By Francis Ede,
Recently there have been an avalanche of criticism against our hard working Governor of Enugu State over his choice of multiple projects he is executing across the state within the little time he has been in office as ‘elitist’ by design or default.
Spurred by their morbid fear about Peter Mbah’s apparent grip on the electorate of Enugu State, the purveyors of puerile brand of propaganda are hoping to detach and disembark some of the uninformed from the fast moving train towards 2027 Governorship Election in the state.
These criticisms oscillate from the sublime to burlesque, and from the trivial to the pedantic and dogrel rooted in perverse interpretation of the Governor’s policies and actions.
While some others hide their own mischief in intellectual sophistry, and subterfuge but in the main all they are trying to do is to entrench public despair against a government that is doing all it could to salvage the people of Enugu State from poverty and underdelopment that have weighed us down, through a radical and revolutionary approach to governance.
Yet there are those who believe albeit spuriously, that they belong to the tribe of the champions of the adumbrate slogan of ‘let the poor breathe’.
Sure enough, the poor should breathe but so should the rich also breathe, after all, it is the same oxygen that both the rich and the poor thrive on. Our people were right when they say, ‘let the eagle perch and let the kite also perch: and whosever says no to the other let its wings break ‘.
But I can tell whomever cares to listen that Gov Peter Mbah cares for both the rich and the poor with equal love and dedication in his pursuit of the greatest number of goods for the greatest number of people.
He knows that both sides have equal stakes to the resources of the state, even when the poor because of the level of their needs and the deprivations associated with their low level of income will require all the sense of empathy, commitment, service and upliftment that they can get from the government, but the rich no matter the urgency of relief sought for the poor should not be undermined in any way.
Knowing this as a matter of fact, Gov Peter Ndubuisi Mbah the Governor of Enugu State has pursued with vigour and honesty of purpose the establishment of infrastructure and service delivery that carter to the needs of the rich and the poor alike.
A cursory glance at the achievements of Governor Peter Mbah’s administration in the last two years in office, his projects both completed and ongoing, and programmes instituted to ensure good governance will show to the unbiased observer that there is a deliberate intent to serve both the rich and the poor with equal commitment and dedication.
In fact, it is the resources of the rich that is being mobilized through tax, tariff, levies and through PPP i.e Public Private Partnership to build or renovate new industries and old ones like the Niger Gas Plant, Emene or the Sunrise Flour Mill, amongst others so that our children should be gainfully employed.
Take Security of lives and property for an instance which has been a major plank of this administration’s remarkable achievements.
Even the cynics would readily agree that the level of insecurity and violence in Enugu State before the coming into office of Governor Peter Mbah was of a frightening dimension made more grave by thge Monday Sit at Home with its strict enforcement by a highly mobile, highly diffused group with the masked name of ‘Unknown gun men ‘.
That His Excellency, Barr Peter Mbah was able to stop Sit at Home that was crippling both government and private businesses in the state with its attendant loss of lives and property of the people of Enugu State and our visitors alike, with quick dispatch was a delight to both the rich and the poor and commendations have trailed such uncommon achievements from people even beyond the state.
The issue of herders/ farmers clash or invasion of Fulani herdsmen on farm lands and settlements that decimated the population of Isi -Uzo LGA, Uzo- Uwani LGA and other parts of the state is almost becoming a thing of the past.
That is also true with massive kidnapping of people on such routes like Ugwogo/ Opi road and other major roads in the state. Now such incidents have been tacticaly controlled to the joy of all.
Meanwhile, the government has since gone ahead to strengthen coordination among the security agencies in the state, police, DSS, military and local vigilantes through joint task forces and integrated operations.
It also went further to procure AI embedded surveillance cars equipped with facial and license plate recognition, GPS tracking and life feed transmission to the Command Center.
When Enugu State Government under Gov Peter Mbah forced the the EDDC now known as Main Power Electricity Distribution Limited to bring down its consumption tariff to the people of Enugu State, it is to the benefit of both the rich and the poor.
And this has helped to increase production for both Medium and Small Scale Industries and bigger industries and even in the use of appliances in our homes both in townships and rural areas.
And when the State Government boosted the rate of pipe born water available to the people of Enugu State from 5,000 to 120,000,000 cubic meters, it is so that there would be water for all, the rich and the poor inclusive.
Let the rich enjoy alluring ambiance of wonderful state of the art International Conference Center, Enugu, the 5 Star hotels, Hotel Presidential, Nike Lake Hotel and the International Conference Center Hotel, the Enugu Airline with its brand new planes, the 5 Star Hospital at Rangers Avenue, let them bring us increased tourism and increased revenue.
But let the poor both in the townships and rural areas enjoy the benefits of the Smart Green Schools with its state of the art equipments and cosy environment for learning, free tuition fees, free meals, digital learning and global technology skills.
Let the poor also enjoy the new bus terminals across the state with its multipling business effects and let them enjoy the brand new 100 CNG ultramodern buses procured and distributed by the State Government cutting transport costs by up to 30% and creating jobs.
Let the poor also enjoy the type 2 Smart Primary Healthcare Centers that are being built and equipped simultaneously across the 260 wards in Enugu State that will incorporate overall healthcare service delivery to our people.
In the midst of all of this, let the poor also enjoy the Smart Farms and Smart Farm Estates in all the 260 Wards in Enugu State and let them also enjoy the distribution of farming inputs by governments to farmers across the state, while not excluding the benefits of the established 15 Aggregation and cottage processing centers for rice, cashew, and poultry, reducing post harvest losses and increasing farmers incomes.
It would be trite to argue that both the rich and poor are benefiting from the 293 roads built and rehabilitated across the state, improving connectivity, reducing travel time and supporting socio -economic activities.
These are the realities on the ground, and facts and truth are not partisan.
Tomorrow Is Here.
