By Francis Ede,
Honour and recognition have followed the Governor of Enugu State, His Excellency, Barr Peter Mbah as if he is in a coronal festival.
Time after time he has been named as the man of the year by various national and international media houses and all of them in a unanimous agreement that Governor Peter Mbah has within such a short time of being the Governor of Enugu State showed a tremendous amount of energy and vision in the administration of the state.
The Sun Newspaper Man of the Year awards have come twice in quick succession for what the newspaper mangers and voters described as a recognition of his bold, reform- driven, visionary leadership in Enugu State and beyond.
The first one was in 2023 just some months after his inauguration into office which showed how quickly the governor was in hitting the ground running.
And now just two years after at the end of 2025 which award ceremony is taking place to day, January 31, 2026 in Lagos, Nigeria. Sun Newspaper Said its Board of Editors overwhelmingly voted for Governor Peter Mbah based on his many achievements.
“Mr Governor you have transformed education sector, lifted the health sector and developed infrastructure in Enugu State”. They also noted that he has delivered on his campaign promises to the state.
Other awards have gracefully come in between by other groups and agencies showing how unrelenting His Excellency, Governor Peter Mbah has been in his drive to deliver as
quickly as possible the much needed democracy dividends to the good people of Enugu State.
Like an eagle on top of an Iroko tree, Governor Peter Mbah has become a censure of all eyes. An Eagle on top of an Iroko presents a trescendental picturesque with both the bird and the tree reeling with magisterial delight.
It brings a sense of enduring and unclouded wonder that nothing ever compares to in Igbo symbology.
Governor Peter Mbah who expressed appreciation for the nomination and honour said that “One thing it does is that it increases expectations on us and motivates us to work hard to meet the high rating by Nigerians. We cannot afford to slow down or disappoint. It is totally out of the question “.
He also reiterated the determination of his government to change the narrative of public service, saying; “We believe that as public servants, what we do is to hold the future in trust for those who will come after us.
“And as trustees, we have to discharge our responsibilities most creditably. We must make sure that the future of these young ones is secured. That is what we are doing”.
Governor Peter Mbah maintained that all himself and his team are doing is not so that they could be praised but they were concerned about leaving a lasting impact behind.
This explains what we are doing in education, where we are building 260 Smart Green Schools, which all together translate to over 7,000 classrooms in just almost three years to make sure that our children are imbued with 21st Century skills.
In fact, for the third straight year, we allocated over 30 per cent of the entire budget to education.
“Again, if you look at our N1.62 trillion budget for 2026, which is unprecedented in the history of the South East, just a fraction of it, about 20 per cent goes to recurrent expenditure.”
So, 80 per cent of the humongous budget goes to capital expenditure. That is Again, Gov Mbah Named SUN Newspaper Man Of The Year of the sheer size of the project and investment we are doing.
“In terms of sectoral allocations, you see that the economic sector would be getting N825.9 billion, representing 51 per cent of the total budget, followed by the social sector (N644.7 billion), representing 40.1 per cent of the budget.
“Of course, allocating N825.9 billion to the economic sector is strategic and deliberate because, as I stated during the budget presentation, when we invest in agriculture, industry, and trade, we create jobs, reduce poverty, and generate revenue that strengthens the entire economy. The performance of this sector remains central to our vision of achieving a seven-fold GDP growth in Enugu State.”
The Enugu governor said in addition to other massive infrastructure already done or ongoing, his government would commence a 135.3km intrastate standard gauge rail project this year to improve connectivity.
According to him, the state also budgeted N10 billion equity contribution to the concession of Akanu Ibiam International Airport, Enugu, which he said, would see to the completion of the international wing this year to make Enugu a regional aviation hub.
He promised that his administration would increase the fleet of the state-owned Enugu Air to 20 in thus year, revealing that the coming agro processing zone in Enugu would enable the state “to process what we produce and also export them through the cargo terminal that would also be built under the concession arrangement.”
So much work within such a short space of time, and so much still on going. Truly, Tomorrow Is Here.
Congratulations Your Excellency, Governor Peter Ndubuisi Mbah. This Cap really fits.
