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The governor of Enugu State, Dr Peter Mbah has appointed Professor Chidiebere Onyia as the new Secretary to the State Government (SSG).

Also, shortly after his inauguration, Mbah hit the ground running by signing three Executive Orders for the effective governance of the state.

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The appointment was announced in a statement personally signed by the governor on Monday and released to the press by his media office.

Until his appointment, Prof. Onyia was the Managing Director of the United Kingdom Nigeria Infrastructure Facility. He was also the Lead strategy advisor for the Federal Government of Nigeria, World Bank Group Power Sector Recovery Programme, and has over the years rendered services to different international organizations and countries, among them the United Nations, Germany and Russia.

Prof. Onyia is a visiting Professor of Education at the Godfrey Okoye University, Enugu, a former visiting Professor at the University of Nigeria Nsukka, and serves on the Governing Council of two private Nigerian universities.

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He holds a Bachelor’s degree in Biological Sciences, a Master’s degree in Curriculum and Instruction, Masters of Business Administration degree and a Doctorate degree in Educational Leadership. He also had a post-doctoral scholarship in Education Policy from the Ivy League Peabody College, Vanderbilt University.

Prof. Onyia, with over 25 years of experiences in leadership, innovation, strategy, institutional reforms and research, has received numerous international and national awards and accolades for leadership excellence and for his outstanding contributions to the education sector. He is well published and a certified educational consultant, researcher, presenter, mentor and author of many books.

Prof. Onyia was a member of the Transition Committee, the technical committee that developed an actionable plan for the Peter Mbah administration, based on his manifesto and social contract with the people of Enugu State.

Enugu Governor, Mbah, assumes office, signs three executive orders

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The others are: Order 001 of 2023, which is an Executive Order for the Development of Citizens’ Charter; Executive Order 002 of 2003, which is Order for the Removal of Unauthorised Street Barriers Across the State Within 100 Days; and Executive Order 003 of 2023, which is for the Promotion of Economic Growth through Transparency and Efficiency in Government.

The governor explained that by Order 001 for Citizens Charter, the government undertook to provide the citizens with a “peaceful and tranquil living environment devoid of insecurity and all threats to life”.

Other objectives of the government in this regard include: “A justice system that efficiently adjudicates on all civil or criminal matters.

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“Critical social amenities including but not limited to good and motorable roads, qualitative world class education, portable water in every household, affordable and qualitative medical services; refuse disposal, provision of open spaces for recreation and sports and other social services that will assure a good living environment for citizens.

“Creation of jobs to achieve the eradication of poverty in Enugu State by 2030.

“Ensuring the maintenance of a physical and policy environment in Enugu State that will make the State conducive for establishment of new businesses and growth of existing businesses.

“Detailed development planning defined by timely quality budget preparation and approval for implementation.

“Transparent and inclusive governance on web and to the press defined by a regular rendering of accounts and information on government budgets and expenditure plans, including a statement about how your money is being spent, as well as quarterly summaries of government revenue, borrowings and expenditure; timely production and publishing of audited annual accounts; and consultative townhall meetings to present government’s plans and receive citizens’ feedback”.

Others are: “The establishment of a price intelligence unit to ensure that government contract prices reflect costs that will ensure good value for money.

“Formation of a public budget revenue and expenditure monitoring committee with broad based membership from the State, citizens and prominent Development agencies and multilateral agencies and civil society groups.

“Quality and timely government services by all Ministries, Departments, and Agencies (MDAs).

“Timely and complete payments of service providers and contractors as well as emoluments to government employees and pensioners.

“This Charter will be internally and independently assessed on an annual basis to check to what extent the government is in compliance. The results of the assessments will be graded and published.

“This is a progressive performance improvement plan. Performance against the standards stated here are expected to be moderate in the first instance but will progressively improve as time goes on”.

Also, the governor said that by Order 002, which is pursuant to the authority vested in his office by the 1999 Constitution (as amended), and the Laws of Enugu State, seeks to eliminate every barrier to free movement of persons and goods in the state, noting however that the Order was limited to state and local government roads only.

While acknowledging the reason of security adduced for the erection of the barriers, Dr. Mbah assured the people of the state that the government would step up its efforts to ensure the security of lives and property.

Giving details on Order 003, the governor said that in order to facilitate government services, “every MDA of the Enugu State Government shall publish a complete list of all requirements or conditions for obtaining products and services within the MDA’s scope of responsibility, including permits, licenses, waivers, tax related processes, filings, and approvals”.

The Order, among others, stipulates that “Failure of the appropriate officer to act on any application within the timeline stipulated, without lawful excuse, shall amount to misconduct and be subject to appropriate disciplinary proceedings in accordance with the law and regulations applicable to the civil or public service”.