The thought for this article had been incubated since late last year. It was actually provoked by a November 22, 2024, post by Fred Chukwuelobe, a public relations expert, on his Facebook wall, captioned, “A word for Governor Mbah of Enugu State”. Chukwuelobe was in Enugu for the ordination of Damian Ifeanyichukwu Omenugha, as Deacon of the Catholic Church at Bigard Memorial Seminary.
He went round the city after the ordination ceremonies. And his verdict: “I dare say that, indeed, Enugu is now working… Governor Mbah is changing the landscape of the Coal City in an admirable manner. The roundabout at Okpara Avenue, by Rangers Avenue, by New Haven junction, by the Government House, have been remodeled and they have given the city a new beautiful look. He’s working on roads, on pipe-borne water, on electricity, etc.”
Chukwuelobe explained that the writeup was not to humour the governor but because he always desired good governance that delivers democracy dividends to the long-suffering masses. In signing off, he remarked; “I am completely convinced the man has a purpose and it is to truly make Enugu State better than anybody has ever imagined”.
Chukwuelobe is not from Enugu. But Ogbuagu Bob Anikwe is from there, and had at a point served as Commissioner for Information in the state. He agreed with Chuwuelobe, adding, “If Mbah doesn’t slack, and I don’t believe he will, Enugu is bound to give Nigeria a shining example for all time”.
Kanayo Esinulo, former aide to the Biafran leader, Chukwuemeka Odumegwu-Ojukwu, also weighed in on the subject. He was in Enugu for the public presentation of his trailblazing book, “OJUKWU: Exile, Diplomacy and Survival”. He wrote, “I am still in shock at the transformation that Enugu, the capital of our region, is undergoing. Ogui Road, Independence Layout, GRA, Trans-Ekulu, New Heaven and other areas have all been touched by this government of Peter Mbah. Enugu is undergoing significant and amazing transformation infrastructurally. Hospitals and other healthcare facilities are being totally restructured. Enugu is witnessing improvement in many areas”.
You may not agree with the remarks by these tested hands but you can hardly ignore them. Each has made marks in our industry, the media. Chukwuelobe, before veering into public relations, gave a good account of himself in the newsroom, capping it as news editor of the Champion Newspapers. Ogbuagu, erstwhile news editor of The Guardian, was my boss in The Post Express Newspapers. He was actually the first managing director to decorate me with editor’s rank, when he made me assistant editor before further progressions. We operated at different wave lengths in temperament and disposition, but I always conceded to him the thoroughness and mastery of the job. Esinulo, in similar vein, is like a generalissimo, who has seen it all in the Nigerian Television Authority (NTA) and The Guardian Newspapers, where he was the first news editor.
Three of them making affirmations on the performance profile of Governor Mbah cannot be taken lightly. My relations living in the state have also rated the administration high. That is commendable and heartwarming.
I am not from Enugu and have not been to the state lately. I don’t also have any relationship with the governor whatsoever. In fact, in the 2023 election, I did not root for him, for two reasons. He is a member of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). I supported his opponent, the candidate of Labour Party (LP), Chijioke Edeoga, a professional colleague who I can describe as a friend, even if not intimately.
I did not have sympathy for any candidate on the ticket of the PDP at any level. PDP, for me, has been a huge disappointment to the South East. In my article on May 27, 2022, titled “PDP, South East and how not to reward loyalty”, I took note of how the zone had over the years supported the party by giving it almost 100 percent of its votes at elections, especially the presidency.
For a people that had demonstrated such unprecedented level of fidelity, there was expectation of reward. And 2023 should have been an opportunity for the PDP to show gratitude to the South East. But in the runup to its May 28, 2022, presidential primary, PDP defaulted and threw its ticket open to all the zones. That, for me, was the height of injustice to the region.
So, Mbah, like any other candidate of the party, did not win my support. The breezy manner in which the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) announced him the winner of the governorship poll did not also help matters. My support for Edeoga continued through the entire judicial process up to the Supreme Court. But the elections are over. It is no longer time for partisanship but citizenship for the good of the South East. What Mbah is doing in Enugu should, therefore, be commended and replicated in other states in the region.
For long, officials from the South East saw it as opportunity to amass wealth and not call to service. Consequently, the region became byword for failure and object of mockery before others. At some point, law and order were on flight, leaving the citizens at the mercy of criminal gangs.
Ironically, that was a zone that had produced men and women of class in all aspects of national life. This was an area from which the likes of Ojukwu (Ikemba Nnewi), hailed from. This was a zone that within a space of nine years after the 1967 – 1970 civil war, had risen from the ashes of crushing defeat to produce a Vice President (Alex Ekwueme) and Speaker of the House of Representatives (Edwin Ume-Ezeoke), among other senior government officials.
These were a people who the literary icon, Chinua Achebe, captured in his concise book, ‘The Trouble with Nigeria’ as though not having advantage of early head-start, had ‘wiped out their handicaps in one fantastic burst of energy in the twenty years between 1930 and 1950’. You will also not appreciate the trademark resilience of the people unless you take the story from the audacity of Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe and the Premier of the defunct Eastern Region, Michael Iheonukara (M.I) Okpara in lifting the area from near ground zero, such that by 1964, it was described as the fastest growing economy in the world by Harvard Reviews.
That is perhaps, the story Governor Peter Mbah wants to reenact in Enugu. It is hoped that he does not slack in the revolution.