On Monday, May 29, 2023, Rt. Hon. Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi constitutionally transferred power to Dr. Peter Ndubuisi Mbah as Governor of Enugu State, marking the
successful end of his eight-year tenure. Ugwuanyi and Mbah are both leaders of the Peoples Democratic Party signifying a seamless transition from one PDP-led administration to another.
Ugwuanyi gave the people’s welfare the utmost priority it deserved to the extent that when some of his peers were busy starving their workers and channeling their states’ lean resources to the execution of projects that had no direct impacts on their people, he chose to first pay the state workforce the N30,000 new minimum wage with its consequential adjustment, which takes the chunk of the Enugu State’s resources, leaving the state with very little to embark on infrastructural development and...
During the Transition Thanksgiving Mass for Ugwuanyi and his deputy, Hon. Mrs. Cecilia Ezeilo at Holy Ghost Cathedral, Ogui, Enugu, on the eve of the handover, Msgr. Prof. Obiora Ike spoke glowingly about Ugwuanyi’s commitment to making peace to reign in Enugu and went on to decree that history will be kind to Ugwuanyi for entrenching peace in the state when security challenges were being experienced in other states of the South East geo-political zone.
Besides, another pertinent aspect of Ugwuanyi’s administration that engendered peace and rapid development, which though didn’t go down well with the majority of residents of Enugu City was its decision to concentrate massive developments in the rural areas through its peace and grassroots development initiatives.
Nevertheless, posterity will remain kind to Ugwuanyi for grabbing the bull by the horns through his novel rural development programmes that opened up the rural areas and gave hope and instilled in the rural dwellers, the long neglected and deprived in the state a new strong sense of belonging. Governor Mbah has never failed to acknowledge this fact each time he speaks before the former governor.
Notably, he rejected staying tamely at the end of received policy prescriptions but rather coveted knowledge-driven innovations, proactive engagement with stake-holders, policy makers and sure-footed action. He brought these dimensions to bear on his political and developmental leadership of Enugu State.
At the peak of nation’s economic recession between 2015 and 2016, he was able to pay workers’ salaries when 27 states of the federation could not pay, let alone embark on capital projects, as state governors resorted to bailout funds unlike their predecessors who had access to crude oil funds which enabled them to execute capital projects.
Ugwuanyi is regarded by many as the unsung hero of infrastructure, as he continued with his aggressive execution of legacy projects – projects that impact directly on the people till his last week in office. Taking education as another critical development arena, Ugwuanyi is the second person after Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe, to bring a university to Nsukka zone, the State University of Medical and Applied Sciences , Igbo-Eno, Enugu State. Ugwuanyi is the founder of SUMAS and it was the venerable Zik who attracted the University of Nigeria Nsukka to Nsukka.
From rural to urban areas with a deliberate emphasis on rural Enugu State, he enacted changes that will stand the test of time. From mortar and brick projects to sophisticated socio-economic support constructions in the health, education, judiciary and road arenas, he simply touched a wide swathe of the state’s local government areas positively.
His administration computerised 490 secondary schools and converted 1,000 volunteer teachers to permanent staff as well as releasing all outstanding arrears of promotion to date . These institutions witnessed various degrees of interventions in the provision of infrastructure, teaching, learning, laboratory and workshop equipment for the purposes of programmes accreditation, teaching and learning.
It is indeed worth repeating that in terms of peace, security, infrastructural development, education, health, workers’ welfare, youth empowerment etc, Ugwuanyi stands very tall. As legacies go, history will certainly remember him kindly.
Governor Mbah told Ugwuanyi that “you recognised that the line of the land is shifting rapidly and you took a view that if we must accelerate development in Enugu State, the people who will be leading or championing that development must also have the necessary public and private sector background. The governor had promised to grow the state’s economy from its current level of $4.4 billion to $30 billion. He talked about ensuring that his administration achieves a zero per cent rate in the state’s poverty headcount index.
The Governor declared that “the youths of Enugu State will be one of the biggest beneficiaries of the tomorrow that is now here today. We want to expose our youths to the skills required to grasp the emerging future and create opportunities for the genius in them to flourish. We also want to invoke and instill in them the can-do spirit that is innate in the Igbo man. Enugu will rubbish ‘Japa’, not by legislation but by creatively addressing the challenges to the future of our youths.
“We will serve you with every fiber of our being and devote all our energy and your resources to working for you and your interests. Our driving force and governance philosophy will always be based on transcendental values.
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