Governor Peter Mbah’s eloquence in explaining his policies and programmes resonate the admirable echo of the ambitious plan he has for a state once renowned for its tasteless monotony.
When you listen to him and visit Enugu, you will appreciate why barely one year in office, Vanguard, The Sun, New Telegraph and Independent Newspapers chose Peter Mbah as Governor of the Year.
It doesn’t normally happen that a public servant is being so recognised in less than one year in office. Members of the Guild of Editors who were in Enugu for their meeting March 23 used the opportunity to tour some of the projects of the Enugu State Government came away with many positive stories.
Fielding questions at the end of the tour at the Old Government Lodge later that day, it was no surprise that all concluded that in Enugu, ‘a Daniel had come to judgement’ as Shakespeare would put it.
Of course, it rubbed off on me. ‘Onochie, your governor is good; Onochie, your governor is ambitious; Onochie, your governor is doing great things; Onochie, your governor is building Enugu for future generations.’
Many of the editors who knew Enugu as my home state almost turned me a star, courtesy of the tremendous work Peter Mbah and his team have done in less than one year in office.
I was proud, and I walked with my shoulders towering above my head.
Since the return to democracy in 1999, I have never been more proud of Enugu State.
Take this: Trans Ekulu was a beautiful estate built at the time of Jim Nwobodo, the same period Lateef Jakande was rebuilding Lagos. However, Trans Ekulu lost it’s beauty to government neglect in the proceeding years. The government of Sullivan Chime did a little work on the road leading to Trans Ekulu but left the estate to continue to rot. So, the estate suffered neglect in 24 years of Chimaroke Nnamani, Sullivan Chime and Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi. As you read this, tremendous work is going on in Trans Ekulu, its environs and some other areas. As you read this, construction and reconstruction of more than 100 roads are going on in Enugu.
As you read this, pipe-borne water is running in some parts of Enugu after more than two decades of dry taps in most of Enugu.
As you read this, construction of a site for the New Enugu City is ongoing. It is a 5,000 hectare project that the Mbah administration may not complete but which it is mapping out for developers and investors to compete in developing.
‘This is massive,” Professor Chidi Onyia, Secretary to the State Government, said during the tour. He informed that it is a city that will have central drainage and sewage systems. Uche Anichukwu, media aide to the governor added that the city would have it’s own power and that residents would not need power generators.
‘Generators will not even be allowed into the city,’ he said. New Enugu City will have classic residential areas and industrial parks. This city expansion borders five Local Government Areas and it is one that would surely grow Enugu State when completed.
Enugu state is working. As you read this, people now go to work on Mondays. Traders, market men and women have returned to their businesses. I will never forget the video of Monday sit-at-home enforcers flogging market women who were selling vegetables and tomatoes, destroying their stuff and asking them why they were trading while some were fighting for their liberation from Nigeria. I have never seen liberation fighters punishing and dehumanising the people they claimed to be fighting for. It happened in the east but Mbah is putting an end to all that. Life is returning to the coal city.
Another thing that wowed the editors was the expertise of those in Mbah’s cabinet. The governor surely respected merit and professionalism in choosing many members of the cabinet.
We gathered that 80 percent of them are technocrats. Professor Onyia demonstrated that with his knowledge in many areas. His mastery and explanations in road and city constructions, water projects, education, health, personnel management impressed the visitors.
It was same with Works Commissioner, Gerald Otiji, the son of the famous Engineer Otiji who built Nitel with the likes of Chief Jonathan Ogufere in the days they were P&T before the rot started and NITEL died. When Dr Ifeanyinwa Ani-Osheku spoke on the state primary health care, which she supervises, heads were nodding pleasantly. Many wondered where Governor Peter Mbah would raise the money to fund all the projects. Just like the smart schools, she confirmed that the state would build 260 health centres in the state, with each ward benefiting from the project.
They plan to start with 600 nurses and increase the number to 3,000. Enugu is digitalising healthcare information which will help in the management of patients. Reducing maternal mortality is just one of their targets.
It is in the area of education that Governor Mbah is scoring highest points. He proudly says that he wants to fight poverty and insecurity through education. And he has begun on a high note by dedicating 33 percent of the state budget to education.
This is a record in Nigeria and perhaps in Africa. The smart schools that will be built in 260 wards of the state bear strong testament to the huge plans Mbah has for education in Enugu. ‘No child will be left out,’ the governor says of this education system that will sign on pupils from the age of 3 and upwards.
It is a compulsory but free primary education programme that will expose the kids to IT. Enugu is working and Mbah is just less than one year in office. He said a few things when yours sincerely and Eze Anaba, the editor of Vanguard presented him the letter of his award for good governance.
It is better to appreciate the governor on how he is piloting the affairs of the state in his words.
