Gov. Mbah soars high on the saddle, 365 days after
By MAURICE OKAFOR, ENUGU.
The Enugu state governor, Dr Peter Mbah has proved to a reasonable point beyond imagination that his mission in governance is to develop and transform the entire landscape of Enugu state in all sectors of the economy.
The efforts he has put on the ground in the past 365 days testify to the fact that the state will attain laudable heights socio-economically in the next few days, transforming from a civil servants state to a commercially viable and investments state.
In the past 365 days, Governor Mbah has broken the yoke of abandoned projects in the state. His administration is striving hard to revitalize or complete important but abandoned projects by his predecessors in addition to initiating new ones.
Seventeen years after, the International Conference Center started by the administration of Senator Chimaroke Nnamani (1999-2007) but abandoned by the subsequent administrations of ex-governors Chime and Ugwuanyi amidst the fact that government is a continuum, is being constructed by the present administration led by Governor Peter Mbah. A week ago, Governor Mbah also awarded the contract for the construction of a five-star hotel within the site of the conference center.
The international conference center on completion will be a money-spinning center of activities for the state government.
The abandoned hotel presidential which is a legacy institution from the defunct Eastern region administration under late M.I.okpara is also getting the attention of Governor Peter Mbah.
Before its abandonment and balkanization on the pretext of privatization during ex-governor Chime’s administration, the Hotel Presidential Enugu was the major spot and home of both known and budding artists mostly from the Eastern part of the country, in addition to being the major recreation center at the heart of Enugu metropolis.
Governor Mbah with a ‘disruptive innovation policy’ to governance has weathered the storm against all aeronautic bottlenecks in his mission to the o revamp the hotel presidential Enugu.
The hotel from all indications will enhance the relocation of movie stars and budding artists into the coal city, It is also expected to live up to the standard of Hotel Presidential, Port Harcourt established almost the same period by late M.I.Okpara but has remained a morning spinning venture for Rivers state in. past six decades or more.
In the past 365 days, Governor Mbah has toured all the morning state-owned companies including Ohebedum aluminum factory, Niger gas, and Niger Steel Emene, expressing the determination of his administration to revitalize all.
The burden and task of restoring Enugu metropolis to its lost glory as the capital of the Eastern region both in social infrastructure and hospitality is being tackled in all directions by Governor Mbahs’s administration.
For instance, the issue of restoring pipe-borne water into the metropolis most of which dried up in the past three decades is yielding results. The Ministry of Water Resources is currently neck deep in replacing old asbestos pipes most of which are worn and laid below seven feet in the ground with galvanized iron pipes. To curtail pipe bursts in the distribution of water already sourced from Ajalli and Oji River stations in the metropolis.
The bad roads and drainages in several parts of the. metropolis and sub-urbans of Abakpa Nike, Awkunanaw, Emene, and Gariki, among others have been simultaneously reconstructed in the past 365 days while many are still under construction.
To let Enugu take the face of a befitting regional capital with standard motor parks that will also ease decongestion and traffic gridlocks, Governor Mbah’s administration has embarked on constructing Central Terminals beside Ogbete Main Market and Abakpa Market, The ejection of the traders and companies who were duly served enough quit notices is being done with a human face, as the state government said it is paying compensation to the affected shop owners and other enterprises, in addition to providing them with alternatives.
In the past 365 days, Governor Mbah’s vision to construct a smart school and TYPE 2 hospital in each of the 260 words in the state is turning into reality, as the execution of the projects by different contractors is simultaneously ongoing in most of the wards, while contracts for the remaining wards will soon be awarded.
From all indications, the past 365 days of socio-economic-oriented projects of Governor Mbah are turning a new leaf for the state.
In expectation, More of his economic blueprint like the Industrial Park at Ugwuoba, Oji River, envisaged to be one of the best in Africa, will expand the economic scope of the state with international investments will follow suit in the next 365 days.
So far, Governor Mbah has proved to the people of Enugu state that he has the capacity, experience, and exposure to turn around the economic fortunes of Enugu state. His target is to raise the gross domestic product (GDP) of the state from four billion dollars to thirty billion dollars before the end of his constitutionally guaranteed two tenures as governor of Enugu state.
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