By Kelechi Mbam

LIKE the biblical David, his appearance before the the giant of Philistine was like a mockery. From the mortal views, there was no possibility that only a tablet of stone with sling can give the nation of lsrael a sign of relief. But behold, it was a reality that a young lad who was never seen as a match in consideration of their heights and array of physical weaponry of the philistine giant led his nation to victorious warfare.

Above was the case of the Ebonyi State Governor, Rt. Hon. Francis Ogbonnaya Nwifuru whose story is surrounded by the philosophy of Divinity. ln the prelude to the 2023 general election, Governor Nwifuru was the least expected to emerge given the array of political gladiators that indicated interests for the number one Seat of Ebonyi State. For political analysts, “ his case was a joke”

Election came and he won. Governor Nwifuru’s first stroke was the introduction of his administration’s mantra the “ People’s Charter Of Needs” , a document which is the “bible” of democracy. The idea behind the “ Charter Of Needs Document is that government policies and programmes should flow from the Needs of the people.

That is to say that budgetary allocations for various sectors of the economy will be determined by the Needs of the people in those areas. A clinical analysis of the Needs document suggests that Governor Nwifuru aligned himself with the main point of the social contract theory which says that “ “ “people live together in a society in accordance to an agreement that established the political and moral rules of behaviour” Further to this, if the universal definition of Democracy is Government of the people by the people and for the people is to be honoured, then Governor Nwifuru has done justice to work the talk.

There are two important key words in the democracy theory; Power and People. The operation of these two key words most times is determined by certain political factors just that if the non democrat is in the saddle then the people are starved of power which aught to be exercised in line with the principles of democracy. On the contrary, where a democrat is in the saddle, power naturally resides with the people viz, to determine who governs them and how their common resources will be allocated in line with the the Needs of the people. This is the message of Governor Nwifuru’s Charter of Needs document.

The Needs Document is is also an instrument of economic planning. The Charter Of Needs by implication alligned itself in the Economic Theory of Scale Of Preference which arranges the Needs in order of priority. No wonder, the Governor has paid much attention to the yearnings of Ebonyi People in the area of human capital development. This, he is set to achieve through a multi dimensional approach emergiing from aggressive Quality Education, Skills Acquisition and Agricultural Revolutions. Today, over 1000 Ebonyi Indigenes have been empowered in various ways including the 745 Post Graduate Scholarship to Ebonyi graduates in both Nigeria and the United Kingdom respectively.

This does not exclude the training of over 200 youths in innovative and integrated Agricultural value change last year in Nasarawa state to boost food production in Ebonyi state. The end of Governor Nwifuru’s empowerment programmes cannot be sighted as the search party discovered the empowerment of 95 Ebonyi graduates with N3m each following their graduation of vocational training held in Agbani, Enugu state last year on Fishery, Poutery, Pigery etc. Detemined through his strong political will and zero tolerance to social vices, the Governor has made a remarkable achievement in the area of Peace and security of the Of various communities which hitherto had been at daggers drawn and can now sleep with their eyes closed thereby making the state the most peaceful in the country.

One outstanding qualities of the Nwifuru’s administration is humility which radiates around politics and programmes and like a man who wears the shoes he knows where it pinches. From his humble beginning, he learnt perseverance, team spirit and unquenchable passion for humanity. That is why the architecture of his administration is mainly designed to lift Ebonyi People from the shackles of poverty and Economic backwardness.

The Ebonyi Charter Of Needs Document encapsulates all sectors of the economy such as infrastructural development, Urban Renewal, Aggressive Rural Development and Commerce and lndustry. These sectors are also receiving attention within the period under review. The theory of the least expected parades one’s spectacular characteristics, shock, envy and disbelief. When the least expected happens, the purveyors of that idea are always thrown into the pit of Shock disbelief and surprise because of this and in a bid to strengthen their utterances abinitio, they resort to vituperations, campaigns of calmumny and unfounded blackmail.

Like William Shakespeare, “ what can be avoided whose end is proposed by the mighty gods” . Governor Nwifuru is a benefactor of that William Shakespeare’s preposition “ the mighty gods proposed for him and in the contextual and philosophical Xray of Shakespeare’s idea, .No mortal dares the decision of the immortal being.





https://www.vanguardngr.com/2025/03/nwifuru-when-the-least-expected-kills-the-giant/