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TRIBUTE TO UGWUANYI ON PEACE AMBASSADOR’S APPOINTMENT

Published

6 years ago

September 23, 2020

By Malachy Chuma Ochie

“Blessed are the peacemakers for they will be called sons of God”, (Matthew 5:9)

The appointment a few days ago of Governor Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi of Enugu State by the Global Society for Anti-Corruption (GSAC), as Peace Ambassador, in commemoration of this year’s International Day of Peace did not come as a surprise because it was an appointment worthy of the recipient and a loud confirmation of the Governor’s commitment to peace.

According to the country’s Programmes Director of GSAC, this recognition followed Ugwuanyi’s contributions to the promotion and sustenance of peace in diverse ways, especially in Enugu State. What a testament!

This appointment has also demonstrated that peace is the major ingredient needed by mankind to chart a way forward, essentially because it is only a person with a seared conscience that would deny the many dividends of the peace we have had in Enugu in the past six years.

The theme of this year’s International Day of Peace, “Shaping Peace Together” , is even more indicative and instructive because it stresses the need for leaders, ordinary individuals, and groups to engage in activities that would promote understanding, tolerance, and togetherness wherever they may be.

There is no gainsaying the fact that in several parts of the world today, especially in Nigeria, there are many conflicts, disagreements, and crises.

Even in the midst of these crises, we still see people daily sounding the drums of war. The outcome of these diverse conflicts has constantly placed damning question marks on the sentences of our development.

But these human proclivities for conflicts notwithstanding, there are still men and women of honour and conscience who deny themselves a lot to look for peace and sustain it at all costs.

Such people are rare and they deserve commendation. Governor Ugwuanyi falls into this category.

The International Day of Peace, is, therefore, instituted to remind mankind of the need to promote and sustain peace because it is only with the peace that we can build a society that endures.

It is only with the peace that we can develop and achieve our collective goal. Therefore, we need peace in all aspects of human endeavor be it political, economic, or social spheres.

Peace is not easy to come by. It is easy to talk about peace, but it is also a difficult thing to practice.

That is why, each time we see anybody that has done something to promote peace, we try as much as possible to encourage the person to do more by way of recognition.

The foregoing aptly depicts the Ugwuanyi persona. He is a man of peace indeed.

This is one Governor in the history of Enugu State that has taken more insults and castigations than his predecessors, yet he remains calm as a gentle dove; preferring to conquer his adversaries through the mechanisms of peace and love.

Ugwuanyi’s vote for peace cannot be misconstrued for weakness by any stretch of the imagination. Rather it is an indication that he understands the importance of peace to the development of society more than the rest of us and that he is endowed with sublime and godly qualities to seek peace even in the face of unwarranted provocations and with so much executive power at his disposal.

Why is peace so important to us? First, we must understand that peace is a concept of societal friendship and harmony in the absence of hostility and violence.

In a social sense, peace is commonly used to mean a lack of conflict; and freedom from fear of violence between individuals or heterogeneous groups.

Peace is a product of a positive mental attitude, while violence is the result of negative thinking.

We must understand that the will of God for any society is peace; while the will of Satan for mankind is violence.

Peace is as much in accordance with God’s plan for humanity; just as violence is against it.

When peaceful conditions prevail in a society all activities take place in their proper form. But if the atmosphere of peace is disturbed, the normal functioning of society is disrupted. This law applies to the entire universe.

Peace is a state of non-suffering as well as a celebration of life. Peace ensures that you are aware of yourself and helps you take better decisions.

It gives you strength and you stay calm when things go wrong and out of control. Peace provides you the freedom and helps you to put things in order.

Peace is one of the most essential things we need to make us thrive. In the absence of peace, our society sooner than later degenerates into the Hobbesian state of nature where life is essentially short, nasty and brutish.

Without peace, it will be impossible for us to learn or to create something or even to develop. The absence of peace is an invitation to chaos and social entropy. Without peace, there will be conflicts and wars, and we all will be too busy trying to protect our lives.

This is the lesson that Governor Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi has taught us since his emergence as Governor of Enugu State. No legacy can be greater than this.

This is a man who inherited a fractious state; a state haunted by its bestial past of killings, viciousness and hatred; mutual suspicion and perpetual subversion; a state signposted by divisiveness and acrimony.

Some would have fainted at the enormous challenges that confronted him in 2015.

Yet, Governor Ugwuanyi’s principle of persistence has taught us never to quit in the face of adversity or challenge.

At the point he took over the reins of leadership in Enugu State, not too many people gave him a chance to cleanse the Augean stable.

But like the legendary Hercules in the Greek mythology, he set about his duty with the mindset of performing the Herculean task.

For the faint-hearted, it was a time when quit looked good; when the problems seemed insurmountable, when the giants seemed unbeatable, when the mountains seemed unmovable when defeat seemed inescapable and quit looked good.

But Ugwuanyi applied wisdom, adopted a bipartisan approach to governance and in a record time healed our wounds with his balm of Gilead.

Only Governor Ugwuanyi could have brought former Governors Chimaroke and Sullivan Chime together; only Governor Ugwuanyi could have commanded the trust and confidence of Ebeano political dynasty to pay homage and obeisance to the Ugwuanyi mystic. Only Governor Ugwuanyi could have resolved the Oruku-Umuode conflict which lasted for decades and led to the destruction of numerous lives and property.

Governor Ugwuanyi is indeed a man among men, a patriot among patriots and a dove of peace sent to us from God.

What more legacies can he bequeath to Enugu State than that we support him to identify and enthrone a person who will sustain his peaceful legacies?

Governor Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi has taught us that where war destroys and tears apart, peace builds, strengthens and restores.

He has shown us that peaceful revolution is the outcome of peaceful thinking; that peaceful minds make for a peaceful world and that a peaceful society is a result of peaceful persons, that peace can be established only when every single unit of society is ready to live in peace; and that only those persons who are ready to remain patient, regardless of the circumstances can live in peace.

As far as Enugu State is concerned, sustaining peace does not mean creating new mechanisms; but instead to use existing mechanisms agreed by all to address a conceptual shift in how we respond to issues; and more importantly, to strengthen resilience and capacities of individuals and groups in our State that actively promote peace.

Our Lord Jesus Christ must have had people like Governor Ugwuanyi in mind when he declared the 7th of the eight beatitudes, to wit, “Blessed are the peacemakers for they will be called sons of God”.

Congratulations Your Excellency, for you are indeed a worthy Ambassador of Peace

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

Published

16 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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