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… Representation: Based on Track Record of Stellar Performance or Empathy to Fault-finders?

By Nnamani Samuel Freeman (Ilo ka n’ Uno)

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Given the deservedly popular political status of the incumbent Governor of Enugu State, His Excellency, Lawrence Ifeanyichukwu Ugwuanyi (CON), not only in the South-east but in the Nigerian political sphere, it is presumably no longer news or surprise of any sort to the politically informed Nigerians that as his tenure as the governor of the state is winding down, Ugwuanyi has an eye on the Enugu North Senatorial seat, to further his representation to his people of Enugu north Senatorial zone as a lawmaker on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP. Sequel to this, and like a stroll across the park, Ugwuanyi clinched the nomination ticket by defeating the incumbent Nkpologu, Uzo Uwani-born Senator Godfrey Chukwuka Utazi, who has been in the red chambers since 2015.

Not disconcerted in any way by the cacophonies of vituperations occasioned by series of disappointments emanating from the camps of the opposition, detractors and a few politically obsolete narcissists from the Enugu North Senatorial zone, the incumbent Governor, Ugwuanyi, and his team, with stardust scattered across the zone by the splendour and glamour of his lofty and well-calculated achievements in massive infrastructural and human capital development, are standing shoulder high and unstoppable from emerging victorious in the polls. Based on his competence and service delivery to the Enugu north zone, more so from the perspective of an unbiased political analyst, defeating Ugwuanyi in the polls come March 2023, will go into the history book as the 8th wonder of the world.

In a democracy, however, no matter how popular a given candidate appears in the eyes of the electorates, it will be grossly insensitive and may amount to political suicide if the tendencies of the opposition are not given due scrutiny. A reasonable analysis of the core aptitudes of the opposing camp and political parties, no matter how trivial they may seem, is the bedrock upon which suitable strategies for competitive advantage are built. From this premise nevertheless, it has been observed that Ugwuanyi’s seemingly infinitesimal pockets of opposition from the Enugu North Senatorial zone, are being spearheaded by a group of over-the-top pantomime villains who have consistently allowed their consciences to be veiled by cultural sectarianism. They have repeatedly argued among other things that, first, Ugwuanyi committed an unforgivable sin by not supporting the emergence of a candidate from the Nsukka cultural zone as his successor; second, that Ugwuanyi did not jettison the expected developmental balance which the whole Enugu state should experience, to focus attention only on developing the Nsukka zone using all of Enugu resources.

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As banal and myopic as these assertions appear, an impartial observer may wish to know if Ugwuanyi has not done well enough for his Enugu North zone, to not deserve their unflinching backing in the race to the red chambers. The truth is that the activities of the naysayers cannot outweigh the glaring fact that Ugwuanyi, taking into cognizance the fact that Enugu North is just one of the three zones in Enugu state, all of which merit fairly equal opportunity for a decent percentage of the developmental strides of the government of the day, managed to complete some legacy projects which have inarguably elevated the Enugu north zone to the status of another South-eastern state, should federal legislation permit. There is no disputing the validity that Enugu north is the most economically developed and viable part of Enugu State in the absence of the Enugu metropolis, which to date remains the commonwealth of the eastern region. Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi orchestrated these developments bearing in mind the validity of the age-long saying that there is no place like home.

To quickly refresh the poor memories of the Enugu North defeatists who are always in search of Ugwuanyi’s faults, it’s on record that Governor Ugwuanyi’s administration completed the first fourth republic flyover in Enugu. It’s nonetheless fundamental to note that though the masterpiece is located at the Popular T-junction in Abakpa Nike, Enugu East senatorial zone, and while it is designed to tackle the menace of the intractable gridlocks the popular T-junction was hitherto known for, there is also no debating the fact that easing transportation in and out of Nsukka through Abakpa as an alternative route, to enhance the economic viability of the Enugu north zone by connecting it to the capital city, was also in the mind of the ever-pensive Governor Ugwuanyi. Truth be told, the Enugu North road transport has been improved by more than 30 per cent through the strategic positioning and timely completion of that flyover. It has more direct economic benefits to the Enugu North zone than any other zone in Enugu state; courtesy of the Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi  led administration’s resourcefulness and sense of developmental balance.

Moving further into the university town of Nsukka, Ugwuanyi’s detractors, no matter how awkward their self-deceits have pushed them away from the time-honoured act of appreciation, must have secretly acknowledged the impacts the newly reconstructed Opi-Nsukka dual carriageway, fitted with street and traffic lights, have on the zone. The section of the road threatened by flood has since been tackled decisively using the state of the art facilities such as underground drainages by the Ugwuanyi administration. Pursuing his rural development strategy across Enugu state as a whole, the nsukka zone profited enormously with the completion of the 22.44km Obollo- Etiti-Ogbodu-Aba road that spans Mbu to Neke in Isi-Uzo LGA. In Uzo-Uwani Local government also, his administration finished in record time, the reconstruction of the 26.66km Ukpabi-Nimbo-Ugbene Ajima-Eziani road.

Furthermore, to strengthen the foothold of the zone, especially Nsukka on the global education map, Ugwuanyi’s government facilitated the completion of the State University of Medical and Applied Sciences(SUMAS) Igbo-Eno, Enugu State. This, on record, is the second state-owned university in Enugu state after the Enugu State University of Science and Technology ( ESUT) in Agbani. The Federal Polytechnic, Ohodo, in Igbo-Etiti Local Government area also facilitated by the Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi administration, is yet another educational laurel added to the Enugu North zone by their illustrious son, Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi. The like of the now functional 5,000-seat capacity township stadium built by Ugwuayi’s administration in Nsukka can not be found in any other zone in the entirety of Enugu State except in the state capital.

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In the area of Human Capital Development, selfish critics are blind to the fact that the Enugu North zone is at the top considering the number of their illustrious sons and daughters gainfully employed by Ugwuanyi’s administration. Time will not permit me here to name them.

Whereas indeed, adjustments and frictions, balancing and counter-balancing, push and pull, allegations and counter-allegations, confrontation and cooperation and rivalry of all shades are a few of the processes that are inevitable in the evolution of Nigeria’s emerging democratic dispensation, it is edifying to also note that democracy has allowed the people the freedom to choose their leaders based on their visible and measurable accomplishments, not on lies and a show of excessive desperation to take over power. To this, it is conspicuous that no leader from Enugu North and the whole of Enugu state has developed the zone more than Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi, and having been unanimously chosen by his people once again to continue holding their mandate in the Senate, not even the raucousness of his adversaries can stop him. The die is now cast.