The “First 100 Days in Office” Phenomenon, and the Emerging Face of Governance in Enugu State under His Excellency, Governor Peter Mbah.
By Damian Ugwutikiri Opata
On July 25, 1933, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, the 32nd President of the United States of America, coined the term “first 100 days” in office. He clocked his first 100 days in office on June 12, 1933. Thirteen days after, he “gave a radios address in which he coined the term “first 100 days.” That was during the Great Depression in America, and he wanted quick actions to solve the teething problems confronting America. It is on record that during his first 100 days the United States Congress passed 77 bills, mostly through his prompting.
Governor Peter Mbah signed three executive orders in his first day of office. His is not about the House of Assembly passing or not passing any bills or not, since it was not inaugurated by then. His first order is titled Citizen Charter which is aimed at helping him to actualize his campaign promises. The third order is to make Enugu State the best destination for investment.
Since President Roosevelt, many political leaders in different countries have adopted the pattern of marking their first 100 days in office. On 6th September, 2023, His Excellency, the Executive Governor of Enugu State, Barr. Dr, Peter Ndubisi Mbah, marked his “first 100 days” in office. According to him: “Those who know the stuff with which superstructures are built will know that we have spent our first 100 days preparing the enduring foundation of all the promises we made to our people”. The long list of his achievements within this period is in the public domain, and has also been widely publicized. So, I will not concern myself with enumerating them, noble as they are.
My concern is with the undeniable emerging character, that is, his distinctive approach to governance in his first 100 days in office. The first aspect of this is his passionate commitment to the actualization of his manifesto in a conscious time-programmed manner. Honestly, I do not think that he is doing this because of what some opposition critics allege: that he wants to achieve something monumental before he is “booted” out by the tribunal. My impression of what he is doing is a central part of defining his character. To me, what he is doing is like a person pursuing the fulfilment of a religious vow. Nonetheless, most enlightened critical observers with a good knowledge of the history of petitions against elected persons in Nigeria know that he has nothing significantly problematic to fear about the outcome of the tribunal.
The second emerging fact of his administration is that he is running a lean government. This can be ascertained by the number of political appointees in his first 100 days in office. This is understandably part of what he means by promising that his administration will be that of “business unusual”. A lean government specifies and prioritizes its activities, creates clear pathways for achieving specified objectives, ensures seamless connectedness among various organs of government, etc. Through this process, it not only reduces waste, but even more importantly, engenders more coordination of governmental activities, thereby improving efficiency and quick feedback in governance. Savings from effective and appropriate cost reduction in governance provides more funds for investing directly on needed infrastructure for the benefit and wellbeing of the citizens.
A third emerging character of his administration is courage to do the right thing. One glaring example is his courageous abolition of the then prevalent ‘sit-at-home order” in the Southeast. This is one of the things he did within the first seven days of his administration. This declaration is a clear demonstration of his intention to confront very powerful non-state actors who had held the entire Southeast in captivity. According to him: “The idea behind sitting at home on Monday, the first working and business day of the week, is abominable and antithetical to greatness and the spirit of industry we profess to have inherited from our forebears. This cannot be us. Tufiakwa! (God forbid). It does colossal damage to us”. Part of the big problem of insecurity in Nigeria is that governments have been unable to match their condemnation of non-state actors with strong defining policy and action.
To achieve this noble policy. Governor Mbah launched the Distress Response Squad (DRS) on July 4th 2023 or thereabouts. This outfit is to help the police, the army, and all other relevant security agencies in the nation to ensure that security prevails in Enugu State. In addition, Governor Mbah went to the President, His Excellency, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, to plead with him to intervene to help facilitate the release of the IPOB Leader, Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, whose continued detention is adduced as the major reason for the sit-at-home order in the Southeast. When people criticized Governor Mbah of impatience and lack of wide consultations before abolishing the sit-at-home order, he immediately convened a very widespread stakeholders meeting at Enugu to discuss the issue. This is a sign of a listening leader.
A fourth emerging character of his administration is FOCUS, accompanied by a sense of apparent sincerity. He has demonstrated a great sense of consistency in the implementation of his manifesto and promises. Examples abound. These include: the launching of the Distress Response Squad for security in Enugu State, the enactment of the Enugu State Power Law, in realization of the importance of energy in driving development, holding the promised Investment and Economic Growth Roundtable which successfully attracted big global actors like the World Bank, AfDB (the African Development Bank Group), AFREXIM (the African Export- Import Bank), FCDO (the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office), etc. The Government also commenced its pilot Cassava to Ethanol Programme Scheme in Aninri and Uzo-Uani local governments, paid its N274 million counterpart funding its own share of fund for agricultural development, increased water supply production to an average of 25 million litres a day, the most significant such quantity for over 20 years in Enugu State, etc.
The last emerging character of this administration is the self-confidence of the governor, which he has fully brought to bear on governance. Self-confidence may be just one of the human attitudes to life, and while it may not be everything as Jeff Keller strongly argues in his book: _Attitude is Everything: Change Your Attitude and You Change Your Life, I agree with Jeff More who says that “The most important thing you’ll ever wear is your attitude”. Self-confidence as an attitude can truly arise from an enlightened sense of one’s competence, an appropriate awareness of one’s vision and mission in life, a deep and enduring trust on one’s training and resultant ability and capacity to carry out designated tasks, and of course, a great imaginative and adequate grasp of the means and manner of articulating such self- confidence. When self-confidence is well cultivated and utilized for public good, it can even bring the bitterest opposition to support a person.
These qualities that have so far defined governance in Enugu State have not led to political arrogance. I strongly believe that others, especially the critical insiders and observers in the administration, would have noticed more emerging character of the administration of His Excellency, Governor Peter Ndubisi Mbah. The attitude which an administration brings to bear on governance is very important. It is such an attitude that defines the character of such an administration. What is needed is the encouragement of such an attitude by the citizens. It is also the attitude that could spur the opposition into meaningful and reasonable criticism of such an administration. Reasonable opposition is necessary in a proper democratic setting. His Excellency has demonstrated a strong sense of positive administrative character in his first 100 days in office. He needs the support of all.
Damian Opata is a retired Professor of African Literature at UNN.
