By Chooks Oko
Last week, the head of one of the Federal government owned news outlets, a close friend of mine called me on the phone. “The media bandit”, he began, “I was in your state recently and some of the things your governor is doing are mind boggling. The projects are massive and can hardly be found in other parts of the country. In fact, at the new ICT university, the buildings I saw there are well laid out and unbelievable as a state government project”. ” The media terrorist in chief, am sure you saw plenty other projects” I quiped. “Sure, the man is one of the best, but he is off the radar, people will be amazed to know what he is doing, Nwifuru is really doing great” my friend concluded.
As we discussed other issues, my mind kept going back to where he began the conversation.
Was Nwifuru really doing well as governor of Ebonyi State? Was his preferred silence over the staccato deodorised spins of his colleagues affecting his public rating? The questions were popping up in such frenzies that I left the thought for sometime. But it kept tugging at my subconscious like a festering migraine.
What was really going on in Ebonyi State?
You see, Ebonyi as a state, has been luckier than most states in terms of leadership. From Sam Egwu to Elechi through Umahi, every leader has contributed significantly to the development of the young state; was it going to be different with Nwifuru, the incumbent? Each of these leaders had different areas of focus for which they are predominantly remembered. For instance, Egwu is primarily remembered for his impact on the education sphere where he trained a huge number of Ebonyians abroad. Most of them occupy strategic positions in the state now and are contributing to the development of the State. Elechi is remembered primarily for building a whopping 34 humongous unity bridges that united the whole state together. Kiths and kin that were separated from each other by massive rivers from creation were reunited by the building of those bridges. Umahi is known for massive infrastructural revolution in the state. All these are without prejudice to other areas of daily governance that kept the state running vibrantly. These leaders led for eight years and got these toga associated with them. With three years on the saddle, was Nwifuru headed in the direction of his predecessors? A funny thing that happens in governance is that when your predecessors didn’t do well in office, and you decide to do a few things right, the whole crowd will be applauding an apparent Daniel that has come to judgement. That is what is happening in Ebonyi, obviously. In other states where their past governors had other preoccupations than delivering needed service to their people, a present governor delivering on the expectations of the people would naturally get rave reviews. This obvious fact decided me.
I made up my mind, prodded by my friend’s banter and the legion of abuses the governor receives on social media unchecked. It was time to look beyond the “yakittings”, as the Americans would say. It was time to pay attention to the happenings at home away from my daily routine of analysing policies and formulating strategies in Abuja.
What was happening in Ebonyi?
I recall vividly that in 2023, at the inception of his gubernatorial campaign, Nwifuru launched his manifesto for the state christened “People’s charter of needs”. In there, he outlined a daunting nay lofty raison de etre of his coming administration. Is he following it? Are there tangible results flowing from there?
Education, one of the basic needs in life by United Nation’s standards, stands out as Nwifuru’s priority area of focus. In just three years, he is shining brightest in the sector. There are over 1000 Ebonyians studying for their postgraduate degrees in various institutions locally and overseas in fully funded scholarships of the Nwifuru administration. Some have already graduated, while most are at various stages of completion. Imagine what this means to both the state and the nation at large in the next few years!! Could this purposeful and strategic plan be seen as clueless or under-performance as his traducers would want the world to believe? Methinks not.
Still in the sector, Nwifuru has recruited over 2000 new teachers to boost secondary education. He is currently building 67 model smart secondary schools that would be fully digital on completion across the state. This is in addition to 56 primary school classrooms. These would complement the brand new ICT university he built from scratch in Oferekpe, and the Aeronautical University he is building in Onueke. Both universities are up and running. While Oferekpe will be having their second batch of students in the next session, Onueke will be taking off with its first batch of students. Yet, the man is not blowing trumpets.
Ebonyi is basically an agriarian state famed for its rice and yams. Apart from the mundane ritual of providing farm inputs to the farmers, Nwifuru flagged off the construction of 2km roads in the over 140 Autonomous Communities in the state to ease transportation and movement of goods and services. These roads are at different levels of completion. He also used this same project to empower local contractors as a means of boosting economic activities in the state.
To enhance peace and stability in the state, 67 ultramodern duplexes are at various levels of completion for traditional rulers in the state. This is also aimed at strengthening traditional institutions and enhancing the role of traditional rulers in peace and conflict resolution in the state.
In the civil service, he has recruited over 2000 new workers and commenced backlog of promotions. Retired teachers and local government workers have had their backlog of pensions and gratuities cleared to date.
As I write, a common saying of my people came to mind. My people would ask, ” how many lions would a man kill before he is called a lion killer?” This calls for some deep reflection. But that’s not all.
In the health sector, Nwifuru revamped all the state general hospitals, employed doctors and bought brand new Sports Utility Vans (SUV) for all the doctors manning the hospitals. In all, over 195 health workers of several key specialisations were employed, while new ambulances were also procured for the hospitals.
The transport sector was strengthened with brand new buses for the different routes they cover.
Need I go on? The wheel of government is racing on smoothly with the requisite tools needed to keep government going. New roads are being constructed while other ones are being rehabilitated. Over 400 duplexes for civil servants are nearing completion in Abakaliki.
The serene calmness of the state stems from his steady logistical support to all security agencies in the state; operational vehicles and other gadgets are periodically donated to them by the governor.
Yet, this is just three years.
Is there any wonder what would happen in eight years?
These achievements are not emblazoned across sundry media because of the leadership style of the man on the saddle.
Francis Ogbonna Nwifuru is a leader who believes in facts speaking for themselves. He believes in the biblical injunction that acts of good deed done by the right hand need not be known by the left. He is humble, realistic and humane. He sees blowing trumpets over acts of governance natural flow of the tide, need not be blown out of proportion. He believes in silence and a steady push for the crown, purposely. That is the roaring silence of a unique leader that knows where he is headed.
Oko, a Fellow of the Nigerian Guild of Editors, writes from Abuja
