By Reuben Onyishi
(Ugoachataberu)

Governor Peter Ndubuisi Mbah of Enugu State is arguably the best governor in Nigeria, by all indices of performance. Mbah is a huge consciousness and reference point of excellence in leadership and governance. Coming from a background of entrepreneurial orientation, Mbah has brought governance in Enugu State to high pedestals of unimaginable heights. The deliverables he has brought to bear speak volumes.

There are over 3000 projects completed and ongoing in Enugu State, and there is more to come. The idea is to revv up the GDP of the state to &30 billion, make Enugu the first choice investment destination, tourism and living, and then reduce the poverty headcount index to zero percent. It does appear Mbah has declared war on infrastructural development, making Enugu a construction site. The development trajectory extends to human capital empowerment and social services.

As a matter of fact, there is nothing for the opposition in Enugu State. While Mbah was in the PDP, the presidency had given him two awards of excellence in recognition of his sterling performance in governance. Besides the presidency, many Nigerians have been full of praises for Governor Mbah, seeing his sterling performance. Mbah has also won many awards of reputable organisations, especially the Nigerian media platforms, the most recent of which is the Sun Newspaper Man of the Year Award for 2025. Ecomiums are being poured from all corners irrespective of party affiliation. Mbah’s conspicuously huge presence offered itself for a gaze, and applause and commendation naturally occur as leaves would to a tree. So, there is absolutely nothing to oppose unless oppose good governance.

Seeing that everywhere is covered, the said opposition resorted to the question of taxation and thought to use the propaganda to get the Mbah administration unnerved. Some of those who alluded to Adam Smith and taxation theories have backtrapped. Many of them are now apostles of good governance and have aligned with the governor. Those who still cling to the tax question have nothing else to say. But their propaganda is failed as it is apparent there is no case of over taxation in the state, and all taxes and fees are statutory and in place even before the advent of the Mbah Adminiatration. Nonetheless, the Mbah Adminstration set up a committee to look into the tax question. Recently, all taxes in respect of land administration has been reduced by 60 percent. And this is evident that Mbah is a compassionate governor, who would go out of his way to ensure the people are happy.

Quite another is the question of water running in every home in Enugu State in 180 days, as promised by the Mbah administration. The opposition weaved a lot of narratives and propaganda around the water issue and thought to have used it to discredit the governor. That also failed. Water is an agelong challenge in Enugu State as a result of the topography of the city, its undulating landscape and large deposit of coal in the ground. Successive administrations had tried in their own ways to tackle this seemingly intractable challenge through water schemes outside the city. Before Mbah came on board, Enugu was generating between 2000 and 3000 million litres; whereas, the daily water need of Ndi Enugu is between 70 to 100 million litres. So, what was being generated was a far cry from the daily water need. So, Mbah in less than 180 days through the 9th Mile 24/7 Water Scheme, generating 70 million litres daily, and the Oji River Water Scheme, generating 50 million litres daily, increased so humongously the daily water generation to a whooping 120 million litres. Mbah cleaned up the various reservoirs in Enugu for water storage and distribution to the people. All this was done in less than 180 days. However, at the downstream water management system, the challenge of bursting asbestos pipes occurred on account of water pressure, and then Mbah began replacing them with 9mm pipes. In the quest to take water to the new areas of settlement in the city, it was found that many houses were built on waterways, and if these houses were to be demolished, Enugu would become a demolition site. Hence, the arduous task of navigating through to get to the unreached, something that made the 180-day promise untenable at the downstream system. Reticulation is ongoing to get to the unreached, and the promise stands as new settlements will all get water before the end of the admisnuatration. Over 12,000 new households have so far been connected.

Another claim of the detractors of the Mbah Administration is that he does not share money in the name of stomach infrastructure to stakeholders. But for inverted value, where is the place of governance in sharing money to stakeholders, leaving out the masses. The various projects of the Mbah Adminstration goes down to the grassroots, and the people benefit from them. There is even no money to share, as the adminaitration is desperately looking for funds to execute the preponderance of projects it unleashed.

The opposition is catching at straws, looking in vain to cast their chain. These are the areas the opposition tried to sidled their propaganda, and have seen that they are chasing shadow. But they would not rest. They must find something to hang on the neck of the Mbah Adminatration, no matter how stupid it could be.

So, the latest fancy is the silly and childish fantasy that Mbah is from Ebonyi State, and so an Ebonyi man cannot rule Enugu State. And an Ebonyi man has ruled Enugu State, and now that the second tenure in guaranteed, Mbah is suddenly an Ebonyi man. I have yet to see such a daft conjecture. Where on earth is that done? Let us even play along with them and their foolish narrative. Mbah is from Owo Nkanu in Enugu East Local Government of Enugu State. Owo is not in Ebonyi State. Such communities as Amechi Idodo, Ubahu, Amankanu and Owo are fringe communities at the border of Ebonyi State. Does that make them Ebonyi? When did these Nkanu communities become Ebonyi State? During the creation of the new Enugu State, these Nkanu communities were naturally gerimandered into where they belong, which is Enugu State. How then can this folly be entertained? The camp of the certificate forger is behind this silly narrative, and it goes to show how childish he and his camp could be. It is a shame.