Does Review of Governor Peter Mbah’s One Week in the Lion Building Support the Maxim "Tomorrow is Here"?

By Robert Madu, PhD.

I think it was the great philosopher Plato who reasoned that any life not worth examining is not worth living. Given to some public suspense mood arising from negative propaganda spiraling from all corners of the state just before the general elections, and generally to see how the people’s Governor Peter Mbah opened his administration page, then, it would be useful to assess the direction of the Governor’s policy statements and body language  to uphold or dispute a possible correlation  between his campaign promises and now, executive actions in the context of his one week in power.

That Governor Peter Mbah, daily attended to work and resumed office responsibilities by 8am in the morning is a discourse at the heart of managerial discipline. We cannot deny that we live in a part of the world with a consuming public culture that has minimum value for time and such has consistently affected public institutions’ productivity. At the middle of the road, the larger culture looms with somewhat 'African time' and nobody seems to care on the negative impact and or care to ensure responsibility. However, Governor Mbah has shown correct disposition to time and unarguably, such a measure of leading by example, if steadily applied has the magic of reverting the wobbling indiscipline concerning adhering to time in public service. Without mincing words, Governor Mbah could be a silent reformer in a long journey of cultural crisis that inevitably, reduced the quality of service to the society.

That Governor Mbah brought in technical partners to Enugu State Water Corporation and ESWAMA and took additional step by replacing both Water Corporation and ESWAMA managers with foreign expatriates is a masterstroke on the dark forces withholding development and robust services from these two sectors of the economy. The attendant good news is that after some period and just about three days after our Governor was sworn in, water has started running in and around Enugu metropolis and even not up to 180 days. In this generation, water supply is an essential service that should reach every nook and crannies of Enugu state. Even within the Enugu capital city, areas like Trans Ekulu and Abakpa have not seen water supply from Enugu State Water Corporation in almost a decade. Also, there is the need to extend water pipelines to developing cities around the Enugu metropolis and beyond. We are quite convinced that these technical partners have the best in terms of technical skill set and technology to deliver such level of democracy dividend.

The era of water supply by commercial water tankers is gone, outdated, lacking in modern design in a better organized society and not a sustainable process of delivering and managing clean water for healthier population. The foreign technical expatriate in the Enugu State Water Corporation is the needed bail-out from the web that is bent on destroying the fabrics of water generation and distribution. If those who designed Enugu water supply many decades ago were asked to come back to the city today, they must admit that the city is on the right track again towards achieving sustainable water supply and reviving the water generation and supply is at the core of the peoples’ intrinsic needs and part of a larger political debate that renewed citizens interest in Dr. Peter Mbah.

On ESWAMA and environmental sanitation issues, the die is cast as Ugwu Onyeama and other parts of Enugu metropolis represent obvious cases of being systematically littered with wastes and the need to design a broader comprehensive working policy to ensure clean environment arises. Enugu waste surely will grow a bigger industry in the near future from Biomass plant to all sorts of recycling which is a big business in the West. Eventually, we are nearing to that level as the German expatriates engaged are in the appropriate position to match the required technical skill set and modern technologies that have the capacity to harness our wastes and turn them into essential resources and finished products. Therefore, any preliminary microscopic view must suggest that Governor Mbah’s groundwork in a week in office shows that his campaign message and manifesto was not a hype but very consistent with his executive actions so far.

Obviously, Governor Mbah appears well informed by his high level business intelligence and managerial experiences in the upstream sector when he banned illegal mining of mineral resources in Enugu state. Many consider the backyard mining of coal at Ugwu Onyeama illegal and unknown to the state government. Also, there is a planned mining of coal at Iwollo, Ezeagu LGA but the recent state government's announcement suspended such idea. Enugu coal remains one of the best in the world, exportable, but much is needed in three critical sectors, haulage and logistics, manpower and modern mining and excavation technologies and finally, finding a sustainable market. It is a sure bet that many foreign governments will be ready to invest in Enugu coal and such could be a source of foreign currency for the state government coupled with the fact that coal is a primary element in many finished products. 

When during the campaign, Governor Peter Mbah professed that "Tomorrow is here", some people came to me including some youngsters for a clearer interpretation of such invented idiomatic expression, my answer was simple, his choice was just compact but the deeper level understanding remains that the keys he desperately needed to unlock our fortune and turn around Enugu economy and build sustainable billion dollars income economy, are all latent within Enugu environment  and the missing link remains the political will and citizens' support. Puzzle solved!

'Tomorrow is Here' was made more explicit and with deepened sense of realism given the top echelon appointment made by Enugu Executive Governor, Dr. Peter Mbah and in respect of the office of the Secretary of State (SSG).  The new Secretary, Professor Chidi Onyia is a round peg in a round hole, having lived and worked professionally in the western world and having reached the pinnacle of academic pursuit in his field. A gifted scientist by training, an esteemed professor and being on the governing council of many universities coupled with high level advisory roles to some countries. Importantly, he is a great asset to help the governor in policy formulation and overseeing its implementation. It is not about where one comes from but a game of being ready, Prof., is prime and ready on day one with vast international experiences and having studied local happenings and reality.

Furthermore, considering the counter-productive stance of the festering Sit-at-Home every Monday in the SouthEast, the Enugu state Governor Dr. Peter Mbah deserves nothing but kudos for the foresight and political will to courageously take a stand against this socio-economic aberration. Dr. Mbah could be rightly said to have done what Napoleon could not do by putting an end to Sit-at-Home in Enugu state.

Governor Peter Mbah’s vision and policy frameworks now metamorphosing into enviable groundwork just in a week in office is a new high way foundation that deepened our tastes for better governance, expanded government business intelligence that got awakened by the need to create tremendous wealth and in between recognizing the market forces as a bridge with a settled intent to promote public culture that support efficiency. Yes, and unarguably, many residents in Enugu have shown a secret score card that affirms that the Governor scored 99.09 percent in the areas of capacity, intellect and discipline just in one week.

                      Robert Madu, PhD.

                           Servant Head

           Department of Mass Communication

                             IMT, Enugu.