Setting the tone of his beautifully presented manifesto, Dr Peter Mbah held that "our broad governance objective is to create an environment for a peaceful and secure, highly developed and prosperous Enugu State by 2031. We will provide the necessary and sufficient conditions required to grow the economy ...by making it a leading destination for investment; domestic and foreign: business innovation for small, medium and large scale enterprises, tourism and leisure: and a preferred home for all citizens. These objectives he said will be achieved "by applying a governance philosophy based on the following main principles such as transparency, traceability and accountability"
In his manifesto dubbed by professionals and industry stakeholders across all subsectors of our socio-economic sphere as a perfect blueprint for the transformation of Enugu State in a time of National economic downturn, Dr. Peter Ndubuisi Mbah, the suave, urbane and charismatic PDP Enugu State Governorship candidate in the forthcoming General Elections made a good case for tourism. This, in his wisdom is owing to the place of tourism in global economies. Tourism is vital for the success of many economies around the world. There are several benefits of tourism to host destinations. Tourism boosts the revenue of the economy, creates thousands of jobs, develops the infrastructures of a state, and plants a sense of cultural exchange between foreigners and citizens.
The number of jobs created by tourism in many different areas is significant. These jobs are not only a part of the tourism sector but may also include the agricultural sector, communication sector, health sector, and the educational sector. Many tourists travel to experience the hosting destination's culture, different traditions, culinary and vintage recipe.
Governments that rely on tourism for a big percentage of their revenue invest a lot in the infrastructure. They want more and more tourists to visit which means that safe and advanced facilities are necessary. This leads to new roads and highways, developed parks, improved public spaces, enhancing local and international wings of their airports, resorts and other hospitality enterprises, as well as possibly better schools and hospitals.
Perhaps to underscore the importance of tourism in creating a new pathway to job creation, infrastructural development and foreign exchange, Dr. Mbah lauded the present administration for it's commitment to tourism development which saw to the construction of the Enugu Unity Park and boost to community driven tourism events in the past years, participation in National Tourism festivals etc, saying "in continuation of the laudable vision of the present administration, our administration plans to revamp numerous other parks around the state. These recreational parks include, Eze Park, Onwudiwe Park, Ngwo Park, all located in Uwani, Enugu. There is also the Unity Park on Independence layout, Nnaji Park in new Haven; Ude Ubaka Park at Agbani Road; Murtala Muhammed Park at New Market Area and Ejindu Park at Coal Camp. These are all viable parks but need enhancement of recreational facilities and innovative businesses in and around them. The benefits from such ambitious interventions cannot be over emphasised.
These will be complemented with the aggressive completion of the International Conference centre to provide avenue for international and regional conferences, lectures, summits, AGM of big corporations and other indoor and ancillary events that will up the revenue generating potentials of the state.
To drive the tourism industry, he plans to focus on the training of the critical manpower needed across all facets of tourism. To achieve this, he envisions partnership with the private sector investors to build Tourism Schools and other tourism projects like;
* Tourist Resort around the Asada Lake off the Adada River in Uzo Uwani
* Resorts and event centre around Ezimo Waterfalls, Cultural Carnival and Marathon events
* Resort around Awhum Waterfalls
* Tourism around the popular Akwuke dry sand beach and caves
* Historical sites like Enugu Archives, and the coal museum
* A world class Theme Park which will be the largest in Africa and attract global visitors
* Enhancement of the Nike Lake Resort through operation of various concessions to complement the hotel there
* The development of the first 5- Star hotel in the South East / South South .
Peter Mbah of course understands the critical role safe and innovative infrastructures play in allowing for a smooth flow of goods and services and believes that through tourism, local people of the state will experience an opportunity for economic and educational growth.
Tourism is therefore a great opportunity for foreigners to learn about a new culture, but it also creates many opportunities for local citizens. It allows young entrepreneurs to establish new products and services that would not be sustainable on the local population of residents alone. Moreover, residents experience the benefits that come with tourism occurring in their own country.
Without mincing words, Enugu State is a tourism hub. Across it's 17 local government areas are ancestral sites, caves, waterfalls, rolling hills, lakes and conservation sites. With Peter Mbah driving the Government of Enugu State come 2023, we can shout Eureka.
With this, we can readily beat our chests and say,
In Dr. Peter Ndubuisi Mbah OUR TOMORROW IS HERE.
