Soludo ga achi anyi [Soludo will lead us]. Yet, if there is another party [Non Voted Peoples Party, NVPP], any candidate representing it would have won. According to INEC which has called the election, Chukwuma Soludo (APGA), the winner of the November 6 governorship election in Anambra State, polled 112,299 votes, followed by Valentine Ozigbo (PDP) who scored 53, 807, and then Andy (APC) who closed at 43,285 votes.

Total accredited voters were 253, 388  with valid votes 241,523 and voided 8,108 (some possibly did not wait to vote).  The state has a total number of 2,466,638 registered voters!

Largely, if NVPP had mobilized more that 2.2 million registered voters who did not even care to show up, its candidate would have won. My point is this: Nigerians are not participating well in elections, and if people do show up, anything is possible.

This trajectory was the same during the last presidential election. If all the registered voters who did not vote were allocated to one special party, the party’s candidates would have won in all elections in Nigeria! This does imply that winning is indeed possible if those latent voters are stimulated, activated and mobilized to vote.

Mazi Soludo, congrats. Now, the work begins.

Update: This is Soludo Acceptance Speech

A Divine Journey Whose Time Has Come

Chukwuma Charles Soludo, CFR

Acceptance Speech following the Declaration of the Results of the Anambra State Governorship Election, November 2021, by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC): November 10th, 2021

With utmost humility and gratitude to God, I accept the results of the 2021 Anambra Governorship election as declared by INEC. This reflects the supreme will of the almighty God, and an overwhelming sacred mandate of the people. For 12 years since the massive clamour by the people of Anambra for us to serve them, we persevered to this Divine moment. This is a divine journey whose time has come. To God be all the glory and adoration!

We have a very long list of persons whom God used to make this moment a reality. In particular, we thank all members of APGA especially our national leader, HE (Sir) Willie Maduaburochukwu Obiano, our national Chairman, Ozonkpu Victor Ike Oye, members of the BOT, NEC, state Exco, etc for availing me the opportunity to fly the APGA flag and the cohesive party support.

Many thanks to our able Campaign Committee, our first rate legal team, and all other stakeholders who worked tirelessly and informally to see us through. We are grateful to all the stakeholders of the Anambra project— the clergy and the church, traditional rulers, ASATU, labour, market, trade and professional unions, youth and women organizations, non-indigene associations, businessmen and captains of industry, the Diaspora community, persons with disability, etc.

We thank all our donors, especially the hundreds of thousands of members of the 41 self-funding support groups who, for two years, put in their sweat and personal funds to propel this project. Never mind that all of you could not vote. The limited number that voted is still representative of the wishes of the people.

We are humbled by the massive support of stakeholders and Nigerians across the entire country. Your donations and goodwill are treasured. In particular, I thank my wife, Queen Frances Nonye Soludo, and children: Ozonna, Ifeatu, Chinua, Ekene, Oduko and Zikora for their love and sacrifices. Despite your deep reservations, you still allowed and supported me to step out in the service of our people. As I promised, I will work hard every day never to disappoint you.

At this moment, we must remember and will continue to remember all those who died in the course of this movement, especially the three policemen who were killed by unknown gunmen during our town hall meeting with youths in my ward. May God continue to grant their souls eternal rest.

The run up to this election and the election itself tested the resilience and integrity of our federal institutions. Many times there were tensions especially as one party boasted that it must “take” or “conquer” Anambra by all means. Our institutions proved again and again that this country can achieve eminent greatness when our institutions rise up to the occasion.

The judiciary, led by the President of the Court of Appeal and the Chief Justice of Nigeria, stood for the integrity of the judiciary. We salute the eminent justices of the Anambra High court, Court of Appeal and Supreme Court for standing up for justice. Your names will be written in gold. We thank President Buhari, the presidency, and our security agencies for ensuring a level playing field. We must particularly commend the Chairman, Management and staff of INEC for systematically striving to bequeath a legacy of free, fair and transparent electoral system to Nigeria.

The use of Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) represents a massive improvement over the Card Reader and manual accreditation system. With a continuous refinement of the technology, upscaling of the skills of its operators, collaboration with telecommunication companies, improvement in logistical deployment and security, and stringent punishment for anyone involved in electoral malpractice, Nigeria will be on course to a robust and exemplary electoral system.

Aside from the initial glitches in the operations of the BVAS machines in some places including at my polling unit, the election has been adjudged as the most peaceful, free, fair and credible. There is joy in the land. Kudos to INEC!

To my fellow candidates in the election, I wish to congratulate you for the gallant contest. Our people have spoken overwhelmingly, and surely that loud voice is the voice of God. The ultimate winner is Anambra people: we are all winners. I hereby extend my hand of fellowship to all of you. I need all of you to succeed. Politics aside, we are all brothers. Let’s come together for the “Project Anambra”.

There is enough room for everyone to contribute in the service of our homeland. On February 7th, 2010, INEC declared as winner of the Anambra governorship election a candidate who had described the election as a sham on Channels TV and refused to vote in protest.

Two hours after the declaration, I addressed a press conference and congratulated him, and walked away without a legal challenge. I was probably the first candidate of a major political party to do that in Nigeria. In Anambra, we fight hard during elections but meet the next weekend at traditional weddings and funerals and throw banters and share drinks.

That’s the Anambra way! Let’s keep the “spirit of Anambra” alive and strong, and with it, collectively take our homeland to the moon. So far and even before the official declaration, I have received congratulatory messages from thousands of Ndi Anambra and Nigerians from around the world including some of my fellow candidates. I deeply treasure the massive goodwill.

To the estimated 17 million Ndi Anambra within and outside our homeland (state), this is your moment, seize it! This victory is your victory. My role will be that of your chief servant, and I will work every minute of the day with you to make you profoundly proud. I will need the guidance, advice and contribution of everyone to succeed.

Our state is one of infinite possibilities and humungous opportunities. Working in collaboration with other states, the federal government, and the international community, we have all that it takes to make our state whatever we collectively will that it can be. As we transit to a post-oil world and into the 4th Industrial Revolution, let us work together to build upon the foundations of our founding fathers and predecessors to create that livable and prosperous homeland that is the industrial, technology and leisure hub of West Africa. This is our manifest destiny, and collectively we shall get there!

Finally, let us work together to support our ably working Governor, Akpokuedike Aguleri, to finish very strong. Together, we can, and by the grace of God, we will!

Long live APGA!

Long live Anambra State!

Long live the Federal Republic of Nigeria!

“I stay calm when I have not figured out things completely,  working that with time, I will get there. I recognize the physics of Time, understanding that Time is an associate in progress which cannot be eliminated. I set goals. I pursue them. And I am never anxious, because I hold that with diligence, Time will yield progress”. #calm

As an impact designer who works a lot with youths, I’m very invested in the subject of digital transformation and technology because of the scalability it brings to ideas. One of the programmes targeting Africa’s Digital Strategy specifically is the World Bank’s Digital Economy Initiative for Africa.

With WeForGood’s Sustainable Solutions Africa Project, we’re always pushing youths to see how to solve Africa’s wicked problems in environmentally sustainable, economically viable and socially equitable ways using the help of technology for scale and reach.

However, I have also realized that there’s an automatic lid on the ideas you can conceive at all in certain contexts. Looking at the issues surrounding climate change even as COP26 progresses, it is obvious that technology and digital access have the potential to transform how humans relate with the environment and by inference reduce our negative footprints. I know one could argue that there are already a number of solutions that Africans can borrow for their use but rather than copying and pasting, I am of the opinion that Africans, having gone through or currently going through their community specific challenges, are better positioned to initiate well thought out, applicable, human-centered solutions with real impact.

Nevertheless, it is only natural that as Africans try to come up with these ideas, their thoughts are consciously and unconsciously limited by issues around digital connectivity because, think about it: what’s the essence of creating an app that people in urban areas won’t touch because of high cost of data or those in rural areas won’t be able to access because of the digital divide? For example, broadband penetration in Nigeria as at April 2021 stood at 40.66% according to the Nigerian Telecommunications Commission and we all know in practical terms, the high cost of good data which is often still unreliable.

Just thinking of it, I’m in so much awe of how much broadband penetration will transform the continent across various sectors that it feels almost spiritual. Can you imagine the kind of access it will bring to education, healthcare, market access for rural small holder farmers, transforming agriculture, logistics etc! Just name it! Now don’t even get me thinking about the new industries and market opportunities that will emerge. Some ideas have come to some of us but have been ‘trashed’ in the impossible bin because of the digital limitations that currently exist in our clime. Fact.

So as African leaders think about Africa’s sustainable development, technology, digital access, broadband penetration should be prioritized. With the kind of numbers (in terms of people) we need to reach, and with the limited resources at our disposal, digital technology is the way to go. The sharing economy for example, which is largely powered by technology, holds huge benefits for both the environment and the economy as it is billed to grow to $335 billion by 2025.

Not only that, if you take a good look at the 60 biggest market “hot spots”, which according to the 2017 Better Business Better World report of the Business & Sustainable Development Commission, are worth up to US$12 trillion a year in business savings and revenue by 2030, you will find that they are technology powered and largely environmentally driven opportunities. This is instructive around the need for Africa to pay important attention to digital technology’s ability to disrupt its current trajectory while unlocking unprecedented pathways for accelerated economic growth.

Advantageously, we have smart young people with the experience of the challenges in their pockets to drive this change, if only they can be provided with the right enabling environment to thrive.

About TEA (The Impactnista)

Temitayo Ade-Peters is an award winning impact designer focused on co-creating sustainable solutions that help the planet, people and economies thrive. She’s the CEO of WeForGood International, a sustainable impact and innovation design firm based in Lagos, Nigeria, which works with people, institutions and governments to design human-centered solutions to Africa’s most pressing challenges.

TEA writes and speaks passionately about impact-driven entrepreneurship and technology as the next big drivers of Africa’s sustainable development and believes strongly that young people must not only lead, but also be at the center of this opportunity and responsibility, with the SDGs as sure blueprint for the Africa we want.