By SHEDDY OZOENE
Some colloquial statements find a way to creep into everyday use. The phrase, ‘You Ain’t Seen Nothin’ Yet’ is one of those; it became a popular idiom in everyday usage largely due to its repeated use in popular music, entertainment and lately politics, where it gained traction for expressing the idea that something bigger, more surprising, or more impressive is still to come.
In classical terms, it is a double negative, which we are taught is positive, but it has been understood for what it is. The Canadian Rock band, BTO, helped popularize it in the early seventies, in a song written by Randy Bachman for the band’s third album, which reached #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 in the U.S. and was widely played across the world. Even a respected newspaper like the New York Times would take journalistic license, fifty years later, on December 16, 2014, to publish an article written by Mark Bittman under the headline.
Back home in Nigeria, it has become a regular expression for Enugu State Governor, Dr. Peter Ndubuisi Mbah. As a campaign rhetoric during the campaign for the 2023 election, the buzz was ‘Tomorrow Is Here’ and it has remained so in his political communications. But in an uncanny way, ‘You Ain’t Seen Nothin’ Yet’ has become the mantra for marketing his impressive performance of recent. As an idiom, Gov. Mbah uses it to convey the message: however impressive what you are seeing now may seem, it will be overshadowed by what is still to come.
At the gala night he hosted for top media professionals and members of the Nigerian Guild of Editors in Enugu on Friday, 28th June, 2025, speaker after speaker marveled at the landmark projects the state has witnessed on his watch in just two years. The editors who were in Enugu for their biennial convention had spent the day inspecting a handful of the governor’s projects in the state. Most of them were impressed and they said so, but rather than soak himself in the plaudits, Mbah told the editors that they ain’t seen nothing yet. To drive the message further home, he invited the Guild to stage next year’s All Nigeria Editors Conference in the Coal City, ostensibly for more mind-blowing surprises.
Ten days later, he pulled off what is arguably one of his most ambitious projects so far. The inauguration of Enugu Air, the first of its kind by any state government in the South-East, is an impressive accomplishment by any account. It is one of those ideas that sounded incredible at first, but which he has brought to reality. Not only does it feed into his plan to make the state a transportation hub by air and land, it positions the state as a major player in the national – and potentially regional – aviation business with the projection that the three million tourists who will be attracted annually will impact the state’s burgeoning tourism industry.
The floating of the airline has attracted as much criticism as it has engendered praise, but the preponderance of public opinion rates it high on the positive side. Many argue that state funds should have been better utilized toward sustainable infrastructure for greater long-term impact, rather than in the capital-intensive acquisition and maintenance of an airline. Besides, they argue, the airline’s success is heavily tied to Governor Mbah’s personal drive, and that future administrations may not consider the airline as much a priority. Such neglect—as has happened with many other state-initiated ventures in the aviation industry—has thrown such investments to ruins.
That’s one side of the coin that does not consider the substantial advantages the airline has for Enugu State and which the governor so succinctly captured.
With an initial fleet of three Embraer aircraft, Enugu Air is projected to directly and indirectly create over 20,000 jobs in aviation and allied services, opening real career paths for young people in aviation, tourism, hospitality, and logistics. The airline will enhance connectivity for business and diaspora by providing faster, more reliable travel, initially linking Enugu to major Nigerian cities, offering diasporans direct access to home, and boosting tourism, investment, and regional hub status.
At the Akanu Ibiam International Airport, venue of the unveiling, people of the state came out in their impressive numbers, dancing and rejoicing at the sheer spectacle. The inauguration of the airline became a carnival of some sort, and if I may add, a forum for testing the political waters. Even the Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, Festus Keyamo, could not hide his excitement when he – like President Tinubu before him – openly rated Mbah far above his peers. A chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Keyamo also famously went ‘anti-party’ when he claimed it would be difficult to beat Mbah, who belongs to the rival Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the 2027 governorship election.
Amid those praises, Governor Mbah recounted the benefits the airline would bring to Enugu State and in the end, he famously repeated the new mantra: “Ndi Enugu, you ain’t seen nothing yet”.
The decision to launch Enugu Air carries both promise and peril, but it is a bold gamble worth taking. I wager that it is not merely a flight of fancy, but one vision whose outcome will shape Enugu’s economic future.
It is obvious big dreams live in Mbah’s rather small frame, the type that continues to amaze Ndi Enugu. When he promised a disruptive performance, many never imagined the extent of innovative transformation that the state today witnesses. If Mbah’s use of the statement ‘you ain’t seen nothin’ yet’ can also be interpreted to mean ‘I am still scratching the surface’, then surprises – more and bigger surprises – are to be expected in the future. And behind his boyish smile, Ndi Enugu have come to respect his grit, determination, and single-minded commitment to set goals. Most are convinced that he will still spring more groundbreaking surprises. You don’t whet the people’s appetite with such a mind-blowing new mantra only to let them down in the end.
Sheddy Ozoene is the Vice President, East, of the Nigerian Guild of Editors.
