By Cross Udo, Abuja
The governor of Enugu State, Peter Mbah, yesterday met behind doors with President Bola Tinubu for the release of the leader of Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Nnamdi Kanu, at the Presidential Villa in Abuja.
The Governor at the meeting also discussed issues that are pertinent to the people of the state with the President especially issues of security and economy
Briefing State House correspondents after the meeting, Mbah, who described the meeting as heart-warming, said partnership and collaboration with the Federal Government were critical to actualising his administration’s agenda for Enugu State, especially in the areas of the economy, infrastructure, security, and activation of dormant assets.
He also said the meeting equally discussed the need to release the leader of IPOB, Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, saying it is a demand by the South East, which is very much in tandem with President Tinubu’s promise in his inaugural address to engender national healing and reconciliation.
The Governor expressed hope that Tinubu would give favourable consideration to the request for the self-acclaimed leader of IPOB leader to regain his freedom.
The Enugu Governor disclosed that he also appealed for the assistance of the federal government to explore the abundant mineral resources in the state for the benefit of the people.
He said he also appealed for the assistance of the federal government to explore the abundant mineral resources in Enugu State for the benefit of the people.
While speaking on the issue of enhancing security and private sector investments in the South-East, he said, “Of course, you know that the growth level we have proposed is going to be driven by the private sector and the private sector wants the ease of doing business and one of the core indicators of the ease of doing business is security and infrastructure.
“So, we also had that conversation with Mr. President. We have made a very strong announcement. We’ve banned sitting at home on Mondays in Enugu. And obviously, what that means is that we will, of course, need to, you know, heighten our security, tackle the challenges that would flow from that, and, you know, essentially that’s what I have come to do.
“And finally, we also, of course, talked about the release of Nnamdi Kanu. You know, that the South East has made a collective demand to have Nnamdi Kanu released. And we identified with that and request Mr. President, who in his inaugural address promised the people that he’s going to engender national healing and he’s going to serve with compassion.
“So, we’ve informed him that this would serve as a pointer to his administration’s extension of hands of fellowship to neighbour.”
Speaking on the purpose of his visit, Mbah stated, “I came and frankly I brought to the President, the warm greetings and best wishes from the government and the people of Enugu.
“But, above all, you may also know already that we made massive campaign promises to the people of Enugu and we also have expressed a humongous vision.
“We’ve taken a bold view of what the new group could achieve in the next four years, in terms of growing our economy from the current levels to $30 billion. And one of our core governance philosophies is to collaborate and to have a partnership, and we have identified the federal government as our core partner.
“We have several dominant assets in Enugu which we believe partnering with the federal government, we’re able to transform them into productive assets.
“A lot of people do not know, but we have huge mineral resources in a new group. And these resources are sitting under our ground not being productive.
“So, we believe with the partnership we’re trying to build with the federal government, we’re able to transform these assets into productive assets.”
