recognising that some things
are black and white - Benjamin Netanyahu, September 19, 2017.
In his speech at the United Nations in September 2017, Benjamin Netanyahu remarked that even Penguins support Israel. Although penguins are birds, they are able to, according to Netanyahu, recognise the difference between white and black. The bird is known to inhabit the Antarctica, the only continent without permanent human habitation. The point here, it seems to me, is the global acceptance of Israel.
Netanyahu appears to be saying to the world: If birds – penguins – recognise the difference between white and black, why would human beings not be able to do so? He used ‘white’ and ‘black’ to symbolise the difference between truth and falsehood, capacity and incapacity, justice and injustice. Israel did not beg to be recognised, rather it is displaying capacity and inevitably the world is taking note.
Before May 1948, the Nation of Israel did not exist. Seven decades later, Israel has not only emerged as a Nation, but also has become so powerful that neither USA nor China would be in a hurry to take on the country. Yet, the population of Israel is less than ten million, just about the size of two States in the South-East. What made all the difference for Israel, however, is summed up in the word Capacity!
In the same way, what will make the difference for us in Enugu here is Capacity, a leader with Capacity. Why do people refer to Peter Mbah as a game-changer? It is simply because of his capacity! A track record of capacity to revolutionalise a system and cause a quantum leap. It is not that Peter Mbah is telling us, it is that we are witnesses to it.
From Chief of Staff to Commissioner for Finance in Enugu State and then to the business world, Ndubuisi Mbah has never left a place without re-modelling it. From a very humble beginning as recently as 2008, his Pinnacle has leapfrogged to rank first in Oil and Gas in Nigeria; he commands the largest Tank Farm in West Africa. Talk about capacity! Mbah’s brain is prodigiously innovative, his energy is tremendous, his ability to manage personnel is adjudged inimitable.
I have heard some people remark that politics is emotional. Indeed it is so in underdeveloped countries and that is precisely the reason for the underdevelopment. In developed countries, however, political choice is not based on emotion but on reason and logic.
And so I ask: assuming Chijioke Edeoga turns out to be the guber candidate of Labour Party, between Mbah and Edeoga, who do I consider a more capable person, in terms of creation of jobs and opportunities? Who is more exposed and armed with international connections to bring in investors and expand opportunities? Who discusses health-care, agro-allied industrialisation, housing, entertainment, job creation, commerce with a deeper level of insight? Can we set our emotional and party affiliations aside and supply answers to these questions?
After the last eight years in which more than 133 million persons were railroaded into extreme poverty in Nigeria, our criteria for choosing our political leaders must change. Joe Biden, for example, is a business man. Apart from his book deals that brought him fortune, the connection of his family with Oil business is well known. Today, he is able to generate an average of three hundred thousand jobs monthly. The current British Prime Minister, Rishi Sunak, is an investment banker of Indian origin and a Hindu. The British people set all those emotions aside and summoned him to rescue them from economic crisis.
If, in our present extreme economic challenges, we choose a politician who has never created wealth over an economic magician like Peter Mbah, who do we blame?
In all our history Year 2023 is probably the most important. We stand at a crossroads. If we get it right this time with our PVCs, we have a chance to bid a permanent farewell to poverty and also midwife a new history. But if by some stroke of ill-luck and emotional bias, we make another mistake, we would have signed a lasting pact with poverty and joblessness (God forbid!).
Enugu is awash with hope. Peter Mbah has inspired in us a sense of a new beginning. If ever Chijioke Edeoga will have another chance to aspire for a leadership position, he will be well advised to borrow a leaf from Peter Ndubuisi Mbah: don’t place someone on the table, instead place your capabilities on the table. Political campaign is not an abattoir for character assassination, it is an opportunity to display capacity. It is indeed time to, as Winston Churchill would say, ‘quit talking and begin doing’.
Ndi Enugu 2023 is here! A new chapter has opened. It’s time for action! Where is your PVC?
#Tomorrow is here!
God bless Enugu State!
May God prosper Mbah/Ossai 2023 Project.
Dr Hyginus Eze
