Leaders of the country’s media sector under the umbrella of Nigerian Guild of Editors (NGE) have commended what they described as Governor Peter Mbah’s exceptional leadership in Enugu State, noting that he had built solid infrastructure needed for growing the state’s economy.
The editors bared their minds at the weekend during an interactive session with Mbah at the Government House after a tour of several mega projects executed by the administration on the sidelines of the 2026 All Nigerian Editors Conference (ANEC), attended by over 300 editors, senior media executives and veterans.
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NGE’s President, Eze Anaba, noted that Mbah’s infrastructural revolution was a clear testament to what a sub-national government could achieve when its leadership was visionary, altruistic, and deliberate.
“There’s a solid infrastructure on ground that will grow the economy, that will expand the state. If a sub-national like Enugu can deploy resources effectively and can be this dedicated in terms of infrastructure, in terms of dedication to governance, then there is hope for Nigeria.
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“We were here last year for the NGE biennial convention. We saw Smart Schools. We saw the ultramodern Technical, Vocational Education and Training College at GTC. We saw roads. We saw the modern transport terminals, the rehabilitated moribund industries and those nearing completion at the time. We saw pipe-borne water that people had not seen in years. We saw many projects.
“Today, we saw the Enugu International Hospital completed. Today, we saw an incredible road network. That includes the 40km Owo-Ubahu-Amankanu-Umualor-Ikem dual carriageway that we were told would now serve as a new gateway to the North Central.
“Today, we saw the fully resuscitated and functional state assets like the Hotel Presidential. Today, we saw one of the mega Smart Secondary Schools that it had almost completed. We saw the massive tourism complex at Ngwo Pines where they also built a zipline. We saw the ongoing Integrated livestock hub, which the Secretary to the State Government, Prof Chidiebere Onyia, said could take up to 40,000 cattle. Of course, we saw the ultra-modern Command and Control Centre that has helped the administration to drive down the crime rate significantly.
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“At the opening ceremony two days ago, you said that ‘Tomorrow is here.’ And with what we saw today, I believe you.”
Noting the decision of some state governments to send their officials to understudy some policies, projects and programmes of the Mbah Administration, Eze commended the prevailing peer-review mindset among some state governors.
He said peer review would help states to develop faster, as governors learn from their colleagues’ areas of strength.
“It is no mean feat for a governor to attract the respect, the regard of his colleagues,” he stressed, commending Mbah’s leadership results.
Meanwhile, speaking at the gala to mark the end of the conference, former governor of Ogun State and a media veteran, Chief Segun Oshoba, extolled Mbah’s infrastructural milestones, especially in the area of security, urging other states to emulate Enugu in building hi-tech statewide surveillance systems.
Osoba cited the swift deployment of the state’s security assets to track down and capture kidnappers, who breached security at Affa in Udi LGA, while also ensuring that the two hostages returned unharmed.
“I was so confident that it can’t happen in Enugu and that the criminals would not go free. Thank you, Mr. Governor. You proved me right that there is no room for kidnappers in Enugu State.
“Keep it up, Governor Mbah. I will keep reminding the President that other governors should do what you are doing in Enugu State in the area of security and other areas,” Osoba stated.
Mbah, on his part, thanked the media executives for taking out time to see some of the projects, noting that the projects were mutually reinforcing and deliberately designed to fulfil his campaign promise to grow Enugu State’s economy from $4.4bn to $30bn and make the state the preferred destination for investment, business, tourism, and living.
“But for us, what you saw – the security, the transport, the investments, tourism, and all that – are all interconnected. They are mutually reinforcing. They’re all designed to achieve a common objective.
“When we took office, we laid out a few things. One was to grow the economy of the state exponentially. We also undertook to eradicate poverty and also to create a state where people can live, work, invest, and build futures. And all you saw were all connected to actualising those promises,” he said.
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