By Ugwuagbo Emmanuel Chizoba
A lot of people are not happy with Governor Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi. Nearly everyone in Enugu State knows this.
What baffles everyone and in essence, what many people cannot explain is why there is so much negative perception of the governor.
This is when you take into consideration that Enugu State is at least one of the top 5 best-governed states in Nigeria. That Enugu State is leading in Education, leading in workers’ welfare, leading in peace and security (at a time when her South Eastern neighbors are boiling) and among the leading states in infrastructure and rural development.
So, one asks, what has Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi done to attract so much hatred? What are his sins that even those who hate him can’t necessarily point to one thing he did to offend them?
After months of asking people what Ugwuanyi did wrong to them to warrant such criticisms and hate, and having failed to get even one answer from them, I have decided to let the cat out of the bag and expose the many sins of Governor Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi that made people hate him.
- BEING DEMOCRATIC: As a former patron of the Rotary Club and one who spent 12 years making democratic laws and overseeing critical Committees where negotiations and diplomacy are used to solve critical problems, Governor Ugwuanyi believed that being a pure democrat was the best way to govern the State. So he started his administration by organizing the OGANIRU ENUGU SUMMIT to discuss how to move the State forward with ndị Enugu.
Unfortunately for him, the people are not familiar with democratic leadership. They are not used to making decisions for themselves. They are not used to being allowed to contribute. They are not used to having access to their leaders. In a State and country where the government dictates to everybody and no one dares talk about the governor, it was strange to see a governor that involves the people before taking a decision that affects the people.
This simple Democratic act passed him off as weak. Because people who are used to dictatorship cannot understand why a leader needs their input and contributions to the affairs of the state.
- ACCESSIBILITY: Before Gov. Ugwuanyi, seeing a State Governor was as rare as a Lunar eclipse, as rare as seeing Ugo, the eagle in Igbo cosmology.
I can remember one incident when I was in Primary 3 at Model Primary School Nsukka when Gov. Chimaroke visited Nsukka. We were made to dress well, and come out in front of the model primary school, close to the main road. We were instructed to line up according to our classes and heights and stand and wait for the governor.
We waited under the hot sun 🌞 from 8 am till 4 pm when Gov. Chimaroke finally came. He just stopped for about 3 minutes and waved at us from his car and they left. We went home drenched in our sweat. Innocent primary school children.
Such was the suffering one had to be subjected to before he or she would have to glimpse the State Governor.
Then came Governor Ugwuanyi. He made himself easily accessible to everyone. He feels free to talk to and associate with the children, the youths, and the old.
He made himself available to have interactions with market women, Keke riders, Okada riders, bus drivers, students, artisans, etc.
Most importantly, he listens to their demands and helps them solve their problems.
This accessibility made people start believing that maybe, this one is not a real governor, because the governors are used to being mean and distant from the people they govern. Most of them have never seen a governor attending a social event and have never seen a governor relating with the poor. So, this was indeed strange to them.
- GIVING YOUTHS A CHANCE: Before Ugwuanyi, youths in Enugu State were only involved in politics when it was the time for Oringo to arrange girls, night parties, or thuggery.
Under Ugwuanyi, young people without rich fathers were elevated and given high political positions such as LGA Chairmanship, House of Assembly positions, critical board leaderships like the scholarship boards, and critical ministries as commissioners.
He went ahead to appoint hundreds of sons and daughters of nobodies as SSAs, SPAs, SAs, TAs, and EAs. These are young people who, according to the old order, are not yet old enough to speak at ward meetings. But here is a governor that gave youths a chance.
These young people gradually became stakeholders and now have an opinion on whom becomes a local government chairman.
This did not go down well with the big wigs. The hitherto critical stakeholders. They felt belittled and they had to fight back.
- BLOCKING ACCESS TO THE STATE TREASURY FROM THE BIG STAKEHOLDERS: Before Gov. Ugwuanyi. A lot of wealthy men survive off the State treasury.
People who held government appointments, party leaders, and powerful men in the state were doing buga on top of the state Treasury. Unfortunately, Ugwuanyi became Governor in the Buhari era when there is no money, so he couldn’t allow these people to buga on the state Treasury.
There are no posh cars for councilors, governor’s aides, LGA Chairmen’s aides, the traditional rulers, etc. Political appointees only have access to their monthly salaries that are paid promptly.
No corrupt sharing of contracts amongst cronies (as Okey Ezea decried in one video where he lamented that Ugwuanyi did not give government contracts to Nsukka people to make them billionaires). Everything was done prudently.
All the largesse that used to be the order of the day was nowhere to be found. Before Ugwuanyi, being a governor’s aide automatically means you are in stupendous wealth. Not anymore. All men with their salaries and nothing more or less.
This made stakeholders in Enugu State poor as all State funds are used to pay prompt salaries and to build critical infrastructure like the University of Medicine Igbo-Ano.
It’s these angry but now poor stakeholders that are doing everything to bring him down, so they will have a breath of fresh air.
- REJECTING NEPOTISM AND CLANISHNESS: Being a veteran lawmaker, Gov. Ugwuanyi elected to do things according to the law.
Part of why a lot of people in Nsukka are not happy with him is that he didn’t use the State resources to pursue Nsukka’s interest by bribing people and imposing a Nsukka man on UNN as their Vice-Chancellor.
A lot of them decried that he should have dipped his hands into the State treasury and matched the opponents” money for money until a Nsukka man is installed as VC.
It’s in the same way that Okey Ezea of Ideke Shipping company believes that Ugwuanyi should have made a lot of Nsukka people billionaires from Enugu State coffers. He also believes that Ugwuanyi should have given contracts to only Nsukka people and installed Nsukka people into critical positions.
Gov. Ugwuanyi rather governed everyone on an equal basis and focused on competence in employment, appointments, and awarding of contracts.
WHY YOU SHOULD BE WORRIED
While these unique qualities of Governor Ugwuanyi have been wrongly interpreted as sins that make him the “worst” governor on earth, these sins of his are what have kept Enugu State moving during all the challenges.
Governor Ugwuanyi has less than 10 months to go.
When he goes, the next Administration (whoever wins) may want to do things differently to avoid the backlash Ugwuanyi is getting.
To do this, they may want to close the gate of the government house, to go back to how it used to be before, where the poor and middle-class cannot go close it. So the non- bourgeoisie class should be worried. Very soon, unu agaghị esozi na ihe a na eme.
The next Administration may want to be less Democratic and less Diplomatic. In these times of tension, especially in South East, Enugu might turn into another war zone. As Ugwuanyi is getting backlash because of his negotiation, diplomatic, and pacification approach, the next administration may want to demonstrate a show of force and control the way Hope did in Imo and Soludo did in Anambra. We all know the result. So you should worry.
The young people are most likely going to be returned to the default setting. Both those on social media and those offline. The stakeholders will regain their control and smelling political positions for young people will only happen in their dreams. For the stakeholders, it’s payback time. So, the youths should worry.
The stakeholders who are fighting tooth and nail against Ugwuanyi all have one motive; to regain access to the State treasury. A lot of them are complaining bitterly and impatiently waiting for Ugwuanyi to leave office.
Take a look at Presidential Hotel. What they did to the presidential hotel under Sullivan and put it in that condition might be a child’s play to what they might do to the next coffers of Enugu State in the next Administration.
Councilors, SAs, Igwes, etc will return to their days of affluence and squandermania.
Ndị Enugu should worry.
The next Administration may want to please their people and reward those who worked for their campaign or sponsored them and start doing what Okey Ezea feels is right by giving contracts to cronies and kinsmen.
This may affect the peace in the State and lead Enugu State back to the days of division when each zone was fighting one another.
Ndị Enugu should be worried.
Indeed, you do not know the value of what you have until you lose it. Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi is a treasure to Enugu State in times like this, and while some have chosen to see his unique qualities as sins, we may live to beg to have him back, and I tell you, the regrets of Nigerians for voting out GEJ might be worse than the regrets of Enugu people for not appreciating Ugwuanyi enough.
While the candidate of The PDP, Barr. Peter Mba has promised continuity, it’s my wish that he takes note of these our worries and indeed make the supreme sacrifice that Governor Ugwuanyi has been making by taking the blame for everything to ensure that Enugu succeeds, rather than try to show strength, capacity, and ego that might bring the State to ruins.
Ugwuagbo Emmanuel Chizoba is a Journalist based in Enugu.
