21/09/2022
10 Reasons Enugu people are turning against Gov. Ugwuanyi
In all discussions in the communities of Enugu State, there is a growing condemnation of the Enugu State Governor, Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi. In conversations with people in the Nsukka area where he hails from, in the Enugu metropolis and the Oji-River area, many people are rising against him and his political party, the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP.
Even his preferred candidates, such as the gubernatorial candidate, Barr. Peter Mbah, are feeling the heat of this widespread rejection of Ugwuanyi and his politics. While a common point was his bad governance, many people also pointed to the fact his party, PDP, did great injustice to the South East during their presidential primaries.
"Ugwuanyi and all the South East governors in PDP do not deserve our support," a respondent who refused to be named said in the Trans Ekulu area of Enugu, the state capital. "They traded with our best opportunity and we reject all of them. Ani Enugu has rejected Ugwuanyi and his PDP. On Peter Obi we stand."
Our reporters interviewed over 100 people in a three week period and we were able to distill 10 reasons why people of Enugu State are turning against the governor, whom people say are spending billions of Naira of government funds on organised solidarity visits to Government House, Enugu, to appear to be popular.
"Those visits are organised by him and his people, because he knows we are no longer with him. He can't come to our communities because he knows how we feel," one respondent stated. "So, he pays these people to come to him, in his comfort zone, and gives millions to them. He's going to fail, because he has failed us in Nsukka, and Enugu State."
Below is a summary of the reasons:
1. The poor governance
(a) Governor Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi looks every inch unprepared or is not mentally equipped with what it takes to manage the rigours of governance. His administration appears, from day one, to be driven by guess work and pandering to the whims of a few lackeys. He appears like a workaholic, stays in office every day until the wee hours, but nothing appears to manifest from his long hours in office other than the soulless manipulation of the people with little or no dividends delivered.
(b) People expected that his experience at the National Assembly for 12 years should have equipped him with the skills and capabilities of a master administrator, but Enugu people have been disappointed with the outcome. The capital city of Enugu has been in progressive decay since he assumed office and there appears to be a tendency to personalize governance while leaving projects of impact unattended.
(c) Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi seems to have run a most toothless cabinet. Commissioners under him are so powerless that they cannot do anything on their own. Brilliant ideas for governance are also not sought, and even when it comes before the governor, they are thrown out of the window. For this reason, the government has failed to attract those who could have made the difference, and those who have loitered around discovered that the game is survival. Thus, they decided to keep their fine ideas to themselves for fear of being seen to be trying to outshine their principal. Remember the 48 Laws of Power? Never outshine your master!
2. Destroying Sullivan Chime's legacy
Governor Ugwuanyi assumed office on May 29, 2015, with high expectations to ride on the achievements of his predecessor, Barr. Sullivan Chime. Although Chime was criticized towards the end of his administration for hiding his ill-health from the people and proceeding on medical leave abroad without handing over to his deputy, his administration gets a lot of credits for infrastructure development all over Enugu.
But under Sullivan, government was going on, and the cabinet was empowered to take initiatives. His administration saw the entire Enugu as one constituency; the current dichotomy between East, West and North, which Governor Ugwuanyi planted and nurtured as a tool to win political control of the state, was nonexistent.
3. The wanton waste of government resources to pursue a personal agenda.
(a) There is so much waste in Governor Ugwuanyi’s government. It does not look like the administration cares about accountability, and like the famed regime of Alhaji Sabo Barki Zuwo in Kaduna State in the second republic, government money is kept in Government House (rather than banks). Enugu runs a cash and dispense government, where the Federal allocation is taken from the government’s allocation account in UBA and kept in Government House. No wonder it is so easy for the praise singers to always gather at the smallest prompting. There is always cash to reward them.
(b) Governor Ugwuanyi also has the most inexplicably endless streams of political support groups in history. All of them are oiled with government resources. It does seem that his desire is to become a god that is worshipped by everybody, and he does not care emptying government treasury to achieve this. Billions of naira have been spent since he assumed office in this self-enthronement plan, even while more compelling social and economic issues are left with little or no care.
4. The Ashua and Nrashi mentality, when the people are owed salaries, pension, etc.
On his assumption of office, Ugwuanyi introduced new catchphrases to statesmanship. “Ashua” is one of them. “Nrashi” is the second. For a man from the trading town of Orba, “Ashua”, which means “market” is used to also refer to the dubious outwitting and manipulation of opponents without regard to morality.
On the other hand, Nrashi, which refers to the gluttonous licking of soup from both pot and plate, was also introduced by the governor to refer to the invitation to partake in the sharing of state resources. Governor Ugwuanyi has not hidden the fact that he believes in the saying that “money answereth all things,” and each time he mentions Nrashi, you can be sure that millions, and in some cases, billions, have been set aside to go to the bellies of a few selected government apologists.
"Many people have expressed disdain for these primitive political ideologies, but the governor does not care, so long as he has poor people who are willing to chant his praises," said one respondent.
5. The betrayal of his people ("He has lost the right to be our leader"
Governor Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi rode on tremendous goodwill into office in 2015. His people in Nsukka (Enugu North) loved him and wished him well. They saw in him a humble man who will bring life-changing developments for them and the entire Enugu.
But as time wore on, it became clear that the governor has a strong disregard for his own people. He chooses every opportunity to chide and humiliate his own people, calling them all sorts of names and ensuring that they never reared their heads outside of his enveloping shadow.
"What he did to Chijioke Edeoga during the PDP primaries earlier in 2022 cannot be forgiven nor forgotten. He sold out his people and he cannot make amends now, no matter how much he spends. It's no longer about money. The other day someone said to me he holds all of us in contempt. You can't erase that with money."
It was said he was the person that encouraged Edeoga to begin consultations ahead of becoming his successor. Whatever savings Edeoga, who was a commissioner in his cabinet, had, the governor ensured he invested all of them in campaigning to become governor, even when he had made up his mind that Peter Mbah was his long anointed choice.
Chijioke Edeoga was not the only person he so betrayed. It was said that Chief Emeka Mamah and several others were similarly treated. Chief Ogbo A*ogwa, a long-standing friend and associate, also felt the teeth of Ugwuanyi’s treachery to his friends. "Across all the local government areas in Nsukka, there are scores of people that have been badly treated by the governor. And many have been asking, What did Nsukka people do wrong?"
6. No known lasting legacy.
No one can say Governor Ugwuanyi did not build, or is not still working to build, any legacy that will ensure people remember him after 2023. He did build a flyover at the T-Junction at Abakpa, as one heads northwards to Nsukka. History will tell what kind of flyover this will become, but it is on record that the first flyover in Enugu was built by Governor Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi.
There is also a University of Medical Sciences that is currently occupying his attention at a place called Igbo Ano, in his native Orba. It may also go into the record books, that this university, an afterthought, following his inability to make good his promise of returning the Enugu State University of Science and Technology to a multi-campus institution, will likely become the first university of medicine in Nigeria.
But the “wahala” is that there is nothing to show that this university will be ready in May 2023, when he leaves office. People are looking for the kinds of equipment, structures and manpower that will make this a viable institution.
They mention a similar school in Imo State currently habouring weeds, rodents and reptiles, dubious evidence of the legacy of former Governor Rochas Okorocha.
7. The Peter Obi factor
If Enugu people had no choice of who to follow in 2023 before March 2022, the emergence of Peter Obi as the Presidential Candidate of the Labour Party, provided a pillar of redemption too strong to be resisted.
Obi has lit up the Nigerian political space and Enugu people are keying in, just like every other part of the country. For the people, the darkness which PDP represents has become quite obvious when it is placed side-by-side with the light Obi is beaming. Light and darkness, like water and oil, do not mix. Once light comes, darkness fades and it is clear Ugwuanyi is fading. So are the fortunes of PDP in the state. With renewed consciousness in the people, the Peter Obi message is rousing the people of Enugu against Ugwuanyi and the PDP.
8. The need change: for a new country and a new state.
Enugu people, just like most Nigerians, are tired of the politics of wanton consumption, and little or no production. They are aware that things are getting worse. So it is no longer business or politics as usual. They want a better society, of production, not Nrashi. No matter how steeped you are in the Nrashi economics, once you eat semo and ofe onugbu every day for a period, you are bound to get tired of it, especially when you don't know when your next meal will come. The truth is that Enugu people are tired of PDP and want a new deal that guarantees them food on the table.
Nigeria, as a country, is moving towards this emerging new order and Enugu people are not left out. There is a new clarion. "No matter how desperately he goes about oiling his political manipulation machine, this change is inevitable," another respondent who lives in the Enugu capital said
9. Dubious and unreliable transactional leadership
Experience has shown Enugu people the duplicitous and unreliable nature of Governor Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi. Many people who encountered him have very sour stories to tell in the end. His relationship with people, communities and even the state, is hallmarked by deceit and cunning. His handling of the Fulani-herder crises in Enugu is clear evidence. His manipulation of people during the two election cycles he supervised in Enugu is another. There are legions of people with very unsavoury stories of demoralizing experiences with him.
"Enugu people want someone who represents a system or vision they can trust, not one who spends all his time in church, but does everything God has never prescribed."
10. Romance with cultists and people of questionable character
Governor Ugwuanyi prays every day, but he romances men of questionable character at night. The list is long. At a time, a man who was his SSA on security was arrested for being a member of the unknown gunmen terrorizing the state. Close to his government are people with histories of criminalities of horrendous sorts. Some of them occupy very sensitive positions, while others are sustained with state resources to hang around.
Enugu people are fed up. And they no longer want to leave Enugu in the hands of whichever god Ugwuanyi believes in. They now want to take back their state and hand it over to a competent and compassionate person who will manage the people and their future with the fear and love of God.