Enugu State Governor, Peter Mbah, has commended President Bola Tinubu for his tough and decisive decisions on fuel subsidy removal and the unification of currency exchange rates.
Speaking at the inauguration of a CNG bus terminal in Enugu State on Thursday, Mbah said the bold initiatives have freed up funds for development projects at the state level.
The governor stated, “Those projects would not have been possible but for some of the bold initiatives and bold decisions the President took.
“You just mentioned one — the removal of fuel subsidies — but also the removal of the arbitrage in the exchange rate, bringing the exchange rate together because we also knew the flaws in that system.
“It is important to say here that some of the development is because one of the major flaws of human beings is the fact that we tend to forget very easily the previous set of pains when we begin to see a semblance of normalcy.
“We all knew what it used to be for us as states — we were hardly able to, you know, after receiving our federation account money, just marginally pay salaries, and once we were able to pay salaries, except you got a windfall, you couldn’t contribute to capital projects. But today, that is not the case.”
Mbah highlighted the positive impact of the decisions, saying, “We are not talking about payment of salaries; we are talking about executing humongous projects thanks to this bold initiative, a very tough decision taken by the President.”
The governor also showcased some of the state’s development projects, including the construction of 7,000 brand new classrooms equipped with world-class digital equipment.
“We are building about 7,000 brand new classrooms… doing 60 classrooms every week. Each smart green school features all the 21st-century skills — so you have a robotics centre, artificial intelligence centre, CGI (computer-generated imagery) studios where we teach our young people with VR and AR — virtual reality and augmented reality,” he said.
He thanked the President for the concessioning of the Akanu Ibiam International Airport and reiterated the commitment of the Enugu State Government to the success of the Tinubu administration.
Earlier, the Minister of Information and National Orientation, Mohammed Idris, who was in the state to commission some federal government projects, commended the governor for sharing in the vision of the President in giving the people of the state renewed hope.
Idris stated that Enugu State remained an important state in the South-East geopolitical zone and Nigeria as a whole.
He said President Bola Tinubu is making reforms to make Nigeria work again and has made tremendous progress in the past two years.
He explained that the removal of fuel subsidy was a bold decision taken by the President, and the action has freed up resources for impactful governance for Nigerians.
“It is not just the governor of Enugu State that is working; President Bola Tinubu is also joining hands to work for the benefit of your people,” he said.
“The first visit in the South-East is happening here in the Coal City and we do hope that this will not just be a flash in the pan — we will come again and again to commission, to inspect, and also to talk and inspire people and renew people’s hope. This is the message of President Bola Tinubu — that prosperity, that one-billion-dollar economy he has promised, is already in sight. Yes, you may ask how, but we are already seeing it.
“The beginning was very challenging, but we are seeing light at the end of the tunnel. Nigeria is indeed turning the corner, and we thank you, Your Excellency, for joining hands with President Bola Tinubu to ensure, across party lines, that we are moving Nigeria in the same direction.”
The Minister subtly urged the governor to join the All Progressives Congress, saying, “I will not sit down without telling you, Your Excellency, that we are still waiting.”
