Governor Peter Mbah of Enugu State has praised the “bold and tough initiatives” of President Bola Tinubu aimed at transforming Nigeria. The commendation came on thursday during a courtesy visit by the Minister of Information and National Orientation, Alhaji Mohammed Idris, to the Enugu Government House.
Mbah also highlighted his own administration’s commitment to fostering citizens’ engagement, drawing a parallel with the president’s focus on Nigerian citizens. He disclosed that immediately after his swearing-in, he signed Executive Order 001 to effectively engage the people and render accounts to them on a quarterly basis.
The governor’s remarks were made during the minister’s visit, which included Directors-Generals and managing directors of agencies under the ministry. Mbah stated that the reforms at both the federal and state levels are crucial for national development and for building a government that is transparent and accountable to its citizens.
Mbah noted that prior to Tinubu’s administration, the state struggled to pay salaries after receiving federal allocations before it ever contemplated to embark on capital projects.
“But today, that is not the case; we are not only talking about payment of salaries but talking about executing humongous projects.
“Thanks to this bold initiative and very tough decisions taken by the president; but again, development comes sometimes with this temporary discomfort but the truth is that the outcome has a lot of benefits,” he said.
He added that aside the removal of fuel subsidies, the removal of the arbitrage in the exchange rates by Tinubu had brought the exchange rate regime together.
Mbah said that his administration was building about 7, 000 brand new classrooms and equipping them, explaining that the Smart Green Schools each featured all the 21st century skills.
The governor said the school had a robotic and artificial intelligence centres as well as computer generated image studios where the state teach young people with virtual and augmented reality.
He added that the state was building 260 type two primary healthcare centres across the 260 wards with staff quarters with 25KVA solar system to ensure that rural dwellers have 24/ 7 access to healthcare.
“This is something that we also have in common with the Federal Government, making sure that we are committed to governance at the grassroots”.
He commended Tinubu for approving the concessioning of the Akanu Ibiam International Airport, Enugu, which he said, would fully operationalise the international wing of the airport and make it aviation hub.
“So we want to express our deepest gratitude for this great work
Mr President is doing here. We see a lot of similarity in what we are doing here.
“We will continue to support the President to succeed because these projects, programmes and policies are uplifting Nigerians.
Earlier, the minister said they were in Enugu to engage with the people of the state and inspect some of the Federal Government projects in Enugu.
Those in attendance include the Special Adviser to Tinubu on Information and Strategy, Mr Bayo Onanuga, Managing Director of the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), Ali Mohammed Ali.
Others included in the entourage were Director-Generals of the National Orientation Agency (NOA) Lanre Issa- Onilu, Voice of Nigeria (VON), Mallam Jibrin Ndace, the Nigeria Television Authority (NTA), Salihu Abdulhamid and Federal Radio Corporation of Nigeria (FRCN), Dr Muhammad Bulama.
