PETER NDUBUISI MBAH: A WIDESPREAD PHENOMENON THAT CAPTURED THE SOULS OF NDI ENUGU

By Prince Ugochukwu Nwanjoku 

Barr. Dr. Peter Ndubuisi Mbah, the ebullient and hardworking oil and gas mogul is quiet, self-effacing, gentle but dynamic. Except when provoked, Dr. Mbah is so gentle and unassuming that he could easily be classified as a man who cannot hurt a fly. This quiet and simple disposition has become a defining factor in his political career. For those ranting around the political firmament of Enugu state, look for his trouble and you would know that the dog that does not bark can bite.

Variously described as the hero of the Nigeria down stream oil and gas sub-sector of the economy, and in terms of political activism and sagacity, Peter Mbah dwarfs all detractors. Adequately informed of the time-tested Biblical injunction that one should count one's blessings and name them one by one, and given the fact that in our clime, if you failed to name what you have achieved, your opponents who are given to pomposity and loudness would name them as their achievements, Dr. Mbah had decided to let God and mankind note the spread and dimensions of his towering achievements in the years of calling the shots in the Nigeria oil and gas industry, as a chairman/chief executive officer of Pinnacle Oil and Gas Ltd. Again, certain numbers of the critical clan in the media, especially those working for his opponents, believed that Peter Mbah is the most acceptable, educated, intelligent, focused and well prepared for governance.

Also, not a handful of those critics knew that before Mbah, was elected to succeed Governor Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi in 2023, and to consolidate on the giant stride of the current administration, developments were largely concentrated in most rural communities, the most populated density of the state figure, much to the detriment of the urban city, forgetting that the rural dwellers are the numbers that needed governance most. Not many knew that several communities were not accessible as they had no motorable roads before Governor Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi came as governor and provided them with the infrastructural basement; today the story has changed. Peter Mbah's humanism favours an assertion of the dignity of man against the asceticism of medieval misanthropy. Given Dr. Mbah's legendary love for his people, his elan, his charisma and his capacity to hold even his political adversaries in thrall, few can behold this action gubernatorial candidate and not feel a sense of shame and inadequacy.

Peter Mbah exudes a sure-footedness or confidence that wows. The incoming governor's grasp of issues and his insight are simply astounding. If the insights he proffers are penetrating, his quest for excellence is unrelenting. But, again, it is his vision and determination to provide comfort for his people that is the thrust of his political philosophy. It takes an astute politician with a consuming love for his people to see the faceless antagonism of fifth columnists who would not see anything good about his disruptive innovation mantra as a challenge and thus employ his manifesto to prove the bookmarks wrong. In just seven months after his emergence as the PDP gubernatorial candidate in Enugu state, he has canalized all dangerous proclivities into harmless channels. If you recall in the past how PDP gubernatorial candidates used to emerged from party primaries especially of the 1999 and 2007 era, you will understand the Mbah phenomenon.

The sense energy and optimism generated by Mbah's bold attempt to create a brave new model state in the southeast when inaugurated as governor in the coming months, next year, in spite of all odds, could have easily given way to disillusionment if his manifesto did not turn visionary rhetoric into something rather more substantial. Of course, Dr. Mbah's mastery of political mood-music is not to be sniffed at. But he remains an epitome of courage. To be candid, Peter Mbah does not have a bad press. With some of the best hands in the media industry (Hon Dan Nwomeh and Prince Ejeh Josh, to be specific) at the helm of his media team, the antics of those sponsored bookmakers intent on running him down pave into insignificance. After the sense of drift that was the lot of the people in the recent past, in spite of intensive media hype, the state is experiencing a refreshing moment. The administrative agenda of Dr. Mbah inspires widespread confidence. Peter has managed simultaneously to accept much of the legacy of the current administration while creating public excitement about his own idea of good governance. He is attacking excruciating poverty and underdevelopment in some sector of the state economy head-on through the ongoing town hall meetings across the 68 development centres to accelerate potential projects his administration would embark on immediately taking over power in 2023.

While it is impossible to articulate the cumulative magnitude of Peter Mbah's developmental packages for the people of Enugu state in one piece, this is factual aid to the bare construing of the incoming governor's staggering and enormous achievements in the Oil and Gas industry over the years. Besides, asphalting a network of more than 5 kilometers of well developed, closely knit roads across the length and breadth of Owo community, his foundation has given more than a facelift to education and health care services for the purpose of contributing to humanity.

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