By Vincent Ujumadu
ANAMBRA State governor, Professor Chukwuma Soludo has spoken again on his dream of a United States of Africa, tasking African leaders to work towards realizing it.Speaking during the 12th Annual Zik Lecture Series with the theme, “Reclaiming Zik’s World: Climate Justice and Africa’s Sustainable Development held at Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka, Soludo said Africa would need to unite to confront the West and make a statement, arguing that no African nation would confront the West alone.According to him, only a united Africa could make a strong statement.While welcoming the former President of Malawi, Dr Joyce Banda, who delivered the 12th Annual Zik Lecture Series, Soludo described her as a feminist and congratulated her for being the first woman to deliver the lecture.He said that Anambra is a state where women are in charge, with a major percentage of the females dominating the teaching and civil service and the only state that had produced the first female Governor in Nigeria.He was also fascinated that UNIZIK domiciled in Anambra is now highly rated in the country and expressed confidence that the state would always come first.In the keynote speech, Dr Banda who was presented with an Award of Excellence for being the first female Guest Speaker of the Zik Series, agreed with Soludo that only Africans would give answers to the challenges confronting the continent.In his opening remarks, the Governor of Oyo State, Dr Seyi Makinde, who doubled as Chairman of the occasion, maintained that there was no better way to celebrate the Father of Nigeria’s nationalism than through the Annual Zik Series and advocated complete restructuring of Nigeria.On his part, the Vice Chancellor of UNIZIK, Awka, Professor Charles Esimone, disclosed that the 12th edition of the Zik Lecture Series has consistently spanned four successive administrations of the university, attracting eminent national and international personalities.For the Benefactor of the Zik Lecture Series, Senator Ben Ndi Obi, the academic journey of immortalizing the late Zik of Africa started 12 years ago.He thanked the university community for the approval of the Senator Ben Obi Institute for Governance, Legislative Studies and Zik Lecture research which will be handed to the Vice-Chancellor and his team by April next year.
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