I was asking a friend what he thought was the strongest point of Governor Lawrence Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi administration in Enugu State in its three years in office? His answer was “peace”, that there is peaceful atmosphere in every part of Enugu State in the past three years since Governor Ugwuanyi has been in the saddle: that there is no war or bickering of any sort among the people of the state.
I thought for a while, and then told him that I concur.
From the onset, Governor Ugwuanyi had showed positive disposition for peace in Enugu State when he decided to adopt the “Four-Point Agenda” of his predecessor. Not that Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi lacked ideas of his own, or that he was incapable of initiating his own programme. Not the least, only that he want continuity, or what he called “seamless transition”. If his predecessor had started something good, why stop it or rock the boat?
Governor Ugwuanyi was aware of situations in Nigeria where every new regime, out of selfishness or personal ego, would jettison the projects initiated by its predecessor to embark on its own new projects. Another new regime will come, turn its back on the projects of that its predecessor, and begins its own new projects, and so on. This had not only led to litany of abandoned projects that litter almost every nook and cranny of the country, but had equally led to bad blood between the outgone and the successor administrations, cascading down to their followers.
But not so for Governor Ugwuanyi. He had decided to take it upon himself to complete projects which his predecessor had initiated but could not complete before the expiration of its tenure. He knew that he would be doing injustice not only to his conscience, but also to the taxpayers whose money were used in executing these projects, were he to abandon them.
The other day, I was passing through the Ebeano Tunnel near the Polo Field and saw that the Diagnostic Centre initiated by the previous administration in the state, but which it could not complete before it left office, is now almost completed by the present administration. I was overjoyed.
Since the advent of the present Fourth Republic, Ugwuanyi is the only governor in Enugu State that has not quarreled or openly disagreed with his predecessor, or his so-called godfather. Even when, for personal reasons, his predecessor was to decamp to another political party, Ugwuanyi still maintained his usual calm disposition and never came out to castigate him.
Today, in Enugu State, there appears to be no dichotomy between the so-called “Abuja politicians” and the politicians in the home front. The two groups seem to be working together for the progress of the state. Just a few days ago, I saw all the three Senators and eight members of the House of Representatives from Enugu State in the National Assembly, sitting together with Governor Ugwuanyi at the Michael Okpara Square in Enugu, celebrating this year’s Democracy Day. This was something that had never happened before.
Governor Ugwuanyi believes that peace is the foundation for progress and development in any society. That is why he strieves to ensure that there is peace in the state. And that is what the Federal Government of Nigeria under President Muhammadu Buhari should emulate instead of fighting everybody in the country. That is why Nigeria is not moving.
Governor Ugwutanyi does not carry himself too high. He identifies with everybody in the state, with both the rich and the poor, with those at the top of the ladder as well as with those at the base, with the civil servants that he pays regularly as well with traders that he gives financial empowerment, with members of his own political party as well as with members of the opposition.
That is why many of these people are now rooting for him and want him to come back in 2019.
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