PROF. SOLUDO AND THE ANAMBRA NATIVE DOCTORS' ISSUES OF THE MOMENT. Written By KEMKA S. IBEJI

The idea or information is that the Governor of Anambra State, Prof. Chukwuma Soludo is requesting the licencing of Native Doctors in the state.

I assume that this is essentially an approach to the fight against violent crimes and insecurity in the state. This ordinarily should be a commendable action by the government except that a bad route may disfigure a destination.

Though in recent times, societal experiences have taught me and many others the truism of a local colloquial adage in our younger age which states that "passing six is not passing sense". Again, such experiences have also made me to understand that leadership has nothing to do with academic degrees though the basic education is necessary for modern political leadership.

When Professor Soludo was elected as the governor of Anambra State, like many others, I thought that God Almighty had answered the prayers of Ndi Anambra. But through the experience of this government led by Prof. Soludo, we are learning not to hope so much on the frail humans and their presumed knowledge.

Soludo failed from the beginning and has sustained the failure. One wonders what the educational qualifications of Prof. Soludo has added to his governance in Anambra State. Security of lives and property got sadly unthinkably vanished as he plunged the state into further security mess when announcing the end of the Monday sit-at-home in Anambra State without intelligence. He acted like the street tout and got the state into a miserable state.

Reason would have guided Prof. Soludo to do a property assessment of the security situation in the state, make appropriate consultants and adopt adequate measures to address the insecurities. But what did we see?

Now again, for the many years he has been the governor of the state, he was so careless about the security of his people as the citizens were killed like games throughout the state. Even passersby were not exempted in the crass security failures of Prof. Soludo. This time, and after major and immeasurable damages in lives and property of the citizens of the state, and most probably because he has the intention to contest for a second term in office as the governor of the state, he is trying to quell the insecurities.

Again, the man who is thought to be one of the most educated men in Nigeria has run into the negative paths. What is actually wrong with professor Soludo?

Whereas it is agreeable that the practices of most native doctors, just as Christian priests and Muslim Imams, have not helped the search for the security in our country at large, this present religious harassment of Soludo should be sincerely condemned. I understand that his intention is a good one but his method of pursuing this objective is stupendously poor, absolutely unacceptable and crassly incompetent. 

As practitioners of African Traditional Religion (ATR), this hunt to shut down these folks is in bad taste and I wish to assert that the governor is dabbling into unlawful action by his ongoing hunt. He is purely infringing on the fundamental right of these folks. It is trite to the commonsense that we all have the human right dubbed the "right to freedom of worship" and this is an inalienable right of the people even in a democracy. 

Again, to further state that those who are not from Anambra State must not practice their worship system in Anambra State, not only abuse the law on the fundamental right of their freedom of worship it also harms their right to freely associate, congregate and live anywhere in the commonwealth of Nigeria. These deprivations which are orchestrated by the abusive and illegal ordinances of Prof. Soludo leave a sour taste in the experiences of citizens of the state and of the entire country who suffer the pains exerted therefrom.

The simplest understanding and most valid inference from this scenario created by Prof. Soludo is that the governor has no clear idea of how best to govern the state. As a Christian also, this action situates Prof. Soludo on the stage as a giant religious extremist who now wears a toga of religious arrogance and intolerance.

It is therefore my considered view that everyone should quickly inform Prof. Soludo that he is about to face a barrage of litigations whose litigants are wont to win him in the legal fireworks that are ensuing in moments. He is therefore, in his own best interests, advised to rejig his strategy summersault and refrain from the harassment and abuse of the ATR worshippers in the state. Freedoms of worship, movement and association are fundamental rights and not privileges to be handed like Nigerian palliatives to the people.

Lastly, where one lacks requisite knowledge, one is expected to ask questions. The scientific study of religion might be beyond the intellectual province of professor Soludo but as a scholar and a renowned member of the intellectual society, it is expected of him to have made necessary consultations so as to make informed and founded decisions. Again, if Prof. Soludo has run out of ideas to govern Anambra State, he should proudly throw in the towel and put a stop to his continued embarrassment of Ndi Anambra and the professorial community who have waited so long for his deliverance of his touted Dubai in Nigeria and are regrettably tired of his persistence and perseverance in failures.