Choosing to live lowly, in the midst of abundance, is reserved for those with extraordinary worldviews. The Holy bible, in the book of Matthew 5:5, calls them “the meek.” The spiritual recognition of humility and self-effacingness is to illuminate its rarity among human sociological divisions. It is even most rare to choose humility when armed with power and incalculable affluence. Power corrupts. But it does so only to those with shaky discipline and unhinged desires. The covetous. Humility is an innate culture; it occurs involuntarily in words, footsteps, and actions. It is not a learned behaviour. You can not give it if it is not in you.
The Anambra governor’s wife, Mrs Nonye Soludo, comes as a handy example for those looking to understand this sacred lifestyle. Known for her remarkable simplicity and modesty, Mrs Soludo’s life reflects what Mohandas Ghandi referred to as the “Khadi Spirit.” Her worldview is in complete disparity with the influence, effluence, and exaggerated flamboyance that are often attached to her position by misguided watchers. She lives nunly, practically monastic. Many people who have come close enough to Mrs Soludo often get amazed, sometimes bewildered at how simple she sees life. In the midst of women, there is no conspicuous flamboyance or exhibitionist glamour to identify her as a governor’s wife. It is that enviable meekness that makes her most adorable.
Mrs Soludo’s life as a woman, mother, and first lady is remarkably exemplary. It is a trait that leaves a perpetual mark on every front. It needs to be studied. You can not meet the Anambra governor’s wife without going home with a dose or two of lessons. Her life is a complete package of moral lessons stitched on simple worldviews. The Anambra governor’s wife comes from a lineage of disciplinarians and moralists. Her parents, both teachers, are renowned for their uprightness, humaneness, and professional excellence. Her mother, late Mrs Gloria Uzoamaka Ezenwanne, fondly called ‘Mmiliguluegu’ because of her conservative and easygoing lifestyle, rose from a classroom teacher to the rank of education secretary in the old Aguata era. You would often hear the governor’s wife talk about her hard-core discipline, which she ensured that every of her child lived by.
Mmiliguluegu died many years ago, but you would often hear or read people today who continue to give testimonies of her large heart, austerity, simplicity, and dedication. Most of them were her students or those who were influenced by her distinctive ideologies. Nonye Soludo exists within that rare circle. She knows everyone’s name and treats even the least steward like she would treat her own child. When she is home, everyone is in an ecstatic mood. She sets an example for behaviours and leaves everyone with that recurring question: ‘Is this woman really a governor’s wife?’ Those are the ideals that are often found missing in the lives of women in high-level positions. But for Mrs Soludo, becoming a governor’s wife changes nothing about her simple approach to life, her relationship with people, and most importantly, her behaviours and actions. If humility is missing, the Anambra governor’s is not there.
What the Anambra first lady had brought onto the field of governance in Anambra State is numerous. She has universalized kindness and compassion and is using her non-governmental movement, Healthy Living with Nonye Soludo Initiative to push for acceptable health standards and living right. She is now an immediate picture of reference for those who wish to understand self-effacingness and humility. Among her peers, past and present, she stands elegantly as the most-loved. Just last Christmas, Mrs Soludo visited a record forty-nine children’s homes and special need centres in Anambra State. She would become the first governor’s wife in the history of Anambra State to do so in a single season.
But she is never after the records, the same way she performs her magics behind the cameras. In her words: “My Christmas is never always complete without little acts of love. That’s the essence of the celebration. If these special people are not also smiling, then Christmas is meaningless.” Someday when the curtain finally draws on the present administration, we will look back on the life of this great woman who lived like a Saint and yet would not want to be noticed. Her name is Frances Nonye Soludo, PHF. (Osinanwata Mmaba Mma, Akwaugo Isuofia).
Written by DANIEL EZEIGWE
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