Opinion of Dr. Justice Chidi,
True leadership is not only about loud speeches and grandstandings. It is sometimes about the little things that matter: those practical, everyday improvements that touch the pulse of the ordinary, common people.
In the arithmetic of the ordinary lives, destinies are transformed by quiet, thoughtful mercies of leadership. It is about the little things that ease the weight of our daily bread.
It is about the repaired road that saves a motorcyclist the cost of repairing his bruised head in the hospital. It is about the street lights that keep dwellers safe from attack as they walk home at night. It is about the less money spent on transport. These may not constitute headlines, but they are lifelines.
Consider the CNG buses now gliding between Enugu and Nsukka. Once, travelling between Enugu and Nsukka by road, especially on commercial vehicles, was characterised by cramped vehicles and complexion-changing heat. The fares tore the modest pockets of traders, civil servants, and students alike.
Today, commuters step into fully air-conditioned buses powered by compressed natural gas. Busses that are cleaner, safer, and clearly more affordable. With just the sum of N3,000, one could travel to Enugu from Nsukka, conduct his business, and travel back to Nsukka.
What appears to be a mere change of vehicle is, in truth, a recalibration of dignity. Mbah has introduced some level of dignity into our transport system.
Our journeys are no longer like ordeals; with Mbah’s CNG busses, they are like poetry in motion. This explains why even private car owners now leave their cars at home and join the CNG buses.
By reducing transportation costs through CNG-powered systems, the government has eased the silent burdens families carry. A mother travelling to see her child in Nsukka, a trader heading to Ogbete, a lecturer commuting for a morning class—all now experience relief that accumulates in subtle but meaningful ways.
The savings on transport become school fees, books bought, extra foodstuff, or reinvested capital. In governance, these increments of relief are the building blocks of prosperity. Like I already pointed out, they do not make headlines, but they are the real lifelines.
Equally transformative is the CNG bus service running between Enugu and Agbani, conveying students and teachers with order and comfort. Agbani, home to the Enugu State University of Science and Technology (ESUT), hums daily with academic pursuit.
By ensuring reliable, air-conditioned, and cost-effective transportation for both students and lecturers, the Mbah administration has bridged the gap between knowledge and access.
Education thrives not only in lecture halls but also in the certainty that one can arrive there safely, punctually, and without humiliation. These are the little things that matter.
Worthy of emphasis here is the renewed sense of dignity in our transportation system. Public transport in Enugu and many other cities in Nigeria has a long-standing relationship with chaos: pushing crowds, blaring horns, and vehicles gasping under mechanical fatigue.
The new CNG buses signal a cultural shift. In Enugu, order is replacing disorder and comfort displacing irritation.
Citizens no longer feel like cargo being ferried, but like valued stakeholders in a state that recognises their humanity. Dignity, though intangible, is one of the most powerful currencies of good governance. It is part of those minute realities that really matter.
Environmental consciousness is yet another silent triumph embedded in these buses. By embracing compressed natural gas, Enugu State is aligning economic pragmatism with ecological responsibility. Cleaner emissions mean cleaner air for our markets, campuses, and communities.
It is a subtle testament and declaration that development needs not come at the expense of the environment and healthy living.
In the final analysis, Governor Peter Mbah’s transportation reforms reveal a governing philosophy rooted in attentive details. The air-conditioned buses, the reduced fare, the smooth ride to Nsukka, the assured trip to Agbani are all little threads of governance, but woven together, they form a tapestry of progress.
