By Dapo Okubanjo
That the South East is in dire need of development is an undeniable fact. It is one region that has had its fair share of infrastructural deficit which is why its people have, for decades, been longing for a Marshal Plan-type programme in the aftermath of a civil war that ended almost half a century ago.
And now that the South East Development Commission (SEDC) Act is in place, courtesy of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and a team to run it is being worked on, attention is gradually shifting towards the calibre of people who have the capacity to manage such an interventionist agency.
When it is fully on ground, the SEDC is expected to address socio-economic challenges facing Anambra, Imo, Enugu, Abia and Ebonyi states and foster development in the region by using allotted funds from federal allocations to bring succour to the long suffering people.
And when one considers that the commission is primarily meant to provide essential infrastructures as well as tackle developmental shortfalls in the South East, many Nigerians are rightly looking forward to the composition of the management team.
In a region where President Tinubu did not do particularly well in the 2023 Presidential election inspite of the big- name politicians doting the landscape as card-carrying members of the All Progressives Congress (APC), some of whom won local elections with votes larger than what the President got in the entire region, there are already suggestions that the President’s focus has to be on people who are loyal enough to ensure that the people feel the expected impact of the agency.
The thinking is that those that will be saddled with manning the SEDC have to be people whose main goal will be to win over the heart of a people who have ever the years suffered neglect with developmental projects that will rekindle their hope in the Nigerian state.
Expectedly, many politicians will jostle to be in the team or even head it, but one of the names being bandied around in the political arena is that of Dr Josef Onoh, a development-minded Tinubu loyalist, who was part of those who, at great personal risks, took it upon themselves to market the President in the region even before he won the APC primaries.
Onoh, a scion of the notable Onoh family joined politics at a relatively young age in 1998 but represents a new generation of political leadership in the South East.
He is the last son of the former governor of the Old Anambra state CC Onoh and like his father who was the administrator of the Enugu Capital Territory during the Nigerian civil war, Josef had a similar role as Chairman of Enugu Capital Territory Development Authority (ECTDA)
As a member of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Enugu state, he was one of the key players in President Tinubu’s campaign bid as spokesman for the South East zone of the campaign but interestingly PDP could not sanction him.
Loyalty to the Tinubu cause is not expected as the sole criteria for recruiting a future head of the South East Development Commission. And this is where Josef Onoh is almost certain to have an edge over others who may have been penciled down for roles in the commission.
Appointed as Senior Special Assistant on Special Projects to former Enugu Governor Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi, Onoh also chaired a Joint Task Force in the Ministry of Environment and Capital Territory before he was appointed as Executive Chairman of ECTDA.
It was in that role where his job description revolves around ensuring proper infrastructural development that he earned the sobriquet, ‘elrufai of Enugu’ in an apparent reference to the manner the former FCT minister Nasir Elrufai changed the face of the Federal Capital Territory.
Josef Onoh is on record to have spearheaded a transformation of Enugu in his three and half tenure during which he ensured strict enforcement of the capital territory regulation, and an increase in commercial development of the city from 23% to 72%.
As a lawmaker between 2003 and 2007, his portfolio as the Chairman House Committee on Public Accounts stood out. The then outgoing Speaker of the state Assembly, Rt. Hon. Edward Ubosi had hailed Onoh’s stewardship in the House, acknowledging that his record in the house remains indelible.
Many are still reminiscing on his dismantling of a traffic nuisance created by the Kenyatta street market at Uwani-Enugu in the metropolis. Onoh succeeded in relocating the street traders to Ugwuaji International market,a feat that previous government officials had failed to achieve in nearly 20 years.
And who would forget his rare display of courage in standing up to powerful interest groups in order to reclaim land that ensured the successful expansion of the Akanu Ibiam International Airport, Enugu. It is something that is still being talked about with admiration in the state.
It was therefore not surprising that he was one of the favorites to succeed former Governor Ugwuanyi before hire- wire politics in PDP ended that ambition, at least for now.
So his antecedents are such that he brings to the table the sort of hands-on leadership that a non-partisan interventionist agency that needs to hit the ground running requires.
Besides, Onoh also has name recognition and a pedigree that transcends the entire South East region. In politics, the fact that he was a member of the Enugu state House of Assembly in 2003 underlines his political experience even at a relatively young age so he is viewed in the region as a bridge between the old and the young.
His national outlook, exemplified in his wide network of contacts, will also be useful if he eventually gets the nod to man the South East Development Commission.
It would then mean that Enugu’s loss may translate to a major gain for the South East region.
Dapo Okubanjo, a journalist and public affairs analyst,writes from Abuja via dokubanjo@yahoo.co.uk