By: Mazi Ejimofor Opara
Soludo has become reputed for stating the facts as they are, and discussing National Issues without any form of platitudes or placation. He goes straight to his clearly thought out opinion citing evidence based data that cannot be easily controverted. Succinctly put, he is not a speaker who sweet-talks people into momentary excitation whilst pretending that they are saying the truth.
The June 12, 2024 Democracy Day event at “The Platform” in Lagos further reaffirmed Soludo’s position as a Statesman who is constantly bothered about the next generation and the sustainability of current decisions.
After quoting a rather disturbing statistics from a survey about how per capita income determines the extent to which democracies survive, it became manifestly clear that if that data translates to any tangible physical understanding, Nigeria might just be on the precipice, going by the pitiable state of our per capita income. Like a responsible father, Gov. Soludo has told Nigerians the painful truth in the statement below;
“Let’s admit a fact which most Nigerians don’t seem to appreciate. Nigeria is a very poor country, and its public finance is broken. This admission is critical to any reasonable discourse on the road ahead”.
Whichever way you choose to describe Soludo’s presentation, I was in the hall realtime and felt the pulse of the audience whose reaction after this statement is akin to a blind man receiving sight. Soludo has succeeded in removing the scales off the eyes of many, and this will signpost the beginning of an all important reality check for Nigerians.
Whatever be the case, the glimmer of hope would be to look back at the past and start up from where we left off. This is the bare bone truth only a Leader in the mould of Soludo can say.
