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By Dr. Innocent Unah
The people of Ebonyi State, On October 1, 2025, marked the 29th year of the State’s creation amid a celebration coloured with reflection and hopeful anticipation.
The feeling was palpable as drums thundered in rhythmic defiance against the crisp sunny breeze, while troupes of dancers swirled, barefoot and fierce, in patterns that echoed the state’s relentless spirit.
Then stood Governor Francis Ogbonna Nwifuru, fondly called FON, at the podium, with frame broad and solid.
He had just returned from an investment pilgrimage to Germany and the United States. In two years at the helm, Nwifuru has gone beyond governance to transform his beloved state into a beacon of pragmatic progress. He reaffirmed the commitment of his administration to the “People’s Charter of Needs Agenda”.
The Charter of Needs has steered extensive triumphs in education, healthcare, infrastructure, human capital development, agriculture, and security. As the streets of Abakaliki bustled and Ebonyians raked the fertile fields of Izzi and beyond, many beheld the hands of a governance compass directed towards a leadership revolution that prioritizes human dignity combined with physical development. This has become their good lot under Nwifuru.
The State is snuggled in the Cross River basin, its 13 local governments spanning 5,533 square miles of undulating terrain, with more than 3 million Igbo kith who farm the “Abakaliki Rice” in it.
Progress lagged for decades as poor roads strangled trade, as schools sagged under neglect, and as healthcare gambled with fate. GDP per capita perched below the national average, and Ebonyi youth migrated to Lagos or Abuja to seek obscure opportunities.
Then comes Nwifuru with the Charter of promise that has now become a yardstick.
Born February 25, 1975, in Oferekpe-Aba, Izzi Local Government Area, the unassuming builder-turned-politician has delivered tangible governance outcomes across all spheres.
He quickly drew from the foundation laid by David Umahi, his predecessor and now Nigeria’s works minister who transformed Ebonyi with massive road projects and iconic flyovers, to accelerate the state’s infrastructural revolution.
Thus, road projects have been completed in 140 communities; 29 road projects have been completed and 20 others underway within a year and a half in the Works Ministry alone; internal city roads, and feeder roads, being built in communities to reduce rural isolation. This is a state that was bruised by communal clashes, and a covert debt profile that loomed like thunder mists.
In education and human capital development, Nwifuru has made vast investments, funding local and foreign post-graduate scholarships. The State Ebonyi State University has received enhanced subventions and strikes that often disrupt academic calendars have vanished. The “State of Emergency” on education intensified with the establishment of Ebonyi ICT University at Oferekpe and University of Aeronautical Engineering at Onueke, two specialised universities that hold the hope of competitive edge for the largely agrarian State.
But the “Nwifuru Revolution” ship has not anchored yet as it sails to the health sector where primary healthcare centres have been rebuilt across the 13 LGAs, with supplies of essential drugs, diagnostic tools, and solar power. Free maternal and child health services have been delivered in designated centres through the State Health Insurance Agency. Infant mortality has been reduced by 28% with new ultrasound and ambulance fleet services provided by the state. For Nwifuru, this is personal. His wife, Uzoamaka Mary-Maudline Ogbonna Nwifuru, had just been crowned Nigeria’s Most Outstanding First Lady at the 2025 National Leadership Awards for her BERWO Foundation’s work in women’s health and empowerment a few days before Ebonyi’s anniversary.
Beyond infrastructure, health and education, Nwifuru’s green agenda shines a beam on agriculture, empowerment, and industry. With the Agro Fertilizer Industry at Onuebonyi resuscitated and hatcheries revived, the Ezillo Rice Farm was brought back to life. Small scale farmers received supportive grants, while several youths were trained in agribusiness. Traders and youths also gyrated to the soothing sounds of support, with 500 small entrepreneurs receiving ₦2 million each, 1,300 traders receiving ₦1 million each, and petty traders receiving tax waivers.
The inner walls of governance, accountability, and inclusion also resonated with Nwifuru’s sustainability strides. In a clear show of displeasure for sloppy work the state has blacklisted 29 contractors for poor performance. And in a generous display of his penchant for inclusivity, his administration constructed palaces for traditional rulers across autonomous communities in Ebonyi State. He also established an efficient peace mechanism that helped to resolve crippling communal conflicts like that of Ezza and Effium.
So as Ebonyi commemorated its 29 years of creation, many mused that equality, development, and unity, pillars of the vision of the founding fathers, are being reframed not as distant goals but as an unfolding reality.
And despite its imperfections, Nwifuru’s revolutionary governance is helping people believe again. And if Nwifuru and his administration can abide by the spirit of the Charter by being decisive, inclusive, accountable, and courageous, Ebonyi at 30 will be a story of uncommon transformation.
Dr. Innocent Unah, a public policy analyst, writes from Lagos.
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