…the odd favours him to win
By Kenneth Okey Anozie
In every season of political contest, there are men and women whose kernel the gods have cracked as the political system throws them up to become the cynosure of all eyes, while the political permutations fall in their favour.
Today, Enugu State has the mantra ‘Enugu State is in the Hands of God’. It is palpable that this mantra is playing its divine role in who emerges as the successor of His Excellency, Rt. Hon. Dr. Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi (Gburugburu). The PDP family in Enugu State, as usual, is poised to continue its winning streaks in the State by fielding the right candidate.
Dr. Kingsley Udeh, who has a solid and versatile academic qualifications with requisite political and governance experience, added to his very humble and amiable personality, has a youth base that is powerfully enchanting. The good people of Enugu State will rejoice with a character like him as the Governor of Enugu State come 2023; a worthy successor to the performing Governor, Rt. Hon. Dr. Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi.
As a jolly good fellow, who matches his words with actions, Dr. Kingsley Udeh has procured his expression of interest and nomination forms, which gives him the impetus to now run as the Enugu State Guber Aspirant of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). Enugu State has an unwritten understanding of zoning and, Dr Udeh, being a native of Ozalla in Nkanu West Local Government Area, falls within the zone that the next Governor is expected to come from.
His previous governance duties as the Senior Special Assistant to the incumbent Governor on Development Aid Coordination and Mobilization, later as the Special Adviser to the Governor on Education, and the Focal Person of the Enugu State Open Government Partnership (a multi stakeholders’ good governance platform and unifying force between government and the civil society) endows him with the versatile experience to excellently pilot the affairs of Enugu State from 29th May 2023. He is a Developmental Expert, and has in the previous offices held in Enugu State developed unparalleled developmental initiatives that will take Enugu State further. Dr Kingsley Udeh is what Enugu State needs now, and the people of Enugu should rally round and hire him as the Best Man to oversee the affairs of Enugu State in the succeeding Administration. He is a clean slate man, with no baggage that will encumber his service.
Dr. Kingsley Udeh possesses the unassuming character and humility of a true servant leader, like the incumbent Governor, and will definitely continue and advance His Excellency’s trajectory of developing Enugu State and enthroning peace. This is guaranteed because Dr. Udeh, a man that fears God, has always been a silent achiever and developmental philanthropist, supporting widows, orphans, people with disabilities (PWDs), the less privileged and communities, without fanfare.
Enugu State has a youth voting base of nearly 34% of the voters. And with a proper youth as the National Youth Leader of PDP, the sky is the limit for the highly skilled and progressive Youths of Nigeria to excel, of which Dr. Kingsley Udeh is one. If the youths can properly engage themselves, and work with the women and the men of Enugu State, their political success will be limitless. Their courage and commitment in projecting Dr. Udeh as the Best Man for the job of the succeeding administration in Enugu State will bear bountiful fruits. There is no way Enugu State will not continue to be in the Hands of God with Dr. Kingsley Udeh at the helm of affairs, as the youths vicariously and politically mobilize one of their own to clinch the 2023 Enugu State Governorship ticket. Youths of Enugu State will thrive in that time, as Dr. Udeh has always in various capacities empowered the youths in diverse ways, including scholarships and skills acquisition.
In terms of professional work experience, Dr. Kingsley Udeh was a Lecturer at the Nigerian Law School, a Senior Lecturer at Baze University, Abuja, a visiting Senior Lecturer at University of Nigeria, as well as having held other forms of academic positions in other prominent Higher Institutions.
Dr. Kingsley Udeh did his secondary school at the elite College of the Immaculate Conception (CIC) Enugu; obtained a Bachelor of Laws Degree (LLB) from the prestigious University of Nigeria; a Master’s Degree in Law (LLM) from the University of Nottingham, United Kingdom; capping it with a Doctor of Philosophy/Doctor of Laws Degree (PhD/LLD) from the University of Stellenbosch, South Africa. One can say that he got it all, academically.
Dr. Kingsley Udeh’s career has seen him working as a highly skilled Consultant with International Development Organizations, such as the United Nations, (UNICEF, UNDP, etc.), the World Bank, African Development Bank, FCDO, the European Union; in addition to national institutions, including the Nigeria Governors’ Forum. He has close to two decades of development work experience across all the states of the Federation and other parts of the world. Indeed Dr. Udeh has seen it all when it comes to experience with International Development Partners and Governments. No doubt, he will bring these excellent capacities to bear on State Administration, if the good people of Enugu State will hire him as their Chief Servant. He possesses all it takes to excel.
Indeed, one of the greatest legacies that Rt. Hon. Dr. Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi, who has done exceedingly well, will bequeath to Enugu State will be to have a man like Dr. Kingsley Udeh succeed him in office. That is when the positive paradigm shift that the good people of Enugu State have been clamouring for would have been successfully actualized!
Kenneth Okey Anozie
Political Analyst
