By Maduabuchi Dukor
In this dystopian world order, especially in Anambra State where political moneybags are itching to seize power, the current enduring, undiluted humanistic governance is an unassailable, terrible and harsh truth. A purveyor of this humanistic trajectory is the Governor of Anambra State of Nigeria, Professor Charles Chukwuma Soludo, who in his social and political actions has elevated his philosophy of governance, neoliberal humanism, to international platform beyond Nigerian imageries. Neoliberalism appears to have collapsed ideologically, but it still retains its political influence, even state ownership is getting stronger. Expropriation in areas such as water, energy and transportation is on the agenda again. While the role of the state is gaining importance in Anambra State amid inflation and crises in Nigeria, transition to the public model is the order of the day, blended with democratic-socialist alternatives- Soludo neoliberal humanism.
The neoliberal element in engineering people-oriented development at this subnational is the integration of neoliberal economic principles such as market efficiency, privatization, deregulation and reduced state intervention in development projects that are maximally aimed at benefiting local populations. When applied to subnational development (like Anambra State), neoliberal manifests as development interventions that frame “people-centred” goals within a market-oriented structure. To avoid inherent contradictions in an outlandish free market economy, Soludo’s neoliberal humanism becomes a moral fiber firing the embers of equity, justice and fairness. This has been well incubated in an academy empowering the youths across religious, ethnic and class barriers for equal opportunities and greatest happiness of the greatest number of people.
A hitherto political economy of disparate classes, it’s being mediated by utilitarian principle which is the driver of the state’s economic planning. The Anambra State “Solution Innovation District” (SID), especially through its 1million Anambra Digital Tribe (1MADT) initiative and SID Academy, indeed, resembles the rigorous Spartan training ethos, focused, intensive, and inclusively empowering. Like the spartan academy and elite training hub of disciplined warriors in the Ancient Greek, the Anambra SID academy provides free digital skills for up to one million residents and offers structured courses (4–12 weeks) in coding, AI, data analytics, cloud computing, and so on, from beginner to advanced levels. Both academies are similarly endowed with building resilient characters that account for warrior- like spirit, for innovation, entrepreneurship and economic growth. In both the Spartan and Anambra state government’s vision, humanistic cascade for equality of opportunities, equity and fairness as a neoliberal ideology is the short term, medium and long-term goals.
A disciplined people make a disciplined society. To be disciplined is a menu from Spartan formal training in civility, skills, innovation and entrepreneurship. The SID Academy standardizes digital learning across millennial age groups, instilling discipline and consistency is akin to the Spartan education. Much like Spartan society trained its youth in unified, intense, mission-driven academies to produce warriors, Anambra State’s SID Academy is forging a digital army, a million-strong, highly skilled, innovation-oriented community. It’s transforming Anambra into what Governor Soludo calls “Africa’s Silicon Valley”, emphasizing discipline, skill, collaboration, and ambition. To achieve this goal, a structured utilitarian principle would make amends on the inherent contradictions and inequalities associated with neoliberal ideology and free market political economy. Soludo’s neoliberal humanism is, therefore, a program of interventions, like free digital skills training to over one million Anambra residents and indigenes, free universal education, infrastructure upgrades in higher institutions and the establishment of University of Education, a Smart College of Nursing.
There is also, a leadership finishing schools to facilitate seamless pathway from schooling to professional careers. This is even as Teacher Recruitment & Smart Schools Network are essential components of the education system and productive human capital pipeline from classroom to a productive career, from village to virtual. No one is left behind”(2024). It’s aptly, a bold vision, building Anambra’s Smart Education Ecosystem, from free universal basic education to a complete human capital formation, spanning early schooling, higher education, vocational training, and professional readiness. This is archetypical of Anambra State Governor, Prof. Soludo’s humanism in neo-liberal framework and philosophy of governance. This would, ipsofacto, in Soludo calculation, stop the state from being a departure lounge to a destination hub.
Amid rejigged processes of transformative governance, social rehabilitation and industrialization in Anambra state, Professor Charles Chukwuma Solufo’s philosophy is humanism in a neoliberal framework. It reflects a deeply humanist, neo liberal governance philosophy of equal opportunity enabled by strategic investment, technological innovation, and cultural respect. His brand of governance merges market-driven productivity with social equity, evidently rooted in Igbo cultural values like the Apprenticeship System. It ha rejigged Anambra state prospering on the path of neoliberalism, inclusivity and equity. From indigenous villages to urban centers, public services like education, healthcare and digital access are extended to all. Soludo neoliberal humanism has ideologically and structurally entrenched global competitiveness among youths by embedding ICT and AI from basic to tertiary education. The strategy integrates economic planning, local partnerships, and infrastructure, emphasizing a self-reliant model and sustainability.
Future generations of teachers and productive workforce are orchestrated as a backbone of a resilient, neoliberal and humanistic economy. Teachers go through “Train the Trainer” (Soludo, 2024) workshops to cascade capabilities across schools and, engender equal access to world-class digital learning regardless of socioeconomic class. AI-driven pedagogy is more or less an integral part of the curriculum and teaching methodology in classrooms with automated assessments, personalized lesson planning and predictive analytics. Anambra is the first Nigerian state to abolish levies, school fees, and hidden charges in public schools from nursery through SS3. The policy has driven a surge in enrollment in public primary and secondary schools. UNESCO and national data confirm Anambra now has Nigeria’s lowest out-of-school rate.
• Professor Dukor is president/editor-in-chief, ESSENCE LIBRARY (Cultural and Scientific Development Center), Department of Philosophy, UNIZIK
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