Opinion
Ugwuanyi’s redemptive aura of peace, justice in a restive Nigeria
By Steve Oruruo
Since Independence, a class of Nigeria’s highhanded political leaders has become unrepentant architects of bigotry and ethnic divisiveness, unleashing harrowing economic hardships and pervasive injustices on the people. This has precipitated several homegrown cataclysms including the intractable Boko Haram menace, intra-community crises, religious violence, unprovoked marauding Herdsmen killings, incessant kidnappings and dangerous Separatist crusades. Nor can one forget the recent seeming intifada which almost crystallized a spontaneous, massive revolution, riding on the back on the #EndSars movement. The Nigerian public sphere is awash with visible and not-too-visible intimations of generational leadership failings; facts and realities that bear neither esoteric hue nor requiring the interpretation of experts.
The failings of our time, tragically, may snowball into a complete failed status of the nation state if we fail to rescue our flailing and capitulating civilian leadership. Unarguably, the first malady describes the gross incompetence of a sizable proportion of the governing elite; the second, the confluence of expanding ungoverned spaces, multiplying levels of criminalities, dysfunctional and disarticulated economic sub-structures, resulting in mass poverty, youth unemployment as well as the unraveling of the nation’s fragile sectarian and ethno-cultural core; all tragically coming together in a historical time such as is heavily upon us now.
As a matter of fact, the nation handed over to us by the founding fathers has not fared any better. Its historicist spirit is drastically waning; the sense of nationalism evaporating like an insolent mirage; while the various cycles of underdevelopment-across several frontiers confronting us today derive essentially from bad governance and leadership deficits. In a sense therefore, while it was right for the radical Afrocentric Scholar like Walter Rodney to bemoan with historical fidelity and moral authority, how Europe swindled and underdeveloped Africa, I dare say that the narrative of contemporary era is nothing but how poor, unaccountable and visionless leadership has underdeveloped Nigeria.
Judging by the volatile political climate and aggressive permutations heralding the 2023 general elections, it seems more of a candid commentary than pessimism, to say that the nation is on the cusp of another major calamity. Desperate for political salvation from their deplorable existence, ordinary citizens nurse deep-seated resentments and frustrations that threaten to erupt like a volcano. It is either we dissipate this gathering thicket of gloom with zero hesitancy or face what in the nearest future would be a remarkable but most ruinous storm in our history. Given the multiplicity of leadership challenges that are currently overwhelming the managers of statecraft, therefore, now is the time to act.
At a time of reckoning like this, the very first step should be a wholehearted admittance of failure. Our polity needs the injection of new streams of political thought and socioeconomic philosophies for the adoption of novel governance models. Luckily, we can look to a leader who is already in the fore-front of this renaissance, His Excellency, Rt. Hon. Ifeanyi Lawrence Ugwuanyi, the Executive Governor of Enugu State. Using the Wawa clime as his canvas, Governor Ugwuanyi has painted for us a new sociopolitical template based on the tripod of peace, justice and accountability. Akin to the historical greats who were way ahead of their time, the likes of Socrates and Nelson Mandela, Governor Ugwuanyi is resetting our national compass to lead us away from the turbulence on the horizon onto the path of sustainable prosperity.
Ndi Enugu massively rallied behind Governor Ugwuanyi in 2015 because of his political antecedents, track record of sterling performances in public service, his glaring lack of the typical elitist bent and of course the blistering performance of his predecessor more especially in the Capital . Young, virile and unassuming, his aura felt like a breath of fresh air after what perhaps seemed a long maladroit elitism. As a member of the House of Representatives (HOR), Governor Ugwuanyi championed noble causes and lent his voice of advocacy to people-oriented reforms. He chaired HOR’s Committee on Marine Transport with uncanny vigor, fostering a new culture of cooperation and accountability across ministries, agencies and parastatals under their jurisdiction through passionate mediation and uncompromising oversight. He wasn’t the wealthiest candidate neither did he, by birth, inherit political privilege like most of his counterparts. But he marketed his true personality and vision to the electorate – a suave gentleman who like Martin Luther King Jnr. had a dream.
Governor Ugwuanyi engendered a re-engineering of the political climate in Enugu State. He dismantled the hitherto exclusivity of the leadership landscape, flinging the doors to the corridors of power wide open for men and women of all backgrounds, dispositions and sociopolitical leanings who have substance and the grit to deliver good governance to the people. He is a worthy son of Nsukka, but from the get-go, Governor Ugwuanyi, whose foremost priority was the state’s welfare, established his stance as an impartial father to all. This was manifest in his political appointments, appropriation of the state’s resources and adjudication of conflicts. His unflinching sense of equity and justice permeated every sector of human endeavour in the state, arousing a renewed sense of hope among the citizenry for a society compassionate towards its weak and downtrodden.
Governor Ugwuanyi distanced himself from unrepentant belligerents, and at every twist and turn canvassed dialogue and altruistic compromises as sine qua non to lasting peace and societal development. First viewed with skepticism and the authenticity question, Ugwuanyi’s novel political style soon spread like wildfire, converting warring political foes into friends, and sowing contagious camaraderie across every nook and cranny of the state. For the first time in Enugu’s history, we all became Wawa people first before subterranean affiliation to sectional sentiments if any, working towards a common goal – the preservation of our historic heritage and socio-economic betterment.
Peace and justice laid the groundwork for political accountability which gave way to massive economic growth. In just a few years, Enugu’s internally generated revenue (IGR) profile soared; the economy was diversified, breaking the perennial jinx of whimsical and stuttering attempts on rural liberation; the grassroots, long subjected to cruel neglect, were reconnected to the state’s main grid; the education and health sectors witnessed major developmental upheavals; and Enugu’s entire tellurian landscape transformed into a mosaic of legacy infrastructural projects including the recently commissioned first-ever flyover bridge at Nike Lake/T-junction. Through the creation of several opportunities for Enugu’s youths, including the Clean Team project, employment of over 5000 young teachers by ENSUBEB, provision of grants and interest-free loans to SMEs and offering trainings in varied in-demand digital skills, Governor Ugwuanyi not only mitigated youth restiveness but has also secured the state’s future by incubating a massive horde of talents.
As he prepares to vacate office next year and from every indication be voted into the upper legislative chamber in Abuja via the vociferous affirmation of the electorate, Governor Ugwuanyi has made the ultimate move towards the sustenance of political amity in Enugu State and socio-economic progress by facilitating the transparent hitch-free conduct of PDP’s gubernatorial primary election, which produced Barr. Peter Mbah and the youthful, Barr. Ifeanyi Ossai, as the flag bearers. His monumental legacies in Enugu State, coupled with Mr. Mbah’s intimidating profile as an accomplished industrialist, a philanthropist, a consummate administrator, a shrewd manager of men and material, yet a temperate character, means the PDP is all but guaranteed victory at the polls come 2023. Governor Ugwuanyi’s vigorous and unequivocal support for a governorship candidate of Enugu East Senatorial Zone extraction is testament to his unquestionable integrity and a demonstration of unwavering belief and commitment to the rotational arrangement that smoothened his ascension to power and has been critical to the peace and harmony in the state. By this very gesture, he has sent a strong message to purveyors of political discord who place personal aggrandizement above greater good. He has also ensured that the future of Nsukka youths as leaders of tomorrow will not be shortchanged by the grievous free-for-all situation, a breach of the pact is guaranteed to evoke.
Who would better represent the great people of Enugu North in the Senate at this time of immense political and economic uncertainties than Governor Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi, a true son of Nsukka, who despite his accomplishments as a political leader, trailblazer and social reformer, has always been loyal to his roots and temperately sentimental towards his kin? In his time at the helm of the state’s affairs, Governor Ugwuanyi addressed some of the most pressing yearnings of the Nsukka people; he constructed the state-of-the-art Opi-Nsukka dual carriageway and many other strategic rural roads, a modern township stadium, a secretariat annex, and a College of Medicine. In addition to a myriad of other human capital empowerments, infrastructural feats and multi-sectorial reforms, he repositioned Nsukka as a key player in Enugu’s political sphere and as the heartbeat of its vast economy. He equally attracted a federal polytechnic to its shores to further broaden its sway in national affairs.
The character and person of Governor Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi, a scion of the stock, reflects the Nsukka persona – godly and amiable yet relentlessly enterprising and resolute. Nsukka is home to people of unwavering belief in humanity and sense of good, intellectual giants, think-tanks, business masterminds and indomitable youths who by sheer talent and diligence are powering Enugu State to unimaginable heights. No wonder when it was their turn, they gave Ndi Enugu a colossus who in just a few years has left indelible prints on the historic sands of time. Nsukka people have an innate sense of discernment, and are hence championing Governor Ugwuanyi’s senate bid, confident that he will replicate and even advance his feats in Enugu at the upper legislative chamber. Needless therefore, to say that attempts to malign the Ugwuanyi brand by a few Nsukka political elites, disgruntled by their failure to impose their selfish interests on Enugu State or milk the state dry, is dead on arrival. The good people of Nsukka are not easily manipulated and can easily sniff out street-level mendacities, transactional chicanery and deceit from miles away.
For centuries to come, epic stories will be told of His Excellency, Rt. Hon. Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi, who came into office an extraordinary leader, remodeled the political framework and socioe-conomic dynamics in Enugu, and exited office an immortal legend. The values of godliness, peace, justice and accountability which he has deliberately integrated into the fabrics of the society will be the pillars upon which Nigeria will transcend into a new national consciousness that will gravitate it towards enduring unity, oneness of purpose and enviable socio-economic prosperity.
*Steve Oruruo is the Special Adviser to the Governor of Enugu State on Information**
Opinion
SEYI TINUBU AND THE CITY BOYS MOVEMENT: Building A New Architecture For Nigerian Youth In Politics And Nation-Building
When history records the political organizing of Nigeria in the 2020s, the name Seyi Tinubu will feature prominently not just as the son of a president, but as the convener who gave structure to youthful energy through the City Boys Movement.
What began as a campaign vehicle in 2022 has since evolved. Seyi Tinubu himself described it at the movement’s national retreat in Abuja as “more than just the opening of a retreat. It is the beginning of a movement” dedicated to service and the Renewed Hope vision.
That evolution matters. For too long, youth engagement in Nigeria oscillated between protest and apathy. The City Boys Movement offers a third lane: organized, institutional, and solution-driven participation.
On youth advocacy, the CBM has redefined what advocacy can look like. Instead of shouting from the sidelines, its members are being trained to enter rooms, ask questions, and propose answers.
Seyi Tinubu challenged the movement to move beyond defending government to “reconnecting Nigerians with government.” That is advocacy with responsibility — explaining policy, listening to feedback, and carrying both back to Abuja.
In governance communication, the gap between policy makers and citizens has been Nigeria’s oldest problem. CBM is attempting to close it by deploying young people as policy translators.
With reforms like subsidy removal and naira floatation straining households, the movement positioned itself as a buffer — not to deny the pain, but to explain the purpose with facts and empathy.
The directive from its Patron was clear: engagement must be “responsible, factual and compassionate.” That is a maturity we rarely demand of youth politics, and it is changing the tone of conversations in markets, campuses, and wards.
Visible participation is where the theory meets the street. CBM has deliberately taken its meetings out of Abuja hotels and into communities across the 36 states and FCT.
From free medical outreaches to campus visits, members are showing up where government is felt most — in clinics, in schools, in queues.
That visibility sends a message to young Nigerians: politics is not a distant game. It is something you can touch, join, and shape.
Perhaps the most consequential shift is institutionalization. The movement has moved from a loose WhatsApp group to a formal structure with a National Working Committee, State Directors, and representation down to Zonal, LGA and Ward levels.
This matters because structure creates accountability. It creates a ladder for a 24-year-old in Oron, a 28-year-old in Kano, or a 30-year-old in Enugu to rise through service, not just slogans.
The stated target of mobilizing 10 million youth votes for 2027 is ambitious, but the method is instructive: “real people, real members, real engagement and hard work at the grassroots,” according to the Director-General.
On relief and welfare, the City Boys Movement has chosen to lead with service. Nationwide food distribution during Ramadan and Lent, medical missions, and direct support to vulnerable households have become part of its brand.
These are not photo ops. In a season of economic adjustment, relief builds trust. Trust is the currency of governance, and youth are spending it in their communities.
Direct empowerment is the next pillar. Through programs tied to Seyi Tinubu’s initiatives, thousands have received grants, business support, and tools to start or scale.
In Ogun State alone, the model included ₦500,000 grants for 50 SMEs, ₦200,000 for 100 micro-businesses, and up to ₦5m for tech innovation winners.
Furniture donations to primary schools and cash grants to market women show the movement understands that empowerment must be both aspirational and immediate.
This is advocacy that pays school fees, stocks a shop, and buys drugs. It tells a young person: your government sees you, and your peers are in the room making it happen.
Geopolitical outreach is another area where CBM is breaking new ground. By appointing high-profile regional directors and pushing into the South-East, the movement is testing whether youthful messaging can transcend old party lines.
The goal is not to erase differences, but to create a national conversation where youth in every zone see themselves in the same project.
That is nation-building work. It is slow, unglamorous, and necessary.
The movement also offers a critical safety valve: channeling youthful frustration into structured civic engagement rather than into street confrontations.
That is not about silencing dissent. It is about giving dissent an address, a process, and a path to influence.
Critics will argue that youth groups tied to power risk becoming echo chambers. The test for CBM will be whether it can carry hard feedback upward as boldly as it carries policy downward.
Early signs suggest the leadership knows this. The repeated calls for empathy, for listening, and for “scratching only the surface” of what can be accomplished point to an awareness that legitimacy must be earned daily.
Seyi Tinubu’s role has been to provide patronage without suffocation — to fund, to convene, and then to step back enough for members to own the work.
If the City Boys Movement sustains this model, it could leave behind more than votes. It could leave behind a template: how to institutionalize youth energy, communicate governance honestly, and turn relief into resilience.
Nigeria does not need more spectators. It needs more builders. In Seyi Tinubu and the City Boys Movement, we are watching an experiment to see if Nigerian youth can be organized not just to win elections, but to govern, to serve, and to stay. The early chapters suggest it is possible.
CHINEDUM ENYINNAYA ORJI writes from Amaokwe Ugba, Umuahia Ibeku, Abia State.
Opinion
The Real Ethnic Bigotry Is Ugwuagbo’s Dangerous Ethnic Stereotyping, Not Governor Mbah’s Appointments
By Dan Nwomeh
There is an obvious irony in a write-up accusing Governor Peter Mbah, an Igbo governing an overwhelmingly Igbo state, of the absurd practice of ethnic bigotry against his own people by favouring Yoruba people over fellow Igbo, while repeatedly reducing Nigerians to their ethnic identities and presenting the presence of a few Yoruba professionals in the Enugu State Government as evidence of “Yorubanisation” of the state. “Since coming into office, Governor Mbah has demonstrated a clear preference to work with Yorubas than with Enugu people” (sic), the author recklessly charged.
The real ethnic bigotry in this disingenuous attempt to contrive a controversy is not in Governor Mbah’s decision to appoint a handful of people from other parts of Nigeria; it is in one Ugwuagbo Chizoba’s dangerous ethnic stereotyping of those appointees and his attempt to turn their Yoruba identity into a reason for questioning their competence or qualification to serve Enugu State.
This is an important distinction, because a governor who searches for the best hands wherever he can find them is not practising ethnic bigotry. He is instead practising the very cosmopolitanism that a modern, ambitious state like Enugu needs. A writer who examines the performance of a public official, regardless of where that person comes from, is doing legitimate scrutiny. But when the principal evidence offered against an appointee is that he or she is Yoruba, and when a few Yoruba professionals serving Enugu State are presented collectively as evidence of a sinister ethnic pattern, the argument ceases to be about competence and becomes an exercise in ethnic stereotyping dressed up as political criticism.
That is precisely what the said Ugwuagbo Chizoba does in his write-up with the inflammatory and inciting title, “Ethnic Bigotry: Governor Mbah’s Yorubanization of Enugu and the Questions That Are Becoming Too Difficult to Ignore”. In the write-up, Ugwuagbo tells us that ethnic bigotry means being prejudiced against people because of their ethnic group. Then, almost immediately, he begins identifying the people he considers unfit for public office primarily by their ethnicity; a “Yoruba woman” here, an “incompetent Yoruba man” there, and even “Yoruba girls” allegedly occupying positions around Government House. Their ethnic identities are repeatedly placed at the centre of the narrative, as though being Yoruba is itself a relevant qualification for determining whether they deserve to hold public office in Enugu.
This is the fundamental contradiction that destroys the entire write-up. You cannot credibly denounce ethnic bigotry while making ethnicity the central basis of your case against public officials and repeatedly highlighting their ethnic origins, yet offering no credible evidence to support the serious allegations of incompetence you make against them, as one would ordinarily expect from a so-called journalist.
If a Yoruba professional is appointed in Enugu, the appointment is presented by Ugwuagbo as evidence of “Yorubanisation.” But he never seriously considers the obvious alternative explanation, which is simply that the governor may have chosen someone he believed possessed the experience or competence required for the job. That is a remarkably convenient way to cobble together a piece of political propaganda. The ethnicity of the appointee becomes the evidence, the conclusion and the accusation all at once.
Beyond the blatant falsehoods, including the false attribution of certain government positions and institutional leadership roles to Yoruba people who do not actually hold them, the write-up is conspicuously devoid of evidence to substantiate the serious allegations it makes.
Take the case of Ladi Akeredolu-Ale, who is described dismissively as an “incompetent Yoruba man.” What is the evidence offered for this sweeping conclusion? Zilch. Yet Akeredolu-Ale came into the Enugu State Broadcasting Service leadership with decades of broadcasting experience, including senior management experience at Channels Television and previous leadership of the Ondo State Radio and Television Corporation.
One may certainly question his performance at ESBS. Public officials should be subjected to scrutiny. But the relevant questions are: What targets were set for him? What resources were available? What did he inherit? What has he accomplished or failed to accomplish? What measurable indicators demonstrate incompetence? His Yoruba ancestry answers none of those questions.
Had Ugwuagbo risen above his clannish insularity and parochial outlook and taken the time to examine the pedigree of these appointees, he might have been far more circumspect, and perhaps even humbled by their credentials rather than scoffing so derisively at their competence and addressing them with such intemperate disrespect.
Adenike Okebu brings formidable professional credentials to her role as Senior Special Adviser on Revenue, including a BSc in Accounting from OAU, Ile-Ife, MSc in Finance from Nottingham Trent University, Fellow of ICAN, Certified Fraud Examiner, Chartered Certified Forensic Accountant, Associate of the Chartered Institute of Taxation of Nigeria and Member of the Institute of Directors. With experience spanning EY Nigeria, Deloitte, BUA Group, Platform Capital and Pinnacle Oil and Gas, she combines Big Four audit experience with expertise in revenue assurance, financial governance and fraud detection. In Enugu, she has been central to efforts to plug revenue leakages, modernise revenue administration and drive the exponential growth of the state’s IGR, while also mentoring accounting students at the University of Nigeria Enugu Campus, helping to bridge academic training and professional practice.
Governor Mbah’s Special Adviser on Health, Dr. Yomi Jaye, is a medical doctor and healthcare-management professional with more than two decades of experience across Africa and the United States, with qualifications including MBBS, MBA and a Master of Public Health from the University of Liverpool, as well as international training at Harvard Medical School and MIT. In his role, he has brought his clinical, public-health and management expertise to Enugu’s healthcare reforms, helping to secure long-delayed accreditation and upgrades for the state’s medical and nursing training institutions, including the Medical and Dental Council of Nigeria’s approval of a 350-student admission quota for Medicine and Dentistry at ESUT (the highest admission quota approved for any medical school in Nigeria at the time), and the Nursing and Midwifery Council of Nigeria’s accreditation of ESUT’s Nursing Sciences programme. Beyond government, his private-sector and philanthropic work includes founding Cecy Health Consult and the Cecilia Oyebola Foundation, which recently supported healthcare interventions including the renovation and re-equipping of the neonatal ward at ESUTH Teaching Hospital, Parklane.
Dr. Akinbayo Olasoji, Commander of the Enugu State Forest Guard, combines advanced academic training with decades of high-level security experience, having retired from the Nigeria Police Force as a Deputy Commissioner of Police just before his appointment, after serving in senior operational positions, including the strategic DCP Operations at the Enugu State Police Command. He holds a PhD and has brought his policing and intelligence experience to the professionalisation of the Forest Guard, strengthening its operational structure, inter-agency collaboration and community-based security strategy. Under his command, the Forest Guard has participated in significant security operations, including the rescue of kidnapped victims from forest hideouts, demonstrating that the organisation is evolving into a serious component of the state’s security architecture.
Captain Tolu Ita, the CEO and Accountable Manager of Enugu Air, is a highly experienced aviation professional whose credentials combine technical expertise, executive leadership and international exposure. She was trained and licensed as a pilot in Nigeria and the United States and has nearly 20 years of professional experience in aviation and business, including a distinguished career at Aero Contractors, where she rose to become Dash-8 Fleet Manager. She has also held other senior executive positions, serving in aviation policy and regulatory advisory roles involving ICAO and AFCAC, and undertaken executive training at Oxford University’s Saïd Business School. As CEO of Enugu Air, she has already overseen a major achievement in securing the airline’s Air Operator Certificate (AOC) in just five months and three weeks, compared with the typical 15–24-month process, with the NCAA commending the airline for meeting the required safety and operational standards.
Taken together, these appointments represent less than three per cent of Governor Mbah’s top-level appointments over the past three years, a statistically insignificant fraction of the administration’s overall appointments, yet each demonstrates its willingness to deploy people with proven professional competence and relevant experience to demanding portfolios.
If then a governor appoints a person from another ethnic group because that person has the required qualification and experience, what exactly is wrong with that? It is called meritocracy, not ethnic bigotry. And Peter Mbah has a particularly compelling personal reason for believing in that philosophy. Mbah is not a man whose worldview was formed within the narrow boundaries of his ancestral community. His business career is a practical demonstration of the benefits of a cosmopolitan Nigeria.
He built Pinnacle Oil and Gas from scratch into a leading energy business in Lagos. The company’s Lekki terminal, inaugurated by President Muhammadu Buhari in October 2022, was described by the Nigerian Investment Promotion Commission as a $1 billion investment and as a strategic national asset. The project was developed as a massive petroleum storage and distribution infrastructure occupying a large expanse of land within the Lekki Free Zone.
Think about it for a moment. An Igbo businessman from Enugu went to Lagos and built a massive oil and gas infrastructure project in Yoruba land. It could not have happened without the accommodating disposition of the Yoruba owners and host communities, Lagos authorities, regulators, financial institutions, and the many Nigerians who worked with him.
The success of Pinnacle is therefore not merely a business story. It is also a powerful demonstration of what is possible when Nigerians are allowed to live, work, invest and build outside the narrow confines of their ethnic homelands. That is the Nigeria Peter Mbah knows. And that is the Nigeria an ambitious Enugu must build. Imagine if Lagos had adopted the parochial logic of Ugwuagbo’s write-up. Someone could have said: Why should an Igbo man be allowed to build a massive petroleum terminal here when there are Lagosians who can do it? Why should an Igbo businessman be entrusted with such a strategic investment? Fortunately, Lagos did not think that way. It judged the investment on its economic value, the company’s capacity, regulatory compliance, financing and the potential benefit to the state and the country. That is precisely how Enugu should work.
And many Igbo have been beneficiaries of the cosmopolitan attitude that Ugwuagbo now seems to regard as anathema when applied in Enugu. Let’s consider Ben Akabueze, an Igbo man who served as Lagos State Commissioner for Economic Planning and Budget from January 2007 to May 2015, first appointed by Governor Bola Tinubu and subsequently reappointed for two terms by Governor Babatunde Fashola. This was not a mere decorative position. Economic Planning and Budget is among the most strategically important portfolios in any state government. Were there no competent Yoruba economists and accountants in Lagos? There is also Joe Igbokwe, an Igbo from Anambra who became a prominent political figure in Lagos and rose through the ranks of the Lagos political establishment before being appointed by Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu in 2019 as Special Adviser on Drainage and Water Resources.
Unbeknown to Ugwuagbo and his nativistic fellow travellers, people of South East origin have occupied, and continue to occupy, substantial professional and career positions in Lagos State’s public service, including within the directorate cadre and the education system. A friend from Enugu State who lives in Lagos once told me about his wife’s experience at an interview for recruitment into the Lagos State Local Government Service. He expressed his utter surprise that her ethnic origin was never raised or even discussed throughout the process. She is now serving in the directorate cadre of the Lagos State public service. In the state’s education system, a significant number of people of South-East origin also serve as secondary school principals. Lagos has also repeatedly elected state and federal lawmakers of Igbo extraction since the return to democracy in 1999.
The examples go beyond Lagos. In Ekiti State, Governor Biodun Oyebanji appointed four Senior Special Assistants and Special Assistants of Igbo origin to serve in his administration. In Kaduna, Governor Uba Sani appointed Igbo professionals to senior advisory positions. In Osun, Governor Ademola Adeleke appointed Prof. Chinwe Obuaku-Igwe, an Igbo and United Nations-certified climate-change expert, as the Director-General and Special Envoy to the Governor on Climate Change and Renewable Energy, placing her directly under the governor with responsibility for high-level partnerships, climate action and renewable-energy initiatives. This is precisely the sort of thing that should be happening in every Nigerian state.
Take aviation, which is obviously of new interest to Ugwuagbo. When the Ekiti State Government commissioned the Ekiti Airport in Ado-Ekiti, it entered into a partnership with United Nigeria Airlines, owned by an Igbo businessman, Prof. Obiora Okonkwo, to operate commercial flights linking Ado-Ekiti with Lagos and Abuja. A Yoruba state built an airport and its first commercial airline operator was an airline owned by an Igbo businessman. Did anybody in Ekiti scream “Igbonisation”?
The double standard in Ugwuagbo’s argument is as embarrassing as it is insulting to sensibilities. If an Igbo professional is appointed in Lagos, we celebrate it as evidence that Lagos is open and cosmopolitan. If an Igbo-owned company wins a major commercial opportunity in another state, we call it enterprise and success. When an Igbo professional is appointed to the highest echelons of an institution or elected to a sensitive public position in the United States, Canada or Europe, we celebrate it as proof that merit can transcend racial and national boundaries.
But if a Yoruba professional is appointed in Enugu, suddenly the same principle becomes “Yorubanisation”.
The contradiction becomes even more glaring when we consider the Igbo experience as sojourners. The Igbo are among Nigeria’s most geographically dispersed and commercially mobile populations. Our people live, work and invest in virtually every part of the country and around the world. Igbo-owned businesses operate outside the South-East on an enormous scale.
It is therefore difficult to understand why an ethnic group whose economic success has depended so heavily on moving beyond its ancestral homeland would suddenly become threatened by other Nigerians moving into Enugu. Why should the most travelled major ethnic group in Nigeria become xenophobic about who works in Enugu?
There is an even more disturbing dimension to this campaign of ethnic suspicion and antagonism. At a time when Nigerians, including many Igbo, are once again facing the ugly consequences of xenophobic hostility in South Africa, it should concern every responsible Nigerian that anyone would deliberately promote a similar sentiment against fellow Nigerians at home. We know how deeply unsettling such developments are to us, particularly because Igbo constitute a significant part of Nigeria’s commercial and professional community in South Africa. So we should be extremely careful about normalising the same mentality amongst ourselves. If we condemn South Africans for saying Nigerians do not belong in South Africa, we should be extremely careful about saying Yoruba people do not belong in Enugu.
For context, I want to say something directly to Ugwuagbo Emmanuel Chizoba, a local champion of ethnic and primordial bigotry and sectional hatred, and to those who encourage and amplify his xenophobic rhetoric. I welcome the opportunity to work alongside Yoruba colleagues in government. I have never regarded ethnicity as a barrier to competence, friendship or professional excellence. I am a proud product of the University of Lagos, where I was not only a merit-based Unilag Scholar, but also graduated top of my class, winning the Professor Gabriel Olusanya Prize for the Best Graduating Student in History. I studied in a faculty whose teaching staff was predominantly Yoruba. Yet throughout my years at Unilag, I never suffered discrimination from my Yoruba lecturers because I was Igbo. On the contrary, they taught me, challenged me, encouraged me and helped me become who I am today. I also earned a master’s degree from the same institution.
Without mincing words, if, as has been widely alleged in political circles, this campaign of ethnic profiling is connected to interests aligned with the 2027 governorship ambitions of Chief Uche Nnaji, a factional PDP gubernatorial aspirant currently facing multiple criminal charges, and Ugwuagbo is merely serving as one of their political minions and a hack writer, then every lover of inter-ethnic harmony should be deeply concerned. Whatever the political disagreements in Enugu State, no ambition is worth poisoning inter-ethnic relations or encouraging citizens to view fellow Nigerians through the dangerous prism of ethnicity. It is particularly troubling that anyone whose public and political journey benefited from the openness, accommodation and inclusiveness that have long characterised Yoruba society would now be associated with rhetoric capable of breeding suspicion against the very people who exemplified those values. Nnaji was appointed a minister by a president of Yoruba descent, yet it raised no dust. Politics must never descend into ethnic baiting and scapegoating.
History offers painful warnings. Rwanda did not descend into genocide overnight. It began with persistent ethnic labelling, stereotyping and the gradual dehumanisation of fellow citizens until political competition became an ethnic confrontation. Every responsible political actor must therefore reject language that profiles entire people or seeks to make ethnicity itself a ground for public suspicion. Nigeria has paid too high a price for division to permit such dangerous narratives to gain legitimacy in our democratic discourse. No one should ever seek to incite another civil war by exploiting ethnic sentiments merely to advance selfish political interests.
Yet, there is another inconvenient fact the writer seems not to have noticed. Enugu has never been defined by intolerance toward people of other ethnicities. From its emergence as a major administrative, commercial and industrial centre, the city has attracted workers, traders and professionals from different parts of Nigeria and beyond, giving it a distinctly cosmopolitan character. Its history is deeply intertwined with migration, commerce and national integration. As Governor Mbah would say, many of the non-indigenes living in the city for more than 100 years have the placentas of their forefathers buried here in Enugu. Enugu has streets and landmarks carrying the names of prominent non-Igbo Nigerians. There are major streets named after Adegoke Adelabu and Obafemi Awolowo, amongst others. This is part of the history of a Nigerian city that has always been bigger than a village boundary.
Ugwuagbo is perfectly entitled to oppose Peter Mbah or to continue wailing in frustration and despair as his administration exceeds expectations and becomes harder and harder to challenge ahead of the next governorship election. However, the governor’s responsibility is to continue delivering results for the people of Enugu State.
Opinion
OPEN LETTER TO GOV NWIFURU: Time to Stop the Forceful Takeover of People’s Lands in Abakaliki (Part 1)
OPEN LETTER TO HIS EXCELLENCY, THE EXECUTIVE GOVERNOR OF EBONYI STATE, CHIEF FRANCIS OGBONNAYA NWIFURU
Time to Stop the Forceful Takeover of People’s Lands in Abakaliki (Part 1)
“The hottest place in hell is reserved for those who, in times of moral crisis, choose to remain silent.” — Frantz Fanon
I recently came across a statement on social media attributed to the Honourable Commissioner for Lands and Survey, Chief Matthew Nwobashi, in which he announced that the Ebonyi State Government had revoked the EBSU Pocket Layout on the grounds that it was allocated to private individuals for estate development, describing the allocation as a “mistake” made by the previous administration.
This position appears to contradict the fact that, under the administration of former Governor Engr. David Umahi, and pursuant to laws enacted by the Ebonyi State House of Assembly, the land was lawfully allocated to qualified developers following due advertisement by the Bureau of Public Procurement and the completion of the prescribed allocation process. Developers subsequently invested in and began developing the land in reliance on the sanctity of the law.
Against this backdrop, I wish to make the following observations:
Any deliberate attempt to dispossess citizens of lawfully acquired land is not only unjust but also sets a dangerous precedent in our state.
The Commissioner for Lands and Survey has reportedly justified the recovery of lands by describing previous allocations as “mistakes.” If this assertion is accepted, then the reported recovery of over 30 loading bays at the Central Park in Abakaliki, allegedly generating more than ₦100 billion without Executive Council or House of Assembly approval, raises serious legal and accountability concerns.
The Commissioner’s comments could create the impression that your administration is pursuing a policy of land recovery driven by considerations other than the public interest. This perception is reinforced by the forceful takeover of land at Park Residential Estate for the establishment of a batching plant within a residential neighbourhood. The demolition of properties reportedly valued at over ₦10 billion, without compensation to the owners, has raised widespread concern.
It is difficult to reconcile the revocation of the EBSU Pocket Layout with the provisions of the Ebonyi State laws that created the layout and sought to protect investments made therein. Having served as Speaker of the Ebonyi State House of Assembly when these laws were enacted, Your Excellency is well acquainted with their intent. Revoking allocations made under those laws raises questions about respect for due process, legal certainty, and investor confidence.
As Governor, you serve all the people of Ebonyi State, irrespective of clan or political affiliation. Those whose lands have been forcefully acquired deserve justice, appropriate compensation where applicable, and fair treatment under the law.
The welfare and well-being of the people of Ebonyi State should remain the foremost priority of your administration. Government policies should inspire confidence rather than deepen hardship and uncertainty.
I offer these views in good faith and in the interest of justice and good governance. While I recognize that expressing such opinions may attract criticism or even reprisals, I remain undeterred. I have personally suffered substantial losses, which I attribute to actions taken by the state government, and I remain convinced that justice and accountability ultimately prevail.
Chief Igwe Emmanuel
SLA to the Deputy Senate President
*By Kamen Chuks Ogbonna*.
The political landscape of Nigeria, particularly in the Southeast, has been set abuzz following the announcement by the Governor of Imo State and National Coordinator of the Renewed Hope Ambassadors (RHA), His Excellency Hope Uzodinma.
The appointment of 16 high-caliber directors to lead the RHA’s nationwide directorates is not merely an administrative exercise; it is a clear signal that the countdown to 2027 has begun with a surgical focus on grassroots mobilization.
While the list features several heavyweights—including Tunde Rahman (Media), Sunday Dare (Digital Media), and Muiz Banire, SAN (Legal)—one name has sent a specific jolt through the opposition: Chief Olisa Metuh.
For those who observed the peak years of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), the name Chief Olisa Metuh is synonymous with high-stakes political engineering.
Metuh, often described as a “political warhorse,” rose through the ranks from ex-officio, auditor to the formidable National Publicity Secretary of the party whose big shoes never got filled after his exit.
He was the “Maverick” who preferred the shadows but whose tactical fingerprints were visible on every major victory the PDP recorded during its era of dominance.
History recalls that when the PDP faced its darkest hours post-2015, it was Metuh who acted as the anchor, preventing the party from sinking.
He was the mastermind behind the emergence of Bukola Saraki as Senate President alongside PDP’s Ike Ekweremadu as deputy and the elevation of Hon. Yakubu Dogara as Speaker—moves that effectively ran rings around the then-ruling APC under President Buhari.
His track record in the Southeast is equally legendary. From orchestrating Peter Obi’s move into the PDP to the yeoman efforts that secured governorships for PDP’s Okezie Ikpeazu in Abia and David Umahi in Ebonyi, Metuh’s ability to deliver electoral mandates is undisputed.
Critics might wonder what brings a man out of a self-imposed retirement—announced just two years ago—into the fold of the RHA.
However, for a man who recently dedicated over half a billion naira to charity, it is evident that pecuniary interests are not the driver.Instead, it appears that the “political legend” has answered a call of strategic importance.
By accepting the role of Director of Organisation and Mobilisation, Metuh is being positioned exactly where his talents shine brightest: at the intersection of strategy and execution.
President Bola Tinubu, through Governor Uzodinma, has played a deft hand. The Southeast has long been a complex battleground for the ruling party. By bringing in a man who understands the regional political DNA better than most, the Renewed Hope administration is moving beyond rhetoric.
Metuh knows the backroom because he built it. His appointment is a massive blow to the opposition in the Southeast because it replaces theoretical campaigning with proven, battle-tested electoral dexterity.
The Renewed Hope Ambassadors (RHA) was designed by President Tinubu in November 2025 as the primary vehicle to disseminate the achievements of his administration.
With the appointment of this dream team of directors, the RHA has moved from a conceptual framework to a fully operational political machine.
In the chess game of Nigerian politics, Governor Uzodinma has just moved a queen.
As the January elections approach, the inclusion of Chief Olisa Metuh ensures that the Renewed Hope Agenda will not just be heard in the Southeast—it will be felt.
In the street parlance- E Go Loud !
For Ndi Igbo and the nation at large, this appointment is a testament to the fact that in politics, strategy is the only currency that never devalues.
– Kamen Chuks Ogbonna
In the landscape of sub-national governance in Nigeria, the office of the First Lady has often been seen through the lens of ceremonial duties. However, in Anambra State, Dr. (Mrs.) Nonye Soludo—affectionately known as Mama Anambra—is fundamentally redefining this role. Through a series of bold, unprecedented interventions, she has evolved from a pillar of support to a strategic driver of socio-economic transformation.
The impact of Mama Anambra’s leadership first gained significant momentum in the healthcare sector. Championing the cause of the vulnerable, she has been at the forefront of the free maternal and child healthcare initiative. This program has provided thousands of women and children across the state with access to life-saving services that were previously out of reach. Beyond clinical care, her “Healthy Living” crusade has introduced a paradigm shift in domestic wellness, promoting organic products and nutritional education as a primary defence against preventable diseases.
The Anambra First Lady’s vision quickly extended to the fields and farms of the state. Recognizing that food security is the bedrock of community stability, she successfully mobilized women at the grassroots level into productive farming. By providing tools, seedlings, and technical support, she has empowered the home-front to become a formidable force in Anambra’s agricultural value chain, ensuring that empowerment is not just a slogan but a harvest.
Mama Anambra has raised the bar once again by moving into the territory of high-impact vocational empowerment. Her current focus on skills acquisition for females in male-dominated fields is perhaps her most strategic move yet. By opening doors for women in technology, construction, welding, solar energy installation, and mechanics, she is actively dismantling age-old barriers. These sectors, long regarded as “no-go areas” for women, are now being flooded with talented female trainees ready to compete in the modern economy. This initiative does more than provide a job; it destroys the gender limitations that have historically stifled the potential and prosperity of the girl child.
For Ndi Anambra, the work of the First Lady is a clear signal that leadership fueled by empathy and vision delivers tangible results. Her interventions are not merely philanthropic gestures, as they are strategic investments in the human capital of the state. Through her tireless efforts, Dr. Mrs Nonye Soludo is proving that when leadership has a heart, change is not just felt—it is seen and touched.
As she continues to break new ground, the prayer of the people remains constant: May God continue to strengthen her for the journey ahead.
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