By Prince Ejeh Josh
One fact is irrefutable; Enugu State Governor, Dr Peter Mbah, has a special sentiment; an endearment, for the people of Nkerefi. Yes, since the creation of Enugu State way back 27th August, 1991 by the General Ibrahim Babangida military regime, Nkerefi has never been accommodated or given voices like what is happening under the present leadership.
These are established facts that speak for themselves. Don’t get me wrong! Nkerefi is neither the largest community/town nor the most populous in Nkanu East and Nkanuland. But when God decided to send our Moses, he chose Governor Mbah to lead the way and show the light.
In a large community battling with isolation and underdevelopment; literally sequestered and stranded for decades like William Wordsworth’s “The Solitary Reaper”, it was like a dream when the ray of hope beamed through from Mbah’s heart of magnanimity.
Nkerefi became a reference point of the now popular saying, “What God cannot do does not exist”. From the relics of abandonment came life. Mbah could be likened to Prophet Ezekiel with the mission to prophesy to the dry bones in the forgotten valley to live again. But the question is: Has Nkerefi even lived in terms of development and human capital empowerment before Governor Mbah’s leadership? Do the arithmetic! Nkerefi was, in fact, described in 2022 as the “backwater of Nkanuland” due to its economic, social, historical, institutional, political, and structural development contours.
Happily, after encountering Mbah, from that moment, Nkerefi people could take a deeper breath; transplanting from asphyxiation of despondency to hope of inhaling oxygen, and experiencing healing – like the lame man at the Beautiful Gate, who encountered Peter and John, and enjoyed instant transformation and healing! The lame man leapt for joy! That was unheard of! Governor Mbah leapt beyond expectations – from human capital to infrastructural rebirth. Hinterlands never in contemplation of hope; such thought would never have arisen in the mind of the sanest man, because of the rustic history of dereliction Nkerefi had been known for, to a community whose name sounds like music.
The Bible tells the vivid story of the Nkerefi people in Psalm 126: When the LORD brought us back from captivity to Zion, we were like men who dreamed. Our mouths were filled with laughter, our tongues with songs of joy. Then it was said among the nations, “The LORD has done great things for them. The LORD has done great things for us, and we are filled with joy. Restore our fortunes, O LORD, like streams in the Aevuna. Those who sow in tears will reap with songs of joy.”
The Lord has used the governor to wipe away our tears. Under this administration, Nkerefi has a Commissioner, Chairman of Board, Special Adviser, Special Assistant and other portfolios that have made Nkerefi a community sitting among its peers. But like the Americans would say: “We ain’t taken this for granted!”
With multiple roads leading to Nkerefi flagged off by the governor, two Smart Schools on the verge of completion, two Type-2 Primary Healthcare ongoing, boreholes already sunk, a commercial agriculture programme activated, Nkerefi’s decades of blackout recently assessed, it’s like kissing goodbye to underdevelopment, dearth of infrastructure, poor education to a new beginning.
It’s, indeed, a new dawn. Our mouths are filled with laughter because Governor Mbah made it possible. Whenever you hear Nkerefi, remember that Governor Mbah is charting a new course of history for us. This is emotional for us. And it’s the Lord’s doing.
