• President has not ignored any section of Nigeria, says Onanuga
Emmanuel Addeh in Abuja
Governor Peter Mbah of Enugu State has said increased financial support to subnational governments under the administration of President Bola Tinubu has been responsible for the remarkable infrastructure development in the state.
Mbah made the revelation on Tuesday when he received members of the Renewed Hope Ambassadors on a media tour of the South-east. The team was jointly led by Bayo Onanuga, Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy and Sunday Dare, the Special Adviser on Media and Public Communication.
A statement by the Director of Media & Publicity, Renewed Hope Ambassadors, Tunde Rahman, yesterday stated that the the media tour, which aims to showcase key federal and state government projects across the South-east geopolitical zone, is the initiative of the National Coordinator of the Renewed Hope Ambassadors, Governor Hope Uzodimma of Imo State.
The governor commended Tinubu’s interventions, particularly in security, education, healthcare, agriculture, and road infrastructure, describing them as critical enablers of the state’s ambitious development agenda.
He said: “It would have been impossible, to say the least, for us as a state to have done things at a scale we did without some of the bold and courageous policies of Mr President. First of all, what the policies of Mr President did for subnationals is largely to free up resources.
“So, I think there is a clear intention. I think Mr President has been very intentional about how this trillion-dollar economy is to be achieved. He strongly believes this won’t come from the top down; it ‘ll come from the periphery. To achieve that, you have to strengthen the periphery both in terms of responsibility and in terms of providing them with the finances.
“I think if you just cast your mind back, even having a conversation with my predecessor, he would tell you what they went through. Sometimes, they struggled from the moment they returned from FAAC to pay salaries; immediately after salaries were paid, nothing was left for capital expenditure.
“So, what we are seeing in Enugu today and at the scale these things are happening is only possible because we now have more funds coming from the Federation Account and there is quite a lot of support from the centre to the subnationals and for us is to make good use of that opportunity and that’s essentially what we’re doing.”
The governor noted that the improved fiscal environment created by the federal government has enabled Enugu State to accelerate the implementation of transformative projects aimed at improving citizens’ quality of life and stimulating economic growth.
“So, whether you want to look at it from the removal of the subsidies, the unification of the exchange rates, the forex, if you look at the reform, the tax sector, and you know, quite a whole lot of great initiatives. If you look at the NELFund policy, this is something we’re excited about because, typically, the list of scholarships you get, the applications, and the applicants you get every year to fund are almost unimaginable.
“But today we encourage them, our students, to access NELFund, and that again frees up funds for us to do other things. So the impact is invaluable, and we thank Mr President for all that,” he said.
On security, the state’s investment in security architecture, he said, has strengthened intelligence gathering, surveillance systems, and rapid response mechanisms across urban and rural communities, thereby creating a conducive environment for businesses and investments to thrive.
The governor also showcased the ongoing construction of the state-of-the-art Enugu International Specialist Hospital, which is expected to provide advanced medical services, reduce medical tourism, and strengthen healthcare delivery within the state and beyond.
Onanuga, who spoke after inspecting several ongoing and completed federal and state government projects across Enugu State, commended the governor for his developmental strides. He noted that the collaboration between the federal government and state governments is producing visible results that are directly impacting the lives of Nigerians.
“President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has not ignored any section of Nigeria. Everywhere has been taken care of. And as the engineer from the project site just explained to us, people are going to feel the impact of the road work going on in many parts of the country,” he said.
The projects inspected included the ongoing construction of the Flyover Interchange Bridge at Abakpa Junction in Enugu, the ongoing reconstruction of the 38.6-kilometre Enugu–Onitsha–Port Harcourt concrete pavement road, and the dualisation of the 21.5-kilometre Enugu International Airport Road extending to the Ebonyi State border.
The team also inspected the ongoing dualisation of a 40-kilometre Owo–Ubahu–Amankanu–Umualo–Ekem road, the Enugu State Tractors Assembling Plant, among others.
