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Ugwuanyi’s Infrastructural Revolution And The King Making Of Maga City

Published

4 years ago

July 13, 2021

By Jeff Ejiofor

According to Narendra Modi, a great Indian political thinker, good governance is treating development as a mass movement in order to see that fruits of development reach the poor and the downtrodden. Without fear of contradiction, Enugu State under the able leadership of Gov Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi is a complete replica of the above definition.

Apart from the rural development policy of his administration which is geared towards impacting positively on the masses, he has taken practical steps towards the expansion of Enugu City more than any other government in recent history so as to address the fundamental needs of the citizens with regard to accommodation.
At the inception of his government, he made it abundantly clear that extending the frontiers of development to outskirts of Enugu to expand the city and resolve the congestion problem occasioned by increased influx of people is a cardinal principle of his regime. From available records of his performance, he has not only pursued this objective with all sense of vigour, but has been able to make appreciable progress.
According to him at inception, Enugu is saturated and therefore needed expansion through extention of infrastructure and housing to outskirts of the city with a view to creating new settlements.
In a bid to achieve this noble goal of responsive governance, Ugwuanyi invested heavily in expansion of infrastructure and multipple housing estates in and around Enugu metropolis. He has widened the provision of basic social amenities to support this worthy socio- economic revolution and realise the dream of new Enugu that can handle its increasing population explosion.
As a leader with private sector background, Ugwuanyi has provided enabling environment for individuals to develop settlements via Public Private Patnership where government provides infrastructure and partners with private investors to develop virgin areas. This progressive approach has led to the springing up of many housing estates for both the low and medium income earners across Enugu metropolis.

Enugu- Port Harcourt Express Way harbours many of such settlements in addition to the development of an ultra modern building material market designed to decongest Uwani Layout through the relocation of Kenyatta Market.
For the records, some of the new settlements in Enugu as a result of this proactive inclination of Ugwuanyi’s administration include Diamond Estate, Ivavaley Extension, Amorji Extension, New Haven Extension, WTC Estate, Rangers Estate, Hill View Estate, Harmony Estate, Citadel Estate Phase 1&2, Valley Estate, Transparency Estate, Library Estate, Coal City View Satellite Estate containing 750 Housing Units for civil servants, Palm Spring Oasis Estate, and a host of others. It is a well known fact that this revolution wouldn’t have been feasible without the enabling policies of Gov Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi’s administration.
However, the climax of this expansion drive of Gov. Ugwuanyi is the conception of New Enugu City located behind Independence Layout Extension. This City which will have all the basic amenities befitting of a modern settlement will provide a viable alternative to Independence Layout and other increasingly congested highbrow areas of Enugu.
The New Enugu City if completed will usher Enugu, the coal city into the league of mega cities in Nigeria. The place which is also larger in size than Independence Layout, New Haven and GRA put together, is currently receiving massive infrastructure and basic social amenities to facilitate its development to a modern city.
For the purpose of clarity, It is good to highlight some concrete and latent policies of Enugu State Government under Gburugburu which facilitated the realization of this goal. Unarguably there is no way such efforts could be swept under the carpet when discussing the current expansion of Enugu metropolis considering their pivotal roles. Ugwuanyi constructed Nike Lake Junction- Harmony- Adoration- Emene Road to open up that axis for expansion of development.
This Road reputed to be the longest single road in Enugu metropolis has accelerated development and given birth to a reasonable number of new settlements around the place. Also, construction of Carrittas University Road from Adoration area is another catalyst for expansion of development.

The current construction of a flyover at T Junction, Nike Lake Road is another key factor to the development of new settlements along Opi Nsukka Road. The Flyover has the capacity to allay fears of traffic gridlock being expressed by potential developers/residents. Reconstruction of Miliken Hill Road made it possible for development to extend to Ngwo with many people now living there and driving their daily activities in Enugu. Provision of Amaechi Bridge was another infrastructure aiding expansion of Enugu as many people now take development to the place in view of its proximity to the city.

All these have enhanced rapid development and expansion of Enugu beyond expectations, and the credit certainly goes to Ugwuanyi’s responsible leadership.
Apparently, no Governor in modern Enugu history has paid such keen attention to estate development and city expansion as Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi probably because of his belief that shelter is a fundamental necessity of life. His administration’s pro people policy through welfare and human capital development has engendered a progressive Enugu where people from all walks of life now come to seek greener pastures.
In some of Narendra Modi words on good governance, “mere good governance is not enough, but has to be pro-people and pro-active. Good governance is putting people at the center of development process”. Ugwuanyi’s Enugu no doubt encompasses development in its true form as enunciated above by the great Narendra Modi, and this is directly responsible for the influx currently going on in the city. This is however possible because of the natural phenomenon that when a place is fertile and peaceful, people tend to settle there and search for better living.
In conclusion, this development strategy by Ugwuanyi is undoubtedly a masterstroke and has repositioned Enugu State for greater role in 21st century Eastern Nigeria economy. Enugu unarguably stands out as the pride of the East and one of the largest economies in Nigeria today. As a matter of fact, it will amount to intellectual dishonesty for any scholar to write the story of modern Enugu without recourse to Ugwuanyi’s transformation drive whose testimony transcends the length and breath of Enugu State. In no distant time definitely, with the rate of development going on in Enugu today and the existing peaceful atmosphere, the city will become one of Nigeria’s most viable state capitals. Gburugburu’s emergence as the 4th civilian Governor of Enugu State is indeed timely and divinely ordained. The entire Wawa Nation will forever owe God a profound gratitude for such a prudent and visionary leader at this critical moment of global economic downturn.
Enugu is in the safe hands of God.

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Business

Tax Reform Bills: The Verdict of Nigerians

Published

1 week ago

March 6, 2025

The Gleamer

Ismaila Ahmad Abdullahi Ph.D

The public hearings conducted recently by the two Chambers of the National Assembly have elicited positive responses from a broad spectrum of Nigerians, cutting across regional interest groups, government agencies, civil society groups, concerned individuals, the academia, and Labour Unions, among diverse others. Contrary to a few dissensions hitherto expressed in the media, almost all the stakeholders who spoke during the week-long sessions were unanimous in their declaration that the hallowed Chambers should pass the tax reform bills after a clean-up of the grey areas.

The public hearings were auspicious for all Nigerians desirous of economic growth and fiscal responsibility. They were also a watershed moment for the Federal Inland Revenue Service, which had been upbeat about the tax reforms. Indeed, the public hearings had rekindled hope in the tenets of democracy that guarantee freedom of expression and equitable space for cross-fertilisation of ideas. Without gainsaying the fact, the tax reform bills have been unarguably about the most thought-provoking issues in Nigeria today, drawing variegated perspectives and commentaries from even unlikely quarters such as the faith-based leaders, student bodies, and trade unions, which speaks much about the importance of the bills.

In the build-up to the public hearings, not many people believed that the bills would make it to the second reading, much less the public hearings. Even the Northern stakeholders who seemed unlikely to support the passage of the bills have softened their stance and have given valuable suggestions that would enrich the substance of the bills. The Arewa Consultative Forum came to the public hearings well-prepared with a printed booklet that addressed their concerns. It concluded with an advisory that the bills should be “Well planned, properly communicated, strategically implemented and ample dialogue and political consensus allowed for the reforms to be accepted.”

The concerns of ACF ranged from the composition of the proposed Nigeria Revenue Service Board as contained in Part 111, Section 7 of the bill, the unlimited Presidential power to exempt/wave tax payment as proposed in Section 75(1) of the bill, the family income or inheritance tax as contained in Part 1, Section 4(3) of the bill, to the issues around development levy and VAT. On the development levy, the ACF stated that unless the Federal Government is considering budgetary funding for TETFUND, NASENI and NITDA, it does not see the “wisdom behind the plan to replace (them) with NELFUND”.

The position of the North was equally reinforced by the Supreme Council for Shariah in Nigeria, Northern Elders Forum, Kano State Government, Professor Auwalu Yadudu, and the FCT Imams. Like the ACF, these stakeholders lent their respective voices to the Section on the Inheritance Tax in Part 1 of the bill and the use of the term ‘ecclesiastical’, which, in their views, undermines certain religious rights and beliefs. The Kano State Government, represented by Mahmud Sagagi, affirmed that “we support tax modernisation” but cautioned that “we must ensure that this process does not come at the expense of states’ constitutional rights and economic stability”. Professor Auwalu Yadudu, a constitutional law professor, drew attention to the use of the ‘supremacy clause’ and cautioned that the repeated use of “notwithstanding” in the bills would undermine the supremacy of the Nigerian constitution if passed as such.

Other stakeholders that made contributions at the sessions included the Nigeria Liquefied Natural Gas, Fiscal Responsibility Commission, Revenue Mobilisation Allocation and Fiscal Commission, Federal Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment, Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria, Chartered Institute of Taxation of Nigeria, Nigeria Customs Service, and a host of others. While most of their concerns bordered on technical issues requiring fine-tuning, they were unanimous in their support for the bills. They aligned with the position of the Executive Chairman of the Federal Inland Revenue Service, Zacch Adedeji, Ph.D. and the Chairman of the Presidential Committee on Fiscal Policy and Tax Reforms, Mr Taiwo Oyedele, which is that the extant tax laws and fiscal regulations are obsolete necessitating reforms aimed at creating a fair and equitable tax and fiscal space to grow Nigeria’s economy.

In one of the sessions, Dr Zaach Adedeji expounded on the criss-cross of trade activities in the Free Trade Zone whereby companies misuse tax waivers as exporters to sell their goods or services in the Customs Area at an amount usually less than the price the operators in the Customs Area who pay VAT and other taxes sell theirs thereby disrupting business transactions. This way, the operators in the Free Trade Zone shortchange the government in paying their due taxes by circumventing extant regulations, which are inimical to the economy’s growth.

Overall, the presentations were forthright, foresighted, and helpful in elucidating the issues contained in the bills. According to the statistics read out at the end of the hearings at the Senate, 75 stakeholders were invited, 65 made submissions, and 61 made presentations. At the House of Representatives 53 stakeholders made presentations. By all means, this is a fair representation. Given the presentations, it is evident that the National Assembly has gathered enough materials to guide its deliberations on the bills. As we look forward to the passage of the bills, we commend the leadership of the National Assembly for their unwavering commitment to making the bills see the light of the day.

Abdullahi is the Director of the Communications and Liaison Department, FIRS.

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