BY PRINCE UGOCHUKWU NWANJOKU

Nigeria is in a season of politics. The politicking is reaching a fever pitch as the political parties and their various candidates criss-cross the length and breadth of the country campaigning for votes. Everywhere you go, the dominant issues remain the 2023 General Elections. 

The stakes are very high given the primacy of political power in any organized State, particularly in a developing society like Nigeria. This fact was clearly acknowledged by the former Ghanaian leader and foremost Pan-Africanist, Osagyefo Dr. Kwame Nkrumah who said: "Seek ye first the political kingdom, every other thing shall be added onto it". Inherent in Nkrumah's postulation is the assumption that political power is the most potent instrument for the social and economic reconstruction of any given society. Students of power and politics believe so.

It is basically for this reason that the contestation for power in emerging democracies in Africa and other Third World countries is characterized by a very high level of viciousness and violence. It is therefore not surprising that Okwudiba Nnoli, the eminent Professor emeritus of Political Science and the author of the classical book, "Ethical Politics in Nigeria" defines politics as "those activities directly or indirectly related to the acquisition, consolidation and use of power".

Acquiring power is one thing and deploying it to serve the good of the society is another thing altogether. In Enugu State today, there is one young man who is seeking power not for the trappings of office or the grandeur that come with such exalted position; but he is doing so to serve the common good. That man is Dr. Barr Peter Ndubuisi Mbah, the chairman/chief executive officer of Pinnacle Oil and Gas Limited and the gubernatorial flagbearer of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Enugu State.

Peter Mbah is currently the rave of the moment in the State. He is the man whose time has come. His competence is unprecedented as he enjoys popular support across all the nooks and crannies of the State. 

He remains the greatest threat to the opposition and the best gubernatorial choice of the PDP to take over the Lion Building. It is perhaps in realization of this obvious reality that the opposition parties in the state have launched ferocious media attacks on the candidature of Mbah. The opposition is highly rattled hence their desperation. But amidst all this, Mbah remain focused, calm and calculated as he takes his campaign message of consolidation and innovative governance to all parts of the state. 

Last few weeks at the Michael Okpara Square, Enugu, Mbah was presented by the national chairman of the party, Sen. Iyorcha Ayu to Ndi-Enugu as their incoming Governor. The proclamation was greeted with resounding applause; an indication of the wide acceptance and popularity rating of Mbah in the state. He is the most prepared of all those seeking to govern Enugu State today, having surely but steadily occupied critical and sensitive positions in the last two decades, and of course distinguished himself in the private sector as an excellent performer, innovator and industrialist.

He is well educated unlike some of his opponents whose educational background are not anything to write home about. He holds several qualifications in law and administrative studies. In addition, he has under taken so many executive certificates courses in financial management as well as leadership management courses. Like we noted earlier, he has held key positions that have prepared him for the position he seek today.

Mbah has empowered many Enugu youth and women through his numerous skills acquisition and training programmes organized by his foundation (Peter Mbah Foundation) a foundation found on the core values of humanitarian services to the society. It is therefore, the time to reward a man whose track records are unprecedented, and his good deeds to Ndi-Enugu all this years of his stewardship to the state. It is expected that on the March 11, 2023 all eligible voters will come out en masse and vote for Peter Mbah as the next governor of Enugu State, under the political platform of the PDP. Doing this will help us to enthrone competence, capacity and an innovator, first of its kind to lead Enugu on the path of industrialization and economic prosperity. 

Indeed, TomorrowIsHere.