Mazi Ejimofor Opara
Social reformation is the super-structure upon which every other thing rests. What Governor Soludo is doing with his campaign against criminal religious merchants and dubious “Dibias” who provide ancillary services to criminal gangs has been adjudged important because they strike at the core of social harmony. He is clearly demarcating social deviance from what is normative.
Soludo is forcefully advocating that if we continue to look away from the basic principles of life, the complex ones would certainly lead us to intractable confusions that bring about a chaotic society. This is why we must pay close attention to the basic principles at all times as we chart our course to a prosperous and liveable homeland.
For a Society to function without dissonance there must be a hard line between what is acceptable and what is unacceptable. But, the Big question now is, has the family and religious institutions failed so much that such a basic and fundamental message has now become the preoccupation of the State/Government?
This question may appear rhetorical given that a Soludo understands governance as timely interventions targeted at strengthening our weakest links. The crisis of values Anambra faces calls for emergency intervention in the speed and mould that a Soludo is dishing out. The rest of the social institutions must now take a cue and join the ongoing crusade to rescue the minds of our people from pervasion and general depravity. We must collectively make a U-turn back to the sacred values that define who we are as a people. But for Soludo’s swift intervention, Anambra was on a highway to self-destruction, driven by queer philosophies that undermined hardwork, replacing it with “get-rich-quick syndrome” and excessive love for materialism.
Many have argued that a win in this important task may actually be Soludo’s greatest legacy. From the far-reaching successes so far recorded, it appears that this may be the missing piece in the puzzle. A Society without enduring positive values is a dead Society!