TRUST AS A BEACON IN GOVERNOR MBAH’S ADMINISTRATION

“_Trust is the glue of life, an important ingredient in effective communication_ _and the foundation of a healthy relationship_ “ ~Steven Covey

Any enthusiast in the narratives of good governance, and in particular democracy, must be able to appraise the elements of a preferred system and those who operate it.

Discussing Enugu state under Governor Peter Mbah from varied fronts, one can amply say that the governor has a deep-rooted understanding of the importance of trust as an indispensable ingredient in social management.

He seems to have aligned with Covey’s assertion with regards to the place of trust in public administration and governance, and also, the need to build and sustain trust through impactful governance for a united, orderly and progressive society.

The last nine months have lent veracity to the fact that trust is a tool so important to the governor.

In this direction, therefore, Governor Mbah has demonstrated unprecedented promptness in addressing issues of governance, delivering on his campaign promises, and building and restoring the confidence of the citizens of Enugu State in government activities.

This thereby justifies the position of author K. Bromberg, the New York based writer which says, “Trust is not something you give and get but what you earn and deserve.”

Governor Mbah’s footprints in Enugu state so far points to the fact that his government has through well thought out, deliberate and revolutionary policies and programmes registered enduring and positive impacts in all sectors of Enugu State political cum socio-economic life, thereby giving the people a new lease of life, hope for economic prosperity and assurance of a progressive tomorrow in line with the government’s mantra of “Our Tomorrow is Here”.

Unlike in the past, the government is doing a lot of things differently but in line with global best practices, changing retrogressive status quo, achieving quicker and verifiable results and placing the state in a strong position for global economic competition.

Outside its milestone achievements in rural, urban, and inter city road development, the government has sanitized the internal revenue generation and collection system and successfully eliminated incidents of multiple taxation.

This record has ultimately rekindled trust amongst the citizens, other Nigerians and foreigners especially the operators of medium and small scale businesses in paying their taxes to the state, knowing that their money now goes into government coffers for development purposes.

All over the country, the menace of touts in harassing and intimidating, especially small business owners, is commonplace. Enugu State paid a stop to this menace through the electronic system of tax payment. The result of the present tax innovations and reforms in Enugu state is that business is now easily conducted and in a more friendly environment.

The state civil service has also received some reformatory touch. Through sustained training and retaining programmes, the Mbah administration has reaweakened many workers in the state to the consciousness of their responsibilities in assisting the government to realize it’s development agenda. Work is progressively gaining a worthy meaning in the state.

What is, therefore, needed to sustain the present development tempo in the state is for citizens to reciprocate the government’s commitment through unwavering trust and performance of their civic responsibilities truly well.

The present administration, is ever committed to a total re-engineering of social and economic well-being of the state and its citizens. Nothing could be better.

Staff writer, Ministry of Information and Communication, Enugu State.