Mbah Unveils 25-Year Plan to Secure Enugu's Development Gains

The Enugu State Government says it is developing a 25-year state plan aimed at sustaining growth, infrastructure and development beyond the tenure of the current administration.

Gov. Peter Mbah, represented by the Secretary to the State Government, Prof. Chidiebere Onyia, disclosed this on Wednesday in Enugu at the 2026 Global Goals Week Symposium.

The symposium, organised by the State Office of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), was themed "From Projects to Lasting Impacts."

Mbah said the plan was designed to shift the state's development approach away from one centred on individual projects and administrations toward one anchored in institutions, policies, systems and long-term planning. He said it would provide a framework for successive administrations to sustain and build on progress across the economy, education, healthcare, infrastructure, agriculture, environment, technology and human capital development.

According to him, development should not start over with every change in government; rather, policies, institutions and systems must be strengthened to preserve existing gains. He said the plan would be grounded in credible data, measurable indicators and effective monitoring mechanisms to track the impact of government investment.

"The 25-year plan is intended to provide clear direction around which successive administrations can sit within a much broader vision for the state. This is how we create continuity," he said.

Mbah noted that the sustainability of infrastructure such as smart schools and healthcare facilities would depend not just on construction, but on adequate staffing, maintenance, financing, technology and management systems. He said roads should be viewed as economic corridors that connect communities, widen access to markets and create opportunities for residents, rather than merely as physical structures.

He said the state was also strengthening digital governance to improve transparency, traceability and accountability, stressing that reliable data would be essential to measuring progress under the 25-year plan. He further called for greater citizen ownership of public infrastructure, urging residents to protect government projects as belonging to them.

Also speaking, UNICEF Chief of the Enugu Field Office, Juliet Chiluwe, said sustainable development should be measured by how much projects continue to improve people's lives after completion. She said UNICEF's focus remained on investments in children—covering education, health, nutrition, water and sanitation, social protection and child protection—adding that the lasting impact of such investments would be evident when children can attend school regularly, learn effectively, complete their education and contribute meaningfully to society.

She said health infrastructure would only yield lasting benefits when backed by skilled health workers, essential supplies, adequate financing and strong systems, and called for a shift "from projects to programmes to systems and from outputs to outcomes," stressing that sustainability must be considered from the outset of every development intervention.

Former Minister of Information and National Orientation, Mr Frank Nweke Jr, commended the Mbah administration's infrastructure delivery but urged the government to focus on translating ongoing projects into lasting development that directly improves residents' lives. He stressed the need to link major investments to clearly defined development challenges and measurable outcomes, and said the state should deliberately integrate the SDGs into its planning, budgeting and performance measurement—focusing on outcomes rather than expenditure and completed projects alone.

Also speaking, the Senior Special Assistant to Governor Mbah on SDGs, Mrs Onyinye Akubuilo-Okpalanma, said development should not be measured solely by the number of projects completed or infrastructure delivered, but by its lasting impact on residents' lives—reflected in improved learning environments for children, expanded economic opportunities for young people and women, higher agricultural productivity and better access to essential services.

She urged participants at the symposium to proffer practical solutions and measurable pathways for sustaining the state's development transformation, and called for stronger collaboration among government, the private sector, development partners, academia, civil society organisations, communities and young people to sustain the state's development gains.