Ugwuanyi’s enigmatic leadership style is a great asset to Nigeria’s political development as his capacity in handling complex political issues is fast making him indispensable in Nigerian politics. He has exhibited rare competence in the area of crisis management especially as it affects party politics. It has become a tradition that anytime a difficult situation arises in the PDP, Governor Ugwuanyi comes to the rescue and never fails to deliver. Recently, he has handled a lot of complex issues for the party and has successfully delivered on all of them.
When the party became turbulent in the South East and lost many of its members, Ugwuanyi was invited to salvage the situation. Immediately he assumed the position of the party’s leadership in the zone, sanity returned to the party and the mass exodus experienced ceased. Since then, the party has witnessed unprecedented stability in the South Eastern part of the country with visible prospects of bouncing back to its original status as the most formidable political structure in the zone. People no longer desert the party as was the case before he became the leader. Ugwuanyi has brought his midas touch to bear on the party and the future looks bright again for the once troubled political vehicle.
Additionally, his heroic role in 2020 Ondo State Governorship primaries when the party was in a sort of dilemma was a clear manifestation of his diplomatic ingenuity. At a time the future of the party appeared very bleak in the state because of heavy factionalisation, Ugwuanyi was invited to reposition it with transparent primaries that would meet the expectations of the warring aspirants. As a matter of fact, many pundits were very sceptical about the possibility of achieving rancour free gubernatorial primaries that would be acceptable to all the aspirants who then were in their political trenches with threats and counter threats. At the end of it all, Ugwuanyi succeeded in calming all frayed nerves down by conducting one of the most transparent party primaries in the history of party politics in Nigeria. He employed deft and diplomatic political accountability to achieve that great feat to the surprise of Ondo people who had written the party off.
Currently, as a recognition of his capacity to fix difficult problems, his party has entrusted him with another hard nut to crack, chairman PDP’s zoning commitee. This is one assignment too many which requires deft political approach due to its sensitive nature to the party’s 2023 destiny. The issue of zoning at the national level for PDP is very delicate and thorny right now considering the country’s current political atmosphere. It is a matter that requires an individual with high level of political maturity to handle hence, the invitation of Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi, a known political master strategist with a wealth of experience in crisis management. The party is of the belief that his relationship savvy which he had employed in handling many knotty issues assigned to him in the past as well as his achievement of enduring political peace and stability in Enugu State would be replicated in the present circumstances. Of course he has taken up the responsibility and is facing it squarely irrespective of the enormity of its challenges.
From the foregoing, it is explicit that Governor Ugwuanyi’s leadership acumen is second to none having demonstrated consistent capacity in crisis management. Apart from his visibility in party affairs management through efficient discharge of national party assignments, he has institutionalised peace and stability in Enugu State. For the first time in the history of politics in Enugu State, major political actors now see themselves as members of one big political family devoid of rancour and acrimony. Ugwuanyi has ensured even distribution of dividends of democracy across party lines and all spheres of the society against all odds. Irrespective of the current prevailing economic downturn, he has spread development across all sectors of the economy carrying all segments of society along. On assumption of office, he resolved all nagging issues ranging from traffic and waste management crisis to poor salary structure for workers in Enugu State. In educational sector, he effectively handled a thorny issue of non graduation of students by some state owned tertiary institutions due to non accreditation of courses. He further ended the convocation deadlock of IMT and facilitated its first convocation in over 10 years. The charismatic leader is also reputed to be the first modern Enugu Governor to focus on rural development with special attention on health and road infrastructure. All these point to the ability of Governor Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi to provide purposeful leadership and profer solution to issues.
In conclusion, Governor Ugwuanyi is indeed a man of outstanding character, a political legend and a master in the art of political strategy, peace building and relationship management. He has distinguished himself as a great leader with emotional savvy and an expert in human resource management. His gentle mien is a source of strength which immensely guards him against loquacious recklessness even in the face of obvious provocation. He is undoubtedly a great leader who uses emotional stability and mature mien to handle difficult situations. His humility and canniness have impacted positively on the people of Enugu State and their political system under his watch as an Executive Governor. It is a welcome development that Nigeria and international community are beginning to recognise this discernible reality as demonstrated in Turkey on Saturday, 25th September, 2021 when he received multiple awards of excellence from Nigerian Turkish Community. In no distant time definitely, he will play a prominent role in our political development both locally and internationally.
Enugu is in the safe hands of God
Bibian Anekwe News added – “Leaders must be close enough to relate to others, but far enough ahead to motivate them” .
Written by
By Jeff Ejiofor
