As Governor Chukwuma Soludo of Anambra State takes the oath of office for a second term on March 17, 2026, public debate has intensified over the impact of his first four years in office.
In an exclusive with Core Truth Online, a media scholar Dr. Henry Chigozie Duru of the Department of Mass Communication, Nnamdi Azikiwe University, (NAU), offers a critical assessment of the governor’s first term, examining key sectors including infrastructure, security, education, health, and governance.
Dr. Duru’s academic interests focus on journalism and political communication. Before joining academia, Duru spent more than a decade in active journalism, working with several Nigerian newspapers including Daily Independent, Champion, Orient Daily, and The Oracle Today, where he rose through the ranks from reporter to chief sub-editor, production editor, and eventually news editor.
Excerpts
Core Truth: Tomorrow, March 17, 2026, Governor Chukwuma Charles Soludo will be sworn-in for a second term of another four years in office. Looking back to his first four years in office, what is your assessment of his administration in the areas of infrastructure, health, education, security, governance, and relationship with citizens generally? But we will start with infrastructure.
Duru: In infrastructure, I score him high, especially given the context in which we have found ourselves. In Nigeria, when we talk about infrastructure, we already know our standard. You can’t look at Dubai and look at Nigeria and still say that any government or state government is performing. But when it comes to our standard, what we are accustomed to, and what can be achieved in a short time, I would score him quite high. Those things we are seeing in Dubai and other places are long-term achievements. Governor Soludo has done a lot when it comes to roads, because roads have been the basic infrastructure where we have been having very serious problems in this country.
He has actually opened up many places, including far-flung communities in Anambra West. We have seen some major roads, including the federal road leading from Amawbia to Uga. He is even dualizing some roads now from Nnewi to other places. Then in Onitsha, which did not have any internal road that was dualized until he came, we have seen what he has done along Iweka Road.
So generally, when it comes to infrastructure, I am emphasizing roads because that is what every citizen sees and uses daily whether in a vehicle or on foot. When I look at his predecessors, I would say that he has distinguished himself.
Africa Dubai Taiwan
Core Truth: The Governor promised “African Dubai-Taiwan.” Do you see the state on the road to that destination?
Duru: The African Dubai-Taiwan idea is about Taiwan being known for production and industry, and Dubai for trading. He is looking at Nnewi and Onitsha—those two economic spheres that underpin that philosophy.
The Governor said the route to achieving it would be to get the basics right and put the foundational things in place, including infrastructure, which is very important. He even mentioned rail, which I know they have done a master plan for, though such projects are usually long-term. So when it comes to laying the foundation, I think there is no other thing he could have done than what he is doing now.
However, I did not personally take that campaign promise the way a lot of people did. I saw it as a vision. For God’s sake, he is an economist. He has been in the development sector for a long time as an economic adviser, as a CBN governor, and as a consultant to institutions like the World Bank and IMF. So I believe even he knew that achieving an African Dubai-Taiwan within a short time would be unrealistic.
Let me be fair and say he presented a vision and is trying to lay the foundation. He has started doing something, but I am not yet completely convinced. He still has a lot to do. Fortunately, he has secured a second tenure and will start tomorrow, March 17. Maybe by the end of the eight years, we can say we are standing on a pedestal toward realizing that vision, even though it is a long-term one.
Health sector
Core Truth: What is your assessment of the health sector under his watch?
Duru: On the health sector, let me first talk about health infrastructure. I would score him very good, though not excellent, because of the renovations he has carried out in the sector and hospitals like those in Onitsha and Aguleri. When it comes to human resources, I would score him excellent, even though it is not yet enough. He prioritized recruitment, which nobody had done in the past.
Someone I know who works in a health centre in Orumba told me that the recruitment has positively affected their work. They used to be only two staff in the whole facility, but the new recruitment has helped, even though they still need more personnel.
He has also tried to expand access by introducing free medical services, especially in maternal care. But it is still not enough because of the level of poverty in the land. Many people cannot even afford laboratory tests. They simply assume it is malaria and go to a chemist shop to buy drugs.
What he should focus on is expanding the state health insurance scheme so that more people can be covered. Currently, coverage is still limited mostly to those working with government.
I would say there is still a lot to be done, especially in governance within the health sector. The old complaints about service quality and staff attitude in government hospitals are still there. Infrastructure alone cannot solve everything. We also need a strong culture of professionalism that complements the infrastructure.
Assessing education sector
Core Truth: Thank you very much. What about the education sector of the state? How has the administration performed?
Duru: In the education sector, if we start with infrastructure, I would say he has tried by renovating existing schools and building new ones. In terms of human resources, he has also recruited teachers, and I understand more recruitment may still come. Teacher shortage has been a serious challenge in the education sector, especially in rural areas due to rural-urban migration.
Many graduates prefer to stay in cities rather than teach in remote villages. So the recruitment effort is something I will praise him for. However, I am not in a position to fully assess how much internal governance in public schools has improved. The major challenge in public education is not always qualification of teachers but governance and internal control.
Government still needs to do more, especially in regulating private schools. Many mushroom schools operate without qualified teachers, sometimes employing people who just finished secondary school to teach children. That is something authorities need to seriously look into. Governance is still very important, and there are a number of things the government has tried to do in terms of control, such as attempting to limit the extent to which schools levy pupils and their parents. However, I believe more still needs to be done. Generally speaking, if I were grading the government like an examination script, I would give it a B.
Security of lives and property
Core Truth: What do you say about this government in the area of security?
Duru: On security, I would actually score the governor excellent, considering the context. If you look around Nigeria today, hardly any place can be described as completely safe. Before you judge whether a student is very good, you first consider the environment in which the student is operating and compare him with his peers. Across the country, insecurity has become widespread. In the Southeast, for instance, you would ask: Are Imo Abia, Enugu and Ebonyi states safe? When you move to other parts of the country, you see that insecurity has become a national challenge.
In the past, we used to hear mainly about militancy in the Niger Delta. It felt like a distant issue, almost like a foreign conflict that did not directly affect other regions. Later, we began hearing about insurgency in Northern Nigeria, then communal violence in the Middle Belt. Today, insecurity has spread across many parts of the country. So, to the extent that Governor Chukwuma Soludo has been able to stop the level of violence that once threatened to overwhelm Anambra State, I would score him excellent.
Another reason I score him very high is that a governor does not directly control the core security architecture of the country. Security agencies such as the police and the military are controlled by the federal government. In many cases, state governments rely heavily on vigilante groups, which are often poorly equipped. You cannot expect a vigilante armed with a shotgun to confront criminals carrying automatic rifles. So, in that sense, the governor has done very well.
Oversight and control
However, I believe he still needs to strengthen oversight and control over the institutions involved in crime prevention, particularly state-backed vigilante groups, because there have been reports of abuses here and there. Of course, building effective security institutions is not easy. Even long-established institutions like the police and the military still struggle with these issues. But given the constraints, I think he has achieved quite a lot.
Core Truth: Having scored him high in terms of security, how do you assess his performance in the area of governance and relationship with citizens?
Duru: When it comes to governance, I would largely score him the same way I have scored many other governors. Governance in Nigeria remains a major problem.
Governance essentially means ensuring that institutions function properly. For instance, if I walk into the Ministry of Information and request certain information around 3:30pm, I should be able to get it without being told that the responsible officer is absent or that the person who handles it is not available.
Similarly, if the state government wants to recruit workers, the process should follow transparent and institutional procedures without favoritism or personal influence. I am also not completely certain that if I go to the Ministry of Lands today to process something, I would not encounter the usual practices where officials try to corner you and suggest unofficial ways of getting things done.
Even when you look at the local government elections conducted in the state, you can see that governance, particularly in terms of electoral institutions, still reflects the same systemic weaknesses that have long existed in Nigeria.
Inconsistent enforcement
Another example relates to the enforcement of public order in places like Onitsha. For instance, if you stop around Toronto Hospital and try to walk toward the road leading to Ochanja Market, you will notice traders occupying the roadside. Over the years, government agencies periodically remove them, but they soon return.
When Soludo first came into office and took action through the Ocha Brigade, I thought we were witnessing a new level of governance—assertive, courageous, and determined. Unfortunately, things seem to have gradually returned to the old ways. That shows that in terms of governance, the system has not significantly changed. True governance means institutions consistently enforcing policies without compromise.
If the government says people should not trade on certain roads in order to allow traffic to flow freely, that rule should remain effective. But what often happens is that the institutions responsible for enforcement compromise, sometimes turning enforcement into a form of personal business.
When that happens, governance suffers. For this reason, I am not completely convinced that the Soludo’s administration has significantly departed from the dysfunctional governance culture that has long existed in Nigeria.
Relationship with citizens
Core Truth: Thanks. How do you describe the administration’s relationship with citizens?
Duru: Assessing the relationship between a governor and the citizens can be difficult because a governor does not interact directly with most citizens. That relationship is usually mediated through government institutions. Since governance itself is largely expressed through institutions, if those institutions are weak or ineffective, then the relationship between government and the people will also be weak.
For example, if I park my vehicle somewhere because I have no choice and officials from Anambra Traffic Management Authority (ATMA) approach me aggressively, that becomes my real-life interaction with government. While laws should certainly be enforced—and it is true that Nigerians often resist law enforcement because we are used to lawlessness.
The enforcement itself must be fair and just. Sometimes the problem is that enforcement occurs without putting the necessary systems in place. Take transportation as an example. If there are no proper bus stops, where exactly should buses pick up passengers? You cannot enforce strict parking or loading rules without providing proper infrastructure.
Corruption in law enforcement
Even worse, sometimes drivers who give money to enforcement officers are allowed to operate freely, while those trying to obey the law suffer delays. In such situations, compliance becomes difficult because the system itself appears unfair. As a result, the relationship between the government and the citizens cannot reach the desired standard when institutions fail to perform properly.
Take for instance the one called SASA – the Anti Touting Squad, the operational approach of that agency is primitive. As a matter of fact, that is a very big problem of governance. You can enforce the law without being crude or abusive. It can be done in a civil, professional, and respectful manner.
Professor Okey Ndibe once shared about being arrested in the United States due to mistaken identity. He said he never believed it was an arrest because of the way the man was so polite. That experience surprised him because the style of law enforcement he was familiar with in Nigeria was often characterized by intimidation.
Comparing societies
Check that place and this place – where do you have greater compliance with the law? Where do you have greater lawfulness as against lawlessness? That is despite the fact that policing and law enforcement in general is still friendly, civil and decent. So, I think that is an area the current government in Anambra State has failed completely.
I’m even surprised that the governor in all his exposure education, exposure, and personality—appears to tolerate some of these practices. At one point I tried to console myself by thinking he might not be aware of the problem, but when he publicly defended the approach. That’s when I lost hope.
In my view, this reflects a classic case of institutions not actually working properly, which makes the relationship between the government and the citizenry not being the best.
