By Prince Ejeh Josh
“It is obvious that those applauding Gov. Ugwuanyi are only those eating from his table and as a result must maintain table manner; don’t talk while eating. It is a sign of failure when only those who eat from your table are the ones applauding you.” The above statement, preposterous as it might sound, was credited to a self-appointed “renowned journalist and a critic” who goes by the name, Chris Ogbobe. From the prism of journalism or threshold of constructive writing which the writer had claimed to have drawn inspiration, and which of course, many of us have always advocated as a healthy path to hold those entrusted with our commonwealth accountable for their actions and inactions in office, having gone through the article and filtered it through the benchmark presented by him, the article at best became a vain voyage deliberately launched against an individual rather than an institution. It is far from passing the litmus test of constructive criticism aptly known to be beneficial to a destructive design probably orchestrated by infuriation of distress from recognition and handshakes.
Although, every writer is, indeed, entitled to hold an opinion, so also is every Nigerian citizen. Such opinion, however, must be reasonable, fact-based, and convincingly compelling because of its verifiability. I have no personal issue with Ogbobe’s litany of mendacity and inaccurate facts dished out. The only issue I’ve got here is his fallacy of generalization as reeled out above. It’s on this premise that I set out to lay my card. It’s instructive to note that the plethora of supports that Gov. Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi of Enugu State is enjoying today come from those outside the cycle of his government. These supports could be overwhelmingly described as goodwill from different quarters of the society not because he was naturally loved by them or because of his disposition to attracting emotional sympathy. Far from that. Winning the hearts of the people could only be done by some established trajectories; projects, growth, development, youth empowerments, job creation, societal progress and investment in human capital development. All these are encapsulated in good governance.
For the record, as a lawyer, political scientist, security analyst, writer, I’ve followed the systemic trend of Gov. Ugwuanyi’s governance for the past six years. My close observation of the dynamics of politics, governance, leadership and development did not start with and will not end with the Ugwuanyi’s administration. Prior to his assumption of office, I had the opportunity to understudy past administrations nationwide. In recent years, I’ve got an observatory eye on the different states in Nigeria, and I’ve written on most of their policy thrusts. As a resident and, of course, an indigent of Enugu State, common sense dictates I should be keenly interested in tracking my state since I’ve got no other state to call mine. I had written a good number of articles in assessing the administration of Gov. Ugwuanyi which can easily be glanced through on different media platforms including major national dailies. Interestingly, as against what Ogbobe had alleged that those applauding Gov. Ugwuanyi were those feeding under him, I have never met the governor before now, had any business to transact with him, or benefited anything from him. Not a dime! Am I worried? No. I feel I owe humanity a moral obligation to toe the path of truth. Hence, I’ve justified my conscience by standing gallantry, against the stormy tide and vituperations of people like Ogbobe, for his administration. I do that for a reason; I’ve tried to appraise the administration dispassionately and have formed, perhaps, a favourable opinion. Of interest is also the fact that every opinion sampling either by the governor’s supporters, or by adversaries or even by independent bodies have tilted to the administration’s favour. This is notwithstanding that there are pockets of challenges that must be ordinarily envisaged as incidental to appearance-reality dichotomy in governance.
On this strength, it’ll now be pertinent to debrief some of the issues raised by Ogbobe while other issues lazily hurled as accusations will be treated as de minimis since they’re deceptively calculated to inspire hatred or cause disaffection in the state. Absolutely, Ogbobe had exaggerated his hate speech to massage the insatiable political ambition of his paid master. Anyway, that will be disdainfully treated. In one of his opening paragraphs, the writer had scathingly written that “Gov. Ugwuanyi has abysmally failed the expectations of Enugu people and Nsukka in particular.” Appreciating the context and even the content of the position taken by Ogbobe, one would readily draw the cloud of emotion rather than reasoning and fact as exuding from the writer’s cognitive dissonance from the reality on ground. How did the writer arrive at his conclusion? From what data or statistical collation did he draw his inference from? None. Such conjecture could have only escaped from his fantasies or imagination. The evidence that the governor has done appreciably well is google-based. A click at the internet will exhume thousands of positive opinions from different sectorial interests about the present administration in Enugu state.
From every sector of the state, the governor has made remarkable imprints and giant strides which compared to the Ebonyi state where the writer used as a yardstick, the differences are clear. Comparing Enugu and Ebonyi states in terms of development isn’t a bad idea. However, such must be done objectively and dispassionately. Enugu state under Ugwuanyi has faired remarkably and he deserves some accolades. Umahi has also done his best in transforming his state. He deserves an applause too. However, the difference is as crystal clear between the two states as the ability of Enugu state to harness both human and material resources to trigger a paradigm shift in value distribution. Every government with a foresight will not voyage into white elephant projects that lack sustainability in the long-run. This could be deciphered from what’s happening in the two states. While a certain state is exhausting its resources on human capital development, conducive business environment to create ease of doing business, transformation of the education sector, raising thousands of young entrepreneurs through soft and interest-free loans, training of youths and other demographic distribution in small and medium scale enterprises, raising generation of scientists and technologists, the other state is engaging and dissipating its energy on projects that lack human relations synergy and are liable to decay without trained manpower. Be the judge.
On the other hand, Ogbobe resorted to nepotistic blackmail when he submitted that Gov. Ugwuanyi had failed the people of Nsukka zone. It’s easy to deduce the self-contradiction in such submission. If the governor had truly failed the people of Nsukka zone, how come the writer came to the conclusion that the governor has concentrated development in some parts of the zone? It’s rather unfortunate, in the first place, that Ogbobe would think the governor as an Nsukka governor. Both in the 2015 and 2019 elections, Gov. Ugwuanyi was overwhelmingly elected by the people of Enugu state from the 17 local government areas. The clannish orientation wrapped in a primordial agitation to concentrate all developments and projects in one senatorial zone as against the three senatorial zones in the state is reminding us of the present agitation in the Southeast and Southwest against the North because of the condemnable behavior of a president elected by all sections of the country. Ogbobe should be reminded that the society has moved away, many centuries ago, from this primitive pattern of thinking. He should flake himself of the slanted and distorted impression and embrace the light of democratic inclusiveness brought about by civilization. Having people like him in the helms of affairs is dangerous and can lead to human extinction because it would be Hobbesian’s jungle law of “might is right.”
While comparing Enugu state with Ebonyi state, even though such comparison will achieve no major goal, it’s significant to remind those that sponsored Ogbobe for their desperate political ambition that the population and sizes of the two states are not the same. For example, Enugu state has 17 local government areas while Ebonyi state has a paltry of 13. While Enugu state has over 7, 534 km square, Ebonyi state is far below that. The land mass is not the same that would warrant a proportionality in the distribution of resources. In terms of population, Enugu state is close to 5 million people, almost twice Ebonyi state. The differences are absolutely not in doubt. Using these indices to distribute resources will show the unsurpassable achievements made under Ugwuanyi’s administration over the past years. This is not an indication that the Ebonyi state governor is not working. Sincerely, he has likewise done well.
It’s also on record, for the purpose of those gullible who would not do their proper research, that the 2019 headcount National Poverty Index released by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), Ebonyi state pompously clinched the 7th position of states bedeviled by abject poverty in Nigeria, standing out with 79.76%. This means that less than 21% of the total population of Ebonyi state citizens can feed. Perhaps, this is not to indict the government of Ebonyi state. It’s just for record purpose. Enugu state is rated high, and has accordingly improved in eradicating poverty under the Ugwuanyi administration with 58.13%. Available data from the NBS shows that the state has improved significantly in recent times.
How about human development index released recently by the UNDP? Enugu state made it with a relative frequency of 0.645% as the 10th most performing state. Ebonyi state stands at 0.575% standing in the lowest rung of the ladder as the 20th state in the federation. Gov. Ugwuanyi did not manufacture these data. They came from reliable international bodies that cannot be influenced. In terms of unemployment rate, Statista, a Global Business Data Platform monitoring over 175 economies of the world on the 23rd September, 2021, released its rating. Yet Enugu state stands at 31.62% showing improvement in the fight against unemployment. However, Ebonyi state with its small population had a whopping 40.16% unemployment rate. This means the state is sinking further in poverty and sliding precariously to widening margin between the rich and the extremely poor. Let me reiterate again, the above does not mean that the Ebonyi state governor is not working. He has also performed impressively, and I’m not in a position to indict him. He has, verily, transformed Ebonyi state to enviable height.
Just few months ago, the World Bank noted that Enugu state is the second most advanced state in Nigeria on the Ease of Doing Business and third on the Ease of Starting Business. The economy of the state has been adjudged the six best performing economy in the country. In addition, in July 2020, the Annual States Viability released its submission which had the state has a state that has been able to mobilise its internal economic mechanism to stay afloat the recessions in the country by being able to meet up its wage bills while adequately catering for its capital expenditures. The indices for these conclusions are there for verification. They are not shrouded in mystery. Where then is Ebonyi state in Enugu’s gigantic stature?
Back home, it smacks deception to allege that Ugwuanyi has done nothing in the Nsukka zone. If there’s anybody in Nsukka zone who should be immortalized for bringing the light of civilization, transformation, radical departure from underdevelopment and abandonment to a mega integration of almost all the communities and towns in the Nsukka zone, it should be Gov. Ugwuanyi. History will always be kind to him whenever his name is mentioned in Enugu North Senatorial Zone or in Nsukka zone. The over hundred of roads commissioned so far in all the six local government areas that make up Nsukka zone is a credible testimony. The Nsukka township stadium. The Enugu State Secretariat Annex, Nsukka, the Enugu State University of Science and Technology Teaching Hospital, Igbo-Eno, and other plethora of ongoing projects in the Nsukka axis. It’s hoped Ogbobe will go back to the drawing board and ask his God for forgiveness for allowing himself to be used by some known politicians deliberately heating up the state in order to destroy the peace and security the governor has enthroned over the past years. Perhaps, Ogbobe has been expecting to join in the table manner, but the performing Governor has been calling his bluff. Anyway, there’s no soap to cut again.
Finally, Gov. Ugwuanyi is a peace loving Governor who has not seen anyone as a threat. The governor is not in competition with anyone in the state. Senator Ike Ekweremadu, ferociously mentioned by Ogbobe, cannot be a threat to him as alleged. An ant cannot be a threat to an elephant, or can a sheep be a threat to a lion. Sponsoring incessant attacks against the state and the performing Governor is not a solution to his debauched gubernatorial ambition. He should rather consider such inordinate ambition as dead on arrival. The malicious article against the governor from Ogbobe is understandable, and every right thinking person knows where it’s coming from. It’s the biblical allusion of the voice of Jacob and the hands of Esau. Ugwuanyi will continue to serve the people of Enugu state undistracted by quislings.
