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•Why Enugu needs another four years of my leadership
Governor Peter Mbah of Enugu State speaks on his administration’s performance, the Smart Green Schools, water supply, roads, agriculture, taxation, healthcare, 660MW coal-fired power project and his vision for the state beyond 2027.
In this interview, he defends his government’s policies, explains the challenges confronting some projects and urges the people to sustain what he describes as Enugu’s journey of growth and development. Jude Chinedu was there.
Looking back at your campaign promises in 2023, do you think the vision you sold to the people is beginning to take shape?
Before the 2023 election, we imagined what Enugu could become, and we outlined that vision during our campaigns. We challenged our people to stretch their imagination and consider what Enugu could become under our watch if they gave us their mandate.
We imagined an Enugu where our young people could build their futures here; where businesses would flourish; and where our children would receive an education that prepares them for the future.
We imagined an Enugu where our people would have access to quality healthcare, live securely and take pride in the place they call home.
So, I am really excited to engage our people and find out whether that ambition, in their view, is beginning to take shape or whether it still exists only in their imagination. I would like to hear directly from them. That is why I am excited about this engagement.
Look around you. We are sitting here in an international conference centre. Just imagine an Enugu without an international conference centre a few years ago. Today, this facility has opened its doors to Nigeria and the world. We are bringing limitless opportunities to our business owners, our people and others.
Look beyond the walls of this facility. There is the Enugu International Hospital, which is about to be commissioned; roads connecting our communities; transportation; Enugu Air; the revitalisation of our industries and the establishment of new ones. The list is endless.
For me, coming from the business world, I know that you have to conduct performance management reviews from time to time, where your promises are measured against results. So, what we are doing here this afternoon seems familiar. It is part of what I am being asked to do today: to have my promises measured against the results on the ground. I look forward to this engagement, and I thank you very much for organising it. So, let’s begin.
There has been considerable attention on the Smart Green Schools project. However, I would like to focus on budgetary allocation and performance in the education sector. What has the budget performance for education been like?
Education was one of the first sectors we focused on when we came into office. We looked at the data and became very concerned about the situation. We also recognised that if we wanted to eradicate poverty in the long term, build wealth and make Enugu a place where our young people could build their futures, we needed to intervene aggressively in that sector.
Over the last three budget cycles, we have dedicated an average of 33 per cent of our total budget to education. I think the lowest allocation was 32 per cent, but on average, it has been 33 per cent across the three budget cycles since we assumed office.
We did this because we could see the connection between education and development. It was never simply about the Smart Green Schools and the beauty of their physical structures. From the very beginning, we recognised that the education sector required an aggressive intervention, something akin to an emergency declaration.
We could not expect our children to go through the motions of learning without acquiring the relevant skills required in the new world order.
What we have done is transform the entire education system, including the way we treat our young ones. For the first time in the history of the state, we have provided access to early childhood learning in public schools. I do not think this happens anywhere else in the country on this scale. From the age of three, our children can now access learning.
Beyond learning, we are also using the same platform to intervene in their healthcare. When we bring a child into the system at age three, we assess the child’s health profile.
By the way, our Smart Green Schools have clinics, each manned by a registered nurse. This enables us to assess the medical records of the children. Some of them, particularly because most of these schools are in rural areas, may not even have medical records. We begin to regularise those records and ensure that they have received the necessary prophylaxis and vaccinations they ought to have received before the age of three. We also assess their nutritional status, including stunting and wasting, and monitor their height and weight to ensure that they are growing properly.
These are some of the interventions we undertake from age three. The children then progress through the nursery, pre-primary one and pre-primary two. Another major transformation in the education sector is the introduction of a system that runs from Basic One to Basic Nine.
Previously, a child would attend primary school from Primary One to Primary Six, take the common entrance examination and then move to another school. Parents would have to spend additional money to secure admission for their children.
That interruption has been eliminated in our Smart Green Schools. In Enugu, a child can start from Basic One and progress all the way to Basic Nine without interruption. Technically, we have 12 years of compulsory and free education. And when we say free, we mean free in the true sense of the word.
There are no registration fees. Parents do not have to buy uniforms because we provide them. They do not have to buy textbooks or notebooks. Everything is provided free of charge.
We have also done something quite radical by transforming the pedagogy, that is, the teaching and learning methods. We have moved away from the traditional system of learning to what we now refer to as experiential learning, where children are taught through practical experience.
Beyond the digital skills to which they are exposed at a very young age, each Smart Green School has robotics and artificial intelligence hubs. We also have innovation hubs where the children are taught how to build robots and acquire other practical skills.
The important thing is that learning is no longer a one-way process, where the teacher stands in front of the classroom and tells the children what to memorise and repeat.
The children now see their classrooms as creativity hubs. They see themselves as potential problem-solvers. They are exposed to compelling social problems and taught how to address them.
So, they learn, but they also practise what they have learnt as they progress.
Let’s look at the quality of the Smart Green Schools, particularly the incidents that have been recorded during heavy rainfall. Are the schools we have today in Enugu State the schools you envisioned before assuming office in 2023?
Just imagine the scale of the projects we are talking about. In the last three years, we have built 268 Smart Green Schools. The buildings are outstanding. It is perhaps something that could ordinarily take 10 to 20 years to accomplish. When you fast-track a project of that scale, you are bound to encounter teething problems. We are not oblivious to that possibility, and we are not unmindful of the challenges. The important question, however, is whether we are resolved to address them. Certainly, we are.
The issues our people see, particularly those relating to the physical structures, may include one defect or another, such as roofs being blown off. These are challenges we are addressing, and we will ensure that they are resolved.
Do not forget that we fast-tracked the projects because we wanted to achieve them within a short period. We could not afford to wait indefinitely. As you know, in our book, tomorrow is here.
We do not procrastinate. We wanted to execute these projects on a large scale. That was the whole idea: to ensure that no child is left behind in the state. We could have decided to build just three Smart Green Schools, one in each senatorial zone. That would still have been a significant achievement.
Each Smart Green School is comparable to, and even bigger than, a model school. Recall how model schools were built in the past. You probably had one in a state or perhaps one in each senatorial zone. If we had built only three Smart Green Schools in Enugu, it would still have been a major achievement and would have made headlines.
But we did not stop at three. We did not even settle for 17, one per local government area. We decided that every child in the state must have access to quality learning, and we built 268 Smart Green Schools. So, with respect to the teething problems, including structural defects and roofs being blown off, these are challenges we are addressing. We will ensure that all the schools are fit for purpose.
Does the decision to fast-track the projects absolve the contractors of responsibility for the defects and incidents recorded?
Oh no, certainly not.
We have records of all the contractors. Those whose projects have defects are expected to return and fix them. For those who have been recalcitrant, we blacklist them, and there are consequences for that. Do not forget that we obtained advance payment guarantees from all the contractors. We also have the option of calling up those guarantees if it becomes necessary.
Your administration has made several promises regarding the revitalisation of agriculture, particularly palm oil production, infrastructure and public utilities for sustainable growth in Enugu. What has been achieved so far?
When we assumed office, we upgraded the Ministry of Agriculture. It was originally known as the Ministry of Agriculture, but we changed it to the Ministry of Agriculture and Agro-industrialisation. We did not do that simply because we wanted a fancy name. We did so because we recognised the contribution of agriculture to our GDP.
Do not forget that our target was to grow the state’s GDP sevenfold in eight years. We therefore needed to focus on the critical sectors driving that growth, and agriculture was number one. It was by far the highest contributor to our GDP.
We did not waste any time. We decided to activate all the state’s assets in the agricultural sector.
The first thing we did was to enter into a joint venture with a company called Pragmatic Farm to reactivate the United Farm Products Limited, which used to be known as UPPL but is now Enugu United Farm Products Limited (EUPPL).
The joint venture is expected to attract an investment of about ₦100 billion into the farm.
Today, that plantation is active. It covers a total of 6,700 hectares of land. Some of the trees were no longer producing because of their age, but today, we have over 2,000 hectares that have been cultivated and are producing. Some of the old trees have also been rehabilitated and returned to production.
We have also reactivated what used to be Anambra Vegetable Oil Products (AVOP). It is now Enugu Vegetable Oil Products (EVOP).
Today, we produce palm oil at the UPPL plantation. Beyond production, we are taking it a step further. We will soon receive the equipment for the refinery because we also want to refine the palm oil into vegetable oil and other ancillary products.
Another example is what used to be known as Songhai in Heneke, Ezeagu. That facility was dormant, and nothing was being done there. It covers 10,000 hectares of farmland.
Today, it is fully active. We are working with a private investor, a company called Tribu. It is now known as Tribu Songhai Farm. The Sunrise Flower Mill is another example. It was dormant and moribund, but today, it is being reactivated through the cultivation of 10,000 hectares of cassava. The facility is also being upgraded to process not only wheat but cassava.
The list is endless. There are also our interventions in the farm estates. We currently have six pilot farm estates under development. Our plan is to establish at least 260 farm estates, with each ward having a minimum of 200 hectares of land.
Each estate will have a perimeter fence, warehouses and the necessary machinery. The objective is to help smallholder farmers move from subsistence farming to mechanised agriculture.
We have over 167,000 hectares of land available as a land bank for commercial farmers. These are lands that communities have freely donated to the government, saying, in effect, that rather than allow the areas to remain forests, they want investors to come in, cultivate the land and create wealth. We welcome investors who want to invest in our agricultural sector. They are already coming, and we are engaging with quite a number of them. There are examples in Isi-Uzo and Adani, including the partnership with Ellah Lakes Plc.
We have also established a tractor assembly plant. We have over 60,000 farmers in our database, cultivating more than 80,000 hectares of land. We have the geographical coordinates of these farms. Just a few months ago, we distributed over 60,000 bags of fertiliser.
Most states would charge farmers a percentage before giving them such support. We distributed ours free of charge. We also provided other farming inputs, high-yielding seedlings, handheld tractors and other equipment to scale up agricultural production.
But we are not thinking only about production. We are also thinking about processing. We are currently building agro-transformation centres across the three senatorial zones. These are in addition to the Special Agro-Processing Zone, which will serve as the main production centre.
We are also building what will be the biggest ranch in the country, with the capacity to accommodate over 20,000 heads of cattle. Here in Enugu, it is called the Integrated Livestock Hub, and it is being built around Obahu and Umualo. Construction is ongoing. We also secured the Federal Government’s approval for Enugu to be one of the three states where an Integrated Poultry Hub will be established. The other two states are Kaduna and Oyo.
On the issue of water, would you say Enugu State now has a reliable water supply?
I know this question will come up, particularly regarding the familiar 180-day commitment. I am trying to be pre-emptive because, even if you do not ask, I am sure someone in the public will raise it. I promised that within 180 days, water would flow in every household. We were committed to that promise. We did not make it because we wanted public acclaim or because we were engaging in political posturing.
We knew where access to water ranked in the order of priorities of our people. We understood how the absence of water could keep a child out of school or prevent a child from doing homework because the child had to roam the streets in search of water. I recall during my campaign how I would walk along some streets and see children queuing to fetch water from tankers. I saw all of that, and I knew it was a problem we needed to solve.
When I made that commitment, I had already begun analysing the situation. Between my election and swearing-in, I examined the production segment, particularly the upstream capacity.
I discovered that the state was producing only about two million litres of water daily, whereas Enugu needed about 80 million litres to ensure that water flowed into homes across the city.
What did we do?
Even before swearing-in, we front-loaded the procurement process because some of the equipment we needed were long-lead items. They were not available off the shelf. Some had to be customised, and the procurement of some of them, particularly the big pumps, required about four months.
We therefore front-loaded the procurement and saved at least two months. Two months into our administration, the pumps arrived, and we began working to increase production. We also reactivated the Ninth Mile water scheme, which had been dormant for years.
By the 180th day of our administration, we had increased production capacity to 120 million litres. But let me tell you what happened. As the water supply increased and we developed the capacity to produce at that scale, the pipes began to burst.
We started experiencing burst pipes because the existing pipes had become brittle and had exceeded their design life. We also had to deal with asbestos pipes. Some of the pipes had been built over, meaning their rights of way had been compromised by buildings.
You can see how an already complicated situation became even more complex. We had to make a choice. Should we pull down buildings constructed on the rights of way, or should we develop a new distribution network?
We felt that these were our citizens, and we did not want to demolish their buildings. So, we decided to start reconnecting the network and establishing new connections.
The truth today is that Enugu has the production capacity to serve the entire city, with a buffer of over 50 per cent. What we are now dealing with is ensuring that the water gets to the last mile. We are working aggressively to achieve that. We have divided the city into about 14 zones, and work is ongoing across all 14 zones to establish last-mile connections. The process is somewhat slower because of the obstructions we have to deal with. We have even procured thrust-boring equipment to enable us to carry out horizontal drilling. In most cases, this will eliminate the need to cut open roads. That is what we are doing. As I said, we will solve the water problem. I understand how important it is to our people, and we are working on it. I receive daily briefings on the progress being made in the water sector.
Enugu residents have continued to complain about the condition of roads across the state, particularly the delays in completing some projects. What is responsible for these challenges?
Imagine how I feel whenever I notice that the weather is changing and the rainy season is approaching. You can see how disturbed I become because we have only a limited period of dry weather each year during which we can effectively undertake road construction.
If you do not take advantage of that dry-season window, you lose it and have to wait until the next dry season. No matter how much pressure you put on contractors, there are certain things they cannot do when the rains are persistent.
I have often wondered whether there are other innovative ways we can undertake road construction even during the rainy season.
Unfortunately, what we are dealing with is a situation where we have barely five months in a year to carry out road construction effectively.
For instance, we had expected the dry season to set in early this year. That was why, when I saw the rain yesterday, I became disturbed.
We had only experienced two days of dry weather, and I had already informed the contractors that the rains were over and that they should return to their sites. Those roads have been fully cash-backed. They have been fully funded. In fact, for many of them, the contractors have not even completed work to the extent of the payments we have made. It is unfortunate that they cannot proceed while the rains persist because there are certain construction activities that cannot be carried out during the wet season without compromising the quality of the roads.
Poverty eradication, zero hunger and ease of doing business were among the measurable indicators in your 2023 manifesto. However, taxation remains one of the major complaints among Enugu residents, with traders alleging that your administration is overtaxing them. What is your response?
Thank you for raising the issue of taxation because it is one of the falsehoods that have been peddled so extensively that it is beginning to assume the appearance of truth, even though it does not exist. I think those who believe we are taxing the people excessively are essentially looking at the growth we have recorded in our internally generated revenue (IGR). They probably cannot imagine how such growth could have happened within the period, so they conclude that we must have imposed additional burdens on the people.
But that is far from the truth. I have tried to explain this at several fora. We cannot legislate on taxation. It is not within the state’s legislative competence. Taxation is on the Exclusive Legislative List.
The National Assembly legislates on personal income tax rates, company income tax, value-added tax, withholding tax and other related duties. Perhaps what some people consider taxation may, in a generic sense, be payments they make for services, such as waste disposal, business premises fees, water charges, fees for obtaining a Certificate of Occupancy (C of O), management fees in estates and land use charges.
If you look at the fees we charge for those services, you will understand what we have done.
We enacted a state law to consolidate the charges because the problem before now was that businesses complained about multiple taxation. People were asked to pay taxes for this, taxes for that, fees for one thing, rates for another and different charges. We said no. Let us consolidate all these payments into one.
How much did we decide to charge? ₦36,000 annually for businesses. This covers business premises fees and several other rates. Once you make that payment, nobody is permitted to approach you to collect additional payments for those services.
When you break it down, it is barely ₦100 per day or about ₦3,000 monthly. When the controversy over taxation became intense, I decided to exercise caution. I set up a committee, which I believe was headed by the Secretary to the State Government, to compare our charges with those of other states. I directed the committee to examine what was obtainable in neighbouring states, as well as Lagos and Abuja. The report, which I received after about three weeks, showed that Enugu charged by far the lowest rates in the entire South-East for those services.
What did I also do regarding land use charges?
Before the committee was inaugurated, land use charges were around ₦150,000 and, in some cases, ₦200,000. We reduced them significantly.
However, because we expanded the tax net, we now have more people within the system. When we assumed office, barely 9,000 units were receiving demand notices for land use charges. But when we conducted a survey, we discovered that there were over 800,000 billable household units to which demand notices could be sent.
I said that since we had expanded the tax net, we could also reduce the rates to encourage voluntary compliance. That was the idea. The charge came down from over ₦100,000 to ₦25,000.
We also received complaints about people going to markets, apparently from the local governments, to collect money from traders. I made an announcement stopping that practice. Nobody should collect ₦100 or ₦200 from our market women. I brought that to an end. We have also made recent announcements concerning tricycle operators, although those charges have little impact on our IGR.
So, how have we grown our IGR? First, we plugged all the leakages. We were shocked to discover the extent of the leakages in the system. Today, nobody collects cash on behalf of the state government. All payments go into the Treasury Single Account.
We have also activated many of our dormant assets, which are now generating substantial revenue for the government. Before we came into office, the government was paying money to sustain the Nike Lake Hotel and support those managing it to keep the facility running. Today, we earn over ₦300 million from the arrangements we have put in place. For Hotel Presidential, the government earns over ₦1 billion from the arrangements.
The International Conference Centre is also generating substantial revenue for the government. I do not want to start mentioning the figures, but they are significant.
The same applies to our other partnerships, including the United Farm Products Limited, where the government owns 40 per cent of the arrangement. For Sunrise Flower Mill, the government also owns 40 per cent. In the case of Tribu Songhai, we own about 30 per cent. So, our government is now making money from assets that were previously dormant. That is what you are seeing reflected in the growth of our internally generated revenue.
Property owners have also complained about capital gains tax. What is your administration’s position on this?
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I am yet to understand whether you are referring specifically to capital gains tax. You cannot be charged capital gains tax if you have not carried out a transaction. Capital gains tax arises when you sell your land or house and there is a margin between the price at which you bought the property and the price at which you sold it. The government then charges a percentage of that gain. That is not even a tax whose rate is legislated by the state government. Capital gains tax is also on the Exclusive Legislative List. Land use charge, of course, is something we legislate on. And, as I have explained, we have done everything possible to reduce that charge.
So, nobody should charge you capital gains tax if you have not carried out a land transaction.
It only becomes applicable when you have completed a transaction involving the sale of land or property.
Is your administration open to engaging businesses differently, particularly through bespoke arrangements to address their concerns about taxation and other business-related issues?
When we committed ourselves to growing the state’s economy sevenfold, we knew that the drivers of that growth would be businesses and private capital.
So, we are not just interested in creating an environment where businesses can thrive. In many cases, we get directly involved. We support them and even inject funds where we believe such support will help them survive and grow.
We do this intentionally because we appreciate the employment opportunities they create and the wealth they generate for the state. These are young people who are taking initiatives and investing their resources. We recognise the benefits that come when businesses succeed. So, I am more than happy to engage directly with business owners on specific areas where they want the government to intervene.
You promised that the groundbreaking ceremony for a 660-megawatt coal-fired power plant would take place in July, with a 24-month construction timeline. However, that promise is yet to be fulfilled. What is happening?
That brings me back to what I said about the rainy season. We have been ready since July. In fact, when we had those two days of dry weather, I was already speaking with our partners that the rains were over and that we should begin planning. We have the plant procured. By the way, it is not the state government that procured it; we are working with an investor.
The plant is ready. What we need to do is prepare our own base, which involves the civil works. We also need to construct the access road to the location because the plant will be situated at Amansiodo, close to the fuel source.
The plant will be powered by coal, and Amansiodo has our largest coal reserves. That is why we chose the location: we wanted the power plant to be close to the source of production.
We are ready, and we remain committed to the project. As I speak to you, the plant is being brought in from China. The commissioning of the plant is ongoing, although that process also takes time.
Everything is still on track.
The reason we have not held the groundbreaking ceremony, as promised in July, is the rainy season. We are hoping that once we have a window of favourable weather, we will hold the groundbreaking ceremony and commence the civil works.
How would you assess President Bola Tinubu’s economic policies, particularly against the backdrop of the hardship Nigerians are experiencing?
When you assess Nigeria in terms of macroeconomic indices, you will notice that before the bold and courageous decisions taken by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, the country was almost at an economic precipice.
I am sure you remember the Ways and Means advances we had accumulated. We were talking about over ₦27 trillion. What that meant was that we were in a hole, and the only way we were trying to get out of that hole was by digging deeper.
I do not think that was sustainable. If we had continued along that trajectory, we would have witnessed a total economic collapse and possibly become a failed nation.
You do not need to look far to see countries where such things have happened. But for the courageous decision taken by the President to halt that practice, what would have happened?
He could have come into office and decided that, because of the ₦27 trillion Ways and Means advances, we should continue printing money and digging deeper. But that would have been disastrous. Even the economic hardship we are discussing today, including the pressure on households and unemployment, would have been child’s play compared with what we might have experienced if those decisions had not been taken.
The way a nation functions effectively is to first address its macroeconomic pressures. If you do not stabilise the indicators at the macroeconomic level, you cannot achieve sustainable growth.
For example, today, we have foreign reserves that can sustain us for the next 10 to 11 months.
Our foreign reserves are currently about $56 billion to $58 billion, the highest in almost two decades. Look at the foreign exchange market. It has become relatively stable because we have allowed it to be driven by market forces. The exchange rate was floated rather than being controlled.
Previously, we were controlling what we could not back. That was why our foreign reserves were declining rapidly because we were not generating the corresponding foreign exchange.
People were also losing confidence in the naira. Even workers, after receiving their salaries in naira, would convert their money into foreign currencies because they no longer had confidence in the local currency. That would have been disastrous if we had continued along that path.
Today, the economy is stabilising because the macroeconomic indicators are looking much better. The next thing we need to pursue is growth.
Once you achieve stability, what drives growth is private capital. Private capital will not come in if investors believe the economy is unstable. You must first stabilise the economy to attract investment. When those investments begin to come in, the people will experience shared prosperity.
There will be job creation, increased earning power and a reduction in poverty as more people become economically productive.
That is what this President has done, and I think we must commend his courage in taking those decisions. In fact, we have not had anyone in the first term of an administration, or even in a second term, with the courage to take such bold decisions. We are on the right path, and I can tell you, based on the numbers we are seeing and the growth we are witnessing, that we are beginning to see the light at the end of the tunnel.
You have often spoken about Enugu’s connection with the Federal Government and the importance of regional collaboration. Has the state recorded any security benefits from this relationship?
Certainly. Do not forget that even the idea of establishing the Distress Response Squad (DRS) received approval from the Federal Government.
It is not simply because we have police officers working under the DRS. The squad is essentially helping to ensure that the command and control centre functions effectively. If you also look at regional cooperation, that is another area where we have benefited significantly.
Frankly, we now have a level of intelligence-sharing across the region that was not there before. You may not see the physical structure of a regional central command and control centre, but there is considerably more collaboration among the states and security agencies than we had previously.
We also receive support from the security agencies.
We are working very well with the Army, the Police, the Department of State Services (DSS), the Air Force and all the other security agencies in the state, including the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC).
We have a very good working relationship with them. There are several benefits that Ndi Enugu has derived from our connection to the centre.
Enugu has always been a regional hub. You know that. We even attained township status before amalgamation. That tells you how important Enugu has been historically.
But I would also like to tell you something.
We were gradually losing that pre-eminence as a regional hub because we were increasingly being displaced. We were not sufficiently connected to the places where important things were happening. There are many activities that should be taking place here, and as you can see today, conferences and national functions are returning to where they belong.
NAFEST is scheduled to take place here in November. We also have the National Sports Festival, the National Council on Agriculture and several other national activities taking place in Enugu. These events are opening up opportunities for our businesses and our people.
Could you give an overview of the improvements your administration has made in the healthcare sector? Also, what is your administration doing about housing regulations in Enugu State?
Frankly, we have invested significantly in the healthcare sector. However, our investment is not so much about the physical structures. We are more interested in the health indicators, and we monitor and measure those indicators very closely.
For example, we knew the maternal mortality figures when we came into office, and we know where they stand today. We had a situation where, for every 100,000 live births, we were recording over 700 maternal deaths. Today, that figure has dropped to below 100.
What has accounted for that improvement? We have increased access to skilled healthcare for pregnant women. Before we came into office, about 40 per cent of our women had access to a skilled health professional during delivery. Today, barely four per cent lack access.
We have midwives and family healthcare professionals providing those services. We do not want any pregnant woman to die while trying to bring a child into the world.
Our target is to achieve a zero maternal mortality rate. We do not believe any woman should die simply because she wants to give birth.
We are monitoring the situation closely.
That is also why I approved the recruitment of 2,250 healthcare personnel for our primary healthcare centres. We first assessed the personnel shortages across our primary healthcare facilities. When we discovered the extent of the deficit, we decided to bridge the gap.
Out of the 2,250 personnel, we have recruited 1,350. We are currently in the fourth phase of the recruitment exercise, with 450 personnel being recruited in each phase. We are working on the next batch of 450.
The objective is to recruit all 2,250 additional healthcare personnel. This will help address the pressure on our facilities and improve our under-five mortality figures. What we are doing with the Smart Green Schools will also contribute to this effort because we are regularising the medical records of children who enrol for early childhood education.
Our primary healthcare centres are also equipped to provide vaccinations. We have the necessary facilities to enable mothers to take their children, particularly infants and under-five children, to primary healthcare centres for immunisation. Vaccination is preventive and can help prevent several childhood diseases and deaths.
Our current figures are significantly below the national average. In Enugu, I think we currently record about 60 deaths for every 1,000 live births among children under five. The same applies to infant mortality. We are monitoring these figures closely because our objective is to ensure that children do not die from conditions that we can prevent.
On the issue of retaining healthcare personnel, I think the healthcare professionals themselves would be in a better position to tell you what we have done. We have achieved 100 per cent of the Consolidated Medical Salary Structure (CONMESS).
For the Consolidated Health Salary Structure, we have achieved 80 per cent. We are still 20 per cent short, but we are working towards achieving 100 per cent.
When we came into office, that figure was about 40 per cent. Today, we have moved it to 80 per cent. Our objective is to achieve full implementation so that Enugu can become a major destination for healthcare professionals.
In the last two months, since the beginning of electioneering activities, you have made over 800 appointments. Some people believe these appointments are driven by anxiety over the coming election. How do you intend to sustain them?
You are asking whether the appointments are sustainable and whether I am nervous. What I understand you to be saying is that, at a time when some people believe the administration is approaching its end, we are instead doubling down, bringing in more people and accelerating the pace of work. I think you should give us credit for bringing in additional hands to ensure that we accelerate the pace of development.
That is exactly what we are doing. It is not because we are nervous. It is because we recognise that there is still a lot of work to be done, and we must do it. That is essentially what is happening.
There is controversy over the ₦150 million fees reportedly imposed on political parties for campaign posters and other political signage in Enugu State. What is your explanation?
The fees people pay for signage are not imposed through an executive order. They are provided for by the law of Enugu State. I think some people have actually gone to court to challenge that law, and the court has given judgments affirming its legality because it is established by law. It is a law of general application. Nobody is exempted.
Let me repeat that. Go back to the law and review it. I challenge you to examine the law. You will never find any provision exempting the APC.
That means the law applies to everybody. Everybody is covered, and you have to pay the prescribed fees. Failure to do so amounts to a violation of the law.
You are the general coordinator of the APC Presidential Campaign Council in the South-East. There is controversy surrounding the Rainbow Coalition led by the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Chief Nyesom Wike. What is your position on the development?
Frankly, I think politics is all about alignment and realignment. If the APC is today being treated as a beautiful bride and we have several interests and people willing to align with us, it would be inappropriate for us to push them away. We are happy to welcome any party willing to join forces with us to ensure the re-election of Mr President on the platform of the APC and also support the re-election of all our APC candidates. That is essentially what it is about: bringing together as many forces as possible.
What is your position on calls for the possible return of fuel subsidy as a way of addressing the hardship facing Nigerians? Also, how do you explain the confusion surrounding the 30-day petrol discount announced for NNPC filling stations?
I think there is a misconception rather. There is no confusion. What I believe we should do whenever we have an opportunity or a platform like this is to dismantle the misconceptions.
First, as you mentioned, my background is in business, particularly in the oil and gas sector. More specifically, I worked in the downstream subsector. That is my area of expertise.
Even before I came into public service, I had written several articles explaining why fuel subsidy was unsustainable and why it needed to be removed. I knew, from the project I undertook in Lekki, that the project could only thrive in a non-subsidy environment.
So, I understood that petroleum subsidy was not sustainable because it was not a targeted subsidy. It was a general subsidy. Typically, when you have a general subsidy, the people who benefit most are often the wealthy and affluent members of society. Do not forget that subsidy had long been removed from diesel, which is what many mass transit vehicles use. The subsidy we were dealing with was on Premium Motor Spirit (PMS). If you think about it, it was the owners of SUVs and other big vehicles who benefited more from that subsidy.
So, if we are talking about subsidies, I do not think the subsidy we operated before the President removed it was even the right model for the country.
The people we claimed to be helping were benefiting only marginally, while the wealthy benefited significantly.
However, you can have targeted subsidies, where the government identifies specific segments of society, particularly the most vulnerable, and directs support to them. I think you can already see that the government is doing something along those lines.
The government is implementing cash transfers. There is also the World Development Programme, through which the government is targeting 1,000 people in each ward across the country to provide seed capital that will enable them to become economically productive.
That is targeted support.
You can see that the funds saved from subsidy removal are being channelled towards the segments of society that genuinely need assistance.
So, anybody talking about bringing back the old subsidy regime, in my view, is advancing a misconception about the direction in which the country should go.
I have heard the Minister of Finance and the Coordinating Minister of the Economy explain that the consequences of reversing the policy could be severe. I think those figures are accurate. If you remove the subsidy today, whatever you think you are gaining from the removal could be lost many times over through the poverty and economic consequences that would follow.
The naira could automatically be devalued, and we could be dealing with an exchange rate of about ₦4,000 to the dollar, according to a prediction made by the minister. I have not independently verified that figure, but even if you imagine such a possibility, do we really want to take the country back to where it was?
I think what we should focus on now is encouraging private capital to flow into the economy. That is what you can already see happening.
Look at the changes in the stock market and the growth we have experienced in that sector. We are witnessing considerable inflows of funds into the country, not just portfolio investments but also direct investments. That trend will become stronger because the macroeconomic indicators are becoming more stable. If we had failed to stabilise those indicators, we would still be struggling, and there would be little reason for hope. But because the macroeconomic indicators are largely stabilising, we have reason to hope.
There have been allegations of marginalisation of Enugu North Senatorial District, particularly the Nsukka zone. How would you respond to these concerns?
I think that if there is one thing we take so much pride in, it is inclusivity. I do not think there has been any development model in the history of Enugu State that recognises development at the ward level in the way our administration does.
This is the first time in the history of the state that development across critical sectors, particularly those that determine the future of the state, is being implemented at the ward level. If you look at the senatorial zone with the highest number of wards, it is Enugu North. So, if you ask me which zone stands to benefit most, I would say Enugu North.
Our biggest area of expenditure is education. The people benefiting most from that intervention include those in Enugu North. The same applies to healthcare. Enugu North is also among the major beneficiaries. So, how can you say the zone is being sidelined?
Having watched your administration for nearly four years, why should the people of Enugu State vote for you and renew your mandate?
Let me invite Ndi Enugu to imagine something with me. Let us imagine the Enugu we knew four years ago. Imagine an Enugu without Hotel Presidential. Imagine an Enugu without the International Conference Centre. Imagine an Enugu without Enugu Air. You do not want to imagine an Enugu without the International Hospital, without CNG buses or without Niger Gas. The list is endless.
Let us stretch that imagination a little further. Imagine an Enugu, four years from now, generating 660 megawatts of electricity, where we can provide 24-hour electricity across the entire state.
Imagine a situation where you return home and never have to worry about power outages. Businesses can flourish, and you can operate your business throughout the week without worrying about the cost of diesel.
Imagine an Enugu where we generate electricity and the people of the state buy power at ₦120 because they own the coal that powers the electricity. Imagine an Enugu where you do not just travel on our CNG buses but also have a monorail that can take you from one point to another.
Imagine an Enugu where you can fly directly from here to the United Kingdom, the United States, China and Dubai. We have asked you to imagine what Enugu was like a few years ago, before we came into office.
But even more important is the work ahead of us. Imagine an Enugu where our children receive an education that prepares them for the world because they have acquired the evolving 21st-century skills required to compete globally.
Imagine an Enugu where all the roads are paved and there is no part of the city with an unpaved road. The decisions we make in the coming days, weeks and months will be decisive.
We have a responsibility to uphold this Enugu of our dreams, this Enugu we have imagined for generations and which is now beginning to take shape before our very eyes. If this vision captures our imagination, then we have a duty to work towards sustaining it. We have a duty to ensure that the standard we have set does not decline and that the trajectory of development we have established is sustained.
So, I invite Ndi Enugu to continue to keep faith with us on this journey. It is a journey of greatness, growth and development.
