The Governor of Anambra State, Chukwuma Soludo has said there is need to interrogate the claims of marginalisation by Igbo, to ascertain whether the clamour for secession was right or wrong.
Soludo stated this on Tuesday, when he delivered a lecture at the University of Nigeria, Nsukka (UNN), Enugu State at the 6th Biennial Adada Lecture organised by the Association of Nsukka Professors.
Soludo said it was surprising that the ivory tower no longer interrogates issues the way it used to, insisting that universities generally have lowered the bar of critical thinking.
He said: The Nigeria-Biafra war was literally declared from this hall (UNN), and the justification or otherwise of that declaration should have been interrogated by the university community.
“We are producing thousands of papers that never leave the shelves, while the country struggles for real solutions.
“Nigeria is drowning in more noise but less light. We must condemn the growing gap between classroom ideas and government action. Knowledge that does not shape policy is as good as useless.
“The future of the Igbo lies in a united Nigeria. Igbo intellectuals must lead the debate—not leave it to street rhetoric.
“Stop standing arms akimbo while the nation drifts, the silence from the intellectual class could cost Africa dearly. Talent is not enough, if you don’t act, you’re part of the problem.”
Citing global icons like Isaac Newton, Nnamdi Azikiwe and Kwame Nkrumah, the governor reminded scholars that history favours thinkers who act—not those who only write.
Soludo challenged lecturers to look inward, insisting that intellectualism without action is sterile.
David-Chyddy Eleke
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