By Nwanadile Ifunanya
When Dr. (Mrs.) Nonye Soludo stepped into her role as the wife of the Governor of Anambra State, many wondered what kind of First Lady she would be. Would she remain in the background, or would she carve her own niche?
Thankfully, it didn’t take long for Anambra and indeed Nigeria to get their answer.
From the onset, Dr Nonye Soludo declared that her vision was simple yet profound: To build healthier, stronger, and more empowered communities. And true to her word, she has been a First Lady of many firsts.
Nonye Soludo’s passion for lifestyle and the belief true health starts with lifestyle, was up front and centre from the get-go! She launched launched Healthy Living with Nonye Soludo, a movement that promotes exercise, organic gardening, and wellness in everyday life. Across all 21 LGAs, women and youths can now be seen tending to community gardens, harvesting fresh vegetables, and sharing in weekly fitness routines that have become more than exercise but they have become a community ritual.
In the towns and villages of Anambra, children today have a better chance of thriving because of the First Lady’s war against child malnutrition. Through her innovative Pap Bank Initiative, a fortified pap made from maize, groundnut, and soya is freely distributed to malnourished children. Mothers tell stories of babies regaining strength, of little ones who once struggled to eat now smiling again.
Dr Soludo’s compassion also reaches into the hospital. At the Onitsha General Hospital, she commissioned a state-of-the-art mammography facility, a lifeline for early cancer detection and women’s health. For her, prevention is power, and she has given women the gift of both awareness and access.
In the fields, her vision for food security blooms. Through empowerment programmes, she has given farmers training in modern techniques—drip irrigation, piggery, feed processing—equipping them with tools to multiply their harvests and incomes. Youths and women’s cooperatives across the state now receive starter packs and equipment that have transformed farming from subsistence to opportunity.
At the grassroots, where hope often feels farthest, she continues to show up. In Dunukofia, over a thousand women, among them widows, octogenarians, and persons with disabilities have felt her touch, whether through financial support, wheelchairs, or encouragement to keep striving. Traders who once struggled to keep their stalls open now call her “Madam Solution,” the First Lady who remembers even the smallest among them.
Her impact is not only seen but also recognized. From academic honors like her Honorary Doctorate in Food Science and Nutrition to awards from the Nigerian Union of Journalists naming her the Most Supportive First Lady in the South East, her story continues to inspire. Even Nigeria’s First Lady, Senator Oluremi Tinubu, has commended her grassroots empowerment efforts as a model of women-led change.
Yet, what makes Dr. Nonye Soludo’s story is remarkable, not just the scale of her achievements, but the heart behind them.
She is not a distant First Lady issuing directives from The Light House Awka. She is the woman in the gardens with the women, the voice urging mothers to embrace breastfeeding, the hand reaching out to traders in the markets, and the presence that brings dignity to every community she visits.
Today, when Anambra people call her the First Lady of Many Firsts, they do so not out of ceremony, but out of lived experience. In every health centre, every farm, every market, and every home is touched by her vision, there is a story of transformation.
And the story is still being written
*Ifunanya, Public affairs Analyst writes from Enugwu Agidi.
