Ebonyi, Enugu residents laud Mba, Nwifuru ahead of 2nd anniversary 

Some residents of Ebonyi and Enugu States have scored their state governors high in security, infrastructure and governance ahead of the second anniversary of the officials elected into office on 29, May, 2023.

Governors Peter Mbah of Enugu State and Francis Nwifuru of Ebonyi will mark their two years in office on 29 May, 2023.

In Enugu State, Igwe Patrick Okoro, the Traditional Ruler of Nkpunano Community in Nsukka Local Government Area of the state, said Gov Mbah had done well in various sectors of the economy in the state especially in infrastructure, security and good leadership.

Okoro, while reacting to the performance of the governors since assuming office in May 2023, said that Mbah had done massive infrastructural development in the three senatorial districts of the state.

“We, in Enugu North Senatorial District, have benefited 102 Smart Green Schools, 102 Type-2 Primary Healthcare Centres and more importantly the ongoing dualization of the Enugu-Ugwogo Nike-Opi-Nsukka Road.

“The district is happy with what Mbah has done in the past two years and we urge him to keep it up,” he said.

Mr Onyekachi Omeje, President, Nsukka Youths Development Association, said that the governor had transformed the motor parks in the state with a state of the art bus terminals in Enugu and Nsukka.

Omeje however, said that Mbah should improve in areas of employment and empowerment especially as it concerned youths in the state.

Mrs Ngozi Ozioko, former Chairman of Nsukka Main Market, said that Mbah had transformed the state with quality infrastructure especially in education and health as well as ensuring adequate security in Enugu State.

Ozioko commended the governor for including women in his cabinet and urged him to continue to appoint more women in his administration.

“To me, Mbah is a game-changer; if he continues this way, Enugu State will be the best state in the country by the time he finishes his first and second tenures,” she said.

However, the former market leader urged the governor to compensate all traders whose shops were demolished by his administration to build modern bus terminals in the state.

Chief Onyema Idoko, former Nsukka LG Caretaker Committee Chairman and Chieftain of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), said that infrastructures on ground in Enugu State remained eloquent testimony that Mbah had done well since May 29, 2023 he assumed office.

Idoko urged people who said that the governor had not done well in terms of employment and empowerment to know that massive infrastructure would provide enabling environment for business to thrive in the state.

According to Idoko, these massive infrastructure the governor is putting in place would in turn boost youth employment and empowerment in the state in future.

Speaking, Chief Anthony Onyishi, Deputy-governorship Candidate of the Peoples Redemption Party (PRP) in the 2023 general elections, said that Nsukka people were happy with the Smart school vision of Mbah as well as the dualization of the Enugu-Ugwogo Nike-Opi-Nsukka Road.

Onyishi however, said that Mbah could have used virgin lands to build the Smart Schools instead of demolishing some existing primary and secondary schools in the state to build the Smart schools.

On agriculture, the Commissioner for Agriculture and Agro-Industrialisation, Mr Patrick Ubru, said that Gov. Mbah had deepened the vision to make Enugu State export and commercial agriculture hub in Africa.

According to him, the ministry started wiith a target of acquiring 300,000 hectares of farmland for agricultural purposes especially for developing large scale commercial farming.

He said that so far, 187,934 hectares across various locations in the 17 Local Government Areas (LGAs) in the state had been acquired; and more land to be acquired from willing communities across the LGAs.

Continuous update and registration of farmers data on all agricultural value chains across the 17 LGAs in Enugu State has been completed. This is to ensure that the State has a robust and verified data of all farmers within the state.

“Over 67,000 farmers’ data have been captured featuring the geo coordinates, farm sizes, specialisations, value-chain etc of these farmers and their farms with over 80 farmer co-operatives registered so far,” he said.

On Economy, the Director General of the Enugu Chamber of Commerce, Industries, Mines and Agriculture (ECCIMA), Mr Uchechukwu Mba, said the governor had been building on the economy of the state.

He observed that a lot of infrastructure development and reforms under Mbah’s administration made the state stand out within two years in office.

“In my personal assessment, he is doing well in the areas of transport, infrastructure, investment in education, health sector and a whole lot of others.

“But government needs to sustain what it is doing currently and look at the effect of the existing policies they already formulated by reviewing some of them to improve lives of the citizens.

“This is important as so many business owners are complaining about taxation, but for me as a person, tax is a necessary policy that the government has to keep.

“Our own is to make sure that every tax policy is friendly and that the means of collecting them does not affect or bring adverse effect on the living standard.

“So we are in support of what the government is doing and we encourage the government to always look downwards and hear from the citizens,”.

The President, Airfreight Stakeholder’s Forum, Akanu Ibiam International Airport, Enugu, Comrade Chinedu Abugu, hailed Gov. Mbah for changing narratives in the state’s transport sector.

Congratulating him on his achievements on transportation under two years, Abugu, said the governor built bus terminals in different places in Enugu capital and Nsukka, taking transport sector to another level as obtained in developed countries.

“And recently, the governor, in the collaboration of partners, has launched the Enugu Air. It is already in the news and no longer a secret, that Enugu has an airline which will boost the economy of the state.

“It is also going to boost the foreign earnings, because I know very well that the air freight is not going to be limited to the local alone.

The state Commissioner for Works and Infrastructure, Mr Gerald Otiji, said that in less than two years in office, Gov Mbah had completed 96 urban roads, flyovers and bridges.

Additionally, 141 road projects are currently underway, featuring integrated drainage systems, street lights and walkways to enhance mobility and safety.

Otiji also noted ongoing efforts to make Enugu a premier destination for leisure and business tourism.

The projects, he listed, include the Presidential Hotel, a five star hotel, a world class International Conference Center and green recreation spaces like Eze Park and Unity Park.

In Ebonyi, some stakeholders have hailed the state government efforts on development of the solid minerals, culture and tourism sectors.

Gov Francis Nwifuru, described mineral resources as “key to economic development.”

Mr Chidi Onyia, Commissioner for Solid Minerals and Development, listed some of the minerals deposit in Ebonyi to include: Brine (salt), granite, lead ore (galena), sand, limestone, barites, marble stones, limenite, marcasite and gypsum.

Others are: kaolin, fullers earth, laterites, chalcopyrite (fool’s gold, coal/lignite, pyrite, crude oil/ natural gas, dolerite, pryoclastics, copper ore. Iron ore, quartz, zinc ore (sphalerite), phosphate among others.

“The Commissioner said that Ebonyi was committed to harnessing its potentials in mineral resources, noting that under the present governor’s People’s Charter of Needs agenda, the Ministry of Solid Minerals Development achieved remarkable progress.

According to him, the government has so far secured multiple mineral titles, allowing direct government participation in exploration and creating new streams of revenue for development.

“Within this period of Nwifuru’s two years in office, we have successfully mediated and resolved over 100 disputes between mining companies and host communities-restoring trust, ensuring peace, and securing operational stability across critical mining zones.

“In fact, we are shifting focus from raw mineral exports to in-state processing-encouraging local refining and production facilities that create jobs and deepen local content.

“As we consolidate the gains of the past two years, our focus is clear to transform Ebonyi state’s solid minerals sector into a model of innovation, sustainability and inclusive growth,” the Commissioner added.

Dr Chukwudi Emeribe, Lecturer and Researcher, University of Benin, Edo state, also commended Ebonyi government on solid minerals development.

Emeribe called for the need to obey and support government policies and work in accordance with the Community Development Agreement (CDA).

“The activities of the mining companies can cause threat to human health; so, it is good that we adhere strictly to the CDA and improve the social responsibilities in the host communities,” he added.

Mr Donald Nnadi, Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Dolf Global Resources said, there was need to avoid indiscriminate mining in the state and adhere strictly to the CDA.

“Mining activities can pose environmental and health challenges. The people suffers danger of lead poisoning as a result of effluent leak into the environment.

“This causes serious health complications which can damage various organs and systems in the body, including the brain and nervous system, the blood and cardiovascular system, as well as the kidneys.

“So, the mining companies should protect the right of the host communities by obeying the Community Development Agreement (CDA),” he added

On Culture and Tourism, Mr Stanley Ogbuewu, Commissioner for Culture and Tourism, said the state government had approved the remodel of events and recreational centres, that had been in moribund.

Ogbuewu disclosed that the resuscitation of the recreational centres would serve the original purposes.

The centres include: the Fatilami, Green parks alongside the International Conference Centre (ICC) all in the state capital.

“On the state of amusement park, the government had approved its reformation.

“The amusement park was also in moribund for over eight years until the present administration intervention,”.

Ogbuewu noted that the governor sought to establish a state museum to preserve the cultural heritage of the people and a film creative industry to promote the state culture identity.

He said that transformations were ongoing at over 30 unique tourism sites in the state, such as Amancho cave, oziza beach, Nkpurukem cave, Abakaliki green lake among others sites.

(NAN)