Ugwuanyi’s Handover Code for Sustainable Peace in Enugu

Oguejiofo Ujam writes about the process put in place by Governor Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi to ensure seamless transition in Enugu State come May, 2023

Timing is relevant for any impactful policy thrust. In Enugu State, “Tomorrow is here,” has become the mantra that citizens and residents use to describe Governor Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi’s succession plan and governance strategy for theexpected administration of Dr. Peter Mbah.

Condensed in that definitive and constructive paradox is the quiet imputation of the expected seamless transition from Ugwuanyi’s today to the tomorrow of a possible Mbah/Ossai administration.

Yet, subsumed in that realization is the fact of the prediction by former Governor Chimaroke Nnamani that “sixteen years from now, we would be celebrating the third generation of Ebeano governorship.” Needless to say that that vision was founded on progressive ideas, structured human capital and physical development supported by leadership grooming.

With that in mind, therefore, it could be said that indeed, in Enugu State, that tomorrow that Senator Nnamani foresaw, raised the foundation and accurately envisioned in 2007, has dawned in the state.

The America-trained Obstetrician and Gynaecologist, who is an expert in foetal surgery, spoke eloquently of Enugu State’s tomorrow at the point of his exit after completing his constitutionally approved maximum two terms (eight years) as governor of the state.

As a man of faith, Nnamani spoke of that tomorrow with every assurance of its concrete reality.

That that prediction is coming to fulfilment at a time like this in our nation’s march to democratic progress, is a function of foresightedness and good planning.

As the outgoing governor of Enugu State in 2007, Dr. Chimaroke Nnamani didn’t bother to explain how it would happen, rather he left it on record that it would surely happen that a third generation of Ebeano governor will be born in the 2023 election cycle.

Nnamani was not under any inhibition that Nigeria’s democracy will continue to grow in leaps and bounds, and therefore spoke with the force of conviction that Enugu people will witness the fruition of political foresight, socio-economic planning and grooming of a pool of future leaders.

Having enlisted Sullivan Iheanacho Chime as his successor in 2007, did Nnamani know that the peacemaker, Governor Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi, would take over from Iheanacho in 2015?

Now, having received the overwhelming mandate of Ndi Enugu for a second term and getting ready to breast the tape in 2023, Governor Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi seems to be affirming that Nnamani spoke to the mind of God concerning Enugu State and its steady progress within the ambit of the Ebeano developmental paradigm.

And so, as a man of deep-thinking, disarming humility and boundless ecumenism, Governor Ugwuanyi has prepared the ground effectively for a better tomorrow to germinate and flourish in the state.

Governor Ugwuanyi stylishly passed 1795 as a code for the incoming administration of Dr. Peter Ndubuisi Mbah and his deputy, Ifeanyi Ossai.

The hidden message in the code is the need for inclusiveness and total commitment to the service of Enugu people, especially the constructive development of a competitive Enugu State. It is a challenge that is already being brought to bear on the succession plan for Mbah/Ossai administration to bring to fruition.

The succeeding governor and his deputy are expected to constantly reflect on the imperatives of Ugwuanyi’s peace-building initiatives as well as the theory of anticipated outcome as enunciated by Senator Chimaroke Nnamani.

All that were embedded on code 1795 as reminder to them to carry everybody along in the scheme of things in the state.

What does 1795 represent? Taking the figures apart, the first two units, 17, conjures the total number of Local Government Areas of Enugu State. Then the next two units, 95, captures the idea of hard work and full time service.

As a civil service state, the incoming administration should ensure that civil servants contribute their full quota as partners in progress. From his body language, Governor Ugwuanyi wants an end to indolence in the state civil service, especially in the Local Government Councils.

In the days of old, school children in the state were guided during the morning assembly with the song, ‘Punctuality and Regularity is our motto….”  

The effective 9 to 5 working hours guarantees an efficient work force at the Civil Service, which is a crucial fulcrum in the implementation of government’s policies and programmes.

 The sum of the numbers 1*7*9*5 gives you 22 and when you add 2 and 2 it leaves you with 4, which represents the four Igbo market days: Orie, Afor, Nkwo and Eke. 

Consequently, the job of developing Enugu State in the emerging post-Ugwuanyi era should not be left to civil servants alone. Farmers, traders, artisans and rural dwellers-men, women and youths-are expected to participate in building an economically viable, egalitarian, equitable and just Enugu State.

It is the above philosophical underpinning that seems to have propelled the enlistment of 1795 members into the Enugu State Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Governorship Campaign Council. Having put Enugu State in the hands of God, the almighty has never forsaken Governor Ugwuanyi in the plans and purposes of the state.

1795 is not the making of man, but a continuation of the divine foundation of the Ebeano political movement, which gave rise to Dr. Chimaroke Nnamani’s prediction that a third generation Ebeano administration would be ushered in in 2023, sixteen years after he left the Lion Building.

Speaking while inaugurating the 1795-man strong campaign council drawn from all the local government councils of the state, Governor Ugwuanyi projected that being tried, tested and competent, the members will power all PDP candidates to easy victory in next year’s polls.

Ugwuanyi broached on his inclusive leadership style, which was also embedded in what could be described as his handover codes. The governor stated: “We are in this together…”. We must campaign for our party in our political wards and communities as politics is indeed local.

“When we win all the polling units in our ward, our ward is won; when we win all the wards in our local government area, our local government area is won; when we win all our local government areas, our state is finally won. Therefore, in reality, it is everybody’s business to sell our party.”

The Director General of the Campaign Council, Chief Ikeji Asogwa, who spoke on behalf of other members, caught the vision and assured the governor that the mandate is doable.

 “Your Excellency, the assurance we want to give you is that we are going to deliver all our candidates 100 percent starting from you (for Enugu North Senatorial seat) to the last man,” he declared.

Peace is very crucial for development and it comes from love and affection. Governor Ugwuanyi has demonstrated these virtues in the past seven and a half year.

What a better gift to a successor than a secret of his success: inclusivity. That is the Ugwuanyi’s handover note.

-Prof Ujam writes from Nsukka