In Genesis 1:1-6, the Holy Scripture records that "in the beginning God created the heaven and the earth, but the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep and thus the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters. As the Spirit of God moved over the face of the deep, He said, "Let there be light: and there was light" and God saw the light, that it was good and divided the light from the darkness.
This account of creation evokes in keen observers the true feeling of what is presently going on in Enugu State with the emergence of Dr. Peter Ndubuisi Mbah as the Governor. Despite the monumental achievements of successive administrations, there were still, as expected monumental gaps to be filled and challenges to be addressed in line with emerging and contemporary realities. One can thus say that the very day he set out to run for the governorship seat of the state, his boisterous and restless spirit of industry and innovation began to brood over the face of the deep in the state. As it brooded, it took concise cognisance of the challenges of security, water, road networks, innovative governance and of course economic expansion. He of course knew that without those issues being addressed, the state rather than move forward will nosedive below redemption. As a man coming with a rich repertoire of mind-blowing achievements in the private sector, a firm and astute believer in the dynamics that shape societal growth, he was well aware that "the worst consequences a state suffers from a half starved, limping government, always moving on crutches and tottering at every step, is that if it remains much longer in such condition without the conscious effort of its leadership to steer the ship back to order, it will easily pass for one of the most contemptible upon the face of the earth".
Stirred in the spirit, he readied himself for the onerous task of redeeming the state and placing it on the part of conscious and well primed progress.
AND PETER NDUBUISI MBAH SAID "LET THERE BE SECURITY"
Pained that Enugu State which was the bastion of regional greatness and capital of the then East Central State, known for its tranquil and peaceful nature as well as steady economic growth is being set back by the activities of "ignorant and restless desperados, without conscience or principles, acting on grievances which have no existence, but in their wayward imaginations". Worse, those miscreants reside outside the shores of our nation but acting under the guise of fighting for Igbo Nation imposed an illegal sit at home order and go on in concert with their brainwashed followers to enforce the same, killing and maiming the Igbos. In the studied position of the Governor, there was no excuse whatsoever allowing such people to have their ways. Thus he rose up to the challenge and declared that "sit at home order" has ended in Enugu State. The people, who have over the years been cajoled and threatened to submission even against their will felt concerned that such a move will only backfire and bring more calamities. But, the Governor had a different idea. He had already brooded on his plans, knowing that "if the state did not rise to address such unacceptable, illegal and obnoxious activities of non state actors, the fabric of Enugu Society, and of course the state government, would in due course be torn to shreds". Thus, to him disorder leads to calls for order, and the very choice would then be between tyranny of non state actors calling the shots or the government rising to establish itself as the only constitutionally empowered organ to lead the state and direct its affairs. To him it was a decided fact that any further experiment with tolerating the excesses of the non state actors it will have a fatal effect on the economy and overall health of the state.
Pressing home his argument, Dr. Mbah lamented the humongous amount of resources lost by the state every month and its implication on the industry, resilience and entrepreneurial lives of our people as well as negative impact on the Gross Domestic Product of the State. Recall that the Governor had set for his administration an ambitious plan to move Enugu State GDP from a paltry $4billion to an unprecedented $30billion mark annually, and by that, place Enugu State economy on a seamless trajectory of exponential growth.
Moving with the speed of light to calm frayed nerves among the frightened people, he put in place a robust partnership between all security agencies in the state, an action that immediately began to yield results. Many enforcers of the illegal sit at home, kidnappers and armed robbers, as well as other shades of dissidents have been neutralized across the state, thus reassuring the people that they are safe to go about their businesses and everyday affairs without fear of being molested, maimed or killed.
Today, one can say with every measure of certainty that the illegal sit at home is dead and gone for good and that the state has come back to occupy its enviable position as the most secured state in Nigeria. It is a win - win for this government.
Not done with his administration's agenda on security, the Governor went on to unveil the Pilot Security Scheme Vehicles codenamed The Distress Response Squad (DRS), which is designed to house over a hundred very highly sophisticated and technologically equipped vehicles with security surveillance cameras installed in all the vehicles. Those security surveillance cameras will have the capability of facial recognition and number plate recognition. This novel idea will reduce crime to the barest minimum and lead to the arrest of law- breakers. It is therefore endearing that the state government has demonstrated its readiness by already constructing the Command and Control Centre, which will be ready for commissioning in a few weeks. The idea is that specially trained personnel will be able to monitor from that location what is going on across our cities and across all the communities in the state in partnership with the police and this is a demonstration of the state’s commitment to supporting the police in fighting crime.
The government has, therefore, not hidden its commitment to providing all the required resources necessary to attain a peaceful and fully secure Enugu State. This is commendable as it is edifying to a people long held hostage by dissidents and perverts.
AND PETER NDUBUISI MBAH SAID...LET THERE BE WATER...
Water is life. Water is everything. For decades, Enugu State haa been under the threat of endemic water scarcity following the activities of saboteurs and mindless thieves who vandalise pipelines. Over the years, it appeared as if there was no way out of the logjam and that the Ajalli water supply source is jinxed. But the restless spirit of Peter Ndubuisi Mbah has already brooded over it and incubated revolutionary ideas through which to address it. Having given concise and critical thought to ways and means out of this intractable challenge, the Governor during his maiden address to the state, gave a timeline of 180 days during which Enugu Metropolis will have clean portable water and from there tackle the challenges across the state. To Enugu Citizens who have become used to successive claims that getting their taps to run again was a far cry from honesty, it sounded Greek. Experience, they say is the best informer. They didn't reckon with the import of disruptive innovation the Governor popularized during his campaigns. A background check on the Governor's antecedent will readily show that he is a system disrupter. Until Dr. Peter Ndubuisi Mbah happened unto the downstream oil and gas subsector, it was not possible for his competitors to fathom that there could be a way to offload oil from ships in the ocean without necessarily deploying boats and barges to offload and transport back to the shores. But deploying his disruptive innovation, he bought off the lekki export processing zone corridors and laid pipes directly from his Pinnacle Oil and Gas establishment through over 100's of kilometers into the Oceans, thus changing the narratives of how offloading from ships can be seamlessly done at reduced cost. That was the Pinacle Magic. And this is the disruptive miracle that is bringing water to Enugu Metropolis in less than the 180 days timeline. This is the power of vision.
Prophet Joel in Chapter 2:18 of his book drew our mind to what God said will happen in our days thus, "in the last days,’ God says, ‘I will pour out my Spirit upon all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy. Your young men will see visions, and your old men will dream dreams". This is the age God was speaking of.
Peter is a visioner envisioning a new order and approach to problem solving.
AND PETER SAID, LET THERE BE MORE ROADS...
The strategic importance of good and quality road networks in both the urban and rural communities is not lost on this mercurial manager of men and resources. When he spoke about jumpstarting the exponential economic growth and development of the state, he has already taken cognisance of the fact that rural communities must be opened up through road access. The administration has completed the scoping of 81 immediate road networks spanning across urban and rural areas translating to over 1250km of roads in the first one year. To achieve this and guarantee standard work delivery, the administration has concluded plans for direct project execution. This will ensure speedy delivery and quality assurance added to cutting cost. Such a novel idea is a welcome development and puts the state in a position where she cannot be held hostage by contractors. In this direction, arrangements have reached advanced height to take delivery of earth moving equipment compactors and other machineries vital to delivering on any road project. In a few months, dividends of democracy in this area will be felt.
LET THERE BE SANITATION AND CLEAN ENVIRONMENT
That cleanliness is next to godliness is a time tested aphorism, which is not lost on anyone. In other to therefore place the Enugu in the comity of States that would pass any objective assessment in matters of a clean and sustainable environment, where diseases and epidemics are things of the past, the administration marshalled a new sanitation regimen, making sure that evacuation was seamless and sustained. Added to this, and to change the narratives, the administration has issued instruction that in the next one month, waste evacuation contractors who do not have waste compactor trucks be relieved of providing services to the state. This is in line with his determination to ensure that standard best practice becomes a norm in the state. This readily conforms with his declaration that his administration will be business unusual. And of course, the state is already winning the war on waste management in an unusual way. There is no overemphasizing this as the result are so glaring.
It is therefore safe to say: And Peter Ndubuisi Mbah said "let there be an all round transformation and the signs are sprouting like mushrooms here and there".
Indeed, tomorrow is here
