ENUGU STATE

IFEANYI UGWUANYI: CALM AND MEASURED

Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi’s achievements cut across different sectors, especially in road construction, construction of classroom blocks, job creation, and health care delivery. Workers in his state also sleep easy as salaries are guaranteed at the end of every month.

Perhaps, the biggest challenge for Ugwuanyi’s administration remains the recession, which impacted significantly on his ability to deliver on his projects. Despite the challenge, the governor has been widely acclaimed as the best performing governor among his peers in the South-east.

Ugwuanyi also held the maiden Enugu Investment Summit, during which his government showcased the economic potentials of the state and wooed investors to take up 14 moribund state-owned industries under the state’s commercialisation and privatisation programme. But it remains to be seen if the summit has had the desired effect.

Another area of focus has been the empowerment scheme for traders with N60 million annually to be won by 1,200 traders. This includes approved funds for the active participation of the state in the implementation of a N2 billion Staple Crops Processing Zone (SCPZ) agricultural programme of the federal government and African Development Bank.

After the Ukabi Nimbo community in Enugu State was attacked by suspected herdsmen in 2016, leading to several deaths, Ugwuanyi worked with security forces to curb further incursions into farmlands and prevent reprisals against Hausa-Fulani residents in his state. He also met with the Miyetti Allah to entrench peace and designated the routes to be used by genuine cattle herders.

Like his counterpart in Ebonyi, Ugwuanyi must improve internal revenue generation, which dropped from a peak of N20.2 billion in 2013 to N14.24 billion in 2016, reflecting the debilitating impact of the recession. In addition, for a state that boasts the capital of the defunct East Central State, much more is expected in terms internal revenue generation from Ugwuanyi. It is not enough to be acclaimed the “best performing governor in the South-east”, if his state’s finances are under strain.