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2023 GOVERNORSHIP AND
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Peter Ndubuisi Mbah: Distinguished in business and public service (Opinion)
Opinion

Peter Ndubuisi Mbah: Distinguished in business and public service (Opinion)

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Peter Ndubuisi Mbah: Distinguished in business and public service (Opinion)

By J.J Nwachukwu

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For Chief Peter Ndubuisi Mbah, it has been a long walk to breakthrough. Indeed it was a tortuous journey to his turning point. Having meandered through the thorny path to the creamy circle of the society, today, he shares the limelight as well as high recognitions where ever he finds himself. Like most trailblazers, he prepared for a battle early in life and learnt to stand strong on his feet. More often than not, he runs on his steam. Mbah has a distinguished career in politics, business, and public service.

For blazing peerless trails in the area of entrepreneur, Mbah has been bestowed with several prestigious awards.
There has been many such famed awards from far and near, even in the recent past. Peter Mbah who could be fittingly described as a relentless fighter for good cause and a defender of truth, has given generously to education, youths and community development. He is generous and philanthropic.

As a man of the future and a new age leader, receptive to modern ideas, Chief Mbah is not unmindful of the fact that the resources of any nation is dependent on its human capital, with particular reference to the youths who represent the future of any nation. For instance, an uneducated youth is a burden rather than a resource. No wonder he has devoted a large chunk of his resources to human capital development with deliberate attention on youth development over the years.

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As was noted earlier, moving up the socio-economic cum political ladder was not easy for him as some who viewed his rise to the top as a difficult pill to swallow, had flung stones and punches in his direction. These treacherous elements in their determination to undercut his ever rising profile deployed the tool of mudslinging and blackmail. However, he was able to navigate his way out of these intrigues to fame and fortune. Through patience and sobriety, he has been able to establish a foothold in the oil and gas sub-sector of the economy.

Born on March 17, 1972, in Enugu, Enugu State, to the family of Chief and Mrs. Gilbert Mbah, Peter Mbah is a native of Owo in Nkanu East Local Government Area of Enugu State.

Chief Peter Mbah, who is the Chairman/Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Pinnacle oil and Gas Company, holds a degree in International Maritime Law from the University Of East London (UEL). As a student, he stood out as a strategic planner of events and a renowned organizer and mobilizer of men and resources. Right from his days in the school, excellence has remained his watch word. As a student leader, he stood out distinguishingly from the crowd as we shall discover shortly.

Between 1998 and 1999, he was the President of the Studentsā€™ Law society. While his tenure lasted, the society won the Studentsā€™ Union prize/certificate of achievement for the ā€˜Most Productive Society of the Yearā€™. He was also member, Studentsā€™ Representative Council of the UEL, from 1999 to 2000, just as he was member of the School Law Board between 1999 and 2000 where he represented the final year students. This forward looking young man was to add another feather to his cap when he won the first prize of the University team to the International Negotiation competition. Additionally, he received the Honourable Society of Lincolnā€™s Inn major Bar Vocational Course Award in 2000.

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Still at UEL, Mbah as a stand-out performer, had distinguished himself further as a foremost student representative with emphasis on the organization of men. He was later called to the Nigerian Bar where he received the Bachelor of law (BL) at the Nigerian Law School. He did his youth service in Lagos with the Law firm of Ude and Associates.

As a result of his ingenious attributes, some of his former lecturers and tutors at the UEL spoke glowingly of his person. Colin Sumner, Professor of Law and Head of the School of Law at the UEL, commented thus: ā€œPeter has always struck me as an extremely determined and immensely capable young man. He is very sharp and alert, despite his easy-going manner…He resurrected a dormant body and won the Universityā€™s prize for the most productive society of the year ā€¦ (he) led our student team in the International Negotiation competitionā€.

In the words of Ken McGuire, Senior lecturer and Mbahā€™s personal tutor at the UEL, ā€œPeter is personable and well mannered. He is liked and respected by his fellow students and members of the academic at UEL. (He) is diligent, well organized and (a) hardworking student (and his) academic abilities are excellentā€¦ one of the best students I have taught at UEL. He is confident of his abilities and works extremely hardā€.

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In the same vein, his Nigerian lecturer, Professor Chris Ohurogu was not left out as he said: ā€œHe struck me as a very hard working, intelligent and highly motivated person (who) possesses such a degree of foresight and problem-solving mentality which surpass those of his peersā€

Peter Mbah also attended the Army Childrenā€™s School, Bori Camp, Port Harcourt, and Owode High School, Owode Egba, Ogun state, where he obtained his school leaving certificate in 1984 and Senior Secondary School Certificate in 1992, respectively.

In 2004, he proceeded to the Lagos State University where he acquired a Masterā€™s Degree in Maritime and Commercial Law. To ensure that his profile remains on the upward beat, Mbah has also participated in several other academic and capacity-building programmes, including the Masterā€™s Degree in Business Administration from IESE Business School, Barcelona, University of Navarra, Spain, the Chief Executive Programme at the Lagos Business School; Postgraduate in strategy and Innovation at the said Business School, University of Oxford and various certificate programmes in frontline Business Schools across the world, including the standard Business School and Harvard Business School.

In 2003, a career breakthrough had launched him into the front of the line as he became the Chief of Staff to the Governor of Enugu State, Dr. Chimaroke Nnamani. As the Chief of Staff to the Governor, he was the Chairman of the Tenderā€™s Board, member of the State Executive Council, just as he was a member of State Security Council. With this leadership reckoning, he was later appointed the Enugu State Commissioner for Finance and Economic Development in the same administration. As an insignia of excellence in Business and Public Service, he was able to take the flag from half-mast to full mast. He began by establishing a sensible fiscal policy for transactions with the Government, as he developed a strict revenue management rules with minimum default rate. In this way, he was able to harness much of the Governmentā€™s fund for capital and human projects. The strategy document he developed was adopted as the fiscal operation document for Enugu State Development Programmes.

In a tribute, the Newswatch Magazine in a special publication of July 3, 2006, described Chief Mbah as ā€œa man ahead of his timeā€. As Commissioner of Finance and Economic Development, he was a member of the Federal Accounts Allocation Committee (Nigeriaā€™s highest fiscal allocation body), Chairman of the Federal Accounts Allocation Committeeā€™s Sub-Committee on Legal Matters; Chairman of the Enugu State Joint Account Allocation Committee; Chairman of the Board of Directors for the Enugu State Finance and Investment Company.

ā€œMbahā€™s experience cuts across various sectors and activities, including, import trade, Oil and Gas sales and distribution and Maritime logisticsā€. Apart from Pinnacle oil and gas limited, he also takes charge in a group subsidiary company known as Pinnacle Pointers-a real estate and hospitality company.

Given Chief Mbahā€™s wide and significant socio-economic and political antecedents, the Godfrey Okoye University, Enugu, in November 2021, at her 8th and 9th combined convocations, conferred on him a doctoral award, honoris causa in political science.

As a philanthropist, he has created opportunities for both the young and the aged to have a good life. In testament to this, he has several students-majorly of Enugu State origin on his scholarship scheme. In fact, the people are not in a hurry to forget his meritorious contributions in the state. Chief Peter Mbah is also part of the reason why the Peopleā€™s Democratic Party (PDP) has retained her popular appeal and firm grip on Enugu State since 1999. Today, the opposition parties are in a weak opposition in the state with poor caliber membership spread across the state. From time to time, Chief Mbah has continued to provide attractive incentives for his party as a way of oiling its machinery. To the average party member, Mbah is a good news. This perhaps explains why his governorship aspiration is said to be fired majorly by the youth population within his party and Enugu state at large, apart from the warrant of support from the leaders. His ambition commands wide interest and respect among the people of the state and beyond.

Chief Mbah has a lot of good points:
-He speaks quietly, yet firmly
-He comes across more as a statesman than a politician
-He is heavy with wisdom and rare intellect
-His commitment to issues of human welfare is well known
-Infact, Mbah is not one to keep mute or speak in muffled voice over issues that bother on the interest of the people. etc, etc.

The Peter Mbah we know is willing and prepared to govern with focus on raising the bar of good governance by delivering for the people in a manner devoid of sheer sloganeering and the cunning and subterfuge of words. As a matter of fact, there is a convergence of intra supportive elements that are prepared to patronize his choice and ensure his success at the polls if he emerges his partyā€™s standard bearer, come May 2022.

Having held private and public sector positions, there is no doubt that he is well fitted for the job. With his background from the private sector, he can achieve a government goal through private sector engagement. Amongst the aspirants for the Lion building Enugu, are mercantile politicians whose only interest is ā€œselfā€-and who having amassed wealth through governance must remain in power to protect it. It is not enough to aspire to occupy an office to succeed an outgoing governor or any other political office holder for that matter, what is important is, what is the content of the alternative that you are offering? Apart from being an influential and illustrious son of the state, his business acumen and successes are the propelling factors that the people saw in him that made them to encourage him to show interest in the guber race. Their thinking is that he will bring into governance of the state the same careful and meticulous financial discipline that he used to build his business empire. And as a governor, he will not disappoint those who have vouched for him. As a technocrat with verifiable antecedent, Chief Mbah stands out in the crowd with his good understanding of the demands of leadership. We must not base our choice on barbaric and backward sentiment since the end result could be bruising.

Over the years, Chief Mbah has garnered sufficient global and economic management experience to run Enugu State, unlike the other aspirants who have either none or weak experience in governance issues. Indeed, Peter has the requisite governance experience and what is lacking in this regard can be largely compensated for by his immense experience in corporate governance, economic management and organizational reforms. Looking at this legion of governorship aspirants in Enugu State today, it is very clear that Chief Mbah is well rounded for the job, having gone through the crucibles of scholarship, learning and knowledge acquisition. Let us pool our resources together and make his aspiration realizable. With his solid support base across the wards and Local Governments of the State along side other winning qualities, Chief Peter Mbah remains the best hand to succeed Governor Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi in 2023.

It is therefore safe to conclude that Chief Peter Mbah remains an undisputed benchmark for quality leadership in an oasis of incompetence, and therefore should be given an opportunity to make Enugu State competitive.

J.J. Nwachukwu writes from University of Nigeria, Enugu Campus.


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