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COVID-19: Gov. Ugwuanyi’s Exceptional Leadership In A Time Of Crisis

SADLY, a pandemic erupts and the whole world panders to its diabolical dictates. It has taken this virus to alter our relationship patterns and enthrone new twists which negate those courtesies of affection that defined our community and humanity. It is now almost considered an act of insanity to shake hands, hug or stay close to friends or strangers.

The new normal prescribes an unapologetic anonymity which does not respect our lifetime practice of bodily contact as proof of our amity and solidarity. To slow the spread of this coronavirus disease (COVID-19), nations and states have imposed extreme measures like lockdowns and closure of schools, markets and inter-state boundaries. And even during this year’s Lenten and Ramadan periods, the auditorium of churches and mosques were empty, as the adherents were forced to remotely worship via online platforms or television stations which streamed evangelical sermons.

Governor Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi of Enugu State

Here in Nigeria, as elsewhere, COVID-19 has brought about deaths and massive socio-economic disruptions which have inevitably compromised our future as a people. Because human lives are sacred, there are restriction measures in place in many states to contain the virus spread. On the flip side, there are intense pressures on various governments to, either relax the lockdowns or provide enough palliatives to mitigate the human hardship.

So, across the states, the governors have found themselves under the spotlight. Those in the hotspot states are under unending scrutiny from a frightened community. Others are no less challenged to fortify their states’ preparedness in order to control the contamination and/or tackle any potential exponential infection rate.

This is where Governor Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi of Enugu State has shown exceptional leadership in a time of crisis. From the outset, he acted decisively and aggressively by instituting containment policies that clearly outlined his unwillingness to engage in any unproductive and unhelpful bureaucracy capable of jeopardizing the COVID-19 battle.

It is without doubt that these are trying times for him and his colleagues. When he took office on May 29, 2015, the entire world economy was being ravaged by a rabid recession of calamitous proportion. The states needed bailouts to pay salaries. Today, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) forecasts that the world, no thanks to the coronavirus pandemic, faces its worst recession since the Great Depression of the 1930s. Under one tenure of eight years, he has to navigate his way through two recessions!

Well, at the moment, Governor Ugwuanyi is preoccupied with how to save the lives of his people from this deadly virus. That explains why he set up a multi-sectoral rapid response task force and empowered them with N330 million (following approval by the State Executive Council) ever before Enugu had its confirmed COVID-19 positive index case. Consequently, the task force members hit the ground running.

The public awareness campaign across the 450 communities of the state was top notch. The governor made sure that it involved the active participation of the seventeen local government chairmen, the councillors and presidents-general of the town unions who were empowered to engage the services of town criers in their distinct communities.

That aside, Gov. Ugwuanyi was in the forefront in his avowed commitment to leave no stone unturned. Thanks to his foresight, there are three fully functional isolation and treatment centres located at the State Diagnostic Centre, Enugu State University Teaching Hospital (Parklane), and one at Nsukka. There is an ongoing massive reconstruction of the Colliery Hospital, Enugu, which will be deployed exclusively as an infectious diseases isolation and treatment hospital upon completion.

Yet, on the heels of these interventions, the governor has demonstrated his nobility of spirit when the state government instituted a life insurance package for doctors and other health workers, in addition to the payment of 25 per cent COVID-19 allowance to these classes of professionals and the recruitment of specialists to man the isolation centres. What a morale booster and a soothing recognition of their sacrifices. In Enugu, each day ushers new developments in the fight against the virus. Precisely on May 8, 2020, the Deputy Governor of the State, Hon. Mrs. Cecilia Ezeilo, was on hand to launch and deliver one million face masks produced by the Ugwuanyi administration to the 17 council chairmen for onward distribution to the rural folk.

To further illustrate his pro-people governance style, Gov. Ugwuanyi’s administration has been distributing palliatives to different categories of individuals and groups, ranging from people living with disabilities to spinal cord patients, religious bodies, tricycle (Keke) and Okada riders, National Union of Road Transport Workers and security agencies, among many other vulnerable groups. These gestures have greatly helped to cushion the hardship of the lockdown and make the pains and anxieties of the shutdown somewhat bearable.

It is quite regrettable that, in spite of these efforts, the 18 positive cases that Enugu State recorded as at May 24, 2020, were from persons who violated the inter-state transportation restriction measures put in place by both the Enugu State government and the Federal Government.

As a leader who would not fold his hands while the violation of such restriction measures endangers the lives and economy of his people, Gov. Ugwuanyi has proven why Ndi Enugu practically embarrassed him with an overwhelming 95.54 per cent of the votes in the 2019 gubernatorial election. Day and night, he has defied biting sunshine and heavy downpours to monitor and enforce compliance of the various restriction measures, both at the inter-state boundaries and within the Enugu metropolis.

On Thursday, April 23, 2020, he was at the Enugu-Benue and Enugu-Kogi boundaries. On May 10 and 23, he physically monitored and turned back over 100 vehicles at the Enugu-Ebonyi boundary. Ditto at the Enugu-Anambra and Enugu-Abia borders. From May 11 through May 15, 2020, and earlier before then, the governor combed all the nooks and crannies of Enugu metropolis to ensure that the residents were complying with President Muhammadu Buhari’s directive for an 8pm to 6am nationwide curfew.

These are rare traits shown by a true leader in a time of crisis. As he engages the people with empathy and continues to take those proactive steps to limit the spread of COVID-19 in Enugu State, Gburugburu has, without knowing it, introduced another new normal in governance, which places the collective wellbeing of the populace above the personal comfort of a governor.

Chuks Ugwoke writes From Enugu

 

Anambra man of the year awardAnambra man of the year award
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Wisdom Nwedene studied English Language at Ebonyi State University. He is a writer, an editor and has equally interviewed many top Nigerian Politicians and celebrities. For publication of your articles, press statements, upload of biography, video content, contact him via email: nwedenewisdom@gmail.com

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