All Nigeria Editors Confab 2026: We’re building Enugu into South-East economic gateway – Mbah
By Juliet Umeh
For many years, Enugu carried the history and prestige of the old Eastern Region, but Governor Peter Mbah believes nostalgia is no longer enough. His ambition is to build a state that does not merely look back at its past importance but becomes a major economic force in modern Nigeria.
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That ambition was at the centre of his message to Nigerian editors gathered in Enugu, where he declared that a transformation was taking place across the state and challenged journalists not to take his word for it, but to go out, see the projects and speak with the people.
Mbah, who spoke at the All Nigeria Editors Conference, ANEC 2026, said his administration wants to position Enugu as the economic gateway to the South-East, rank it among Nigeria’s top three states by Gross Domestic Product, GDP, and make it a national leader in human development.
“What is happening here is, I believe, one of the fastest and most ambitious transformations of any state in modern Nigeria. And the ambition reaches beyond Enugu itself,” he told the editors.
“We want this state to become an economic gateway for the South-East, one of Nigeria’s top three states by GDP, and a national leader in human development.”
Roads, schools changing communities
Mbah pointed to infrastructure as one of the most visible signs of the transformation, saying more than 1,500 kilometres of roads had been constructed or reconstructed across the state.
But beyond roads, he said his government was attempting to take development into communities through massive investments in education, healthcare, water and transportation.
He cited the delivery of more than 7,000 classrooms and the development of Smart Green Schools across the state’s 260 electoral wards.
For Mbah, however, the significance of those projects is not merely in the number of buildings constructed but in how they change everyday life.
“A child walking into a digitally equipped school in a community that has been left behind. Healthcare closer to home. A journey to market that will no longer take half the day,” he said, painting a picture of what the investments should mean for ordinary residents.
Water supply, which had remained a major challenge in Enugu metropolis for years, also featured prominently in the governor’s account.
He said water was returning “at scale” to Enugu city, alongside new transport terminals and Compressed Natural Gas, CNG, buses designed to improve movement within the state.
Enugu takes to the skies
Mbah also pointed to Enugu Air as another part of his administration’s attempt to reposition the state.
With the state-backed airline taking to the skies, alongside other investments in transport and urban development, the governor said businesses were beginning to see Enugu differently – as a place where they could invest, build and grow.
He also drew attention to the emerging Enugu Smart City, inviting the editors to visit the development and judge its progress themselves.
“Enugu has become a state people are talking about, far beyond our borders. While you are here, I invite you to experience it for yourselves,” he said.
Tinubu partnership helping Enugu
Interestingly, Mbah did not claim that the transformation was being achieved by the state government alone.
He acknowledged what he described as a strong partnership with President Bola Tinubu and the Federal Government, saying increased federal support to states had provided additional fiscal space for investment.
He also cited federal interventions in roads, aviation, energy and regional development.
According to him, the concessioning of Akanu Ibiam International Airport could further strengthen Enugu’s position as a gateway to the wider South-East.
Mbah said: “I have acknowledged that partnership publicly before, and I gladly do so again. The partnership is helping us build at a scale and pace that would once have seemed impossible.”
‘Come and see for yourselves’
Yet perhaps the most striking part of Mbah’s presentation was his invitation to the editors to test his claims themselves.
There was still much to be done, he admitted, and his administration was making no claim that every problem had been solved.
Instead, he urged the visiting journalists to leave the conference halls, explore Enugu city, travel further into the state and speak directly with residents.
“Take some time to explore the city. Speak to the people who live and work here and get a sense of the direction in which Enugu is moving,” he said.
It was effectively an invitation to put his administration’s record under the microscope.
For Mbah, the Enugu he wants Nigerians to see is no longer simply the historic Coal City, but an emerging economic and investment destination seeking a bigger role in the South-East and Nigeria.
And his message to the editors was straightforward: come, look around and judge the transformation for yourselves.
Vanguard News
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