By Emmanuel E. Odo
The 100 days in office of His Excellency Governor Peter Mbah has come and gone but reactions upon reactions both healthy and unhealthy keep plopping in unabatedly. While most people of vision keep commending the pragmatic and strategic strides Mbah has made towards establishing the ground for a robust human and infrastructural development in Enugu some paid rapscallions poured mud instead. But what those mischief-makers don’t know is that as Mbah keeps on engaging, he has equally kept the ground running in meeting many pressing needs of the good people of Enugu.
Sometimes I am left in great astonishment as whether it’s myopism or hatred for good things that made some to dwell in painting what is white black. It was when I was ruminating in such wonderment that it came to my consciousness that any person bereft of in-depth ideas on how solid infrastructural development is executed would think that effective planning is a waste of time. Such person is usually ignorance of a simple farming practice whereby if you expect a good yield and value from what you intend to plant, you have to take necessary preparatory steps such as clearing the bush, tilling the ground, adding manure to the soil, before planting your crops. Regrettably, some persons are just typical examples of the sower who hurriedly sowed his crops on a sinking sand in which rain and abrasion from wind came and swept all the crops into a cesspool.
Shockingly, it’s until after Mbah’s 100 days in office that I found out that some individuals still believe that the saying “he who fails to plan has planned to fail” is just a mere grammatical expression with out didactic impact. What an error! It’s preposterous for some individuals to opine that Mbah’s 100 days in office was a mere theory. Indeed, it’s yet another statement being peddled by opposition minions that is full of raves of concocted words. In fact, it was William Shakespeare’s quote about life from Macbeth that best describes such unfounded vituperation. Shakespeare asserted that, “Life’s but a walking shadow; a poor player, that struts and frets his hour upon the stage, and then is heard no more: it is a tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing.” The statement that Mbah is full of theories was so untimely, uncorroborated and unnecessary in it’s entirety.
I would want those pontificating on 100 days in office to paint Mbah’s deftness bad to hold their peace and understand that Mbah is a revered technocrat who knows his onions in administration and strategy. Surprisingly, most experienced government officials and consummate industralists don’t even believe that 100 days can serve as a yardstick for measuring the scorecards of a 4-year tenure of a political office holder. One would even ask, what would be done in such a period of time if not to take time and acclamatize with the new office and then water the ground for a bumper delivery of solid projects that would stand the test of time.
I have told many of my friends that Mbah’s projects delivery will happen like a tornado in Enugu. It will be overwhelming. With what is on ground, his dream of growing Enugu’s GDP from its current 4.4billion dollars to 30billion dollars will not only come to pass but will surpass the set target. His Exellency Governor Peter Mbah just like every other adroit leader while meeting other imminent needs of ndi Enugu, has been painstakingly holding talks with some selected national and international leaders for a possible collaboration for a massive industrialization of Enugu State. Many heavyweight national and international organizations who bought the idea of his disruptive innovation have aligned with the state already for effective growth and development of ndi Enugu. Many oppositions want Mbah to fix Enugu overnight whether by cons or crook, forgetting that Rome was not built in a day. That was where they got the whole gist wrong.
Gov. Mbah being a leader who understands what wholistic development requires, he came into office and pushed to decimate the clutches of insecurity in Enugu State. He knew that insecurity and development is like cat and dog. They are like two imaginary lines that can never cross each other. Enugu is gradually experiencing peace now. The counterproductive Monday sit-at-home which Mbah in his wisdom banned, is gradually healing off completely in Enugu State. Mbah achieved this feat by holding many consultations and town-hall meetings with many state actors and security organizations in the state. He purchased great number of customized security vehicles and other security equipment and distributed them to security agencies to stern insecurity in the state.
Mbah equally understood the saying that cleanliness is next to godliness and that for the people to breathe good oxygen, proper waste management activities are required. He then declared a state of emergency on refuse evacuation. Today in Enugu especially her metropolitan cities, most heaped odourful refuse that had been breeding infectious organisms and dangerous reptiles for some years now has been evacuated. Enugu is breathing fresh air once again. Mbah achieved this by infusing some experts in waste management into the leadership of ESWAMA and procuring some number of state-of-the-art waste vehicles and other stimuli to support their works. One of the many good things about Mbah is that he can never send you to buy salt for him and then make rain on you simply to ridicule you. He would send you to catch ‘Nkakwu’ the popular smelling rat, and will set aside enough water and soap for you to wash your hands thereafter. The ESWAMA team have been working round the clock to maintain the momentum of a clean Enugu of our dream.
In addition, we just saw one of the offspring the strategic meetings Mbah has beeing holding with national and international organizations have produced. Was it not heartwarming when the news about the establishment of a visa center by United kingdom in Enugu was announced. Multiple of commendations and adulations thrilled the news. Those who has been condemning his numerous meetings and economic summit attendance were caught in awe. Some of them who knew the importance of the relationship Mbah has been making effort to establish with investors, poured encomiums on him.
Another area Gov. Mbah has beaten people’s imagination is in the area of pipe-borne water. In one of his campaign promises, Mbah said that his government would give ndi Enugu clean water in 180 days from his assumption into office. Today many parts of Enugu; Abakpa, Trans-Ekuku, New Haven, Ogui, Uwani just to mention but few have started seeing their taps run of clean water. People now save part of the huge amount of money they spend in sourcing for water to meet other needs. Mbah was able to achieve this by his prompt opening up of new boreholes and renovation of the moribund ones along Ajali River, Iva Valley, Nith miles, Ngwo axis among other areas. We are optimistic that in no distance time, the entire city of Enugu and its annexes will enjoy clean water like never before.
On payment of pension and accumulated arrears of workers, Mbah has started working the talks by the disbursement of two months pension to the beneficiaries. Today, Mbah has restored strong hope and confidence in civil service by this gesture in Enugu. Civil servants are now motivated by this act to discharge their duties effectively knowing fully well that their remunerations await them promptly. All these cumulatively contribute to a viable society and help to bolster the GDP of the state.
Other imminent responses by Gov. Mbah that are in pari-passu with his promises to ndi Enugu include the signing of electricity bills into law. Mbah is his speech in the course of the signing of the bill
emphasized that the law would make Enugu to create and distribute their own electricity. He added that it was a significant and very important Law towards the achievement of the Enugu of our dreams because the development and growth of Enugu would all be predicated on the platter that this law had created. Mbah added that, you won’t talk about industry or private sector investment if you don’t have electricity or power. Furthermore, Mbah through his keenly selected commissioners and aides has been intervening in many areas such as in training of our youths through Enugu SME in collaboration with C-Stemp Enugu, NECA, and COPEN Academy. Worthy of note is that His Excellency Dr. Peter Mbah’s unwavering commitment to youth empowerment is second to none. He promised to train 40,000 youths yearly in ICT, and other fields of endeavor.
In a wrap, I wish to admonish many naysayers to be patient to see the deep footing Gov. Mbah is making. Just as his name is Peter which means rock, Mbah wants to ensure that any project he is executing will be like a rock. He wants to ensure that all his projects will stand the agents of denudation including that of witch-hunts. Some projects do require in-dept planning to avoid had I known. Mbah is a calm, steady, cozy, pragmatic, meticulous, and adept leader, hence, we all should be focused committed, prayerful, and optimistically await the Enugu of our dream come to bear through his digitalized disruptive innovations.
Emmanuel E. Odo is a supporter of good governance. He can be reached via; [email protected]
