There are clear thinkers, muddled thinkers, and people that fall in between. Clear thinkers are the ones that can cull everything down into the right points and they are very hard to find. But if you get yourself a team of clear thinkers, the possibilities are endless. These are men who see tomorrow, trailblazers and high-level executives, but most often misunderstood by some fellow countrymen still stuck in the old normal of yesterday.
Governor Peter Mbah of Enugu State, in my view, falls into the bracket of a clear thinker as outlined by Justin Merkins above. This assertion is gleaned from the products of his ingenuity and vivid sign posted in a recent admonition to the Federal Government.
Aside from the fact that a scan through his profile, intelligence, personal background, and values, reveals a Nigerian maritime lawyer of repute and quietly influential financial analyst, his activities as the Governor of the Coal City-State in the past thirty (30) days further demonstrates beyond reasonable doubt that our solution as a nation is to look for men with the right character, ability, motivation and those that will encounter inevitable crisis and would emerge victorious as leaders. More specifically, like every great leader, Mbah has discovered that the primary need of his people (the people of Enugu State) is their survival and well-being.
The above assertion is predicated on leadership hopeful signs so far demonstrated.
Top on the chart is Mbah’s revelation that his administration has concluded arrangements to host a Diaspora and Investment Forum (ES-DIF) to raise at least $2 billion in additional investments for the state.
While noting that his administration has made concerted efforts to identify commercially viable investment and business opportunities that cut across multiple sectors, including energy, agribusiness, tourism, and transport, as well as the data center economy, Mbah explained that the forum which forms part of promises he made to the people during his swearing-in that he will raise revenue from N4.4 billion to N30 billion, would be a multi-stakeholder, fully transactional platform to match project sponsors, domestic and international financial institutions and private investors, including the diaspora community and development partners, to viable investment opportunities in the state.
Before the ‘dust’ arising from the celebration of the governor’s proposed vision could settle, another was up. The good people of the state and other critical stakeholders were hit by Peter Mbah’s intensified efforts to end the Monday sit-at-home in the state. This was in addition to his recent appeal to President Bola Tinubu to release Nnamdi Kanu, the detained leader of the outlawed Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB).
On June 10, 2023, it was reported that the governor met with critical stakeholders in the state, including transport unions, market leaders, religious and traditional leaders, civil society organizations, organized private sector, and labour unions, where he extracted their commitment to end the sit-at-home. At each point, he stressed the need to support the government’s efforts and programmes for the overall interest of the state.
Away from ending Monday’s sit-at-home to another development in the state that is not only national in outlook but will have a global impact-connecting the eastern part of the country to the wider world while bringing foreign earnings to the state.
Going by news reports, the Enugu State government has concluded a plan to partner with the Federal Government to complete and operationalize the international wing of the Akanu Ibiam International Airport, as well as build a cargo terminal to boost the state’s and nation’s economy and tourism capacity.
The Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN), Mr. Kabir Yusuf Mohammed, and the Governor of Enugu State, Dr. Peter Mbah, made this known after a tour of the ongoing international terminal building and the proposed site for the international cargo terminal at the Akanu Ibiam International Airport, Enugu, recently.
Speaking to newsmen after a courtesy visit to the Governor and a tour of the facility with the Governor, Mr. Mohammed commended Mbah’s zeal and sense of urgency towards the actualization and operationalization of the two terminals, saying there was no better time to discuss partnership and collaboration than now.
“We met with the Governor here today with a view to collaborating with FAAN in order to make the international terminal functional. This is a time to look at things again and again before you will be able to get the right formula for it, and I believe His Excellency has that formula and within the shortest possible time, I can assure you that this terminal will be put to use. The first place we went to is supposed to be the cargo terminal. We have a cargo warehouse in that location as well as the cargo terminal. “Enugu, as the capital of the South-Eastern region, is where we know that there are a lot of traders, who trade in different kinds of things across the globe’’. Mr. Mohammed concluded.
Indeed, this piece need not search far to know that a great number of leaders in Nigeria have, to use the words of Mahatma Gandhi, favored Wealth Without Work, Pleasure Without Conscience, Knowledge Without Character, Commerce (Business) Without Morality (Ethics), Science Without Humanity, Religion Without Sacrifice, and Politics Without Principle. But going by the hopeful signs of focused and creative leadership so far demonstrated in the Mbah-led administration in the state; it will not be described as hasty if one concludes that a shift in leadership paradigm has landed in the state.
Also remarkable is the governor’s emphasis on the need for investing in bio-economy to enhance the economic development of the country and stem the scramble by youths for greener pastures abroad. Mbah who spoke at a workshop tagged, ‘Regional Awareness and Sensitization Workshop on Strategic Implementation of the Cassava Bio-Ethanol Project,’ stated that the Cassava Bio-Ethanol project initiated would give the youths hope and that its success would create employment opportunities and dissuade youths from leaving the country in droves. He said that biotechnology would open a vista of opportunities that would improve the country’s economy in no distant future.
Even as the Governor celebrates his first month in office while looking into the future of the state with high hopes, this piece believes that more work needs to be done and more reforms to be made to enable sustainable development spread out its wings in the state.
As this intervention may not provide the required space to underline the legion of responsibilities the governor needs to address on behalf of the good people of the state, the author holds the opinion that the best areas to start are investing more in education, youth empowerment and job creation, massive infrastructural development and agriculture among others.
On Nnamdi Kanu, it is barefaced truth that the Nigerian state has not treated the Igbo, one of the three tripods on which the federation of Nigeria stands, fairly since the civil war ended. That notwithstanding, the Igbos, especially its youths, should allow sanity to prevail over emotion. They must queue behind the enlightened steps being taken by Barrister Mbah, the Executive Governor of Enugu state. It is in following this civil part that will announce the emergence of a brand-new eastern region. of Nigeria.
To the Federal Government, I believe that the likes of Kanu would instantly fizzle away and their cause dies naturally if Nigeria is restructured to ensure more inclusiveness. But agitations for the death of Nigeria cannot go away when nepotism and sectionalism continue to be evident in the manner of political patronage and distribution of our common patrimony as currently obtained.
