strong defence and social justice. Sadly, neither of Nigeria’s two main parties, APC and PDP, believes in any ideology, let alone in the integration of market economy and human development. So, kudos to Soludo and his party for talking up the value of party ideologies in Nigeria.
But an ideology needs complementary policies and actions. Well, Professor Soludo’s inaugural speech was rich in policy details, captured in three documents: “Anambra Vision 2070; “The Soludo Solution – A People’s Manifesto for a Greater Anambra”; and “The Transition Committee Report.”
Only Chief Awolowo prepared for government this way, setting out an elaborate programme of government in granular details. Today’s so-called progressives merely mouth the slogan; they lack the intellectual rigour for detailed plans.
Yet, all the above said, Professor Soludo faces structural barriers to the fulfilment of his vision. Nigeria’s “unitary federalism”, as he called it, imposes limitations on the ability of the sub-national units to unleash their potentials and flourish. So, although Professor Soludo has the special knowledge to transform Anambra State, he will be restrained by Nigeria’s deeply flawed politico-governance structure.
Truth is, even a philosopher-king, even a technopol, can’t avoid Nigeria’s structural obstacles. I wish him well!
