BY Busola Aro
Peter Mbah, governor of Enugu, says his vision of transforming the state into a $30 billion economy in eight years is achievable if political appointees believe in it.
Mbah spoke at the end of a three-day executive leadership retreat held for senior political appointees in Enugu on Sunday.
The governor said the plan to reach such economic growth was doable if the political appointees applied the knowledge garnered at the retreat to disrupt the status quo which was no longer acceptable.
He added that all political appointees would be assessed by the performance benchmarks set for all ministries, departments, and agencies (MDAs).
“I think that everything we have expressed here in terms of our vision is possible,” the governor said.
“Development history is replete with countries, sub-nationals, and cities where the people have come together and agreed that they would change the narrative, the pattern of growth, and they committed themselves to it, and it happened.
“So, nobody should tell you that what we want to do in Enugu is impossible. With our can-do spirit, we can achieve a $30 billion economy in the next eight years. We can achieve a great city.
“We can achieve access to the best quality education that any child can have access to in the world. We can also have access to high-quality healthcare services in this state.
“We can build 10,000 kilometres of road. We can restore water to Enugu in the next two months as promised by our people and also make access to clean water happen for our people across the state in no distant time.
“We can also achieve zero poverty headcount, eradicate poverty from our state and deliver on every promise we made.
“Indeed we can make Enugu the premier destination for business, investment, tourism, and living.
“We are already thinking about the future that we want to bequeath to our children, and history beckons on all of us to do something. If we believe in it, if we have the can-do spirit, then we can make it happen.”
On his part, Chidiebere Onyia, secretary to the state government, said the retreat was put together to digest the governor’s vision and map out strategies for achieving it across the MDAs.
The event had in attendance strategy and innovation experts such as Joseph Urama, acting chief economist, African Development Bank; Ibukun Awosika, Linus Okorie, Joe Abah, Sam Onyia, and Chukwumerije Okereke, among others.
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