From Geoffrey Anyanwu, Enugu
The federal government has been commended for the rearward, quality and speed of the ongoing rehabilitation of the 9th Mile – Opi Nsukka Road.
Stakeholders and road users who expressed delight at the rate the reconstruction works were being handled by the contracting firm, Arab Contractors, also commended the former Deputy President of the Senate, Ike Ekweremadu and others for facilitating the project.
The stakeholders who recounted the disasters that happened on that road and the difficulties the natives have been facing due to the deplorable nature of the road, praised the federal government for seeing reasons with the facilitators to award the contract and have the job started and ongoing.
Seeing Ekweremadu as the leader of the facilitators, the stakeholders most of whom are from Enugu West Senatorial District described him and their two other representatives, Hon. Toby Okechukwu and Hon. Dennis Amadi as three wise men.
They further eulogized them they said, “It was John Templeton, a professor at the Keller Professional Sciences School at Chicago Booth who wrote that “climbing the ladder of statesmen or maintaining good relations with your people does not require a superhuman effort. Do what you promise you’ll do, and people are grateful, they will love and admire you, and would want to send you for more assignments.”
They described Ekweremadu as a unique statesman, a leader worthy of celebration, and one who always keeps to his words.
One of them a university lecturer, Dr. Obinna Eze said Ekweremadu is a leader that has been able “to move above and beyond any egoistic and primitive need for power, attention, or establishing his personal agendas and works with the intention of good-for-all.
“It is very unusual to see political leaders these days keeping their words with the people instead ‘they are going to do one thing while they intend to do another. Then they do neither what they said nor what they intended, so I consider Senator Ekweremadu as the real superhero because it takes a great leader like him to keep to his words by making sure that this road project to Opi Nsukka becomes a reality.”
For a commercial driver who gave his name simply as Mr. Law, he started plying the road only recently because of the ongoing work on the road and requested to be taken to Ekweremadu to offer him fresh palm wine for his dedication and commitment to the entire people of Enugu state.
He said, “I’m not from Enugu West and Ekweremadu is not from Nsukka which is where I come from but as you can see, we the Nsukka people remain the greatest beneficiaries of this road even more than the people of Enugu West where he Ekweremadu come from. That is what is called statesman not all these pretenders who claim to be leaders. This ongoing road project from 9th Mile to Opi Nsukka has brought a lot of relief to many people. And I know how hard he has worked to see that this project is completed.
“In this country, one thing is to influence a project, and another is to work hard to ensure that the project is completed which demands huge sacrifices. This is the type of leader we want. And I speak boldly with a sense of patriotism as I stand on this soil (sounding spiritual) that if this man Senator Ekweremadu is not qualified to be our governor in a state he has worked more hard and empowered more people than any other, then, it means we are in the hands of sophists and only deceiving ourselves. But I am happy he is not a man to be pushed around and that is what makes a true leader.”
Also commenting on the road project, the Traditional ruler of Abor, Igwe Chinemeze Ngwudile described the road project as a great relief to all and thanked all the stakeholders involved.
Igwe Ngwudile used the opportunity to express appreciation “to the Federal government, the state including our representatives at all levels for working hard to ensure the reality of the moment. I commend the Arab contractors for doing a quality job so far and prayed that the good work continues till it reaches Opi Junction.”
He also thanked the different security formations, especially Enugu State Forest Guard led by Chief Martin Obodoechi for providing adequate security for the contractors and road users.
Another stakeholder in the zone, Chief Adonis Igwe described the project as a breakthrough for the people of Udi North and Enugu people generally, praising the wisdom and commitment of those he described as three wise men leading the good people of Enugu West, Senator Ekweremadu, Hon. Okechukwu and Hon. Amadi.
Igwe commended their good work which he said has brought unprecedented turn around in the zone and even extended to other zones outside their jurisdiction.
He said, “I urge our people to always strive to elect leaders considering their ability and capability to make a difference and add value to the society. Because it is this their ability as leaders to make a difference that citizens are looking for, they have made so many progressive differences in our society and deserve our encouragement.”
Another stakeholder, Remigius Eze described Senator Ekweremadu as a leader with foresight and great intuition, noting that he is passionate about leaders who have great intuition about people, particularly when it comes to selecting people to give power and responsibility.
“They are able to see hidden potential in people and detect cases where ambition exceeds ability. And this singular act of patriotism places them high and unique among others because Senator Ekweremadu remains the only leader in the entire East who has empowered more Igbo irrespective of state or zone than any other.
“Even though I am yet to benefit from his magnanimity maybe because I don’t live in the East, I learnt that he has empowered a lot of people and transformed his Senatorial Zone from sleepy towns to busy towns with good road networks and have also proven himself to be very skilled individual who have the capacity to do great things for his people and he continue to make us proud at both local and international level. I pray that success never leaves his hand especially as he takes another bold move to lead and represent the good people of Enugu state.”