‘Peter Mbah Will Unleash Enugu’s Potential as an Economic Powerhouse’

INTERVIEW

Nana Ogbodo, Executive Secretary of the Enugu State Local Government Staff Pensions Board and spokesman of the Peter Mbah Campaign Organization speaks on the chances of the Peoples’ Democratic Party’s governorship candidate in the 2023 general elections.

You are back on the block as the spokesman of the PDP Campaign Council; what new message do you have for the electorate in the state?

First of all, I would wish to express my gratitude to my party, the PDP, for yet finding me worthy to act in that capacity. In political parlance, there is this general saying that “the reward for good work is more work.” Being called upon to handle this very sensitive assignment again is, to me, an affirmation that the party appreciated my little efforts during the last season. Being a spokesman of a great party like the PDP comes with great and sensitive responsibilities, and it’s not lost on me that the eternal price for greatness is responsibility. My message would still be to remind our dear people of Enugu State of the bond between the PDP and them, and how we have all worked to live up to the billings of this great partnership. We shall also work to give them glimpses of the new direction and the promises it holds; the qualities, track records and capacity of the new helmsman; and why of the legion of fantastic aspirants that contended for our party’s ticket, Dr. Peter Mbah’s comparative advantage stood him out.

A major catchphrase of the Peter Mbah campaign is ‘Tomorrow is here’. Isn’t this just another fancy one-liner created merely to woo voters?

Certainly not. The message speaks to the urgency of the country’s current economic outlook, but from an optimistic perspective, not despondency. It is, if you will, a rallying call to action, spurred by the realization that we can truly shape the social and economic realities of the future through the decisions we make today. “Tomorrow is here” encapsulates our hopes and expectations about the future. It reminds us that our dreams of a blissful future are not utopian as long as there exists the requisite capacity, willingness and, indeed, the courage to take that vision from the realm of contemplation into an actual state of being. Besides the fact it is an affirmative development proposition, the notion that tomorrow is within the grasp of the present is consistent with humanity’s constant yearning for improved living conditions. We can thus say that it is essentially an abnegation of complacency. Our candidate is basically saying that innovation is the most potent feature of development.

A recent report published by BudgIT based on World Bank data rated Enugu State’s GDP as the third lowest in the country. How will your candidate turn this grim situation around?

I don’t believe that the report is a true reflection of the social and economic reality in Enugu State. There are, in fact, several commonsensical pieces of evidence that lend credence to my conviction. For instance, it’s hard to reconcile how Enugu’s GDP could be deemed so low whereas it ranked among the top 14 states in terms of IGR, as seen in last year’s figures released by the National Bureau of Statistics. Having said this, it may also be important to state that Enugu State receives one of the least revenues from the Federation Accounts Allocation Commission. Sometimes some of these conclusions are drawn from this fact especially against the backdrop that for several decades, Enugu had been prided as a “civil service state”. Thus, most analysts believe that the state’s economy only gains some traction at such periods in the month when salaries of civil servants are paid. It’s salutary to state however that increasing the state’s productive base and economic activities is a critical vision of our candidate, Dr. Peter Mbah, which is encapsulated in his policy action plan. He has outlined a bold plan to grow the state’s GDP from $4.4bn to $30bn over an eight-year period. This is in addition to his intention to create N100bn venture capital to boost the growth of micro, small and medium enterprises in Enugu State. This initiative is particularly significant given the fact that Enugu’s economic life is largely civil service-driven. The “disruptive innovation” which he promises would find expression in stimulating public, private partnership as the driving model of the economy. Enugu State has long been reputed as an agricultural powerhouse with vast tracts of arable land. The challenge has always been how to move that potential from a largely subsistence level to a mechanized and industrial scale. Peter Mbah regards this as an economic imperative. Given his vast experience that straddles both the public and private sectors, there is definitely no reason to doubt that Enugu State will attain its full agricultural potential under his watch. Of course, the many accomplishments of Governor Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi in various sectors will stand as veritable substructures upon which Dr. Peter Mbah’s vision can flourish, and boldly launch Enugu into a more prosperous future.

It seems the default response of governments in Enugu State each time the question of lack of water comes up is to cite the presence of large coal deposits in the soil as a major drawback. Does the PDP governorship candidate think water scarcity is a problem that cannot be helped?

Indeed, the presence of coal deposits beneath almost all land across the state renders the task of providing safe drinking water a lot more difficult than it would have been ordinarily. The hilly terrain is also a major problem. But our candidate is by no means deterred by those challenges. In addition to maintaining the existing water stations at Ajali and Oji River and expanding water reticulation in the state capital and other major towns, our candidate is committed to establishing boreholes in various rural communities. The goal is to ensure that all residents of rural communities are not more than five-minute walking time from a clean water source. This is not merely optimistic projections. Our candidate is undaunted by challenges and understands the power of innovation. If one takes a look at the wonders he achieved at the private sector where he ingeniously and courageously grew his company, Pinnacle Oil, into a formidable presence in the downstream oil and gas sector, it becomes a benchmark of our expectations in resolving this endemic water problem in the state.

But the chairman of APC in Enugu State has written off Dr. Mbah’s celebrated exploits as an entrepreneur as no more than crony capitalism arising from being a linchpin of the Chimaroke Nnamani administration. What is your response to that?

There is a saying that when the debate is lost, slander becomes the tool of the loser. This Socratic quote fittingly captures the current dilemma of the Enugu State APC chairman, Ugochukwu Agballa. His fixation with our candidate is an indication that he, alongside his crisis-ridden party, are intimidated by Peter Mbah’s profile. People like him are that archetypal Nigerian politicians who can barely eke out a living outside of politics. So he assumes everyone else has a rent-seeking philosophy as he does. For the record, he was a prominent member of former Governor Nnamani campaign council and was, in fact, the person who christened their group “Ebeano”. He was the first commissioner for works in that administration and can indeed be described as the first Director General of “Ebeano”. But beyond such lazy categorization, one would have expected him to tell the electorate what the APC governorship candidate holds in stock for the state; but he didn’t. Our candidate, Peter Mbah, had an excellent and unblemished public service career. For him, the underlying ethos of public service is service to the people, deploying public resources in ways that benefit all, not personal aggrandizement. Unlike the APC Chairman, he grew his company into a multi-billion naira behemoth from scratch by dint of hard work and sheer industry. It is this sort of entrepreneurial flair that he will be bringing into office after his election as governor of Enugu State come March 11, 2022.

Some observers say the long absence of strong opposition in the state has made the PDP complacent and to take the masses for granted. Is this the first time that the PDP in Enugu State is finding its match in an election?

There’s actually no opposition in Enugu State. For instance, Mr. Agballa was one of our national delegates in 2019. Since his emergence as the Chairman, he has destroyed the party such that many members still do not believe he has left the PDP. Indeed, when tantrums such as he spewed recently come on, it is perhaps only meant to reassure the doubting Thomases in his party that he has indeed decamped. But as hard as he tries, we all know that one cannot possibly divorce himself from his environment and still retain his identity. We are still open to welcome such brothers back to the fold because in Enugu it is PDP and nothing more! But we’re nonetheless campaigning as though there was a viable opposition. This explains the regular town hall meetings we’re organizing across the state, including in rural communities. The goal is to deepen our relationship with the masses, promote scrutiny and accountability. That is what democracy is about after all. Besides, virtually all candidates of the so-called opposition parties in the coming election were formerly of the PDP, whose exits from the party were driven by their vaulting ambitions rather than any altruistic motives.

To what extent will your party’s electoral fortunes be affected by the current bitter wrangling within its ranks at the national level?

Disagreements are an essential feature of democracy. Indeed, in a democratic setting like ours, conflicts could be lubricants of love! I believe that whatever disagreement that may exist is mostly in relation to broader principles arising from administering party affairs. It will not result in the undermining of the party. The crisis currently in the PDP significantly pales in comparison with the scale of the division in other parties. Enugu State remains a stronghold of the PDP.