Anambra PDP Rally: Anger In Igboland Over Soludo, Obi of Onitsha

By Charles Igbo

“Soludo and Obi of Onitsha goofed. Why would Soludo invite the revered Igwe Achebe to come to Awka to see Atiku.He  has belittled Ndigbo. Why did Atiku not pay a courtesy call to the Obi in his Palace? He has been doing so in other States. Why would the Obi of Onitsha stand up to address Atiku? Which First Class Monarch in the North, South-west, or South-south would do that? The Igwe and Soludo should have known better. Ndigbo have, again, been insulted.”

The flag-off of the Peoples Democratic Party’s Presidential Campaign Rally  in Anambra State on Thursday, December 15, has triggered anger in Igboland.

Though the occasion was very successful, especially, when one considers that one of the three front runners, Peter Obi, the Presidential candidate of the Labour Party, is a son of the State. Obi was also a Governor of the State for eight years.

Successful as the Rally was, it has sparked off anger in the South-east. The anger is not directed at the PDP Candidate, Atiku Abubakar, even though quite a number of the Igbo said they felt insulted by a part of his speech. The part which upset them was where Atiku said his Presidency is the shortest cut for the Igbo to get to the plum office.

The meaning is that the Igbo should wait for the end of  his tenure, if he does win, before they take their turn. They reason that the slot Atiku is occupying now ought to have been the Igbo slot.

Yet, that is not what irks them most.

The Governor, Professor Charles Soludo, and the most respected Monarch in the Zone, the Obi of Onitsha, Igwe Alfred Nnaemeka Achebe, are the source of their anger. They are of the view that both men insulted  the Igbo during Atiku’s visit. They are of the view that both men belittled the throne of the Obi of Onitsha.

Their anger against Soludo is that he dared invite the Council of Traditional Rulers, including the revered Obi of Onitsha, the most respected Monarch in Igboland, to Government House to meet with Atiku and his entourage. They say it should have been the opposite.

Atiku, they argued, ought to have gone to the Palace of the Obi of Onitsha to pay the Monarch a courtesy visit. For inviting the Obi to Government House Awka to meet with Atiku, they argue angrily, that Soludo did not only disrespect Igwe Achebe, but Ndigbo in general. They also say that none of the Monarchs had any business going to meet with Atiku. A few of them, they posit, should have gone to the Palace of the Obi and waited for Atiku to visit the Obi. “Soludo belittled our revered Igwe before Atiku”, an upset Onitsha indigenes said.

On the part of the Obi of Onitsha, they said Obi has reduced himself to the rank of an ordinary Local Chief by going to Awka to wait and meet with Atiku. “He should have said no, and advised and guided Soludo accordingly,” said an Anambra indigene.

The unconfirmed story going round that Atiku gave each of the Monarchs the sum of N300 thousand, has not helped matters. However, not a few people insist that the Obi, a very wealthy man by all standards, would never touch the said N300 thousand.

They cited the visit of Atiku to other States. In each State, they noted that Atiku went to the Palace of the Emir to pay a courtesy call.

However, another version which has, also, made the rounds, is that Soludo ambushed the Monarchs; that he  did not tell the  Monarchs they were coming to see Atiku. This version insists that Soludo told the Monarchs they were coming for an end if year party.

But this version falls flat in the face of the fact that the PDP made the itinery of its Presidential Candidate public before the visit, and had said Atiku would have a meeting with the Monarchs at the Government House, Awka, after paying a courtesy call on the Governor.

What irked them most was that Igwe Achebe even stood up while addressing Atiku. And they ask: “Would the Ooni of Ife, Olubadan of Ibadan, Alafin of Oyo,  Oba of Lagos, Oba of Benin, Emir of Kano, Sultan of Sokoto, Lamido of Atiku’s Adamawa, Obong of Calabar, or any other First Class Monarch keep upstanding while addressing Atiku? Even while addressing a seating President, they don’t stand.”

Concluded one of them: “Somebody should tell His Majesty that he and Soludo goofed. This should never happen again.”