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GOVERNOR UGWUANYI BREAKS ANOTHER RECORD: THICKENING HIS BOND WITH THE JUDICIARY, THE LEGAL PROFESSION.

Published

6 years ago

October 2, 2020

It was Robert Schuller the German author of the award-winning bestseller ‘Tough Times Never Last But Tough People Do’ who famously postulated that tough times no matter how harsh would always come and go when tough people are in charge. This admirable witticism becomes even more pertinent when tough leaders presiding over tough times are also endowed with rare humanitarian attributes such as milk of human kindness, fear of God, love, altruism, empathy and open-handedness.

To such leaders, tough times neither provide excuses for nonperformance nor embolden them to shirk their otherwise sacred obligations and responsibilities to their people. Rather, it provides a historic opportunity to touch lives in a very special way and in a manner that stands them out as go-getters, trailblazers, and lords over their tough situations.

Barely six months after the silent archiving Governor of Enugu State Rt. Hon. Lawrence Ifeanyichukwu Ugwuanyi broke a continental record by being the first African pillar of sports to fund a football club’s life assurance scheme to the extent of dolling out a whooping life assurance package of #20 million( through Rangers International) to its maiden beneficiary, the welfarist Governor has scored yet another first. He has this time approved and released a staggering sum of #24.6 million to as many as 246 law students of Enugu state origin at the Nigeria Law School. Under the novel humongous package, each benefitting student received the sum of #100,000( one hundred thousand naira only) to cushion the hardship he or she undergoes while in the nation’s elite school of jurisprudence.

By this gesture, Governor Ugwuanyi has once again gone down in history as the very first occupant of the lion building to offer such a lifeline to law students and the second after Chief Jim Nwobodo as Governor of the old Anambra state to pay bursary to students.

It would be recalled that both the Rangers’ life assurance feat earlier referred to as well as the law students’ novel intervention, took place between the months of June and July this year when the Coroner pandemic was at its peak, virtually crippling the entire world economy. A very critical time when some oil-producing states joined many other states to owe workers’ salaries thereby compounding the misery in a countless number of homes.

Not so for Enugu state by courtesy of a tenderhearted and empathetic leader in the person of Governor Lawrence Ifeanyichukwu Ugwuanyi who God brought just at the right time to save his people from anguish. No wonder the slogan that Enugu state under Governor Ugwuanyi is in the hands of God is hardly ever controvertible. Aside from paying regularly the most decent new minimum wage East of the Niger despite the pandemic meltdown and with paltry receipts from low oil revenue, the amiable Governor also found it necessary to remember as many as 246 indigent law students of Enugu state origin some of whom would have dropped out and ended their dreams of becoming lawyers had he not graciously and providentially intervened.

Those conversant with the environment of the law school would readily attest to the fact that the knowledge-intensive, highly revered, and the regimented institution has always been systemically programmed to prevent poor students from gaining access( or graduating even after admission) as it is often the mantra of law lecturers right from the university that the legal profession is jealously reserved for the noble and not for everybody.

To ensure that the exclusion and elimination conspiracy is sustained, it now takes a minimum of #2 million or thereabouts for a law school student to graduate from the yearlong professional programme. That excludes books and materials of different colorations and which is in fact the student’s business and no one else’s. Many law graduates for that reason do not bother to apply for admission into the institution to obtain a professional certificate and make do with their law degrees( LLB Hons.) which at best makes them academic lawyers.

It is against this background that many forward-looking people see what Governor Ugwuanyi did for the law students of Enugu state origin as highly remarkable, legendary, and humanitarian in ramifications. The 246 law students favoured will forever remain grateful to the tender-hearted Governor who God placed on the saddle during their own time to enjoy a privilege their predecessors never had.

The questions many have been asking since the Governor’s landmark gesture include: how come all the previous Governors before Ugwuanyi turned deaf ears to the hearty supplications of the poor law school students over the years despite the huge oil revenues at their disposal compared to the pitiable situation today? Did they not take into account the fact that such strategic intervention was absolutely necessary to beef up the state’s judicial manpower thereby placing it in a position of strength to compete for federal judicial appointments?
That’s a matter for another day.

Nevertheless, this gives credence to the protestations by well-meaning people that good governance goes beyond the mere provision of basic physical infrastructure( such as roads and bridges) but extends most importantly to the development of the human capital and without which both the government, the road or bridge contractor as well as laborers hired, all labour in vain as the human capital is indispensable to the management and continuous enjoyment of whatever is provided.

This latest welfarist intervention has therefore not only added to Governor Ugwuanyi’s many firsts in many areas but also singled him out as one of the greatest pillars of the judiciary not only in the state but also the country at large. From the unprecedented mass construction of judicial complexes in all the local government areas( being completed at the same time) of the state including brand new ultra-modern High and Magistrate court buildings, state-of-the-art Customary Court of Appeal complex situated at the three arms zone of the coal city, ongoing renovation of the state judicial headquarters, to the engagement of many new High Court judges and magistrates as well as over 150 law officers to quicken the dispensation of criminal justice and decongest the prisons, the Enugu state judiciary, in particular, has never had it so good.

From Josephat Omeke Esq. Writing from Enugu

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Strategic Partnerships, Diaspora Investment and Improved Workforce Critical to Industrialization-DG RMRDC

Published

18 hours ago

November 12, 2026

The Gleamer

By: Stella Azi and Adaora Adibe

The Director-General/Chief Executive Officer of the Raw Materials Research and Development Council (RMRDC), Prof. Nnanyelugo Ike-Muonso, has called for a strategic shift from the exportation of raw commodities to domestic processing, manufacturing and value addition, declaring that Nigeria possesses enormous untapped raw material resources capable of driving industrialisation, creating jobs and strengthening the country’s economic competitiveness.

Prof. Ike-Muonso made this submission in a lecture titled Unlocking Nigeria’s Raw Material Value Chain for Industrialization, Manufacturing and Competitiveness, where he presented an extensive assessment of Nigeria’s resource endowments, industrial challenges and emerging investment opportunities across agricultural commodities, solid minerals and waste-based raw materials.

The lecture highlighted a combined US$2.65 trillion global market opportunity across 30 major raw material value chains, comprising 12 agricultural value chains valued at US$932 billion, 11 mineral value chains worth US$1.352 trillion and seven circular-economy value chains estimated at US$366 billion.

According to the RMRDC Boss, Nigeria must move beyond the traditional approach of extracting and exporting raw materials to building competitive domestic industries that transform these resources into intermediate products, industrial inputs and finished goods for local consumption and international markets.

He observed that the country’s manufacturing sector has struggled to sustain its 2014 peak, with its contribution to real Gross Domestic Product declining from 9.64 per cent in 2014 to 8.05 per cent in 2025, representing a 16.5 per cent decline. He also drew attention to the increasing cost of raw material imports, which rose to US$20.5 billion in 2025, approximately six times the 2020 level.

He explained that the growing dependence on imported industrial inputs exposes Nigerian manufacturers to foreign exchange volatility, increases production costs and weakens the competitiveness of locally manufactured products.

Prof. ke-Muonso stressed that the solution lies in developing domestic raw material value chains through deliberate investment in processing facilities, research and development, technology, infrastructure and stronger linkages between producers, processors and manufacturers.

He identified agriculture, solid minerals and industrial waste as three major resource platforms for Nigeria’s industrial transformation, stating the country’s significant production capacity and the enormous opportunities available for downstream processing.

Ike-Muonso noted that Nigeria produces over 63 million metric tonnes of cassava annually, making it the world’s largest producer, while also maintaining strong positions in cocoa, cashew, sesame, palm oil and cotton. However, more than 80 per cent of agricultural output leaves farms without adequate processing, resulting in the loss of significant economic value and industrial opportunities.

In the solid minerals sector, he identified more than 44 commercially viable minerals across over 500 locations, including lithium, gold, barite, bitumen, iron ore and high-grade limestone, describing them as strategic resources capable of supporting steel production, energy storage, electrification and advanced manufacturing.

The DG further drew attention to Nigeria’s industrial and agro-waste resources, noting that the country generates over 32 million tonnes of solid waste annually. He explained that agricultural residues, cassava peels, scrap metals, plastics and electronic waste could serve as important feedstock for bio-fertilisers, industrial chemicals, recycled polymers, energy production and other manufacturing applications.

In the agricultural sector, the DG identified cassava and industrial starch, cotton and natural textiles, natural rubber and elastomers, oil palm and oleochemicals, maize derivatives and cocoa processing as priority areas requiring increased investment.

He explained that processing agricultural commodities into industrial starch, sweeteners, textiles, technical rubber, specialty fats and other intermediate products would enable Nigeria to capture more value from its agricultural resources while reducing dependence on imported industrial inputs.

For the minerals sector, he highlighted crude oil-to-olefins and petrochemicals, lithium and energy storage, iron ore and steel, rare earth elements, bauxite and aluminium, and copper and electrification as strategic investment opportunities.

He particularly emphasised the importance of moving beyond mineral extraction into beneficiation, refining, battery precursors, industrial chemicals, metal fabrication and advanced materials production.

On the circular economy, Prof. Ike-Muonso identified electronic waste recovery, scrap metal recycling, plastic waste processing, agro-waste valorisation and battery recycling as emerging industrial opportunities.

He explained that transforming waste into productive industrial feedstock would not only reduce environmental pollution but also create new manufacturing industries, generate employment and reduce the importation of valuable industrial materials.

He noted that to address the structural challenges confronting raw material-based industrialisation, the DG highlighted the strategic interventions of the RMRDC, particularly the proposed 30% Value Addition Bill and the Nigeria Integrated Information Statistical System for Raw Materials and Products (NISSRAMP).

He described the 30% Value Addition Bill as an important policy instrument designed to encourage domestic processing of raw materials before export, strengthen local manufacturing capacity and guarantee access to essential raw materials for Nigerian industries, and NISSRAMP as a critical data infrastructure that would improve access to verified information on the availability, location and quality of raw materials.

According to him, the combination of appropriate policy instruments and reliable resource data would help de-risk investments, improve transparency and strengthen confidence in Nigeria’s raw material sector.

He emphasised the importance of collaboration among government, academia and industry in developing bankable projects, sharing investment risks and accelerating the establishment of processing and manufacturing facilities.

Professor Ike-Muonso called on Nigerians in the diaspora and other local and international investors to take advantage of the opportunities available in Nigeria’s raw material sector.

He identified industrial processing parks, mineral beneficiation and refining, agro-industrial platforms, circular-material processing, industrial input manufacturing and enabling infrastructure as viable investment platforms.

He noted that diaspora investors could contribute beyond financial capital by bringing technology, international business networks, governance standards, technical expertise and access to global markets.

He maintained that Nigeria’s industrial transformation requires coordinated investment across the entire value chain, from raw material sourcing and aggregation to processing, manufacturing, certification and export development.

Professor Ike-Muonso stressed that the country’s industrial future would depend not merely on the volume of raw materials extracted but on the capacity to transform them into competitive products that meet domestic and international market requirements.

He maintained that developing local value chains would stimulate industrial growth, create employment opportunities, diversify exports, conserve foreign exchange and deepen Nigeria’s technological capabilities.

Through its strategic interventions, the RMRDC is positioning itself as a critical bridge between resource availability, investment opportunities and industrial competitiveness, with the ultimate objective of transforming Nigeria from a predominantly raw material exporting economy into a strong manufacturing and value-adding nation.

Ike-Muonso has demonstrated this since assumption of office as the Director General/ CEO RMRDC in the area of capacity building, improved working conditions, promotion of merit, and maintaining a conducive environment that rewards excellence, innovation and dedication. This is evident in his institution of RMRDC training school, reward for winners of the RMRDC innovation challenge among others.

His commitment has brought recognition both nationally and internationally: Al-Jazirah double honour awards as Public Servant /Government Agency of the year 2024-2025 and the recent election as the Sub-Saharan Africa Regional Representative on the Board of the World Association of Industrial and Technological Research Organisations (WAITRO) is a attestation to his commitment.

Concluding the lecture, the DG charged staff, researchers, manufacturers and investors to see themselves as nation builders in the new era of raw materials-led industrialization.

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