Governor Charles Soludo of Anambra State spoke at the June 12 Democracy Day event held at The Covenant Place, Iganmu, Lagos, calling on Nigerians to rethink how the country is being built. Speaking on the topic “Rebuilding Our Nation,” he questioned whether Nigeria had ever truly been a nation, saying, “Have we had a nation?” He quoted late Obafemi Awolowo, who once said, “Nigeria is not a nation. It is a mere geographical expression.” Soludo also recalled Ahmadu Bello’s response to Nnamdi Azikiwe in 1959: “Let us understand our differences,” adding that Nigeria remains “a work in progress.”
He described himself as an optimist, saying, “I am not here to rehash the book of Lamentations. I am a die-hard optimist and a believer in Nigeria’s future.” He praised President Bola Tinubu’s economic reforms, saying they “rescued the economy from the tipping point.” Soludo said the previous government had pushed the country close to disaster with reckless spending. “They were up directly, illegally, printing money… 10 trillion, 12 trillion… I said at a meeting, ‘Governor, obey the law or amend the law. The way you are going was tipping the economy into the Atlantic Ocean.’”
He slammed political parties for lacking real ideology, saying most parties today are just “different factions of this Nigerian Elite PLC” and only fight over “the dining table.” He asked, “Can you tell an APC or PDP state if you see one?” and said most manifestos were just “copy and paste to scale through registration by INEC.” He argued that without ideology, “parties govern by whims” and policies change with whoever is in power. He said, “Ideology is the soul of a political party.”
Soludo suggested that all center-left parties like APGA, APC, Labour Party, SDP, and others should form a new Progressive People’s Alliance before the 2027 elections and present one presidential candidate. He said, “Unlike in 1983, the new PPA should field one presidential candidate in 2027.” He closed by stressing that progressivism must be about action, not slogans: “For us, progressivism is not a slogan. It is a social-political movement and an ideology.”
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