Acceptance Speech by Hon. Prince Humphrey Onyima on his Appointment as Special Adviser to the Governor of Enugu State on Investment Strategy and Public Relations
PROTOCOLS
- A HUMBLE ACCEPTANCE
Your Excellency, Dr. Peter Ndubuisi Mbah, the Executive Governor of Enugu State, I stand before you today with profound humility, immense gratitude and a deep sense of responsibility to formally accept my appointment as Special Adviser to the Governor of Enugu State on Investment Strategy and Public Relations.
This appointment, as contained in the Public Service Announcement issued by the Office of the Secretary to the State Government on Wednesday, August 19, 2026, is not just a personal honour. It is a call to service. A call to join a disruptive team. A call to join in the building of a New Enugu.
I want to thank Your Excellency, for finding me worthy of this critical assignment. Thank you for your trust. Thank you for your model of leadership that looks beyond tribe, beyond state of origin, and assembles competent professionals drawn from diverse backgrounds to deliver on your audacious vision.
Your Excellency, you are not just connecting Enugu to the centre, you are equally connecting Enugu to the world marketplace for global competitiveness.
- WHY I SAID YES: EXTOLLING GOVERNOR PETER MBAH’S LEADERSHIP MODEL.
Your Excellency, I accepted this appointment without hesitation because what you are doing in Enugu today is beyond politics – it is a case study in disruptive innovation and sub-national economic transformation in Africa.
In less than three years, you have changed the narrative:
You have demonstrated Fiscal Courage: From an IGR of N26.8 billion in 2023 to N406.77 billion in 2025 – representing a 1,464% growth and 125% year-on-year growth – and now a credible N870 billion target for 2026 to fund the historic N1.62 Trillion Budget of Renewed Momentum.
Your Excellency, with over 50% of the budget allocated to capital expenditure, you have shown how a state can shift from FAAC dependence to productivity.
You have launched an Education and Healthcare Revolution: The allocation of 32-33% of the entire budget to education, above UNESCO benchmark, to build 260 world-class Smart Green Schools across all 260 wards, with AI-assisted learning, mechatronics labs, tablet computers and solar power, alongside 260 Type-2 Primary Healthcare Centres – the largest simultaneous social infrastructure rollout in Nigeria’s history.
You have unlocked Aviation, Transportion and Security: opening up of the South East Economic Corridor by driving an aggressive aviation and logistics transformation in the launching of the state-owned Enugu Airline and upgrading the Akanu Ibiam International Airport into a premier regional cargo hub. The launch of Enugu Air on July 7, 2025 – Nigeria’s first state-owned commercial airline, with a plan to grow the fleet to 20 aircraft by end of 2026; five ultra-modern transport terminals at Holy Ghost, Gariki, Abakpa, Nsukka and Emene, 100 CNG mass transit buses, 80 modern bus shelters, the Command and Control Centre with AI-embedded surveillance and 150 Distress Response Squad vehicles that has reduced crime by 80%, and over 1,500km of roads.
You are building the New Economy: The near-completion of the 300-bed Enugu International Hospital, the 340-room International Conference Centre Hotel, the New Enugu Smart City, ENPOWER Free Trade Zone, restoration of public water via 9th Mile 24/7 and Ajali schemes, ENGIS, and revival of moribund assets like Sunrise Flour Mills.
This is why the world is watching. This is why Enugu emerged as Nigeria’s Fastest Improving State in the 2026 Phillips Consulting State Performance Momentum Index.
This is why, in my capacity as CEO of Leadership Scorecard and WCI-FORUM Coordinator for Africa, and as Director of Collaboration and Strategy for Nigeria for the World Business Summit, together with the conveners were compelled to formally invite Enugu State as an Outstanding African Strategic Partner to the 15th WCI-FORUM in Istanbul, Turkey, October 13-15, 2026, and have nominated His Excellency, Governor Peter Ndubuisi Mbah of Enugu State for the WCI-FORUM Gala Honours as Outstanding Governor in Africa, and for the WBS Global Honours 2026 in Sofia, Bulgaria, October 21-23, 2026, as Outstanding Leader in Subnational Transformation and Investment Drive in Sub-Sahara Africa.
The world has recognized that Enugu is no longer the old Coal City. Enugu is rising.
- MY MANDATE: TO SUPPORT IN POSITIONING ENUGU AS A STRATEGIC INVESTMENT DESTINATION IN AFRICA.
My Mandate:
- To support investment attraction while strengthening relationships with investors and strategic stakeholders.
- To develop and recommend strategies for attracting and retaining investment in Enugu State.
- To support investor engagement and investment facilitation.
- Identify strategic investment opportunities for the state.
- To monitor investor’s related issues requiring government intervention.
- Promote communication of the State’s investment opportunities and achievements.
- To build strategic relationships with investors, business groups and development partners.
- Provide periodic reports on investment prospects, challenges and outcomes.
Key Performance Indicators includes:
a. Value of investment opportunities identified.
b. Number of investors engagements facilitated.
c. Value of the investments facilitated.
d. Number of investors issues resolved.
e. Investor/stakeholder satisfaction level achieved.
Your Excellency, my mandate as SPA on Investment Strategy and Public Relations is very clear.
I will hit the ground running.
Our Public Engagements Initiative will take both national and international dimensions, deploying Domestic Public Relations tactics and an International Business Relations Strategy.
Nationally: We will engage strategic business stakeholders across the major cities in Nigeria to showcase Enugu’s bankable pipeline.
Internationally: We will curate the Enugu State Investment Roundtable at WCI-FORUM Istanbul – themed “From Coal City to Global Smart City of Innovation & Enterprise: Financing Bankable Deals in Aviation, Smart Education Technology, Healthcare, Transport, Housing and New City Development” – and the Enugu State Global Investment Business Round-Table at the World Business Summit in Sofia, Bulgaria and other parts of the world, interfacing with world Business Leaders across the globe.
The plan to engage both domestic and international business stakeholders demonstrates a clear understanding that sustainable development is driven by strategic partnerships and investment.
Indeed, Governor Peter Ndubuisi Mbah is not only connecting Enugu State to the centre but positioning our state as a globally competitive investment destination.
I wish to assure you of my unwavering commitment to the successful implementation of this initiative. I will work closely with other stakeholders to ensure the necessary political engagement and stakeholder mobilization required to achieve this objectives.
Together, we will project the New Enugu to Nigeria and the world at large to attract the investments that will accelerate the prosperity of our people.
We will project our FIVE BANKABLE PILLARS to the world:
Pillar A: Energy & Minerals – Generating 1,000MW from our world-class low-sulphur coal using clean-coal technology.
Pillar B: Aviation & Logistics – Enugu Air MRO, cargo handling, cold-chain and the Akanu Ibiam International Airport PPP concession.
Pillar C: ENPOWER Free Trade Zone – A $500 Million FDI platform to create 20,000+ jobs for the 40 million South-East market.
Pillar D: Agro-Industrialization – Integrated rice milling, cassava-to-ethanol, cashew and oil palm value addition.
Pillar E: Digital Economy & Human Capital – Making Enugu the Skills Capital of Nigeria through EdTech, BPO hubs and ICT hardware assembly.
We will tell investors about the Enugu Guarantee: One-Stop-Shop via Enugu State Investment Development Authority (ESIDA), with business land allocations in industrial parks, pioneer status facilitation, guaranteed profit repatriation, and direct access to a Governor-led investment council.
- IN CONCLUSION: TOGETHER, WE WILL PROJECT THE NEW ENUGU.
Your Excellency, you have demonstrated an unwavering support and commitment to the successful implementation of this initiative. I do not take it for granted.
- WHY OPPOSITION SHOULD RALLY BEHIND PETER MBAH — ENUGU’S TRANSFORMATION IS UNDENIABLE:
The time for politics of distraction is over. It is time for all opposition voices in Enugu State to join hands with Governor Peter Ndubuisi Mbah to make Enugu the premier subnational economic and investment hub in Africa.
There is no need to shift the goalpost in the middle of the game. The facts on the ground speak for themselves, and the people of Enugu have spoken clearly.
In a historic show of confidence, the Enugu State chapter of Ohanaeze Ndigbo presented the Ofo — the revered symbol of authority and justice — to Governor Mbah at Michael Okpara Square and unanimously endorsed him as sole candidate for 2027, citing his “visionary, pragmatic and transformative leadership.”
Weeks later, the Council of Presidents-General of all 583 autonomous communities in the state followed suit, adopting him for a second term in recognition of his grassroots-focused development model built around the 260 electoral wards as units of development.
The wave of endorsements has continued across party lines and generations of leadership:
- Chief Jim Nwodo, former Governor of old Anambra State
- Sen. Ken Nnamani, GCON, former Senate President of Nigeria.
- Chief Okwesilieze Nwodo, former Governor of old Enugu State
- Barr. Sullivan Chime, Governor of Enugu State (2007-2015)
- Rt. Hon. Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi, immediate past Governor of Enugu State (2015-2023)
- Chief Capt. Evarest Nnaji (Odengene), leading contender for the Lion Building in 2023
- Prof. Bart Nnaji (Onwa), leader of the Labour Party that swept almost all elective seats in Enugu in the 2023 general elections.
All have publicly declared their support for Governor Mbah’s re-election in 2027.
Today, Enugu has become a model of good governance in the entire South-East. The future of our children must not be politicized.
Opposition should not be about pulling people down. Governor Peter Mbah is performing. Let us consolidate these gains and ensure his re-election in 2027 to complete this quantum leap.
To my fellow appointees, let us deliver. To the people of Enugu State, especially the youths of Awgu and Enugu West Senatorial District, this is our time.
Together, we will project the New Enugu of our collective dream to the world, and attract the desired investments that will accelerate the prosperity of our people and the ultimate goal is private sector-led growth, actualizing Governor Mbah’s vision of growing Enugu’s economy from $4.4 billion to $30 billion in 8-years.
Thank you, Your Excellency.
Long live Enugu State!
Long live the Federal Republic of Nigeria!
Office of the Special Adviser to the Governor of Enugu State on Investment Strategy and Public Relations, Prince Humphrey Onyima, Government House Enugu, Nigeria.
