The United Nations (UN) Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator in Nigeria, Mohamed Malick Fall, has decorated the Governor of Enugu State, Dr. Peter Mbah, as a Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) champion, describing his leadership as the model that Nigeria, the UN, and Africa need.
Fall said Africa was tired of wars and other depressing stories, hence the need to celebrate and support leadership models anywhere on the continent that show the vision, drive, discipline, rigorous planning, and improved efficiency to change the narratives and inspire hope.
The UN chief, who was on a working visit to the Government House, Enugu, on Friday, where he met with the state’s Executive Council and had an interactive session with the media, acknowledged the difficulty faced by the international communities in meeting up with their commitments to the people, regretted that with only six years left to attain the SDGs by 2030, many nations, including Nigeria, still struggle with the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).
“We are fed up with having states (nations) that keep having problems in conflicts and fighting. That is why every success recorded here (in Enugu) will come to change the narrative about Nigeria and Africa, and we will all be proud of it.
“I think in these difficulties and a very gloomy backdrop, there are still leaders, who go out of their ways and try to bring wellbeing for their people. I think those should be showcased to create a kind of healthy competition and create a blueprint for other leaders.
“That is why this (Mbah’s) leadership galvanised me. I have found exactly what we need in the African Continent and the United Nations”, he said.
He further expressed happiness that several of the present set of state governors give cause for hope and should be supported.
“We have governors that are younger. You have governors that are extremely committed. You have governors, who have their hands on the deck. You have governors, who have such a good appetite for improving the well-being of their people and I think Enugu is one of those examples”.
The UN chief commended in particular Governor Mbah’s strides in education, healthcare, water and other critical sectors, noting the governor’s ability to block leakages and waste to improve efficiency in a very short time.
“We had a conversation around education, around health, around social protection and how to alleviate poverty, how to support women who spend their day struggling to earn a little to bring back to their families, how to support civil servants, whose salaries cannot cope with the price increase the country is facing”.
