Governance After Politics: The Enugu State Example, By Hon Dennis Nnamdi Agbo

...Being Hon Agbo's Contributions At A Dialogue Series 1, organised by the Enugu State Coalition for Progress, Enugu North Senatorial Zone chapter at Adada Hall, Nsukka

Excerpts: 

In the cycle of public administration, there is time for everything; time to seek public 

office and time to exercise oneself in public office. The former is what we refer to 

as politics, and the later is governance.

All the things involved in presenting oneself for public office, together with all the 

contestations involved in seeking the support of the electorates, campaigning, 

selling the candidate and his programmes (manifesto), highlighting the strengths 

and subduing the weaknesses if any, of the candidate, and doing the converse for 

the opponents, are the things we call politics.

We can identify three distinct stages in this phase we call political phase namely, the 

electioneering, elections and inauguration. Electioneering referring to all the build 

up of nominations, documentations and campaigns up till the election day; while 

elections refers to the 12 or so hour game from accreditations, voting, counting and 

collation of votes, and declaration of results; while inauguration refers to 

certification by INEC and inauguration into office. This phase generally includes all 

the associated litigations that arise at each stage.

As soon as the electorates exercise their choice in favour of a candidate, litigations 

are disposed of and candidate is inaugurated into office, he needs to make a quick switch to governance. Like an aircraft at take off, he needs to leave the run way and watch the clouds. The man in office needs to immediately address himself to the Fundamental Objectives and Directive Principles of State Policy which, according to Cap II, section 14 (2)(b) of the Constitution clearly states that, “the security and welfare of the people shall be the primary purpose of government”.

Ceteris paribus, (all things being equal) he would have obtained the mandate of the 

people based on the superiority and preference of his person, his manifesto and programmes, as well as his ideas and ideology. Of course in many cases, issues like electoral irregularities, manipulations, fraud and lack of vigilance and warped value system, attempt to make all things not to be equal.

The man in office must realize that the quality of governance delivery will either 

enrich his electoral advantage, or make him a liability to himself at the next electoral 

cycle. If he governs well and delivers the dividends of democracy in the intervening 

period, he creates good legacies for himself, makes himself a proud member of 

society, and makes himself a good product, easy to market. If he cares less about 

re-election and mismanages his office, he will have his time in courts and in anti 

graft agencies. Of course, if he fails to perform and decides to present himself for 

re-election, the electorates will pay him back with his bad coins, disgrace him at the polls, and make him to run from the long arms of the law for a very long time.

Whether or not for re-election, it is only wise to use the opportunity of office to 

deliver public good. This means that the man of authority must as soon as he is 

inaugurated into office apply himself fully to delivering the responsibilities of the 

office he has been elected into. No matter how long he lasts in office, he must 

realize that how he delivers the duties of office, will determine how society receives 

him back when he is out of office. Many face rejection and live in misery after office because they failed in the delivery of the duties of office.

Incidentally, many people get into office hoping to make a difference but soon 

derails, are carried away by distractions, and end up failures. Why then do some

public officers fail while others succeed; what exactly makes the difference?

1. Competence rating – Ability, Capacity, knowledge and erudition

2. Vision, planning – all things are created twice – level of creativity

3. Passion – Conviction, empathy, drive, resolve – force of focus. 

4. Be the Lead Runner; Hit the ground running – avoid initial distractions

5. Mental, physical and emotional preparedness to endure the rigors of office.

We must conclude that the man in authority must hasten into governance away from politics immediately after elections and inauguration. In fact, prolonged inauguration activities and celebrations are snares which draw elected officials into inextricable distractions and dissipation of valuable time. The time immediately after inauguration is a precious time which must be effectively deployed to give government direction, focus, momentum and traction.

In this context, nature abhors vacuum. A candidate once elected who fails to hit the 

ground running into governance quickly and inadvertently invites a swarm of 

distractors in the league of professional politicians, to perpetuate acts that derail 

good governance and delivery of dividends of democracy. 

Soon the Government House is turned into a pilgrimage for idle minds and 

characters of easy virtue. Different uniformed groups take their turns to crowd out reason and good governance. Canopies are mounted indiscriminately completely 

defacing and desecrating the sanctity of the seat of governance. All forms of 

charlatans loiter around the precincts of the government House making a joke of 

the serious business of governance. All the months of the year are overheated with 

political activities in an endless circus, without sparing a break to deliver 

governance to the electorates: the first Saturday is for Ward meetings, the second 

for Local Government meeting, the third is for Zonal meetings, and the fourth is for 

State Caucus meetings.

In between, the political sycophants, praise singers and cheerleaders suffocate the 

man in authority, offering no value to advance the course of society but simply 

positioning themselves for personal gain and advantage. 

Soon days count into months, and months count into years, but no progress is put 

on ground. Thought of re-election comes to mind and panic sets in. With no 

development or achievement to campaign with, the candidate becomes a captive 

of political blackmail, lured along by the enticement of office and resorts to more 

politics in an unbroken pattern of politics after politics, rather than governance after politics.

THE PETER MBAH EXAMPLE. 

From the onset, Governor Peter Ndubisi MBAH set out with a clear and intentional 

mindset and wasted no time after inauguration, talk of hitting the ground running. 

He had proven his competence and capacity in all his trajectory before coming to office. He possessed the requisite qualifications and experience, both from the Public and Private sectors. He was at various times the Chief of Staff to Governor, and Commissioner for Finance of Enugu State, from where he gained a first hand knowledge of the development challenges of the state. 

Pinnacle Oil, a company he founded in the Oil and Gas Industry had grown into a 

monumental success, controlling a significant share of the storage Tank Farms and retail business in the downstream sector. At the level he attained in the business world, he had mastered corporate governance, planning and strategy, achieved financial security, and established solid networks in Nigeria and around the world. 

He was endowed with the abundance mentality, and fully acquainted with doing 

big things in business and governance.

He really wanted to be Governor and invested a lot of vision, planning and passion into preparing himself for the job. His road map for Enugu State was a sufficiently detailed manifesto, complete with implementation timelines. He fully appraised the state, its challenges, resource endowments, potentials, opportunities and limitations.

His discomfort with the status quo ante, his vision and intentional plan of how much better things could become in a new Enugu, together with a strong interest to serve in the position of Governor, had created enough passion that would surmount all obstacles to succeed. His eyes were set steadfast on the vision of a new Enugu. His campaign theme, "Our Tomorrow is Here", aptly captured this sentiment. His passion, conviction and determination were not such as to be derailed by mounted distractions, problems or discouragements. 

Armed with a formidable plan, clear mindset and strong preparedness for the job, he was able to hit the ground running immediately after inauguration. It was clear to him that the job of a Governor was not just a serious business but also a 24 hour 

engagement. The timelines were there and every minute counted. The goal was a 

tall order, to move the economy of Enugu State from a mere $4.5 billion to a 

whopping $32 billion. Every distraction or distractor was an enemy of the vision in 

a high stake game, and must be confronted as such. 

You had to have a superior business or valuable contribution to government for you to get attention. Many appointments of those early days were scheduled on Zoom 

or video conference. 

When the business of government opened, it was in a blaze of glory, a roller coaster. 

The disruptive innovation was initially greeted by strong inertia. It was a lot of 

demolitions first before the ultra modern bus stations started appearing. Buildings 

had to go down for the roads to be constructed, expanded or dualized. Eggs were broken everywhere for government to make the omelette for the people of Enugu 

State. The whole state has become one massive construction site, and the people 

are liking it. 

Our people have a saying that whoever accepts to be a man also accepts to be 

woken up at night when necessary. Some say that madness is not a childhood

disease. Whoever desires to be Governor desires a good thing, but must count the 

cost because effective Governorship is not for the indolent. It will totally engage the 

physical, emotional and mental capabilities of the man in office. When the weak 

finds himself in the office of Governor, the people are handed the short end of the 

stick. Citizens receive excuses rather than results. Then they talk about wasted 

years, God forbid. 

That Governor Peter MBAH is mentally, physically and emotionally prepared for the job of Governorship of Enugu State may no longer come to many as a surprise. After 

all we all watch the churn out of MOUs touching all segments of government 

business, and the dizzying pace of project implementation and monitoring. But that 

he can do a straight 10 kilometer marathon, as happened on May 3, 2025, and finish fast and strong took even me unawares. This is the level of preparedness of the Governor of Enugu State for the duty and responsibility of his office.

Some of the Governors projects

1. Farm Estates 

2. Smart Green Schools

3. Command & Control Centre 

4. Power generation @ 9th mile 

5. EPZ @ 9th mile and Emene

6. Infrastructural development and Urban renewal

7. Type 2 Hospitals in every ward

The Over Drive

The notion of ‘Politics to Governance’ is not to be interpreted as activities in strict, 

watertight compartments but rather, the selection of particular activities for 

emphasis at a given time in a continuum of governance and politics. There is a time 

for governance and there is a time for politics, but measured attention must be 

given to politics even when governance is being emphasized, and vice versa. A 

narrow form of the political structure will have to be maintained. Even the selection 

and location of projects in governance will bear some political consideration and 

inherently reflect a state character. 

So the contemplation of governance to the total exclusion of politics at any given 

time, will amount to overdrive. It is imperative to equally ensure that Government officials are well remunerated and motivated at all times.

CONCLUSION.

In conclusion, the man in public office must immediately after inauguration shift 

attention from politics to governance. This is the sure way to avoid distractions and 

derailment of vision to accomplish set goals and deliver the dividends of 

democracy, and uplift society. Failure to do this will set the man in authority on the 

path of failure, rejection and prolonged misery. 

The Enugu State government under His Excellency Dr Peter Ndubisi Mbah is a 

showpiece and a crystal demonstration of this fact. Any government anywhere 

succeeds to the extent that it recognizes and accepts this inalienable fact. The

converse actually holds true. I thank you for your attention. 

Rt. Hon. Dennis Nnamdi AGBO (FCA)

MHR, Igbo-Eze North/Udenu Federal Constituency