Mbah Factor and Tinubu’s Game-changing Trip to Enugu

President Bola Tinubu’s recent visit to Enugu State on the heels of Governor Peter Mbah’s performance marks a paradigm shift in All Progressives Congress-led government at the centre’s disposition to opposition and South East in particular, Deji Elumoye reports.

Addressing the nation on the eve of the 1936 presidential election in which he was seeking a second term in the White House, having won the previous election in 1932, America’s 32nd President, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, expressed his indignation at a form of campaign he considered bitter. But the statesman, nevertheless, reaffirmed his belief that anyone worthy to be called the President of USA, should be able to rise above partisanship and adopt a wider worldview to build America.
In that important address at Madison Square, New York City, Roosevelt said, “I prefer to remember this campaign not as bitter, but only as hard-fought. There should be no bitterness or hate where the sole thought is the welfare of the United States of America. No man can occupy the office of President without realising that he is President of all the people.”
Regrettably, the dearth of this statesmanly disposition has been the bane of Nigerian politics and development, as leaders often see those who did not vote for them as nothing less than sworn enemies.
For instance, many easily point at the statements and actions following the 2015 presidential election as the lowest.
However, with his recent visit to Enugu state and other overtures, President Bola Tinubu appears determined to change the narrative, showing a much-needed capacity to differentiate and rise above an election and its bitter rhetoric and the leadership demanded of him as a president.
For various reasons, the South East has consistently given the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) the least support since 2015. Former President Muhammadu Buhari polled 198,248 in the South East in 2015 and 403,968 in 2019, his highest ever. Tinubu got 127,370 votes. So, Buhari got more votes than Tinubu is his first term.
Asked how he intended to unite the country and give every tendency a sense of belonging after a bitterly fought 2015 election, Buhari responded, “Constituencies that gave me 97 per cent cannot in all honesty be treated
equally, on some issues, with constituencies that gave me five per cent, I think these are political realities…. I see this as really fair.”
Conversely, hear President Tinubu in Enugu: “Election is over and we have to move the nation forward and you have demonstrated that commitment, an irrevocable commitment towards human development. I don’t care which party you come from. You are my friend. You are doing well and very focused. We must build this house called Nigeria to not just satisfy our immediate need, but our tomorrow too.
“It’s not about difference in languages and place of birth. No one of us has control of the mother tongue. You are created by God and you found yourself in Enugu or Onitsha or you find yourself in Lagos. We are all a member of one big huge family called Nigeria, but living in different rooms in the same house. This house, we must build it. We must build it to satisfy our immediate needs, which is not going to be enough yet, but our tomorrow too.”
Nothing can be more presidential and statesmanly. Facts show that Tinubu has treated the South East better. For instance, Tinubu appointed Rear Admiral Emmanuel Ikechukwu Ogalla from Enugu State as Chief of the Naval Staff, while Senator David Umahi from Ebonyi State was appointed the Minister of Works and Dr. Doris Uzoka-Anite as Minister of State, Finance.
Only recently, Nwakuche Ndidi Sylvester, who hails from Imo State, was appointed the Acting Comptroller-General of the Nigeria Correctional Service.
But beyond appointments, the President has made commitments to lifting the South East in terms of infrastructure and optimising its natural blessings like gas for the good of the region and the nation. It is recalled that while ex-President Buhari embarked on an ambitious $1.9bn 248km Chinese loan-funded project from Kano to Maradi in Niger Republic, the Eastern Rail Line, which traverses major towns and cities like Port Harcourt, Aba, Enugu, Otupko, Igumale, Makurdi, Kafanchan, Kuru, Bauchi, Gombe and all the way to Maiduguri, was neglected. This was a very sore point in the relationship between Buhari and the South East. Deputy President of the Senate and leader of the opposition at the time, Senator Ike Ekweremadu as well as Senator Enyinnaya Abaribe were among those who led the opposition against the exclusion both in and outside the parliament.
In one of his interventions on the matter, an angry Ekweremadu told told the Senate, “All the loans for railway projects by the current administration, totally excluded this vital corridor. But the questions are: Why would loans taken on behalf of Nigerians and to be repaid by all Nigerians exclude more than a half of the country from the benefits of such loans? Why should the South East, South South, North Central, and North East pay for what they were inexplicably excluded from enjoying? Fairness and equity demand that every part of the country should be carried along”.
It was on account of such protests that Buhari’s subsequent loan request for railway projects was thrown out by the Senator Bukola-Saraki-led Senate in 2018. But the $30bn external loan request was returned by Buhari, again to the exclusion of the South East, but was approved by the Senator Ahmad Lawan-led Senate amid uproar.
It was, therefore, not surprising that those nagging matters resurfaced at the president’s roundtable with the people of South East during the visit. In his presentation, former Minister of Power, Prof. Chinedu Nebo, while applauding the Tinubu Administration for completing the Port Harcourt – Aba Section of the Eastern Rail Line, appealed for the prioritisation of the remaining portions of the rail line to boost the region’s and nation’s economy.
On his part, the Secretary, Police Service Commission (PSC), Chief Onyemuche Nnamani who presented the zone’s requests, conveyed the region’s complaints about the many checkpoints and roadblocks that have negatively affected the economy of the people and increased security risk and traffic congestions. Also, Chris Ugo called for the development of the Anambra Basin to unlock the oil and gas reserves of about 30 billion cubic feet lying waste in the area.
Again, Tinubu’s reassuring words were a soothing balm to the hurting nerves of the region. “The question on the rail line is a work in progress. I inherited some of these critical problems and I am going to do it. On the gas infrastructure, sure, gas is an alternative fuel and there’s no wasting of time but to invest more in it. We will do it together,” he said.
Following the Enugu visit, which has been variously described as a masterstroke in building Southern solidarity and national cohesion, it is expected that the region’s dispositions to his person will improve as 2027 approaches, especially if he is able to fulfil his promises.
Even President Tinubu, could not help but confess to the palpable warm reception and affection he got from Enugu residents, starting from the airport and through the streets and event venues. He confessed the solidarity and kinship saying “it is a great turn-up for me to be in Enugu. It is a joy and I feel relaxed and at home with you. It is a homecoming for me. This is a serious demonstration of what we can do together and what we can build together.”
But noteworthy is the president’s wisdom in anchoring his South East rapprochement on Governor Peter Mbah. The President was clear that the Enugu visit would be his first official function in 2025. He was also aware that it would be his first official visit to any of the 36 states of the federation since his inauguration on May 29, 2023. But he was convinced that the trip was worth it. Mbah has no doubt distinguished himself in less than two years as governor and is nationally acknowledged as one of the shining lights and beacons of hope in the present dispensation.
On that visit alone, the President symbolically inaugurated from GTC, Enugu the 30 completed and equipped Enugu Smart Green Schools out of 260 under construction across the 260 wards in the state.
At New Haven Junction by Bisalla Road, he symbolically inaugurated 90 completed urban roads in Enugu City. He equally inaugurated the 5,000 combined multi-auditorium and multi-functional Enugu International Conference Centre after 17 years of abandonment by previous administrations. Tinubu further inaugurated the most ambitious and sophisticated state-of-the-art Command and Control Centre for the surveillance of the entire state as well as a matching 150 smart patrol vehicles with AI-embedded cameras for the Distress Response Squad, which is a special police unit. This unit, according to the government, will wear body cams and work with hi-tech communication equipment to prevent and fight crime. Instructively, these are a tip off the iceberg of Mbah’s efforts.
It is also against this backdrop and the fact that he accomplished all these in 18 months that Tinubu’s stamp on his government can best be appreciated. Among other paundits, the President announced, “He (Mbah) is doing a fantastic job. I am glad that Enugu got a very good tomorrow, today. I salute Peter Mbah for his commitment to development. You are a good leader and you are my friend. We can go places together, in harmony, building Nigeria, building the future. You are a private sector person; we must encourage more private sector people to come into politics.”