The Catholic Bishop of Nsukka Diocese, Most Rev. Prof. Godfrey Onah, has urged Governor Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi of Enugu State to be focused in handling the affairs of the State, bearing in mind that he was being surrounded by wolves.
Governor Ugwuanyi, who had played host to a delegation led by the Bishop used the occasion to announce the list of 12 persons appointed to serve in the Nsukka Urban Renewal Committee to modernize the university town.
It was an occasion during which the clergyman and former vice rector of the Pontifical Urban University, Rome, warned the governor against the antics of deceitful hangers-on, while urging him not to lose his well-known trade mark of disarming humility.
Governor Ugwuanyi told his visitors made up of members of the clergy, the laity and the Diaspora of the diocese that the decision of the his administration to set up the urban renewal committee for Nsukka was to begin the fulfillment of part of his promises contained in his inaugural address, during which he had said the university deserved such a facelift to bring it in tandem with other un university towns elsewhere in Nigeria and beyond.
The committee headed by renowned architect and former commissioner for Works in the state, Mr. Chris Ofor, and also parades other professionals like surveyors and engineers would soon be inaugurated, the governor told his elated visitors.
They also include the two members representing Nsukka Local Government Area in Enugu State House of Assembly while the state director of Lands would serve as the secretary of the committee.
He explained to the delegation that Enugu State Government has commenced actions in sourcing other ways of raising its Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) to forestall the grave dangers posed by the present economic downturn occasioned by the glut in the global oil industry.
“Here in Enugu State, our administration is already looking inwards with a view to sourcing other ways of raising our internal generated revenue to enable us to deliver on our electoral promises”, he stated.
The governor expressed happiness that the bishop led a high-powered delegation made of representatives from across all key groups and segments of the Catholic Diocese of Nsukka to visit him.
He described the visit as a show of solidarity that gives his administration a huge moral boost at this early period, adding that he would strive to deliver good governance to the people of the state as a payback gesture in view of their support for him.
On the Bishop’s counsel, he urged the governor not to be deceived by the pecks of his office but to always be wise as a serpent in carrying out his duties, saying “Your Excellency, do not be deceived by the paraphernalia of office around you. We are aware of your vulnerability. You are, indeed, like a sheep in the midst of hungry wolves”.
But the clergyman also had words of encouragement thus: “Do not be afraid; be confident as God who started this work with you will bring it to conclusion.”
They had also come with ecclesiastical gifts for the governor and his wife, Monica. .
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