Upon taking office, Governor Peter Mbah of Enugu State said his ambition was to increase the state’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) from $4 billion to $30 billion in eight years.
The governor also committed to implementing disruptive ideas to achieve the vast infrastructure change that he envisions for the state.
Mbah vowed to revive some moribund and abandoned facilities in the city as part of attempts to improve the state’s economy and give mass employment for young people.

Two years later, some observers believe the governor is living up to his expectations, while others disagree.
The proponents of Mbah’s administration say Enugu, the capital of Enugu State, and the regional capital of the South East geopolitical zone, is currently undergoing massive infrastructural transformation courtesy of Mbah’s administration.

Mbah’s administration has awarded the contract for the completion of the 5000-seater International Conference Centre, which started but was abandoned by former governor Chimaroke Nnamani’s administration.

The governor also started renovation and total rehabilitation the Presidential Hotel Enugu, which was formerly the hub of tourism in Enugu and the erstwhile eastern region.
According to officials, the administration has commenced building on a 360-bed hospital in Enugu as well as the renovation of the dormant Nigerian wheat mills at Emene Industrial Layout in Enugu.
“The most notable of Mbah’s administration’s disruptive innovations is the establishment of the Enugu Transportation Terminals at the famed Holy Ghost/Ogbete Main Market in Enugu.

“Ogbete is the largest and busiest market in Enugu city and is wedged between the Catholic cathedral and former railway quarters that have been turned into motor parks.

“The region was home to more than 500 vehicles loading and offloading daily, representing over 1000 branded and unbranded transport companies from various regions of Nigeria. “Before the present building, Holy Ghost was a collection of dubious individuals who shared depressing tales of illicit activity. Even during the day, the area has gained a reputation for being a hot spot for stealing phones, bags, and money, as well as for attracting beggars from all over the nation.
“The Ogbete area was a terrible image for the city before Mbah’s disruptive innovations arrived; it was truly a no man’s land,” an official stated.

To be clear, a one-kilometer route between the Holy Ghost and Old Park takes more than two hours to travel owing to excessive vehicular traffic caused by congestion in the limited area.
Enugu locals and visitors think the condition in the region has ruined all previous state administrations’ remedies.
Residents said they began to comprehend what Mbah meant by disruptive innovations when bulldozers stormed Holy Ghost/Ogbete and began demolishing structures without warning.
Dr. Obi Ozor, the state’s Commissioner of Transportation, clarified.

He stated that the state government had agreed to build a transportation terminal in the area.

According to Ozor, it will reduce traffic and elevate Enugu City to a respectable position.
“In the first phase, we plan to construct the same terminals in four locations, including Nsukka, Gariki, and Abakpa,” he stated.
Even though the whole terminals were still unfinished, the Ogbete/Holy Ghost region has begun to take on a new appearance, an elater resident named Emma Obodo.
He claims that a significant change is occurring in the region that has never been seen in the city.

In addition to the terminals, the government has shown that it is capable of sanitising the region.
“Several initiatives are being implemented to reduce traffic and declutter the area, and these have progressively restored order and sanity to the area.”

Due to the high rate of kidnapping along the route and the volume of traffic on the single-lane highway, Mbah recognised the need to widen the road. In his typical disruptive manner, the governor has used his bulldozers to clear anything in the way of the project’s dualization. As of right now, the dualization project is still proceeding in a portion of Abakpa Nike, an Enugu suburb.
“The disruption has persisted even though the dualization project is proceeding according to schedule, despite the fact that many critics thought the 18-month completion period was unrealistic,” he added.

Worthy of note, many residents have expressed divergent views on the governor’s audacity and boldness, which has enabled him to go on with his transformation agenda without fear or favour.
They say the governor has remained resilient and focused in his determination to change the status quo without minding whose ox is gored.
A public commentator, Mr Ambrose Eze, commended Mbah for his boldness and strength of purpose.
“I commend him for doing what he is doing so long as it us for benefit of the people,” he said.

An Educator, Mr Johnson Ude, said the asphalting plant installed at the Emene Industrial layout had given boost to the massive urban roads rehabilitation and reconstruction currently going on in the city.

He said that the administration’s efforts to raise the standard and quality of education in the state had benefited from the Smart Schools project.
Only a small number of the 260 planned smart schools have been finished, according to Ude, but work is still proceeding on some others spread among the state’s 260 political wards.
Mbah recently asked President Bola Tinubu to launch some of his projects, including the International Conference Centre, as a way to showcase his transformation innovations.

The governor recently announced a N20 billion security trust fund, of which nearly N5 billion was realised in a single swoop.

In his assessment of Enugu’s continuous change, Sen. Chuka Utazi stated that a lot had transpired in the city.
“I nearly got lost during my two-month journey to Abuja, from the airport to Otigba junction,” he said.
However, Mr. Steve Ofili, another public affairs specialist, criticised the wave of demolitions because of the nation’s current struggles.
“Destroying people’s properties and making so many residents poor is not the way to go,” he added, calling the situation “a very sad development.

“Some state opposition party members have admitted that the governor is moving on with his reform plan, but at a heavy burden to the resident of the state.

According to Mr. Onuora Odo, a lawyer and the Labour Party’s State Publicity Secretary, the governor was on track to change the state.
Odo criticised the high taxes imposed on the state’s poor citizens as a result of the government’s modernisation strategy.
“Mbah’s proposal to expand Enugu’s economy from 4.4 billion dollars to 30 billion dollars in eight years demonstrates his dedication to economic growth.
However, Enugu’s population and residents are suffering dangerously as a result of the high tax load.

The people are groaning under the burden of heavy taxation he said.

Mr. John Nwobodo, a lawyer and former Accord Party candidate for governor in the 2023 election, said Mbah’s agenda lacked focus.
He claimed that the Mbah government was known for making audacious policy declarations but failing to follow through on them.
“In reality, the government is not focusing on any one of the numerous sectors that it is focusing on. “In my opinion, this has rendered the much-heralded change a hoax.

He stated that three months before the second anniversary of Mbah’s administration, the majority of the project embarked upon had yet to be completed.
“For me, the government should not undertake initiatives just to impress or win cheap political points.
“Every project conceived or conceptualised should be well thought out, with a clear funding roadmap and timeline for completion and operationalisation.”
He lamented the excessive taxes on the resident.

“The harsh realities of poverty, adversity, and squalor depict a more realistic picture than the fabricated transformation,” he stated.
Mbah’s development progress is commendable overall, according to Enugu stakeholders, but high taxes shouldn’t burden the populace.

Source: News Agency of Nigeria(NAN)