*_JUBILATION, AS NUMEROUS AWARDS CONTINUE TO POUR IN, FOR GOV. MBA…*
. By
Ike Abonyi Igwulube, Ph.D
When the highly respected Rev. Father Obiora Ike, observed that Dr Peter Mba was not just an ordinary politician in 2022, some skeptics, puffed their noses, saying ‘we shall see’. But such people are among those who forgot in a hurry that, Chief Dr Jim Ifeanyichukwu Nwobodo, while raising Dr Mba’s hand, as PDP’s flag bearer, during the Party’s state convention, same year, was prophetic, when he said that the new Governor will beat the records of every other governor, Enugu State ever had, looking at his private sector pedigree.
One year down the road, keen observers are in awe, the opposition is jaundiced, while the people are in a joyful mood, as Governor Mba has clearly surpassed expectations in every sector. He has also, deservedly been conferred with several meritorious awards by different organizations, including the ruling opposition – APC, for his achievements and good governance model, within only one year in office.
The count began from different National Dailies – the Sun, New Telegraph and Vanguard. They were unanimous in acknowledging Gov Mba’s focused strategies and outstanding results in security, water, education and infrastructure, among others.
When Gov Mba was marking his one year in office, former governors of the state gathered at Government house to celebrate him, for his outstanding performance. No doubt, these former Governors are in a better position to know, the herculian nature, intricacies and challenges, of the governor’s office. Yet, they all marvelled, at how Gov. Mba was able to turn the rug to his advantage.
Similarly, Gov. Mbah recently shun like a thousand stars, twice at Aso villa Abuja, when he surprisingly won two awards for his leadership style, deft planning and meticulous execution of ICT enabled security architecture, smart schools and visible commitment to infrastructural development and support to Small and Medium scale enterprises in Enugu State. These prestigious awards were both given by President, Bola Ahmed Tinubu and his Vice, Alhaji Kashim Shettima to a sitting PDP Governor. This speaks to the merit in both cases. Nothing stops them from ignoring governors who were elected with tickets from their opponents. But they were mesmerised by the quantum of achievements, which are too compelling to ignore.
First was an award for being at the fore front in promoting Micro, Small, and Medium Scale Enterprises, in Enugu State, at the 2024 National MSMEs Awards by the Vice President.
Barely one week later, was the Distinguished Award for Infrastructure at the Nigeria Excellence in Public Service Awards, NEAPS by President Tinubu himself.
Few days ago, the United Nations, Resident Humanitarian Coordinator for Nigeria, Mohammed Malick Fall, described Gov Mba, as a Champion of sustainable development goals. He stated that when Enugu State under Gov Mba is compared with other states in Nigeria, with more population and financial power, like Lagos, Enugu came tops, in educational planning, water, sanitation, agriculture and infrastructure.
Like the prophets who saw tomorrow, both Fr. Obiora Ike and Chief Jim Nwobodo saw in Gov. Mba, a different breed of politician, the type we read in newspapers and story books abroad. His awards, in these past few months alone, provide clear evidence of Governor Mbah’s governance model which is visionary, suitable, and functional because it has placed Enugu State on the path of rapid economic development.
That Gov. Mbah approaches governance with courage, is not in doubt. The issue of Monday sit-at-home is an example. where Gov. Mbah used wisdom and firmness, characteristic of a pragmatic leader, to bring that nuisance to an end, thereby lifting the heavy burden of untold economic hardship and security challenge, it visited on the people of the state. The rest is history, as the saying goes.
Nobody imagined that the volume of water pumped daily into Enugu metropolis, could be moved from a mere 2 million litres, as it was in the past, up to 120 million litres, as it is now, far above the water need of Ndi Enugu, within only six months. A visit to those areas of Enugu urban, where the water has gotten to, will confirm that, people there, freely use water to their satisfaction every day. And more areas are being added to the loop quickly.
Gov. Mbah equally, displayed rare financial intelligence by successfully raising a bank guarantee of N100 billion, from a commercial bank with a life cycle of 36 months for the development of the new Enugu green smart city. It is expected that before the end of this period, the smart city should have been completed and the projected returns on investment (ROI) of about N500 billion to the state, fully recovered. This is akin to raising free funds for the construction of the new green smart city. Only a real lion can start a humongous project of this magnitude and have the character to follow it through.
He also targeted 10,000 kilometres of asphalt roads in his manifesto, to pass across all zones and LGAs of the state during his eight years reign. In line with this objective, he is now, moving to the second phase of road construction, as 80 roads are billed to be flagged off soon. This will achieve the target of delivering 1,250 kilometres of roads each year.
Similarly, the final phase of his smart school projects has been awarded, just as 135 of them awarded in the first phase are nearing completion now.
It is common knowledge that beside the smart green schools, Gov Mbah is also building 260 Type 2 hospitals, with residential quarters for doctors, nurses and other health workers, in the 260 wards of the state. The final phase of this project has also been awarded.
Many did not know how Gov Mbah creatively cleared, all accumulated arrears of pensions and gratuities, owed retirees in the state since 1999. This ran into billions of naira. The governor also cleared the arrears of leave allowance owed teachers in the state to the tune of N1.9 billion. Gov Mbah also extended the N30,000 minimum wage to primary school teachers in the state who were left out of it previously and he pays workers on the 25th of every month and has, in the past nine months, been paying every Enugu State worker, wage award between N15,000 to N25,000, depending on grade level. The Governor is doing all these without noise or advertisement because he knows that, they are the right things to do, going by his manifesto. He has also promised to pay the new minimum wage once it is passed and signed into law by the president.
Since these avalanche of honours began to pour in, for Gov Mba, the opposition Labour Party’s apologists, has not come to terms with the Gov’s deft style, matching project choices with programs contained in his campaign manifesto, etc. They are not happy because, he has a focused agenda for the state. They have, for selfish political reasons, been on social media platforms, twisting facts,looking for excuses to run Gov. Mbah down, instead of giving up, on their blame game and merchandising of falsehood.
Meanwhile, it is clear that the grudge of the defeated Labour Party governorship candidate and his social media hirelings against Governor Mbah is borne out of sheer envy because he is being honoured by different organizations. But there is nothing they can do about it. Those who gave these awards have their criteria for measuring performance. Enugu labour parry cannot do anything else, other than to busy themselves with unfounded grudges, criticism and regrets.
For emphasis, they cannot remove the fact that Gov. Mbah has a futuristic mien, considering his numerous developmental projects, which include rehabilitation and delivery of the abandoned International Conference Centre, Presidential Hotel, Niger-gas, Niger Steel, Flour Mill, Palm Plantations, and the addition of a five star hotel to the international conference centre, etc.
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We thank God for our Governor. We should be immensely proud of him. Considering the way his administration is performing in all sectors of the state economy, it is safe to predict that more local, national and international honours shall be conferred on him, in future, to the glory of God and shame to the devil.