Peter Mbah: 2023 was difficult for Nigerians — hardship will abate in 2024

Peter Mbah, governor of Enugu, says he is optimistic that the hardship faced by Nigerians during the year will be no more in 2024.

Mbah spoke on Sunday in a New Year’s message addressed to Nigerians and the people of his state. 

The governor said the year has been tough due to some hard but inevitable policies of the federal government.

“It is not in doubt that 2023 was a very difficult year for Nigerians, especially given the temporary hardships occasioned by some hard, but inevitable, policies of the Federal Government, such as the removal of fuel subsidy and unification of exchange rates,” the statement reads. 

“But I am very confident that the gales of inflation, unemployment, and general high cost of living will abate in the coming year.”

He also urged the Enugu citizens to keep hope alive, assuring that the state would witness disruptive economic growth in the coming year. 

“The onus is, however, on us, as leaders, at every stratum of government, to intensify efforts and initiatives to not only mitigate the immediate hardships but also take advantage of the economic policies to put the nation on the path of prosperity,” he added.

“In the past seven months, we had endeavoured to lay foundations for a new and prosperous Enugu State that would be a premier destination for business, investment, tourism and living. 

“As promised during the campaigns, we were able to deliver potable water to the Enugu metropolis in 180 days. We were able to raise water production from an occasional 2 million litres to 120 million litres per day, even as we continue to address teething challenges like leakages and sabotage while also expanding reticulation.”

The governor said he has signed the Enugu state electricity bill into law to pave the way for the electricity market and support” our investment and the industrialisation drive”.

The governor added that his leadership is reengineering the state to make it attractive for foreign direct investment (FDI).

Mbah said his administration has commenced the construction of “260 smart schools across the electoral wards to provide modern basic education to Enugu children from creche to junior secondary in addition to world-class 260 Type-2 primary healthcare centres for all the wards across the state”.

“Importantly, we have proposed an ambitious, but very realisable N521.5bn 2024 budget where we earmarked N414.3bn or 79 per cent of the budget for Capital Expenditure and N107.2bn, which is 21 per cent of the budget as Recurrent Expenditure,” he said.

“We equally set aside a record N134.9bn or 33 per cent of the budget to revamp education. We voted N207.8bn for the Economic Sector, N182.9 billion for the Social Sector, N82.5 billion for infrastructure, N28.9 billion for water, N25.1 billion for agriculture, and N21.7 billion for health, while also paying special attention to security and job creation.”