Felix Ikem, Nsukka
A group under the aegis of Nsukka Solidarity Forum (NSF) has said that Enugu North Senatorial District is presently witnessing an infrastructural facelift under the Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi administration.
Chief Onyema Idoko, the Director-General of the group, made this known in Nsukka on Monday in an interview with Daily Sun. He stressed that the forum is happy with ongoing infrastructural transformation in the district.
He said that the district, which had hitherto been marginalised and neglected by past administrations in Enugu State in the past three decades, has had its fortunes turned around, citing the adequate attention being paid to it by the Ugwuanyi administration.
‘The district was neglected by past administrations in the state both in infrastructural development and human empowerment but now the narrative has changed as Ugwuanyi has started correcting the past anomalies,’ Idoko said.
‘The forum is happy with what the performance of Ugwuanyi in Enugu North district, especially in the building of new roads and rehabilitating of old ones since he assumed office.
‘The governor good performance is not only in Enugu North district but in all the three senatorial districts of the state and urged him to keep it up.’
Idoko, a former council Chairman of Nsukka Local Government, however, expressed concern that some people from Enugu North wanted the total transformation of the zone to happen overnight but such people had forgotten that it would take some time to redress decades of neglect and marginalisation.
”Some of these people appear desperate and want the governor to perform a miracle of total transformation of the district overnight, he said.
‘Even when the governor has done so much in areas of massive infrastructural development and human empowerment, these people pretend as if they are not seeing numerous achievements of the governor in Enugu North.’
The NSF boss urged all those mounting unnecessary pressure on the governor to transform the district overnight to exercise restraint and show appreciation so as to encourage the governor to do more.
‘Through the efforts of the present administration, Nsukka town has become the second biggest city after Enugu the state capital.
‘The critics should also understand that the government has many financial responsibilities but with lean resources at its disposal,’ he said.
Idoko called on all people of Enugu North senatorial district, regardless of political party or religion affiliations, to continue to encourage and support the hardworking governor.
‘Since Ugwuanyi administration came on board, civil servants in the state are paid a monthly salary on or before 25th every month.
‘First thing the governor did on assumption of office was to clear arrears of salaries owned local government council workers which in some local governments it was up to fourteen months of arrears.
‘NSF urges all Enugu State residents to give Ugwuanyi maximum support to enable to achieve his mission statement of making Enugu State the envy of other states in the country before he leaves office in 2023,’ Idoko said.