Nnamani’s legacies and the future of Enugu politics
Chukwudi Achife

From the day he took the decision to abandon a lucrative medical practice in the United States to seek a berth in the turpsy turvy waters of Nigerian politics, Governor Chimaroke Nnamani knew he not only had an obligation to justify that choice not only to himself but to the people to whose service he had offered himself.

For some one who has lived outside Nigeria for a long time, assuming the governorship of a politically active state like Enugu would by no means be expected to be a piece of cake and it wasn’t for Nnamani.

However by a combination of guts, political sagacity and rare vision, the Governor had ridden all the political hurricanes that came his way and in seven years of helmsman ship of the coal city state, has left his critics breathless with a string of unprecedented accomplishments that have formed the benchmark for projection into the state’s near political future.

Undoubtedly, some of the greatest legacies of the Nnamani administration are to be found in infrastructural development and in Education. Enugu state can indeed rightfully claim position as the state that habours the largest concentration of ultra modern infrastructure since the return of civil rule in 1999. So awed were Ambassadors of member states of the European Union on a visit last year of the massive infrastructural development in the state that one of them had promptly declared, "the future of Nigeria is in Enugu State. Among the developments that dazed the European Ambassadors and indeed all other visitors to the state include the permanent site of the Enugu State University of Science and Technology (ESUT) which even which only 80 per cent of work being done, may rightfully lay claim to being undoubtedly, Nigeria’s largest University in terms of land mass and infrastructural development. It would also rank as one of he biggest in the continent. Covering about on six hundred hectares of a previously virgin land, the project has so far gulped about fourteen billion naira and triggered an unprecedented economic and commercial development of the host community, Agbani and its neighbours.

The ESUT teaching hospital /College of medicine complex located at the Park Lane general Hospital, Enugu is another breath taking accomplishment of the Nnamani administration. Solid edifices of the most commendable architectural and structural designs coupled with the most modern hospital and allied equipment is the story of the complex which like the many others took only about a year and half to complete. There is also the revolutionary, Ebeano Tunnel Crossing, perhaps the only one built in Nigeria since 1999 and the state judiciary headquarters complex, which has again been adjudged to be the only of its kind in the country.

Also of wonder to both critics and admirers alike are the ultra modern international conference center, the dualisation of the New Haven, Enugu and the Rangers Avenue as well as the Loma Linda Housing estates among many others. That the projects are all of the highest quality is one other thing that has continued to silence critics who sometimes pick bones with both the location and prioritization of the projects.

What has however continued to amaze both critics and admirers alike, is the staggering cost of the projects with people wondering how a state with a monthly federal allocation that hardly exceeds N2 billion could carry them and still meet up with its other obligations including the payment of salaries and the maintenance of social services. The answer to this question, the Governor has always maintained is prudent and adroit management of resources that he has developed over the years. The administration’s excellent relationship with foreign aid agencies like the British Department for International Development (DFID), the World Bank, USAID, the European Union and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) among others.

The agencies have all continued to laud the governor’s transparent commitment to all the projects and programmes done in partnership with the agencies which has helped earned the state the reputation of being the most successful in the country in terms of the execution of foreign assisted programmes and projects.

The governor’s success story is attributable in part to his rather sagacious handling of political affairs in the state especially since the commencement of his second term in 2003.

Employing sublime skills, the Governor managed to keep opponents who would have provided undesired distraction at bay while retaining the loyalty of his supporters. In doing this, he was able to achieve the requisite peace and stability in the state to allow him actualize much of his visions for the state. The opposition which by now included some of his former political associates was though able to raise the specter of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) over the state, but that dust also quickly settled allowing the governor to concentrate on his works.

Today, the movement of ESUT to Agbani has not only created a new economic zone in the state, but has released the vital infrastructure at the permanent site to the Institute of Management and Technology (IMT) Enugu, its original owners while the site also temporarily occupied by the IMT along Abakaliki Road is to host the proposed College of Education (Technical) that has already been signed into law.

The chain effect of that singular feat is that more opportunities for employment of jobless graduates and school leavers have opened while the congestion on both roads and residential areas occasioned by the teeming population of students have started easing following the movement of ESUT.

As in other states, the political future of Enugu state especially with regards to its leadership in 2007 is engaging the thoughts of politicians and analysts alike but one curious observable fact is the apparent reluctance of people to show open interest in the gubernatorial seat.

Even the opposition parties are nowhere to be heard as today; only Dr Perry Iloegbunam of the Alliance for Democracy has shown any interest via the posters in some corners of the coal city. Nnamani loyalists attribute the apparent lukewarm attitude of politicians in the state to its political future to their acceptance of not only the "impregnable" nature of the awesome political machinery the governor had been able to establish but also the fact the his achievements especially in infrastructural development, may be a hard act to follow. Analysts however point out that the politicians could be waiting for the final outcome of the third term imbroglio currently before the National Assembly before making their move.

The apparent reasoning behind this posture, is that if the tenure elongation bid sails through and it covers the governors, Nnamani may likely come under pressure to run and if he accepts, they would certainly have great difficulties given the legacies he has put in place.

The issue understandably a no-go area among the governor’s loyalists as it is discussed in hushed tones among his opponents. The state to say the least is still firmly in the governor’s hands and as it appears, he would certainly play a leading role in whatever stage the future may throw up in the state.