By Uche Okobi
Igwe Denis Okafor, Ezeaniokosis of Ovuorie in Nkanu East Local Government Area of Enugu State, has declared that, based on the achievements of the incumbent administration, Governor Peter Mbah should be given another term of office when the electorate go to the polls next year.
Speaking in an interview with Daily Sun Newspaper, Igwe Okafor, who is also the Ezendigbo of Ghana, said that although traditional rulers are apolitical, his position is based on the fact that Enugu State is in good hands under Mbah, and the person in charge should be given the support and opportunity to continue the good work.
According to him, in three years, Enugu State has undergone tremendous transformation in infrastructure and other social amenities.
Another election is around the corner. As a traditional ruler in Enugu State, what is your opinion concerning the governorship?
As a traditional ruler, I don’t belong to any political party. My concern is the peace and progress of Ovuorie, Nkanu East in particular and Enugu State in general. I am not a member of any political party because my subjects belong to different political parties, and they are all my children while I am their father. Fathers do not discriminate against their children.
But with regard to Enugu State now, I want to say that Governor Peter Mbah is doing very well and deserves a second term so that he can continue the good work. There is a saying that you don’t change a winning team. Mbah needs the vote and support of Ndi Enugu, so that the transformation currently going on in the state will be total.
Can you mention some of the legacy projects that have endeared Governor Mbah to you?
It will be a tall order to mention all of them. You know that I am a traditional ruler and not a politician. Much of the time, we are busy settling disputes and doing other things. The ones I can remember include the growth in our internally generated revenue (IGR). You know that money is the lifeblood of any administration. Mbah’s administration has raised Enugu State’s IGR from about N26.8 billion in 2022 to N37.4 billion in 2023, N180.5 billion in 2024 and N406.77 billion in 2025. In the IGR ranking, Enugu State is now fifth nationally. Before now, we were 14th.
But many property owners in the state are complaining of excessive taxation. They say tenement rates in Enugu are now higher than in Lagos, and they are not happy about it.
My son, I understand what you are saying, and I will respond to that shortly. Let me talk about roads and education infrastructure first. Hundreds of urban and rural roads have been completed or are under construction. These include major dualisations and gateway roads such as the 40-kilometre Owo-Ubahu-Amankanu-UmuAlor-Neke-Ikem dual carriageway, the Airport Road dualisation, the Abakpa flyover interchange and several inter-local government area corridors. Modern bus terminals have been built at Holy Ghost, Abakpa and Nsukka, among other places.
On education infrastructure, 260 Smart Green Schools are being constructed, one in every ward in the state, and over 7,000 classrooms have been built or upgraded. Schools have been equipped with digital whiteboards, science laboratories, robotics and AI centres, solar power and ICT facilities. There is also a free daily meals programme targeting hundreds of thousands of pupils. Since he became governor in 2023, about 33 per cent of his budget has been allocated to education, which is well above the national average.
I do not know whether what I have reeled out has helped to answer your question. There is a saying that you cannot have your cake and eat it. Enugu State is undergoing massive transformation and people are seeing it. For that transformation to be possible, people should make a bit of sacrifice.
Perhaps not everybody has this information, and maybe that is why they are complaining.
Well, that is why traditional rulers are important in government. It is their role to explain to their subjects what the government is doing, for better understanding. In the area of job creation and industrialisation, Mbah’s government has revived long-moribund assets such as the Presidential Hotel, Niger Gas and Sunrise Flour Mills. It has also inaugurated a $20 million Haier factory for the assembly of laptops and smartphone-related products, and commissioned a tractor assembly plant in partnership with an international firm. There is the development of the New Enugu Smart City, with large-scale urban projects spanning thousands of hectares, as well as the creation of land banks and farm estates for commercial agriculture.
You are also aware of the launch of the state-owned Enugu Air, which currently has six aircraft, the introduction of CNG buses and plans for thousands of city buses. Daily water supply has also risen from two million litres to over 120 million litres, with the expansion of water schemes at 9th Mile and other places.
Enugu is one of the states most affected by insecurity. What is the governor doing about it?
You will agree with me that security has improved a lot in the state. In recent times, at least, we have not heard any news of insecurity in Enugu. The reason is that the governor has established a technology-driven command and control centre, with widespread CCTV and AI-enabled surveillance. The Monday sit-at-home, which was also contributing to the insecurity, has been significantly reduced in many places, and there have been many successful operations against kidnapping and other criminal activities.
He has also done a lot in healthcare, with the construction of 260 Type 2 primary healthcare centres and the ongoing construction of the 300-bed Enugu International Specialist Hospital, which includes advanced facilities for MRI, cancer treatment and modern theatres, aimed at reducing medical tourism.
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