Projects galore: Mbah’s transformative agenda unleashed

What Enugu is witnessing currently is the unleashing of transformative projects by the Mbah administration in leaps and bounds. Mbah seems to be in a hurry to take Enugu State to higher pedestals in his development agenda for the state. Eyes have not seen, nor has it entered the hearts of men, what Mbah prepares for the people of Enugu State. In two days, Mbah has launched a landmark centre for DNA and Forensics at Godfrey Okoye University, Ugwuomu, Nike in Enugu State, which is unprecedented in Africa, the first of its kind in Africa, and the concessioning of the Akanu Ibiam International Airport and the Cargo wing to Aero Alliance Limited.

The governor does not look back. He is resolutely determined to do the unheard-of things in the state. While you are yet to recover from the pleasant daze of one unexpected and unprecedented project, Mbah comes up with another. The people of Enugu State are enthralled at Mbah’s development initiatives and can only thank God as they drink largely to the lees the spring Mbah is stirred. Mbah navigates the landscape with ubiquitous inclination, as his multisectoral approach touches everywhere deeply.

The established DNA and Forensic Centre is taking security to another level. Enugu had gone far in security with the Command-and-Control Centre, the DRS, the AI-embedded surveillance cameras with capacity for facial and plate number recognition installed on the DRS vehicles and in strategic places in the state, and the procurement of supersonic drones that fly the length and breadth of the Enugu sky and chase criminals cold. The addition of the DNA and Forensics Centre is top-notch, for while settling paternity issues, it flies off the handle with forensic analytics, making for adequacy in the security trajectories of the state. This is the application of scientific and analytical techniques to investigate crimes, resolve legal disputes, or uncover the facts behind complex situations. This actually makes the whole security situation of the state, and Mbah sends strong message to criminals to back out of Enugu State in their own interest, if any interest they have got at all.

The concession of the Akanu Ibiam Airport to Aero Alliance Limited in the mode of Public-Private Partnership (PPP) is the meeting point of private enterprise and visionary leadership cutting across the Tinubu administration at the national level, given that aviation is in the Exclusive List, and the Mbah administration for facilitating it for a common purpose. According to Governor Mbah, the concession is an enabler for the state to expand the Enugu Air fleet to 20, in anticipation of regional and international opportunities the international airport engenders, as flights will be expanded regionally and internationally. It offers economic possibilities in business and logistics, as an efficiently managed international airport will palliate regional and international constraints in logistics and business delivery.

The governor said that the airport occupies an important place in connecting the opportunities already created in the other sectors. It is in line with his endeavor to create an economy that works for everyone and competes globally. A modern and globally competitive economy works far beyond the confines of aviation. It supports hotels, restaurants, transport, artisans, vendors and small businesses. According to the governor, it attracts conferences, exhibitions and business events. It strengthens investor’s confidence, opens new opportunities for local businesses and exports, and deepens regional integration and global value chain.

Incidentally, Mbah’s development trajectories rub off on the entire South East region. Mbah thinks globally, and his projects are such that have local content with international reach, thereby repositioning Enugu State in the global map. This is how to be a governor. With the catch-them-young educational policy and the smart green school programme, Mbah has also placed the Enugu State human capital development at the global cutting-edge positioning, a shift that in time to come would make Enugu a place for the harvest of the best that is known in all the world.

The world is aware there is a governor in Enugu State who is pushing the frontiers for innovation and technological advancement of his people. Nigeria is also in the know that what Enugu has got for a governor is not ordinary. The people of Enugu State are aware they are headed for vistas of many opportunities, advancements and disruptive innovation yet to obtain anywhere. Thanks to Governor Peter Ndubuisi Mbah.

.Dr. Onyishi, (Ugoachataberu), writes from Enugu