By Oliver Okpala
When Lawrence Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi , popularly known as Gburugburu stood tall last week to receive the national honour, Commander of the Order of the Niger (CON), his modest achievements and sterling qualities resonated. Born on March 20, 1964. Ugwuanyi, who hails from Orba Town in Udenu Local Government Area of Enugu North, attended St. Theresa’s College, Nsukka. He holds a bachelor’s degree and master’s degree in business administration from the University of Nigeria, Nsukka.
He was the general manager of Premier Insurance Brokers Limited, Enugu, and has also been the president of the Rotary Club of Emene, in Enugu State.
He was elected Governor of Enugu State in April 2015, and was sworn in on the May 29, 2015. On March 9, 2019, Ugwuanyi was re-elected. He polled 449,935 votes to beat his closest opponent, Senator Ayogu Eze, who scored 10,423 votes.
Before then, he was a member of the House of Representatives for 12 years. As a member of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), he represented Igboeze North/Udenu Federal Constituency of Enugu State.
Ugwuanyi was first elected to the House of Representatives in 2003 and he was the chairman, House Committee on Marine Transport. He was a two-term chairman of the House Committee on Marine Transport. Ugwuanyi also held the position of deputy chairman of the House Committee on Pensions, where he helped enact the Pension Reform Act 2004.
He was the recipient of Metro Eireann International Outstanding Leadership Award in 2016 for his exemplary performance as a legislator, especially as the chairman of the Marine Transport Committee, during his time in the Parliament.
Ugwuanyi’s contributions on the floors of the Green Chambers remain indelible.
Being a perpetual achiever, upon his election as governor, he initiated several projects to develop and transform Enugu State.
Although the governor faced herculean challenges at the outset of his administration, he has proved to be a leader with an inborn capacity to deliver and make positive impact, regardless of the obstacles. This is evident in the way he has managed Enugu State.
Since past governors of the state, beginning from 1999, focused on urban areas, Ugwanyi turned his attention to rural development.
Significantly, Enugu North, popularly called Nsukka Zone, was greatly neglected before Ugwuanyi came to office. It was abandoned by previous administrations even though it was a university town. The ancient city of Nsukka was abandoned by former administrations but Ugwanyi has given the zone a facelift. Under his administration, there has been upgrade of road infrastructure and reconstruction of rural roads in the senatorial district.
Within his first tenure, he completed the Udenu Ring Road, which had been a death trap for the people of Ezimo and Imilike-Ani. The completion of that road immediately opened up these towns to the outside world for business activities. It is instructive that he took on that capital-intensive project when many states were unable to pay workers’ salaries.
Throughout his administration, he has continued with his aggressive execution of projects that impact directly on the lives of Enugu people.
As Ugwuanyi prepares to hand over the governorship baton, some of the projects he would be remembered for include the completion of the Nike Lake junction-Harmony Estate Road-Amorji Nike-Adoration Pilgrimage Centre, Phase two and three in Enugu East LGA, which links Abakpa and Emene and serves as a critical bypass, decongesting traffic gridlock at Abakpa T-junction; the asphalting of a 22.443km inter-community link road – the Neke-Mbu-Ogbodu Aba-ObolloEtiti road – that connects Isi-Uzo and Udenu LGAs, under the Rural Access and Mobility Project II (RAMP II); rehabilitation of numerous internal roads in the university town of Nsukka and the flood routing and erosion control works at Achi Street, Independence Layout, Enugu.
Politically, Ugwuanyi deployed his trademark calmness and humility in solving the power tussle and sharing equation in the state.
Many commend Ugwuanyi for being proactive in handling what would have generated a serious political crisis in the state. The majority of Nsukka people are happy with the infrastructural development the governor brought to the zone in the last seven years. Apart from many road projects constructed and some ongoing in the area, Nsukka now has a fully accredited state-owned medical university. It also has a state secretariat annex.
Ugwuanyi is jokingly called Nsukka governor, because he has carried out quite a number of legacy projects in the zone and for these the people of Nsukka are happy.
It is on record that no past government in Enugu has empowered the youth, women and other citizens more than Ugwuanyi’s administration.
The flyover at T-Junction in Trans Ekulu is there for all to see and enjoy. The standard-guage road from Opi to UNN gate and Igboano Teaching Hospital is another testament to Ugwuanyi’s capacity for good works.
From numerous roads reconstructed or constructed to hundreds of schools built and rehabilitated, hospitals, massive improvements in the judiciary and many other areas, the imprint of Ugwuanyi is everywhere in Enugu.
No wonder youths from different political parties and support groups in Enugu North Senatorial District of the state, under the umbrella of the New Era Youth Awareness and Leadership Vanguard, have abundantly commended Ugwuanyi for his remarkable achievements in Enugu North senatorial district in particular and the state in general.
They thus endorsed the governor’s senatorial aspiration to represent the district in the National Assembly in 2023 on the platform of the PDP.
The youths appreciate the governor for the establishment of the State University of Medical and Applied Sciences (SUMAS), Igbo-Eno, Enugu State, stressing that it was a great feat that within his tenure he was able to give the a state medical university.
They are appreciative of the Ugwuanyi administration’s unprecedented infrastructural interventions in the State Judiciary, which amongst other things gave the court buildings in Nsukka and other parts of the state a face lift through renovation, construction and equipping of the facilities.
It is a fact that before Ugwuanyi came on board, magistrates courts and other court buildings in Nsukka, built with mud blocks were in ruins but the governor turned the story around.
Clearly, an ultra-modern 5,000-seat capacity Nsukka Township Stadium, a new State Secretariat Annex with a befitting Conference Centre adjacent it, the Federal Polytechnic attracted to Ohodo, Igbo-Etiti Local Government Area, the road network in Nsukka zone including the Udenu Ring road and state-of-the-art Opi-Nsukka dual carriageway with street and traffic lights are testimonies of the good works of Governor Ugwuanyi.
The establishment of various enterprises such as a privately owned, Maduka Onyishi University Nsukka was made possible because of the conducive atmosphere the Ugwuanyi government has provided in the State.
To his credit are numerous mind blowing achievements in Enugu State, despite the economic hardship. Time would fail one to talk about the renovation and construction of over 1,300 classroom blocks across the four education zones in the state, massive interventions in the state-owned tertiary institutions, construction of Nkalagu-Eha-Amufu road, the Miliken Hill road as well as the construction of Type-3 Primary Healthcare Centres.
Governor Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi’s administration delivered a state-of-the-art 600-seater banquet hall within the premises of the Remodelled Old Government Lodge, GRA, Enugu, for hosting sensitive and reserved state, regional, national and international events, in advancement of Enugu’s status and leading role as the historic capital of the Southeast geo-political zone of Nigeria.
The Ugwuanyi administration equally constructed a befitting conference centre at Ede-Oballa, Nsukka, comprising multiple halls, other indoor activity hubs and recreation facilities such as adult and children swimming pools and a lawn tennis court.
Others include the massive projects at the permanent site of Enugu State University of Science and Technology (ESUT) , the Amenity Hospital at the General Hospital Ogrute, Enugu Ezike, in Igbo-Eze North LGA, the Cottage Hospitals with Isolation Wings in Igbo-Eze North and Udenu LGAs; the construction of 3km Eke-Likke Iheaka Junction-Amaga Uwani-Ekoi Iheaka Ihuma Owerri-Iheakpuawka Road and 3km Ibagwa-Itchi Road both in Igbo-Eze South LGA; the 76 Police Mobile Force Squadron Facility at Ekwegbe, Igbo-Etiti LGA; ultra modern fire service stations in Igbo-Eze North and Udenu LGAs, amongst others.
His commitment to workers welfare is significant as a governor who pays 13th month salary to motivate workers. That is why he has no rival in the forthcoming Enugu North senatorial election. The governor has a track record that no other person in the constituency who is contesting for Senate has.
He has constructed proper drainage systems, rehabilitated some failed sections of federal roads, the Nsukka Stadium and street lights are seen for the first time in some parts of Nsukka zone. Youths have been trained in modern agriculture.
Due to his performance, Enugu North traditional rulers went out of their way to endorse him for Senate in September and presented to him, the Ofo, which is a symbol for truth and justice in Igbo land.
Good enough, the people have been expressing their appreciation to the Governor for the peace and good governance he has entrenched in the state in spite of the fact that he became governor at perhaps, the most difficult period in the economic history of Nigeria.
Today, as things stand, Governor Ugwuanyi has a track record of performance speaking for him. This is performance amidst very lean resources and on the overall he has done creditably well in education, infrastructure, health and rural development.
• Prince Okpala is a political analyst.