Governor Charles Soludo of Anambra State is widely-believed to have a beef against people from Agulu in Anaocha Local Government Area of his state.
Incidentally, former governor of Anambra State and Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC) presidential candidate Peter Obi also comes from Agulu. There has been a long-running “cold war” between the two politicians. Soludo has endorsed a second term for President Bola Tinubu much to the chagrin of Obi and the overwhelming majority of Anambra people, who are solidly behind Obi’s presidential ambitions.
Soludo comes from Isuofia in Aguata Local Government Area, which is about 14km from Agulu. He grew up in the village in very humble surroundings and was known then as “Charlie Nwa Mgbafor” (Charlie the son of Mgbafor – his mother). In patriarchal Igbo society, sons are hardly ever called “the sons of their mother”, as Igbo people would say “Nna gi muru gi” – (“your father gave birth to you or you are the son of your father).
Soludo’s father, Simeon Soludo, died at 92 in 2023. It’s really strange that the younger Soludo was known as “Nwa Mgbafor”. A source from Isuofia has informed Naijiant.com of a possible answer to the puzzle. The source said the elder Soludo was not the biological father of the governor. He claimed that his real father was lynched as he attempted to steal a goat in Agulu when the governor was a little boy. Simeon allegedly then “adopted Charlie Nwa Mgbafor”.
Another prominent Agulu indigene was the late Dora Akunyili, who made her name crusading against fake drugs as the Director-General of National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) and was a one-time information minister. She alleged in 2010 that Soludo hired thugs to disrupt her funeral reception for her elder sister.
