By Sam Nwanze
Let me make it clear. The first part of the headline is not my statement.
Moments of Greatness from the original author, Robert E. Quinn, has a rider “Entering the Fundamental State of Leadership”.
I decided to borrow it because it has great influence on the thought I have on the subject matter of this article, the Governor of Enugu State, His Excellency Barr. Dr. Peter Ndubuisi Mbah.
I am from Enugu state and a stakeholder in the affairs of the state. So, even though I have been going to the state regularly from my base at Abuja, I decided to spend about five months at a stretch in the state from January this year to May.
This was to handle some issues that has to do with our Non-governmental Organisation (NGO), Hall of Igbo Achievers Foundation and Igbo Book of Records we publish annually. The NGO is based in Enugu.
Robert Quinn, a leadership coach who contributed one of the 10 “must reads” articles in one of the Harvard Business Reviews on “Managing Yourself” with the above title, made more revelations.
Hear him, “As leaders sometimes we’re truly “on”, and sometimes we’re not”. He pointed out that what separates the episodes of excellence from those of mere competence is that “In striving to tip the balance toward excellence, we try to identify great leader’s qualities and behaviours so we can develop them ourselves”
And this is where I have to anchor my observations about the current Chief Executive Officer of Enugu State, Governor Peter Mbah. He need to be studied in the way he carries out his duties in Enugu state so as to emulate him where necessary whenever we found ourselves in positions of authority and power, not necessarily as governor of a state.
While I was in Enugu for that long, I took my time to study Governor Peter Mbah. I did so by reading many of his speeches, checking out on many of his projects, asking questions about his administration from different kinds of people and listening to many radio programmes where a lot is discussed about the state especially, phone-ins from listeners.
Back to Robert Quinn, he made another instructive point about a leader which according to him, his colleagues and himself who engaged in teaching leadership courses found.
‘When leaders do their best work, they don’t copy anyone. Instead, they draw on their own fundamental values and capabilities – operating in a frame of mind that is true to them yet, paradoxically, not their normal state of being”, he posited.
And he called it “the Fundamental State of Leadership”.
He went on to say in a way of clarity that “it is the way we lead when we encounter a crisis and finally choose to move forward”, that matters.
I decided to make this extensive reference because I have been trying to find out what informed the leadership fundamentals of Governor Peter Mbah. I think it is located in the Robert Quinn theory of leadership.
But before going into a kind of relativism to Quinn postulations, let me recount my first impression after my first and only close encounter with His Excellency Peter Mbah so far.
Although I have been hearing his name when he was serving under the regime of His Excellency Senator, Dr. Chimaroke Nnamani, and occupied powerful positions like Chief of Staff and later Commissioner for Finance, it was in my community I met him in 2022 during the election campaigns.
That was at the Palace of His Royal Highness, Igwe Dr. Charles Egbo Nwoye, the Obioha II of Amurri in Nkanu West Local Government Area of Enugu State.
As a community leader, a title holder and one of Igwe’s advisers, we were in the Palace waiting for Barr. Peter Mbah, the Governorship candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), as he was then as part of his schedules to pay courtesy visits to traditional rulers that fateful day, a Friday.
After long waiting and when he and his entourage finally emerged, the atmosphere was a bit charged. We were seated when he and some other senior party members were ushered into the Palace chamber.
As my Igwe was going through his usual traditional rituals of breaking and praying with Kolanut in Igbo language laced with Amurri dialect, I deliberately concentrated in watching the countenance of the man who was the centre of attention, attraction and activities.
Barr. Mbah was very calm, unassuming, looked “innocent” so to say but very attentive. When he stood up to talk, he went straight to the point in an authoritative voice. He couldn’t rush his speech but slowly and steadily told us what he would do if he wins the election. He was calculative in his choice of words and in a matter of minutes he was done.
As someone who studied social behaviour and journalism in higher institutions, I told a friend who was close to me after they left that Barr. Mbah seems to me as someone who has a blueprint and well prepared on what he is going to do if he wins the election.
I noted that as someone who served before in the state at a higher level and was a big private sector player thereafter he has huge advantages to perform well. The combination if properly applied will make him a great leader like the former Governor Sullivan Chime or even better, I observed.
I also observed that he is the kind of person who doesn’t allow many people to be too close to him. And may not have many close friends. He didn’t seem to me as a socialite but a serious minded person I told my friend who was around me then.
My friend was surprised to hear those things from me because I was meeting him from a close situation for the first time. And recently he told me that after seeing what the Governor has been doing and hearing much about his behaviours, I was right in my assessment of the Governor then after my first time seeing him close enough.
Anyone who is honestly going to talk about Governor Mbah’s activities in the past three years and some months of mounting the top seat of power in Enugu state will give him excellent award. Above 75% score is more like it. But surely he must have made some mistakes as a human being.
But he fits into the description of Quinn’s theory, Fundamentals of State of Leadership to my mind. He has the qualities of a great leader and behaviour that can easily be identified, is the first point to notice.
The theory said that “when leaders do their best work, they don’t copy anyone. Instead they draw on their own fundamental values and capabilities – operating in a frame of mind that’s true to them yet, paradoxically, not their normal state of being”. This is the true essence of Governor Peter Mbah from my own analysis.
Governor Mbah’s regime is a clear departure from what the people of Enugu State witnessed in the immediate past administration. He is audacious in his project selection and execution. Almost all the sectors have been touched in a way unimaginable. And his intentions are clear, to make Enugu state far better than he met it.
His legacy projects can easily be seen in the education, health, road, aviation, agriculture among others. He has revived many abandoned projects like the iconic International Conference Centre (ICC), Hotel Presidential Enugu built by Dr. M. I Okpara, upgraded Nike Hotel Resort in Enugu, trying to complete the abandoned building structures at the State Secretariat, reviving some moribund industries, development of a new Smart City designed to decongest the current Coal City, security and many other accomplishments that can be seen and felt in the urban and rural areas of the state.
More importantly, he is humble enough and can be recognised as such. He listens to the civil servants and other complaints that gets to his attention.
I noticed he replies any letter sent to him that needs answer either signed by him or his senior officials.
However, that doesn’t mean that there are no areas people are concerned about and complaining seriously.
They said his tax administration is excessive and injurious to the common man. But the government said it is not true because many areas have been reviewed downward, suspended, or cancelled.
Example they gave is charges on land which government said it reduced down to 60%. Another issue of concern in Enugu is house rent which the people see as a major burden on them etc.
As the Governor gets ready to seek the mandate of the people during the next elections, I think he has a lot to showcase and much to promise the people. It will be an opportunity to clear many issues which may have been waiting to get answers from the Government when he gets closer to them again during campaigns that will soon start.
Nze Sam Nwanze, is a Media Consultant, Chairman Hall of Igbo Achievers Foundation, and Editor-in-chief, Igbo Book of Records