61 garlands for Ugwuanyi, a unique leader, By Louis Amoke

Another year around the sun is always a milestone to celebrate. And when an outstanding personality, a unique leader, completes this existential course, there is even more reason to revel and give thanks to the Almighty Father. Incidentally, a personality who cares little for mundane revelry achieved this milestone today.

He is unassuming. Rt. Hon. Ifeanyi Lawrence Ugwuanyi, the immediate past governor of Enugu State, born on March 20, 1964, clocks 61 today.

Your Excellency, as governor, you were intentional in your sheer dexterity and vision to positively touch the lives of the people and give them a sense of belonging.

These folks were mostly the ordinary citizens in the rural areas, the long-neglected and underprivileged, who you describe as the true heroes of democracy.

They came out en masse and stood patiently under the sun and in the rain to cast their votes for your overwhelming election and re-election in 2015 and 2019, respectively.

In actualising this vision, you were focused, strategic and radical in deploying government services towards creating fair and equal opportunity for every willing citizen to make a living and create wealth, educate our children, and enjoy life in a peaceful and secure environment.

You were also intentional, bold, and resolute in your declaratory inaugural address in 2015. You made it clear that Enugu State, under your watch, will pay special attention to rural development. You justified your stance on the glaring fact that “the majority of our people live in the rural areas.” The driving force was all about your passion for the people’s wellbeing.

As a grassroots/people-oriented leader with milk of human kindness, you never deviated from your vision to alleviate the sufferings of the people and bring democracy dividends to their doorsteps, irrespective of their social status or remote locations.

Riding on unswerving integrity, you gave Enugu State peace, security, and good governance, notwithstanding the avalanche of challenges your administration encountered.

The fact remains that you stepped into the big shoes of leadership at the wrong time. You became governor of Enugu State in 2015 when Enugu’s purse grew leaner and Nigeria’s economy was in recession as federal allocations dwindled to an all-time low.

The resultant effect of the harsh economic realities was a 30 per cent drastic reduction of what used to come in, as federal allocations, to the coffers of the state government before you assumed office.

As one of the few governors, under the then President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration, who were able to pay workers’ salaries when 27 states could not pay, one appreciates your firm commitment to the wellbeing of the people, in view of the fact that Enugu is a civil service state-oriented economy.

You paid the N30,000 minimum wage and its consequential adjustment to the state’s workforce when many of your colleagues could not pay.

You exempted market traders in the state from paying Personal Income Tax and Market Tax and went ahead to launch a novel traders’ empowerment scheme, which assisted them to grow their businesses.

One equally applauds the leadership prowess you deployed in keeping the wheels of government moving and ensuring that Enugu became one of the safest states in the country.

Apart from the two cycles of economic recession within five years, we are all witnesses to other unforeseen challenges that confronted your administration, which ate deep into the lean resources of the state. These include the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic (which brought a major setback to the entire world in terms of development and growth), the #EndSARS protests, and the herder/farmer clashes, among other national security challenges.

More worrisome is the fact that the socio-economic and security policies of the then federal government were not far-reaching to surmount the nation’s challenges or guarantee sustainable platforms for the then governors to actualise their visions fully.

For instance, the monthly federal allocations to the states under President Buhari’s administration have doubled substantially, if not tripled, since the inception of the administration of President Ahmed Bola Tinubu – a major breakthrough that has enabled the present governors to carry out sundry infrastructural projects with ease in their various states.

At various fora, in recent times, President Tinubu made it clear that present governors now receive enough funds from the federation account to work.

As governor and an ardent promoter of national unity and principles of equity, justice and fairness, you played national politics to the peak alongside your colleagues in the G5 family, which saw the emergence of a Southerner, Ahmed Bola Tinubu, as Nigeria’s President, today.

Your Excellency, one recalls that in your inaugural address in 2015, you made a disclosure that “a political associate recently told me that this is not the best of times to be the Governor of Enugu State”.

You went further to state that the then outgoing Governor, Sullivan Chime, pointed out during the thanksgiving Mass to mark the end of his successful administration that “Enugu’s purse is growing leaner as federal allocations dwindle to an all-time low.”

Not only that you were the only governor in the history of Enugu State to witness two national economic recessions within the space of five years in the life of your administration, including other ravaging challenges, you were equally the first governor since 1999 to govern Enugu on the political platform (Peoples Democratic Party, PDP) that is in opposition to the ruling party at the national level (All Progressives Congress, APC). This also came with its inherent challenges and setbacks in terms of federal patronages and considerations.

Despite all these issues that barked at you as governor, you remained undaunted, focused, and visionary. You never deviated from your commitment to the people’s well-being. You ensured that you judiciously utilised the state’s meagre resources at your disposal in impacting lives positively, transforming the rural areas and entrenching peace, security, and good governance while running a government with a human face.

Your rare striking traits of humility, godliness, peaceful disposition, compassion, benevolence, kindness, openness, simplicity, vision, hard work and inclusion were the pillars that protected the people, guided your administration throughout the stormy years and ensured the successes it recorded.

Besides being among the few governors who paid the then N30,000 minimum wage and its consequential adjustment to the civil servants regularly, the preponderance of state’s pensioners comprising those from other South East states who served the old states with Enugu as their capital, also received their pensions and other benefits under your watch. What a huge financial obligation that ate deep into the state’s lean resources!

In fulfilment of your promises in your inaugural address to pay special attention to rural development, and to equip and modernise Nsukka – a university town founded over half a century ago and second largest town in Enugu State, your administration executed most of its development projects in Nsukka zone, and in the rural areas, while also deploying the state’s meager resources to execute and maintain new and existing facilities in Enugu urban respectively.

Though the rural development drive did not go down well with some Enugu urban residents, your passion for the wellbeing of Enugu indigenes living in rural communities, the long-neglected, the lowly and underprivileged, etc, was unprecedented and responsible for that great impact you made in the rural areas.

The feats were propelled by your conscience, your dint of love and compassion for the people and your gravitas to strike a balance and build the Enugu State of the founding fathers’ dream, where every indigene of the state, irrespective of class, religion or political affliction is given equal rights and access to dividends of democracy, and lives in a peaceful and secure environment.

Today, through your administration’s peace and grassroots development initiatives, you made it possible that communities in Enugu State that had not experienced democracy dividends before did so.

In ensuring speedy rural development drive, human empowerment, and brighter future for younger generation and those yet unborn, you initiated, established, and nurtured the State University of Medical and Applied Sciences (SUMAS), Igbo-Eno, Enugu State, located in Nsukka zone.

This milestone has inscribed your name in the annals of history as the second leader, after Zik of Africa, Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe, to bring a university to Nsukka land. The Great Zik of blessed memory attracted the University of Nigeria Nsukka (UNN) to Nsukka.

Again, in your foresightedness towards the importance of education and its powers of transforming and galvanising generational change, positively, you went further to attract a federal polytechnic to Nsukka zone, in Ohodo, Igbo-Etiti Local Government Area, known as the Federal Polytechnic Ohodo.

These higher institutions are doing exceedingly great and have provided Enugu State indigenes veritable platforms to explore, harness, and mould the future academically.

SUMAS, in particular, has provided the teeming youths of Enugu State the platform for increased access to quality university education in professional courses such as medicine.

These milestones are among those people-centered achievements of yours that will outlive you, and history will remain kind to you for deeming it necessary to invest heavily in the future of the people, especially the younger generation and those yet unborn.

While Enugu was battling with survival instinct following the adverse effects of the nation’s economic meltdown and state’s dwindling resources, you were able to initiate and execute people-oriented policies, run friendly tax regime and create favourable business environment for the people. You equally entrenched peace and security, ran inclusive governance, and still executed numerous projects in the state.

These projects, too numerous to mention, include: The reconstructed and remodeled 11km ancient, historic and undulating Enugu Milliken Hill-Ngwo-9th Mile road – the state’s roller coaster; the constructed 12km Opi-Nsukka dual carriageway – a state-of-the-art road with underground drainage system fitted with street and traffic lights up to the UNN gate.

Other projects include, the first flyover bridge by Enugu State Government located at T-junction, Nike Lake Road, Enugu; the 31-kilometre Udenu Ring Road constructed with two bridges; a befitting State Secretariat Annex at Nsukka with an ultra-modern Conference Centre adjacent to it; the 5,000-seat township stadium; the ultra-modern Banquet Hall at the Old Government Lodge, GRA, Enugu also remodelled with the construction of Annex, 10 units of executive guest house (Duplex) and 24 units of guest flats, including recreational facilities, etc.

Others include, the 13-kilometre Nike Lake junction-Harmony Estate-Amorji Nike-Adoration Pilgrimage Centre-Orie Emene road linking the ever-busy Abakpa Nike with Emene satellite town in Enugu East LGA; the Nike Lake Road and Abakpa Nike Road in Enugu East LGA; the Airport Roundabout/Orie-Emene/St Patrick’s College/Eke-Obinagu Road in Enugu East LGA; different roads rehabilitated in Enugu City, and in the university town of Nsukka to give the area a major facelift, etc.

In opening up the rural areas, your administration constructed numerous roads and other amenities. These include the 8.8-kilometre Nkalagu-Eha Amufu road in Isi-Uzo LGA, neglected for over 35 years, the 26.66-kilometre Ukpabi-Nimbo-Ugbene -Ajima-Eziani road in Uzo-Uwani LGA (RAMP-2); the 22.443-kilometre Neke-Mbu-Ogbodu Aba-Obollo Etiti inter-community road linking Isi-Uzo and Udenu LGAs (RAMP-2); the 8.2-kilometre Inyi-Akpugoeze road in Oji River LGA; Type 3 Healthcare Centres constructed and equipped across the three senatorial zones; massive Amenity Ward Facility located at the upgraded Ogrute General Hospital, Enugu Ezike, Igbo-Eze North LGA; numerous educational facilities across the state, such as classroom blocks, school furniture, etc.

One of your greatest achievements for Nsukka zone was the stepping down of 30MVA in Nsukka from the 132KV Makurdi Feeder by National Integrated Power Project (NIPP), which you facilitated. This milestone has effectively improved the quality of electricity supply to the area and has also enhanced the growth of business activities.

On security, which is fundamental to the people’s safety and wellbeing, in spite of the state’s lean resources, your administration purchased and donated 100 units of Innoson Vehicle Manufacturing (IVM) patrol vans with communication gadgets to the security agencies to aid their operations, employed 1,700 forest guards (first in the Southeast zone), repositioned the Vigilante/Neighbourhood Watch groups, and purchased over 260 security vehicles for their community policing operations, and constructed the 76 Police Mobile Force Squadron facility at Ekwegbe, Nsukka, etc.

Many other feats were recorded in education, health, security, judiciary, agriculture, sports, fire service, rural development, empowerment and scholarship schemes, Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs), housing development, investment promotion vis-à-vis Enugu’s fame and outstanding ratings on Ease of Doing Business in Nigeria, under your watch.

You are the man behind the listing of Enugu as an oil producing state.

You ensured an unprecedented, harmonious working relationship with the other two arms of government (legislature and judiciary), the state workforce and the leaders of the organised labour from the inception of your administration in 2015 to the end, in 2023.

As a unique, humble, and God-fearing leader, you still maintain a peaceful relationship with your predecessors, successor, Dr Peter Ndubuisi Mbah, and other leaders and members of political, religious, and traditional institutions.

Your superb inter-human relationship with the people, the high and the low, despite the betrayals during the 2023 general elections by those you assisted and empowered, is exemplary.

The world is aware of your philanthropic gestures, especially the rural-based medical programme, that renders free medical services to underprivileged patients with surgical conditions but lack funds for treatments, among others.

This noiseless free medical programme, according to the last records, has successfully saved the life of over 3,000 people through the “Gburugburu Free Surgery Programme”. Thank you for this life-saving initiative.

Today, it is all about a worthy celebration in honour of a good man, peacemaker, phenomenal and visionary leader, nationalist and bridge-builder with unique leadership qualities and rich wealth of political experience, Rt. Hon. Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi.

Your Excellency, as you clock 61 today, bear in mind that your good deeds have always and will always gain you divine favour before God. Also, bear in mind that those 680 indigent engineering students of Institute of Management and Technology, (IMT), Enugu and Enugu State Polytechnic, Iwollo, who your administration offered scholarships to; the 22 post-secondary school indigent students your administration sent to study at Mewar University, India; the 40 Enugu State students your administration secured fully funded postgraduate scholarships to study in various parts of Europe, America, Australia and Asia, through the Mentorship Masterclass of Enugu State Scholarship Scheme and Loans Board valued at over N3 billion; grateful individuals, families, groups, institutions and communities you touched their lives privately and publicly, etc, will continue to pray for you fervently and wish you peace, joy, good health, long life and many more years of selfless service to your people, our great country Nigeria and humanity.

Today’s occasion, therefore goes a long way to place you on a pedestal of greatness as one who has found amazing favour in God’s goodness and mercy.

Happy 61st Birthday, Your Excellency, and remain blessed!

Louis Amoke, the senior special assistant (SSA) to Enugu State Governor on Media (2015-2023), writes from Enugu.