Soludo Politicising Insecurity In Anambra

…The Christmas and New Year period has come and gone. What was the period like for you?

Thank you very much. Yes, Christmas and New Year are occasions that mean different things to different people. In some parts of the world, it’s just simply a holiday. The Anambra people are known for entrepreneurship.

A typical Anambra person who is self-employed does not take a vacation and does not have a holiday. Everything is fixed towards the end of the year; that is the period of Christmas. Even those who live overseas, accumulate all their off days, and vacations, pushing it towards Christmas. Those who have events, all push it towards Christmas because it’s that time of the year people love to come home.

It is also that period when we come not only to be with our people and celebrate, but it is also a period when you share what you have with others. That has been what mainly, among so many other things, the Christmas period means to us.

Unfortunately, this year was never like before because a whole lot of people could afford to be with their extended families at home in Anambra, for security reasons, and wisely so, avoided the state. The very few who mustered the courage to go, I mean among the elites, spent huge resources to provide security for themselves.

For instance, I visited a friend and there were just a few of us in his house, but the number of security aides around was unimaginable. If we were 10 inside the house, there were more than 100 security personnel comprising Police, Army and DSS outside the house.

If you were driving in one car, there would be several other vehicles carrying security personnel accompanying you. It is not the sort of life anyone would want to live.

We could have easily said that the security situation is so bad and stayed away from our villages, but that would mean bringing more hopelessness to people. That will negatively impact those people who ordinarily would benefit from your being around, including families and traders who would make supplies to your home.

Many of us also created charity programmes through which we reach out to the people around us and these programmes are executed during Christmas, in the spirit of sharing what you have with others. So, staying away would mean victory for those who are perpetrating crime.

So we defied all the odds and travelled home. I was there. A few friends had their events but anyone who was inviting you to an event would always assure you that your security was guaranteed.

People spent as much to provide security as they spent 5 to host events. It was that bad. Our state is under siege. Compared to other states in the southeast region, Anambra is the worst. It is so bad that many people abandoned their homes and operated from neighbouring states.

A friend, who owns a hotel in Owerri, informed me that the pressure for accommodation was so much that his permanent suite was sold to guests. Meanwhile, hotels in Awka and other parts of Anambra were empty. Many people preferred to operate from our neighbouring states.

In a nutshell, Christmas in Anambra was not what it used to be. It was a Christmas of sorrow. Not Christmas of hope and joy.

We have heard reports of people, including clerics being kidnapped or shot at and killed on the streets in Anambra. We also heard that Governor Soludo has unveiled a new security programme called ‘Operation Udo Ga Achi.’ What is your take on these?

Kidnapping and killings are now the order of the day in Anambra. The situation is like, ‘one day, one trouble.’ The way it is, it takes a miracle for a day to pass without somebody being snatched from homes or on the street or being killed. The situation is so bad that priests and reverend sisters are being kidnapped or killed.

These things happen without the state government finding a lasting solution. A prominent reverend father in the state recounted his encounter with the state’s security and officials when his colleague priest was kidnapped. The state’s security and government officials told him there was nothing they could do.

The priest could not understand how such a thing could happen. I can’t also understand why a state government would not secure life and property, which is one of the cardinal duties of government at the federal level and state levels.

I have read reports on the governor’s effort and I welcome any effort that is genuine and sincere towards arresting the situation in Anambra and I will support that anytime. I heard the governor has launched a security operation. Isn’t it amusing?

By March, the governor will be three years in office. Before now, he had no plans to manage insecurity. That he is just launching a security operation after three years leaves much to be desired.

December was the peak during which people returned for Christmas. The state government did not consider it necessary to launch a security operation at that time.

Having reviewed this action and all actions leading to it, it appears to me that the governor, Soludo, is politicising insecurity in Anambra state. And the setting up of a security outfit, named Operation Udo Ga Achi (Operation Peace Will Rule), is insincere.

It is obvious that what he has set it up is not a security outfit but a political platform with a full security apparatus. The full name of the outfit is ‘Soludo Ga Achi’ (Soludo Will Rule). Udo Ga Achi is just a subterfuge. That is what it is all about.

Soludo has simply unveiled an army of intimidation and occupation to run everyone out of town for his re-election. This is the group that will hound political opponents, to put fear in aspirants so they will be afraid to challenge him at the governorship poll. The so-called security outfit is Soludo’s Udo Ga Achi Brigade. That makes it obvious that the sole aim is to serve a political purpose. That also underscores the level of his desperation and insensitivity to the security situation in the state.

He showed vehicles he had bought for the outfit. Unfortunately, before now, he never bought one walkie-talkie for the conventional security outfits in the state.

For me, I want to let you know that Soludo is not bothered about the situation in Anambra state because he thinks that it serves his purpose. He thinks that the elites are his enemies and his only solution is to run them out of town.

That is also why people like us will never stop doing what we have to do. We can’t stop going home. I have no hope that his security outfit will be a solution. It will rather serve his political interests by intimidating his political opponents. But I can assure you that we will muster enough strength and energy to ensure that he is not allowed to worsen the situation.

Since a Catholic priest spoke out about the security situation in Anambra, there have been government voices seeking to crowd him out. What does this portend for the opposition?

It is obvious they want to silence the opposition. They have unleashed their venom on Rev. Fr. Emmanuel Obimma (Ebube Muo Nso) calling him names and castigating him for calling out the governor over his failure to secure Anambra. In all that, none of them have shown that the priests who are condemning the spate of insecurity in Anambra and speaking truth to power are lying or have told lies against the governor.

None of his agents has shown evidence of what they did to secure Anambra. They are not even saying what they have started doing since the priests started calling him out for his glaring failure.

Their tactic is to ensure that no one raises a voice or calls out the governor for his demonstrated incompetence and cluelessness in addressing insecurity in the state. They want to shut up the priests who are mourning their colleague who was killed on the street. I am concerned about what will happen once he unleashes his brigade; the situation will get even worse.

That outfit is simply his political platform to intimidate and chase people away from the state for his re-election bid. Those to be recruited into the group are his political thugs. Their role is defined. They have only one purpose –to chase every political opponent out of Anambra State and ensure that Soludo wins by hook or by crook.

I recall that in your last interview, you did say that Soludo is the problem and not the solution. Between then and now, have you seen anythings that make you believe that he is actually providing solutions to the security situation in Anambra State?

It is glaring that my position that the governor is the problem and not the solution to the situation in Anambra is justified. The atrocities that occur in the state daily are unimaginable. The killings happening in Anambra under his watch have never been witnessed before. Even clerics are not spared. They are shot at and killed on the streets and nothing happens. Recently, two reverend sisters going about their businesses were kidnapped. An Archbishop of the Anglican Communion was kidnapped and was in the dungeon for more than a month.

There is absolutely nothing to suggest that there is a government in the state. You have seen videos of personal testimonies of attempts to reach out to the government for intervention in the case of the kidnap of a priest and there was not even as much as the courtesy of a response. So, what solution does the governor have in a state where blood is flowing freely? And I still ask, what solution could there be if blood is flowing on our land and people can’t move or live freely?

The most important thing for the Igbo is life itself. For them, life is sacred. The sacredness of life in Igbo cosmology is something we do not joke with. The Igbo value life much more than anything else and that is the reason some would not mind to dispense of whatever property they have just to save life. We value and protect life. It is as strong as that. It is something that was there long before Christianity came to Igbo land. For us killing a human being is an abomination. Christianity did not teach us this. It was something that was enshrined in our customs and traditions.

Sadly, blood is flowing in our dear state, Anambra. In the midst of all these, our governor, who naturally should be worried was out there dancing! If he was the solution, last Christmas would have been for him, one of sorrowful reflection and probably, a time to declare a state of emergency on insecurity. But he could not because he has no capacity to do it and he lacks knowledge of what to do.

Remember that he had declared a state of emergency on refuse heaps across the state for which he literally locked down the state for three days and still he is incapable of addressing the garbage situation. We see refuse heaps mounting everywhere around him.

If he is incapable of addressing that, is it insecurity that he is capable of managing? This simply shows that he is clueless. Visit a neighbouring state of Anambra where the governor is just months in office and see the transformational work that he is doing. You won’t see potholes in the city and this is someone who assumed office in 2023. Sit at home has ended in that state and the economy has bounced back. People move about freely and life is moving on both day and night.

I had said before that in many places, the day economy is 50% and the night economy is also 50% or a little less, but in Anambra, the night economy has collapsed 100 per cent. People close for the day at 6 pm. Even the government would warn you against staying outside your home after 6 pm.

Talking about sit-at-home, some people had argued that the release of Mazi Nnamdi Kanu would go a long way toward resolving the security situation in the southeast even if not 100 per cent. However, Soludo had in an interview stated clearly that it won’t. This may suggest that he is not keen on having Kanu out of detention. What are your views on this?

I read that Soludo interview. It made me sad. That was a most unfortunate comment from Governor Soludo. That shows how distant he is from reality. It showed how clueless he is in understanding the issues around him as governor. He showed in that interview that he is far removed from understanding the issues about the security situation in the region. He also showed how insensitive he is to the tension that Kanu’s condition is creating around the country because insecurity in the southeast, or any region of the country, is insecurity across the country. That was insensitivity too much and I disagree with him in totality.

I expect him to apologise to the people for that statement and retract it. It was highly insensitive because if the release of Nnamdi Kanu will not help the security situation as he stated, is his detention helping the security situation? Who is benefitting from his detention? Detaining and prosecuting Nnamdi Kanu is of no benefit to Nigeria. Nnamdi is still in detention because someone like Soludo, who is a leader, has clearly shown that he does not care even when he is supposed to be leading from the front and driving the cause for the release. Besides, he said this when he was addressing his plan for insecurity. For goodness sake, part of your job as a leader is to give hope. But the statement he made was a statement of hopelessness.

Well, I am sure he will be shamed very soon. Other people are clamouring for Nnamdi Kanu’s freedom. With a legion of people explaining what the gain of his release will be, freedom will come his way. We believe that the federal government will see reasons for this eventually and do the needful, knowing that a peaceful and stable South East is good for the nation.

What about other aspects of governance in Anambra? They boast of roads and others.

They talk about the roads that they are building. But in these past weeks, I have traversed almost all zones of Anambra and went to so many parts of the state. What I see is very disheartening. I did not see those roads they talked about. What I saw were places that Soludo broke up, some were perimeter walls of people’s homes, and some were existing roads that had been uprooted and adding to the agonies of the people in these hard times in the guise of expanding existing roads when almost 80% of them are filled with pot-holes. My reading of the situation is that he embarked on actions that would present him as working, not exactly that he is working.

What is happening is that he is merely using those disruptions to prepare the ground for campaigns. Very soon, the rains will come and the situation will get worse. But he will go on his campaign tour telling the people to vote him back as a way of ensuring that such projects would be completed. That is his basic plan. He is simply campaigning for the next election.

I am not encouraged and I still maintain that there is no economy in Anambra as it is today. Every business in the state is moving across the borders. It boils down to the fact that, if he is not just a professor of theory like I had said before, he should know what the expectations of the people are. If he had been in a position to create wealth or run a business, as those of us who had pupilage at the main market did, he should have known that the product and service you offer is what the market demands.

As an apprentice under my father, we always said that you stock what the buyers want. Because if you stock what the buyers do not want, they will expire on your shelve and in the warehouse. The people want something different. They want security and economic development but the governor is obsessed with his second term pursuit because that is what massages his ego.

So, he does whatever he believes will land him a second term. But the state is in ruins. It has collapsed. I have not come across any elite, critical stakeholders or institutional leaders, be they traditional or religious, who would tell you that they are in good stead with Soludo. But the fact is that you need these people to govern well. No governor rules alone.

Anambra will soon be moving to another governorship election, but there is a thinking that there is no vacancy in the Government House because Soludo is seeking a second tenure and Anambra had always re-elected their governor, except for the Mbadinuju government which ended after one term?

There is no doubt that the focus is now on Anambra state. APGA has held the seat since 2005, so I guess that it is not strange to know that incumbents always have some strength and advantage in the Nigerian political system. It is not for anything else other than that they sit on the state resources, and then they use it as it pleases them and without accountability.

In this case, obviously, for an incumbent, you have the opportunity that every day of your tenure will be a campaign, depending on how you manage your programmes and activities. That confers the advantage.

During Mbadinuju, he didn’t get a second term because of woeful performance and the Anambra people got up and revolted. In the case of Soludo, the situation in Anambra, put side by side in Mbadinuju’s era, is the worst. You remember that during the Mbadinuju era, there was a high rate of insecurity. People were being killed and there was poor infrastructure too. No doubt about that.

But nobody would take away the fact that Mbadinuju was a good man. Nobody would take away the fact that Mbadinuju was a good person, nice, jovial, and related very well with people. Nobody would take away the fact that Mbadinuju meant well. But he was overwhelmed by certain circumstances from which he could not wriggle out soon enough to prove himself.

Today, Soludo is an island of his own. The most important thing, which is the number one, number two, and number three responsibility of government is the security of life and property, the safety of the environment, that you go to bed and sleep with your eyes closed. But as it is today, there is no part of Anambra state that is safe, not even the state capital, Awka. People are murdered one kilometre from the Government House. And when that was the case under Mbadinuju, the Anambra people rose and came together against him. So, be rest assured that the coalition of Anambra people that is building up will erupt before Soludo and end the myth of continuing to elect somebody for a second term even when he has not done well.

But APGA doesn’t appear to have strong opposition?

APGA had found a way, in the past, to itself to the ruling party at the centre, including PDP. Even when PDP was here in Abuja, they ceded the governorship of Anambra to APGA. We know about those things, but it has always been because the people on the ground have not been able to organize themselves properly.

On other occasions, there was in-fighting in the PDP that eventually led to having a non-popular candidate who could not win the election. And the same was done during the primary of APC in Abuja. After a big fight, they came up with a candidate who was not able to build the coalition and earn the acceptance of all the other people outside APGA.

We know that Soludo, in his quest to come for a second term, is also using that formula and counting his hopes, not on his performance, not on his acceptability, not on his popularity, but on Abuja support, as in the past for Anambra. He is counting on the fact that he has his plans worked out in Abuja and that Abuja will help him to win. He is banking on the grounds that he has solid funds and that Abuja will help him to win.

However, what you should know is that Soludo is now the most unpopular person in Anambra State; he is the number one enemy of the Anambra people. Soludo’s non-performance has popularized the APC in Anambra State today making it a formidable front. Soludo’s non-performance has made the people of Anambra to now look up to the APC to come and rescue them.

And I know that Mr. President is a party man. I also know that APC is being run by experienced and committed party people. I know they are also not blind and they are not deaf. I know also they may have assessed properly or have a means of assessing the real situation in Anambra State.

The opportunity they have been waiting for to take over Anambra state is now because it is the right time for them to take it. I know that they will surely not go into that deceitful alliance with APGA, where APGA usually promises to offer this and that during the presidential election.

Soludo is trying to sell a dummy to APC and will promise them heaven and earth, and at the end of the day, offer nothing. I know that the current APC, under the leadership of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, who is a seasoned and grounded politician with esteem, knows that in politics, you can never see with somebody else’s eyes.

Supporting APGA to win in Anambra through a deceitful promise that they will help APC in 2027 is like plucking off their eyes and giving them to see with it; so that blindly, they will be following them. It never happens.

The opportunity has arrived now for them to see with their own eyes in Anambra State; because APGA’s deceitful promises are not practical in the sense that the same day of the presidential election is the same day for National Assembly elections.

APGA may not have a presidential candidate, but it will have candidates for the Senate and the House of Representatives for whom they will do everything possible for them to win. Do you have an electorate in Anambra state that you will tell, vote A for this, vote B for this, vote C for that? Do you understand?

If that works, why is it that in areas where APGA wins House of Reps, the presidential election returns zero? This is because they find it difficult to ask their supporters to vote for different parties in the same election. They simply campaign that their supporters should vote APGA all the way. That deceitful game has been exposed.

With an APC governor in Anambra state before 2027, APC will have more stakes in the presidential election because while APGA will be struggling to get a hand on the elections, APC will be voting all the way with strong candidates in the National Assembly and state House of Assembly elections.

The APC governor they will have in Anambra State will be saying, vote APC all the way. This is the secret. So, APC cannot please Soludo to kill itself. Besides, Soludo’s bad governance and insensitivity to the security situation have provided the perfect situation for APC as a ruling party to take over the state.

Thank God also that APC has realised that the near chance they had in the past but missed may have been the issue of the candidate of choice. They have resolved also to get an acceptable candidate who is not just desperate to win the power of governance in Anambra, but who has the capacity to build a coalition outside the party with all the institutional stakeholders, and all the individual stakeholders.

So, it is not only to win the governorship of Anambra itself but to win the people for APC. And that is the candidate, I believe, APC will run with. This fact is making Soludo uncomfortable. And it is making him feel that it’s a game over for him because he boasts that he has accumulated enough resources to run, and challenge anyone that will come on board money for money. I want to believe that Anambra people hear that also, and that security agencies hear that too.

But APGA has presented itself as the party for Anambra people..

That is a myth. The spirit of APGA has long departed from Soludo’s administration. APGA is gone. We knew APGA with their colours and dresses. It was such that I imagined that one of their earlier governors used those clothes even as his pyjamas or underwear. In that APGA we saw Ojukwu and we saw the cockerel. Today, the APGA uniforms, Ojukwu insignia and the cockerel have disappeared. They have all been discarded and replaced by ‘solution is here,’ which solves no problem. The Ojukwu spirit left APGA long ago. The APGA spirit left Soludo shortly after.

You have given an analysis of why APC will take over Anambra in the next election. Perhaps, this is the reason there is a rumour that you have joined APC. Could you clarify, Sir?

Hahahaha…. the issue is that there is no smoke without fire. What you have heard is no lie. However, on this, you need to wait to hear from us in full detail about what is in the making, and what is coming; when that time comes, you will be glad that we are not just armchair critics. Our people say a bundle that is soon to be unwrapped, does not need to be scratched to know what is inside. That bundle will be unveiled to you very soon. However, we are very strong in our commitment and our focus.

Your analysis of Soludo’s leadership in Anambra comes in contrast with the fact that the state is blessed with human capital that has grown to become billionaires. Is it right to conclude that the state of governance in Anambra has negatively impacted the ability of these billionaires to positively impact on their state and also, invest at home?

Ordinarily, with the quality of human capital we have in Anambra, the state ought to have fared better. These are people who are deeply attached to their origin, people who are deeply rooted in their ancestral homes; Anambra ought not to be out there looking for FDI (Foreign Direct Investment) because the people are capable of bringing that investment home.

However, this is not happening because we have a governor who does not really understand the essence of governance. Of recent, Nigeria’s economy has blossomed. If you look at the state of the economy in 1999, for instance, leading to the recapitalization of the banks, we will know that no bank could give you a loan of $100m because they did not have it. Today when our economy has expanded, the economy has grown and the Anambra people are major participants in this growth. The economy may be the way it is, but we have seen even younger people showing signs of entrepreneurial capacities.

Therefore, when you have a governor like Soludo, who never engaged in productive enterprise nor created a business that employed people, who never built a brand, nor introduced and sold a product nor even nurtured N1 million to grow to become N1billion, then you cannot understand the value that these persons who have done all these that you could not do, add to governance and the growth of the economy.

And until you can have a leader who knows and understands the principles of business development and economic growth, a leader who commands the respect of investors and the business class, a leader they can trust and work with, one who respects them, we cannot make progress.

Today we have a governor who emphasizes certificates, a governor who tells Anambra people that they are illiterates, and belittles everyone irrespective of the value they bring to society. We must know that knowledge is not about the capacity to speak English languages. Therefore, the ability to speak English is not necessarily a sign that you are knowledgeable.

It is sad that we have a leader who thinks wisdom is about speaking the English language. It does not matter the English that you speak, it is the wisdom that you have and wisdom is divinely inspired. I have interfaced with people who never went to school but they share wisdom.

So, until you have that person who can cultivate these people and relate with them even on a personal level, you may not be able to galvanise them into your leadership system and through that tap the benefits of having them to assist in the task of development.

When you galvanise this set of people and present before them an acceptable governance programme and achieve their buy-in, only then can you be able to take advantage of their wealth to create new momentum for job creation and development in the state.

That is what we should be talking about now. It is about the person who knows how to bring that back. Come to think of it, all these people were residents of Anambra before now. It was the lack of capacity to protect them and their investments that have forced them to relocate. We must return to the drawing board.

The benefits of having all those billionaires cannot manifest in Anambra state until you have a leader who is in the same club as them, who speaks the language they speak, who understands what they have to offer and who is capable of protecting their investments in the state.

We not only have billionaires, we also have intellectuals and a leader must be able to harness the intellectuals to be the think-tank of the new development thinking and bring them to work together with business leaders and other segments of the population to achieve development purpose. So, I agree with you that we are not feeling the impact of the fact that we are blessed with these people, but there is still hope that we can get it right eventually.

Let me ask about your impression of the reforms that the federal government is driving in the areas of tax and VAT. There has been opposition to these reforms even as they bite hard on the people. What would be your assessment of the situation and what should government be doing at the moment?

At the beginning of those reforms debates, the tax reforms, and making opinions from people’s observations, definitely I had my reservations. However, when I took time to study the bills and understand them, I found in them something that is needed, something that is good for our country. I also found in them something of my position about regional and accelerated development.

The regional government that many had advocated may not come by fiat as expected. It might also be by unbundling some of the things that had tied our hands together that we cannot breathe.

When I saw that I wondered why we have all these beautiful reform proposals embodied in these tax reforms and yet there is so much resentment. That also made me believe that there is an urgent need for communication. I think that there is an urgent need for elaborate communication of the advantages of the reforms by the government.

I do not doubt that if these policies are properly communicated, by those who are handling the communication of government policies, in every language and in such a way and manner that the people understand them, and make it focus on what is coming, and when that thing comes, it becomes about what has come, then, you win support. Properly communicating the beautiful proposals contained in the bills has the capacity to make those who are opposed to it to have a change of mind.

We must note that there are no perfect documents; neither are there perfect policies. And a bad policy is better than no policy at all. Having a document that is not perfect creates the room for fine-tuning and that is why it is open to debate. If we want real change in our situation, it has to come with policy reforms. You could have policy reform number one; number two etc in all aspects of the economy.

Amazingly, we complain that we do not like the status quo; yet, we are not ready to make changes to it. That was why I said that a bad policy is better than no policy at all because when you make a bad one, you have room to make amends.

That is even better than not making any at all. I also believe that the government should be magnanimous enough to make amendments where there are issues. So, I recommend a more proactive management of the policy communication apparatus of the government.

I am also advocating that the monitoring unit of the government on policy impact should be active to check and communicate the progress or otherwise of the policy on society.

In this regard, the government should also be humble enough to admit it when the policies fail and then adjust and reapply. However, the fact remains that the only tool that can help us change our situation and make progress is policy and reform. I have seen a lot of progress made by this government in this regard, but the communication has been poor. We have been in this country over the years and constantly heard that our local refineries cannot refine petroleum products.

Today, we hear that they are coming up one after the other; Port Harcourt and Warri have come on stream. Despite all these, there is still public doubt over the return to service of these refineries. We have seen things that were thought to be impossible happening. Today, all we hear is that prices of petroleum products are dropping… not increasing.

These are things that call for celebration; but again, as I said, there is a disconnect with the policy communication process of government. Government needs to do more in this regard; if they need new hands, they can recruit them.

Perhaps, what you are witnessing is an aspect of public distrust of government…

Yes, but it can be repaired with proper communication. We are not talking about propaganda. It is about people seeing and believing what is happening. There is nothing to distrust when the issue on the ground is verifiable. Yes, things have been difficult for the people and this may have been the reason for the distrust, but again, that distrust came because of what the people had gone through. However, there is a systematic way to rebuild it with the changes that are happening.

You recall that all the major presidential candidates in the 2023 election campaigned for the removal of subsidies on petrol. A lot of people also called for its removal on the grounds that it fuelled corruption and made only a few persons rich. However, the idea changed when this government showed courage and removed it.

We must appreciate the fact that this government has shown courage to get things done. Still, when that courage is applied, there must be some people who will be able to manage the communication process. These courageous policy reforms have their impacts on society and need to be communicated.

In communicating them, you communicate the good impacts and the expected pains. The good impacts give hope. You communicate that there is hope at the end of the tunnel. Nobody will be happy to live in a hopeless situation. If you tell a man to skip breakfast and lunch and look forward to a sumptuous dinner, he will look forward to it and once it comes, it compensates for the skipped breakfast and lunch. In Russia, they say hope is the last thing to die. (Nadezhda umirayet posledey).

Is that your message to the Anambra people?

Yes, it is my message not only to the Anambra people but to all Nigerians. Keep hope alive. Hope must be the last thing to die; you must not lose hope. If you lose hope, you have lost everything. So, you must not let your psychological disposition hanging on hope collapse; if it does, you are finished.

I am not unaware of the hard time, but we have a collective responsibility to keep hope alive. If we don’t, we have lost it all. The government must take control of its narratives. It must not surrender to the media onslaught against it.

The government must control the narrative and give people hope to live. I am glad that this government knows what it did with communication when it was an opposition party.

It is even lucky now that the opposition is not very well organised. If the opposition becomes organised, it can put the government on the defensive using the media. That is why the government must take control of its narrative and push forward the message of hope; it must not let the people lose hope. It has all that it takes to control the narrative. I do not mean propaganda. Just control the narrative with positive communication of hope.

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