By Onochie Jon-Igwesi

On Thursday, October 13, 2022, the governorship candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, for the 2023 general elections, as he then was, Dr. Peter Ndubuisi Mbah, at the Law Auditorium of the Godfrey Okoye University, Enugu, unveiled his manifesto before thousands of supporters.

I recall that of the 4 major contenders in the governorship race under different political parties, Mbah was the first to present his manifesto. He would later go on to have so many firsts to his credit. I also recall that the crowd was so thronged on the day that it was difficult for bigwigs to gain entrance into the auditorium at the time. 

Back to the story - at the end of the manifesto unveiling, while he gave us metrics to gauge his tangibles, we did not know at the time that we would get more than we bargained for. 

You see, Governor Peter Mbah, like all transcendental leaders, is a premium package that comes with more as you untie it. When Mary Slessor, the Scottish missionary who arrived in Calabar, Nigeria, in 1876, came with the message of Christ's gospel, she did not know that she was going to achieve more than soul winning - becoming the person most widely credited with significantly stopping the killing of twins. 

When Peter set out to honour his charter with the citizens of Enugu State, little did he know that beyond paved rural and urban roads; Smart schools & Type 2 Healthcare centres in all the 260 political wards of the state; several modern bus interchange; revamped transport system, inclusive of Enugu air, with 2 planes already and more likely underway; the planned intra-rail system; deployed CNG Buses and electric taxis; he would go on to achieve what he did not promise us - his intangibles. 

None, not even Peter himself, could have envisioned that after recently completing the abandoned International Conference Center, where both the Nigerian Institute of Surveyors and the Nigerian Bar Association will be hosting their conferences; after the concessioning of the Nike Lake Hotel to Landmark Africa Group; and rehabilitating most of the infrastructure by the former Premier, Dr. M.I Ọkpara, like the Hotel Presidential, Nigergas company, etc; we would gaze into the clouds to behold the beautiful rainbows of his intangibles. 

For me, I reckon that the heaviest of Peter's intangibles is that to hail from or reside in Enugu has become a thing to be coveted, a bragging right of some sort. To come from Enugu means to be gazed upon with an admixture of envy and jealousy. To come from Enugu means to relive the nostalgia of the Enugu Rangers Football club of the 70s and yet bask in today's euphoria of this team rebranded by Peter that tells the story of who we are. To come from Enugu means to walk the streets and see people adorn Rangers’ jerseys as though they were jerseys of English clubs. To come from Enugu means to go to the Nnamdi Azikiwe stadium on a day that Rangers will play to behold a stadium filled to the brim.

To come from Enugu means to normalize the sight of international athletes participating in the city's marathon. To come from Enugu means that while you can now go out on Mondays, walking or driving in a rebirthed capital city, fitted with day and night vision cameras, you have an Enugu State Security Trust Fund worth more than 3 billion naira, donated by private individuals and corporate bodies, giving your senses an aroma of heightened security. To come from Enugu means that you are awed by the numerous projects of today - all going on at the same time - yet knowing deep down that more brilliant projects are in the governor’s pipeline. To come from Enugu means that your state is Guinness Nigeria Plc's first port of call in unveiling the English Premier League Trophy to the entire nation, among others.

Consider these. Peter is relocating slum dwellers in Agu-Owa and Ugbo-Lawrence slums, two out of the 25 slums in Enugu metropolis, with the development of relocation sites at Akpuoga Nike Estate to resettle the occupants of the slums, with each of the families getting a two-bedroom flat and a Certificate-of-Occupancy to the property, all at no cost to them. Peter, together with the seventeen local government chairmen, has initiated the construction of a farm estate per ward, measuring 200 hectares.

The idea is this - the council chairmen will fence the estates per ward in their respective local governments, provide equipment for mechanized farming, ensure water, electricity, settlements, etc, are available in these farms, then give farmers in each of the farm estates high yield seeds to plant. At the end of the planting season, Peter's Enugu State government will handsomely purchase the produce from each of the farmers who are residents and indigenes of their wards, export the same and go on to share the profit from the export between the farmers in those farm estates and their local government. This is no brainchild of a simple mind. 

Peter's mind works in a way that is esoteric. His programs defy logical reasoning so much that it makes sense to doubt them. Yet, for every ounce of doubt you share today, he makes mincemeat of it tomorrow. Reflecting, it only made sense that we did not see these coming - yet with Peter on the saddle, these seem like just a mere glimpse of the whole picture.

On the occasion of his second anniversary, take it or leave it - Peter stands twice as tall, and months from now, when we will head to the polls to re-elect Peter in 2027, the nay-sayers will, on Enugu's scenic hills, hear the choruses and chants of “victory at last” while the yea-sayers will sing Nathaniel Bassey's “See what the Lord has done”. 

And so, even if in years to come, we cannot remember anything else, we will remember the gusto with which, from 2023 to 2031, we said “I am from Enugu State”. We will remember that Peter reminded us of what Democracy ought to be - a treasure trove for the people.

Onochie Jon-Igwesi, an indigene of Enugu, writes from Omuoha-Obuoffia, Awkunanaw.