HIS rancour-free and seamless candidacy culminating in foretold victory as the governor of the leading South East state of Nigeria was indicative of promise which is being fulfilled so exceptionally and exponentially that you are compelled to believe that there are still few credible politicians in the country. Let us celebrate an honourable gentleman who is institutionalizing illuminative props of hope for our democracy, especially in a zone—specifically Abia and Imo—that has produced (and is still scandalously tolerating one) charlatanistic governors in the past decade or thereabouts.
Barrister Sullivan Chime, the immediate-past governor of Enugu State, laid a solid foundation for social infrastructural renewal in the state during his eventful tenure. This has facilitated the consolidation of this sphere by his successor. What has been happening in the past two years is a systematic urban renewal initiative that has given the state a novel look unprecedented since the post-Biafra war era. With just two years-plus in the saddle, by the time Gov Ugwuanyi completes his ordained second term in 2023, Enugu State would have become a model state and a reference point not just in the zone but Nigeria. I make this informed declaration with decorum and a sense of responsibility as a public opinion engineer.
If anyone who had gone to Enugu and spent some days or weeks before Gov. Ugwuanyi took charge and returns now, the person is most likely to be stunned by the transformative re-engineering going on in the state superlatively. As I observed earlier, by the time this governor finishes his double tenure, questions would be asked as to where the man had been all these years! Gov. Ugwuanyi, from his unparalleled multi-sectoral interventions, is paling all his predecessors pooled into insignificance because of the systemic rot that had engulfed the state even before ex-Gov. Chime.
Emphatically, Gov. Ugwuanyi has redefined the essence of democratic governance by revolutionizing the profile of roads, public health ecology, educational uplift, rural electrification, youth empowerment through the instrumentalities of skill acquisition and provision of take-off grants, among other assists. This man’s profound and profuse compassion is boundless. There should be no question of humanism in governance when a governor makes statutory payments to workers and pensioners. It only becomes an issue of existentialism when a governor meets a 13-month backlog of such wicked debts and clears them in one fell swoop. Almost all his peers are not as considerate as they even callously cultivate their own indebtedness! It speaks volumes of the kind of man who is our subject today for the first time. Simply put, Gov Ugwuanyi cares about and for his people—that is what social contract between public office holders and those outside the corridors of power is all about essentially.
I have the conviction that Gov. Ugwuanyi has the fear of God in him. This has proved catalytic in his administrative style. It is only where there is a disconnect between a governor—and indeed any other leader—and God that such a public functionary will not lose any sleep owing salaries and pensions, but have public funds for frivolities like birthday celebrations, tenure anniversary, erection of all manner of imbecilic statues, trivial foreign trips stewed in reckless allowances and establishment of ludicrous ministries, in addition to other devilish juvenilities that border on clinically irredeemable dementia. It is my strong belief that Gov. Ugwuanyi will not relent in addressing the challenges and needs of his people—and even other Nigerians—as the next paragraph reaffirms.
Early this month, Chief Femi Adesina, the Special Assistant (Media and Publicity) to President Muhammadu Buhari, was a guest of Gov. Ugwuanyi en route to an Enugu community for the conferment of a chieftaincy title, “Nwanne di na mba”. Because of flight disruptions arising from inclement weather usually at that time of the year, Otunba Femi, the journalistic generalissimo and one of the most humble gentlemen in the world, had to fly to Port Harcourt, Rivers State, instead of Enugu.
No other South East governor—past or present—could have done what Gov. Ugwuanyi did. I say this because I had been a guest of a few of them and none cared how I got to their office for strictly official matters! Honestly, I had never expected such courtesies and niceties because my employers had always taken holistic care of such usually fact-finding trips. Back to our man: Gov. Ugwuanyi sent his convoy, according to Otunba Femi, to Port Harcourt to come and bring him and his entourage to Enugu in three hours! No other governor from the South East had been or could be so passionate about executive hospitality. Gov. Ugwuanyi not only made his convoy available, he spent all-day with Otunba Femi at his installation as a chief and treated him to a sumptuous dinner, among other lavish aspects of reception. It is not the physical value of these things that matters, but the attitudinal disposition and considerateness of the governor. It is uncommon, if not a rarity.
The only governors that have this kind of inclination are northern governors and marginally those from the South South axis. I remember former governor of Katsina State, Dr. Shehu Shema, chartering an aircraft to convey members of the Nigerian Guild of Editors from Lagos to Kano en route to Katsina for their biennial conference. It was unprecedented and remains memorable.
In the words of the virtuous governor, “Enugu is in the hands of God”. There can be no better justificatory statement why Gov. Ugwuanyi and his state are flourishing illimitably.
The unique leadership credentials of Gov. Ugwuanyi have unconsciously made him to be at peace with all men as the bible enjoins. His peculiar administrative typology has also made the three arms of government to work harmoniously, just as the organized private sector, entrepreneurs, small and medium-scale traders, farmers, the clergy, students and all other segments of the society make laudatory declarations about the man Chief Femi Adesina fondly calls “Ekwueme”!
Once there is an enthronement of good governance and best practices, every other thing will fall in tandem. It is when you are power drunk, corrupt and does not have the fear of God in you that you can snore when salaries and pensions are unpaid or care less about social infrastructural provision.
How many governors in Nigeria today can Labour, the judiciary, students, the OPS, ministries, departments and agencies, multifarious constituencies, the oppositional clan and presidential spokesman talk about in glowing terms unhesitatingly and unreservedly? How many governors are up-to-date with salary payment, let alone paying the traditional “13th month pay”, as this Ekwueme did last month? The cordiality, love and peace in this state should be emulated and replicated nationwide.
As I round off this article, just two testimonials from the Chief Judge of Enugu State and Chief Adesina: First from Justice Priscilla Emehelu, “Under your dynamic leadership, Enugu State has enjoyed peace and progress. We restate our commitment and support to your administration in ensuring that the state becomes the first among equals.”
And from Chief Adesina comes this testamentary extract: “When our flight to Enugu after about two hours’ delay was cancelled due to bad weather, we flew into Port Harcourt and the governor sent his convoy which received us in Port Harcourt and within three hours we are here in Enugu. I did not know that the governor will go that far to make us comfortable…Last night, he was with us and hosted us to a dinner and today we have virtually commandeered him, from the 1 p.m. we took off from the Government House this is now 8 p.m. and he has been with us.
Which governor will devote seven hours of his time like this?” Otunba Femi, may be his colleagues from the North—certainly not other South East governors who have tangential regard for media professionals at whatever level of engagement!
The final word on Gov. Ugwuanyi from the Archbishop of Enugu Ecclesiastical Province (Anglican Communion), Most Rev. (Dr.) Emmanuel Chukwuma: “Anybody who says you’re not going for second term will fail. I am happy that APC chieftains acknowledge that you are doing well. So, anybody who comes to challenge you will fail. Enugu is peaceful, no report of any upheaval, unlike other states where there are killings and pandemonium.”
What else do I need to add except to take off my hat to Gov. Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi, an Adonis loved by one and all because of his exceptional attributes in a country where governance is synonymous with obscene acquisition of wealth and leadership deviancy?
“Ekwueme”, our respect (in transcription of your surname), we shall need you in 2023 for Igbo presidency, by God’s grace. And so shall it be.