It has always been said that when the righteous is in power, the people rejoice. From time immemorial, Enugu State has been a State blessed by God with rich human and natural resources.
For many decades, Enugu State has passed through different administrations of different leaders, but only now in the Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi-led administration will it be undoubtedly considered to be in the hands of God.
Rt. Hon. Dr. Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi, in spite of the nation’s daunting economic challenges, the state’s lean resources and recent security challenges, has remained undaunted and resolute in his sustained efforts to build Enugu State of the founding fathers’ dream, where peace, harmony, inclusive governance and rapid development hold sway.
His vision and passion for the well-being of the people of the state, irrespective of class or social status, as major stakeholders in the development project, gave birth to the massive infrastructural rebirth being witnessed in rural communities since the inception of his administration.
This reverse in the development strategy, which is novel in the annals of the state and seems to be alien to some urban residents, was in view of the fact that past administrations concentrated development largely in Enugu city, neglecting the majority of the state’s population who live in the rural areas.
The governor’s rural development agenda has addressed to a reasonable extent, the unorthodox imbalance between urban and rural dwellers in terms distribution of infrastructure and other basic amenities.
The success of the strategy, especially its direct positive impact on the lives of the rural dwellers was no doubt responsible for the over 94.5 percent votes Gov. Ugwuanyi garnered to win his reelection in 2019, which was adjudged the most peaceful and transparent electoral exercise in the history of Enugu State.
In clear terms, the landslide victory which was unprecedented in spite of the fact that it was the first time the state went to the polls as an opposition political party to the ruling party at the national level was indeed a referendum on the governor’s outstanding performance.
The outcome of the 2019 governorship election went beyond parochial sentiments in proving that the overwhelming majority of the people of Enugu State appreciate the good works of Gov. Ugwuanyi and his uncommon panache of humility, peacefulness, godliness and inclusiveness, which he brought to bear in the governance of the state.
Standing on his vision to channel the bulk of development projects to the rural areas, Ugwuanyi in his inaugural address in 2015, promised to pay a special attention to rural development; open up the rural areas; create more urban centres; develop fresh economic opportunities and reduce pressure on Enugu metropolis for socio-economic expansion.
The governor’s policy direction, which became the fulcrum of his administration’s success story, made it possible that citizens/communities in Enugu State who have not felt the positive impact of governance for many decades did so in an ambiance of peace and harmony.
It was indeed a deliberate step anchored on the core values of justice, equity and fairness in an uncommon zeal to “take up the gauntlet of the struggle for the emancipation of the Wawa man from where our heroes past stopped.”
On Ugwuanyi’s modest achievements, in spite of the recurring decimal of paucity of funds, coupled with the inherited huge debt profile and other enormous wage bills to be serviced, considering the state’s status as a large and the oldest city in the South-east, Ugwuanyi’s administration has remained regular in payment of state workers’ salaries and retirees’ pensions, including the 13th month salary, even without receipt of federal allocation.
His administration has covered about 550 kilometers of roads scattered all over the nooks and crannies of the state with some ongoing projects such as the Enugu State Secretariat Annex building in Nsukka and the administrative building of the Enugu State University of Education in Ihe, Awgu local government area – first university in the South-east zone that would be a degree-awarding institution in the area of education and a centre for training of teachers for primary, secondary and tertiary education.
Others include, some internal roads in Enugu and the university town of Nsukka and the 200-bed Igbo Ano Specialist Hospital, Enugu North Senatorial District, which when completed with other proposed infrastructural development in the site, will serve as facilities for the ESUT College of Medicine that has been relocated to Nsukka.
In keeping with its commitment to zero tolerance for potholes on roads built by past administrations and maintenance of existing infrastructure, the state government, acting on professional advice, has announced plans to commence fixing of potholes created recently by persistent rainfall, once the rains subside.
Three months into his first term, Ugwuanyi spearheaded the massive development of urban and rural roads across the three senatorial districts of the state, in Emene, Abakpa-Nike, 9th Mile Corner and Nsukka.
Shortly after, his administration, in line with its rural development strategy, simultaneously executed 35 grassroots development projects across the 17 local government areas of Enugu State, which ensured that every council benefited at least one project from the programme.
There was also a N10 million “One Community, One Project” scheme, which has made it possible for every community in the state to execute one or two priority projects of her choice.
All these were going on as completion of works on projects started by previous administrations were given adequate attention, such as the Enugu State Diagnostic Centre (completed), the International Conference Centre Enugu, the upgraded Poly General Hospital Asata, Enugu and the Udi General Hospital, which were inaugurated by Ugwuanyi a few days ago.
Besides the foregoing, the following were among the development projects successfully delivered to standard by Ugwuanyi’s administration in the last four years.
The Nike Lake Road and Abakpa Nike Road in Enugu East Local Government Area, which were hitherto in deplorable conditions; the two 9th Mile bypasses in Udi Local Government Area, which have relieved travelers of the stress of traffic gridlock in the area, especially during festivities; the Opi-Nsukka Dual Carriageway in Nsukka L.G.A with state-of-the-art underground drainage and other facilities befitting a university town and the second largest city in the state – the first of its kind to be delivered by a state government in the entire south east. The New Market-Milliken Hill-Ngwo-9th Mile road, an ancient, historic and undulating road, modernized with streetlights and other safety measures after decades of neglect to showcase its potentials as a tourist attraction and the state’s natural roller coaster, which now serves as an alternative gateway into the city of Enugu, from Onitsha-Enugu expressway.
The Agbani-Amurri road in Nkanu West LGA (Phase one), constructed for a community that has never experienced any form of development on its land in the past 100 years. The Ogonogoeji-Ndiagu-Akpugo road (from Atavu Bailey bridge to Afor Onovo), in the same council, which has a historic and symbolic attraction as the first state government road project in the entire Akpugo zone since the creation of Enugu State.
Development projects of significant importance to the lives of the lowly and neglected were also executed in high density suburbs such as Ngenevu, Iva Valley, Ugbodogwu, Ogwuagor, Abakpa Nike, Emene, among others.
The 49km Udenu Ring road (ongoing) linking over 10 adjoining communities with three bridges equally stands out as one of the legacy projects of Ugwuanyi’s administration in the rural areas.
Apart from road projects, Ugwuanyi’s administration has also taken bold steps in other spheres of development which have endeared the governor to the people of the state.
The areas include, the Enugu Traders Empowerment Scheme which has so far assisted 3600 genuine traders with the sum of N50,000 each to grow their various businesses; construction and renovation of over 589 primary and secondary school blocks in the state, with more than 260 ongoing, as well as procurement of learning tools; employment of over 5000 teachers; empowerment of 750 youths under the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) programme and engagement of 1000 youths, additional 1000 underway, under the Enugu Clean Team Project.
To Ugwuanyi’s credit is the award of scholarships to 680 indigent engineering students of Enugu State Polytechnic, Iwollo, Ezeagu local government area and the Institute of Management and Technology, Enugu, for four years of academic studies as well as the recent scholarship offered to 22 post-secondary school indigent students to study at Mewar University, India.
Construction and renovation of district hospitals and health centres in the state, especially in the rural areas under the primary healthcare programme are ongoing. Under the programme, construction of over 14 new court buildings and open registries in the judicial divisions and magisterial districts across the state, which the state’s Chief Judge, Hon. Justice Ngozi Emehelu, described as “unprecedented infrastructural development that has not been witnessed in the entire South-East” and “the largest single intervention in infrastructural development in the judiciary of Enugu State for over 20 years,” have been recorded by the Ugwuanyi administration.
Following the recent odd security challenges, which attempted to undermine the enviable status of Enugu as one of the most peaceful and secure states in the country, Ugwuanyi has grabbed the bull by the horn by initiating measures and strategies to decisively tackle the situation with the establishment of the Forest Guard operation (a first in the entire country); reorganization of the Vigilante/Neighborhood Watch groups; creation of a new Ministry of Security Affairs; appointment of the former Inspector-General of Police, Mr. Ogbonna Onovo as Security Consultant to the state government; purchase of 360 security vehicles for community policing as well as the Security Trust Fund, among others.
As Enugu State continues to be in the hands of God, Ugwuanyi is set to commence more aggressive polices and strategies, which are expected to usher in further rapid development and take Enugu State to the next level for Ndi Enugu to continue to enjoy dividends of democracy.
Indeed, when the righteous is in power, the people rejoice!
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