It was in November 2015, while chatting with a popular American celebrity magazine, that Serena Williams, one of world’s most decorated tennis stars, dropped the historical lines that “the success of every woman should be the inspiration to another. We should raise each other up. Make sure you’re very courageous: be strong, be extremely kind, and above all be humble.” That particular thrust of wisdom illuminates hearts and minds.
While the American tennis icon, who recently bowed out from the prestigious sport after over two decades of leading the trophy pack was painting a humble picture of her tough journey to stardom, she was subconsciously telling the stories of other women; drawing a perfect pictorial pattern that finely illustrates the philosophies and lifestyles of few women who are making positive change in their environments. The forty-one-year-old American tennis superstar was extensively painting Anambra Governor’s wife, Mrs Nonye Soludo’s ideal mural.
Just recently, the Anambra First Lady visited Umueri, where hundreds of people were taking shelter, having been displaced from their homes by the recent flood disaster. It was the governor’s wife’s own way of feeling the situation, talking directly to the people who were affected by the incident, and giving them that soothing motherly compassion. She was worried about the condition of pregnant, nursing mothers and children in the flood displaced persons’ camps, and had urged the state and federal government to give special attention to this group of people, because of their vulnerabilities. That is typical Nonye Soludo; a mother who chews last just to ensure that her children are full. At the camp, the governor’s wife walked round each department, to ascertain the cleanliness, livability and overall sanitary condition of the centre. Being an ardent healthy living campaigner, Mrs Soludo lives and preaches the ten commandments of hygiene and healthy living.
To ensure that pregnant women in the camp follow the norms of personal hygiene, Mrs Soludo handed each of them a medical kit containing basic pre-natal assemblage. An octogenarian woman, who made a sprint way younger than her failing limbs, on sighting the governor’s wife walking close, bearing her usual queen’s smile, gave her a warm, enveloping hug, with a punchy keepsake: “Nwa m, oga adiri gi na di gi mma” (My child, it shall be well with you and your husband). Of course that was not the first of such honourary blessings. Mrs Soludo’s humane and meek way of life fetches admirations and magnets love. Like the ovation that succeeds a fine performance, both admirers and critics take their turns to idolize the living model. Usually not a figure who savours extravagant cheers and limelight appearance, the Anambra Governor’s wife prefers low-light kindness and gives even before the camera flashes come on. But the golden fish has no hiding place.
On Wednesday, October 26, 2022, the governor’s wife was decorated as a Cervical Cancer Champion, by the World Health Organization (WHO) Anambra State Ministry of Health and Clinton Asses Health Initiative (CHAI). The honour was to celebrate Mrs Soludo decade-long health campaign, and to make her a lead voice in the fight to eradicate cervical cancer in Anambra State, in a tripartite pilot arrangement among the three listed bodies to provide free cervical cancer screening and treatment for five thousand Anambra women. The governor’s wife had also appeared on a religious-based magazine interview, where she shared her secrets of healthy living, a lifestyle she has been engaged in for more than sixteen years. Later in her address during the Flagg-off, the governor’s wife said that though early detection remains the most important part of eradicating the disease, if women do not call it an important task to make themselves available for screening, the whole idea of the campaign is defeated.
The truth is that Mrs Nonye Soludo is a practical First Lady. While her husband is breaking barriers through disruptive change, she is calmly raising her own bar. Nonye’s infectious vision of calm, is a long summer lesson for women in politics.
Written by DANIEL EZEIGWE
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