By NWOBODO ONYEKWERE
Long before I joined the Governor Peter Ndubuisi Mbah team, I had once predicted, on record, that, by the time Governor Peter Mbah would be out of office in eight years, there would be no basis for comparison, between his government and any other before it, in Enugu, including the much vaunted Sullivan Chime regime!
I didn’t mince words; in fact I was, quite unusually , so unequivocal in my assertion that Chime’s records “would be a child’s play…” by the time Barrister Mbah would’ve ended his tour of duty as it were, as Governor.
That I was not part of his administration didn’t influence my judgement in coming to that irrefutable conclusion. I could see, feel and follow the consistent change of trajectory of governance in our dear Enugu, a clear departure from whatever Ndi Enugu had known or seen before!
Some folks who felt or reckoned they had known or followed my own evolution over the years, as implacable social critic, made contacts with me in private, seeking clarifications, even assurances that I hadn’t been beclouded by primordial considerations the Governor and I being of same Nkanu ancestral stock! They reckoned further that i had always been ‘a little to the left of Centre…’ (to borrow from our once upon a time local political lexicon), and rarely given to such copious, unreserved positive assessment of any government in power! I had seen and felt something different, I told them then.
Now, being part of the system has only reinforced my original assessment that Governor Peter Ndubuisi as political leader is imbued with uncommon leadership traits: he’s compassionate, yet visionary, original, focused, thorough, determined and intentional!
This is a man who has clear conviction about whatever he sets out to do, and chases down the project with uncommon, committed single-mindedness!
It’s obvious Governor Mbah isn’t on a knee- jerk endeavour as Governor; he had apparently prepared so hard for this journey and had a clear plan on virtually every facet of what a modern society ought to be; what is needed to grow the people and the society to be in position to survive and compete in future : in short, a proper, comprehensive blueprint to govern Enugu, for Ndi Enugu.
As Enugu boy, he certainly had a good idea what was missing, what the city, the state and Ndi Enugu desired and what was needed to grow the city and people and economy exponentially, to use use his official expression!
After exactly three years in office, Thursday this past week, Governor Mbah has,in objective reflection, demonstrated unquestionable capacity to govern, broken boundaries and barriers in delivering good governance and in the process, touched, in very intentional and fundamental ways, areas of need of Ndi Enugu, be it roads, water, education, transport, health or economy !
Forget the naysayers!
For instance, no previous government in the state, since the current political dispensation, ever revived or even attempted to revive, any cottage industry in the state, out of the so many dead entities, let alone commission any new start-up; but just a year into his administration, Governor Mbah had left no one in doubt about his vision and mission to reinvent Enugu, and position it as destination of choice for researchers seeking genuine information and knowledge on accountable governance, even in a heavily compromised, treacherous society!
Governor Mbah has become the ‘poster boy’ in Nigeria for his demonstrable developmental strides in Enugu, and that is for a reason, a good reason at that: moribund state-owned industries like Niger Gas, Hotel Presidential, Sunrise Flour Mills, Enugu United Palm Products Limited, are up and running once again! Aren’t they? Ask around…
He has also established a couple of new ones, including the Enugu Haier Factory, a $20m local assembly/manufacturing plant for laptops, smartphones and renewable energy solutions.
You would’ve heard about the world acclaimed International Conference Centre(ICC), which had been abandoned in the middle of a thick jungle, effectively defacing the city centre since 1999! He revamped and restored it to the shame of the devil, envy of the world and glory of God!
This facility alone has turned the Enugu capital city into the conference capital of Nigeria. Hopefully, it will grow to become the conference capital of the world in the near future! The Chimaroke Nnamani administration started the project, couldn’t deliver it, and the two successive governments after, in whole 16 years, didn’t bother either, they overlooked the project and it’s potentials as both a veritable revenue earner, employer of labour, and a potential iconic, signature project!
The Enugu Smart Green Schools are the more popular innovation Governor Mbah has brought to Enugu: the imposing structures in the 260 political wards could be mistaken for blocks of 4- star hotels for a visitor who view them from outside! They were conceived as incubation laboratories, educational edifices for our children from pre-nursery 01 to the 9th grade! A lot of them are ready and functional, while the rest are near-completion! All equipment for these schools are fully on ground, sitting pretty in government warehouses, awaiting distribution!
With Governor Mbah, there is no second-guessing whatsoever!
These Smart Green Schools are Mbah’s signature initiative, technology-driven with curriculum designed to introduce pupils to trainings in robotics, Artificial Intelligence, etc, and for free! Parents pay nothing under any guise and are encouraged to report any school head who make any demands of them, whatsoever!
Apart from free smartphones and tablets, pupils in Smart schools would also receive one free balanced meal, every day!
Enugu has never had it this good!
Have you flown the Enugu Air? You need this lifetime experience: This is one of Governor Mbah’s many legacy projects, a government-owned airline in Nigeria, which grew its fleet to six in a record time! Governor Mbah has promised that his administration would inject additional 14 aircraft to raise Enugu Air fleet to 20 by this year’s end!
“Mbah is working; we dey see am..” has become a popular Enugu sing-song, and you can’t but acknowledge what is obvious!
Mbah’s first challenge was security on assumption of office. Then, the whole South East was practically on lockdown, Enugu inclusive. He instantly demonstrated he was adept at both gamesmanship and brickmanship! He got to work,as it were; dismantled all the criminal gangs in and around Enugu, thereby giving Ndi Enugu back their life!
He set up a never-seen- before technology-driven architecture that became a huge success! The Enugu Command and Control Centre is testament to the Governor’s recourse to solving persistent malady with technology, giving birth to an instant, ingenious, drastic cure!
Today, Enugu is perhaps, the only state in the South East, where residents live and move freely, day or night, every day of the week, without exception!
Mbah did it!
Recently, I witnessed a large population of student leaders from across Nigeria who paid the Governor a solidarity visit. They were downright sincere and effusive in their praise of his decisive, visionary leadership, highlighting his investment in transport, in particular, which they said, has made movement easier and affordable in Enugu: some of them confessed they now commute from Enugu to UNN Nsukka daily, using Mbah’s CNG, air-conditioned buses with Wifi, at affordable cost!
The Imposing Terminals are built for these buses in Enugu, Nsukka Garki, Abakpa and they are classical, imposing legacy monuments, which you don’t find anywhere else in Eastern Nigeria!
Just like the Smart schools, there are 260 Type-2 functional Primary Health Centres located in all the political wards in Enugu state to boost health care delivery, with particular consideration for mother and childcare.
The government’s 300-bed, Super Specialist Hospital to cater to the medical needs of Nigerians and boost health tourism, is ready and would be commissioned soon!
The Mba administration has also been paving and asphalting old, neglected delapidated roads and constructing new ones, opening up a host of alternative pathways, and hitherto neglected communities!
Do you know Enugu now has a brand new tractor assembly plant, to boost agricultural production through improved technology? With Mbah, the vision is all encompassing!
There is no sector that I can recall which does not or has not got the needed attention under this administration, in just three years!
The list is endless, but be assured am available for those with interest in specific areas…ask and you shall get the information you need.
Stating that Governor Peter Ndubuisi Mbah is the legitimate reference point for good, effective and productive governance in Nigeria,and one for whom all electoral votes, past and future, are well invested, is saying the obvious!
His developmental strides are real and verifiable, not for the optics, even though the vocal minority, active only on social media, would not tell you what’s on ground in Enugu.
But, we’ll tell you our story, the Mbah story, by ourselves , and when I speak, it’s on my honour !
I restate that, based on current form and speed of delivery, when the story of real impact of all previous administrations in Enugu put together, are compiled, put side-by-side with Mbah’s, theirs would be a child’s play. Yes.
“Tomorrow Is Here” isn’t a vain glory mantra; it is an assurance you can take to the bank!
(Nwobodo Onyekwere, Member of Nigeria Guild of Editors, is Special Adviser, Media, to His Excellency, Governor Peter Ndubuisi Mbah).
