This is one article I have held onto for a long time. Late last year, the EU Ambassadors went to Enugu on a visit after which they gave a glowing testimony about what they saw in the state. Of course, you don't get such accolades and not crow with it, unless you are a political nitwit.

So Enugu State government made a meal of it, especially when the opposition says nothing is working. The opposition actually thought that the Governor invited the Ambassadors to use them for public relations. Those who understand the ways of diplomats know that that was not possible. Moreover, the British High commissioner, Richard Gozney, explained why THEY SELECTED Enugu State as a case study for their visit. The visit took place during UK's six-month tenure as Chair of the EU and the British Department for International Development, DFID, had done many collaborative projects with Enugu state government, which they were proud of. And recently Enugu State was one of the states selected for World Bank and DFID Business Survey.

Not long after the EU ambassadors visit, I went to Enugu. And that was after President Obasanjo had flagged off most of the projects in question. I reported what I saw. Some preferred the truth not be told. But some of us are not interested in the local politics of the states.

As Obasanjo said last week, they said it was all computer simulation!

So when last May I attended a wedding at Enugu, I drove through some of the sites and the projects were still there, many in advanced stage of completion. It was then that I decided to write this piece, but I held out. Until last week.

Last week, President Obasanjo commissioned the permanent site of Enugu State University of Technology, ESUT College of Medicine and Teaching Hospital at Park Lane, the Ebeano Tunnel, the Judiciary Complex, the Multiple Conference center, the Loma Linda Housing Estate, Justice Augustine Nnamani Campus of the Nigerian Law school and several dualized roads and bridges. Nobody has proved that President Obasanjo commissioned

computer-generated images. The President himself had expressed dismay every time he weighed what he saw in Enugu against what the opposition was saying. Chiding the opposition, the President said: "It is easy for human beings to say that nothing is being done, but at least na koro koro eye I take see…well it does not matter what you say, Enugu is working".

The President spoke the minds of many unbiased people when he said: "I am not holding brief for the Governor. I am not saying the Governor is an angel and I am not saying he is a devil. And I have gladly and happily accepted the invitation of Governor Nnamani and I am happy that I have come".

President Obasanjo's testimony is important because the opposition in the South East is the most virulent but bankrupt. Rather than tackle issues they indulge in character assassination. In Enugu State it is such that everything negative is attributed to the government. I always tease my friend, Chief Ayogu Eze, former Commissioner for Information that, were he not still in the government when robbers shot him a few years ago, the opposition would have blamed it on the government.

A rather irreverent Catholic Priest held a night vigil with no evidence of adequate crowd control measures and a stampede occured in which people were crushed, they blamed it on the government. The same priest gets shot at while cruising around with young boys in the wee hours in an attractive car, the opposition blames it on the government, not withstanding police evidence.

There are many among the elite who want to be governor of Enugu State. But they need to engage the Governor on more intelligent issues, such as that Enugu people, nay Igbo do not need the ESUT University or Teaching Hospital, that they do not need the Housing Estates or that the Judiciary complex does not add value to democracy in the state. Nobody can hold brief for the Governor in handling the opposition, but for God's sake, as the President said, "if this is a state that is crying for development, the best thing we can do is to join hands in developing this state. We can differ politically, we could not differ in terms of the development of our state which is our joint enterprise".

President Obasanjo is better placed to appreciate the importance of the projects he commissioned. Enugu State is not in the league of top 15 highest receivers of Federal Allocations. Therefore, it takes a lion heart to embark on such gigantic projects and not abandon them. I am glad the President raised the issue of the EFCC and Enugu State government. As far I am concerned, the issue is not about writing a petition to the EFCC.

But after making an allegation to the appropriate quarters, the petitioner ought not proceed to prosecute the accused on the pages of the newspapers, if the petitioner is on solid grounds. Governor Nnamani and his government would answer to any such allegation. But I have noticed that for months now, the accountant-general of Enugu State has been publishing the distribution of statutory allocations to local government councils. None of the petitioners has taken the government up on that.

With dynamics unleashed in Enugu, it is natural for the state to attract investments. But unfortunately every new investment is alleged to belong to the Governor. I read recently about the investiture of the Governing Council of the Renaissance University, and I asked myself, could the Very Rev. Emmanuel Chukwuma, the Anglican Bishop of Enugu and Barr JSPC Nwokolo be fronting for the Governor?

What Dr. Michael Okpara is revered for till today is the infrastructural foundation he laid in the entire Eastern Region, most of which are the drivers of economic development in some of the off- shoot states today.

What Chief Sam Mbakwe is remembered for in the old Imo State till today is for the visionary projects he built in the state, which some of his successors have not been able to even maintain. The ESUT permanent site, the ESUT Teaching Hospital, The Judiciary complex and others are not the type of projects that evaporate even before the governor leaves office.

They are there to drive Enugu into the future. Let bad politicians play their bad politics. But you cannot diminish the vision of Governor Chimaroke Nnamani in the conception and execution of these monumental projects.

I am glad that President Obasanjo was able to commission real projects and not computer simulations. Let's give the young man his dues.

Culled from Vangaurd, June 27, 2006