Ray Kene Ogbodo, the African Action Congress (AAC) governorship candidate in the 2023 Enugu State election has written an open letter on governance, growth, and poverty to His Excellency, Governor Peter Ndubuisi Mbah after 32 months in office.
Below is the full text of the letter:
Your Excellency,
Thirty-two months into your administration, silence is no longer an option. This open letter is written with a deep sense of responsibility, not just as a political opponent, but as a stakeholder, a former governorship candidate, and a citizen compelled by conscience and reality.
At this point in your tenure, Enugu people deserve honesty, not optics. They deserve leadership that listens, not one that speaks only in numbers. The central question before us is simple and unavoidable: Has governance under your watch tangibly improved the lives of the people of Enugu State?
VISION ACKNOWLEDGED, BUT VISION ALONE IS NOT GOVERNANCE
Your Excellency, it would be unfair not to acknowledge your ambition. You came into office with confidence, clarity of intent, and an aggressive economic posture. Your administration has consistently projected itself as reform-driven, data-focused, and determined to reposition Enugu economically.
Budgets have grown. Federal allocations have increased. Internally generated revenue figures have been loudly celebrated. On paper, these are indicators of seriousness and scale.
However, leadership is not an academic exercise.
Governance is not a PowerPoint presentation.
And ambition is not impact.
THE HARSH REALITY: PEOPLE ARE POORER, NOT PROSPEROUS
Thirty-two months later, the reality across Enugu communities is grim and unmistakable. Despite huge inflows from federal allocations and acclaimed IGR growth, Enugu people are still suffering and many are worse off.
Families can no longer afford basic necessities.
Traders and small businesses are collapsing under economic pressure and multiple levies.
Youth unemployment remains dangerously high.
Many rural communities feel abandoned and invisible.
Hunger, frustration, and despair are becoming normalised.
This is the painful contradiction your administration must confront: Government revenues are rising, but the people are sinking deeper into poverty. No amount of statistical celebration can explain this away.
ECONOMIC POLICIES THAT EXTRACT, NOT EMPOWER
Your Excellency, an economy does not grow by taxing suffering citizens into submission. Economic policy must empower production before it pursues extraction.
In an environment already battered by inflation, insecurity, and joblessness, aggressive revenue generation particularly through taxation has become a heavy burden on the poor and the shrinking middle class. When internally generated revenue rises while purchasing power collapses, the policy has failed its most basic moral and economic test.
Let this be stated clearly:
Growth that does not reduce poverty is deception.
Development that bypasses the masses is exclusion.
A government cannot claim success while its people cannot afford to live.
THE DANGEROUS DISCONNECT
There is now a widening gap between government ambition and people’s lived realities.
Budgets are expanding — but relief is absent.
Projects are announced — but impact is invisible to many.
Policies are defended — but empathy is missing.
This disconnect is not just unfortunate; it is dangerous. History has shown repeatedly that when governance becomes detached from the people, social trust collapses, resentment grows, and instability follows. No administration can sustainably succeed against the weight of popular hardship.
A DIRECT CALL FOR COURSE CORRECTION
Your Excellency, this letter is not written to score points. It is written to sound an alarm. Enugu does not need less ambition, it needs human-centred leadership. I urge your administration to urgently recalibrate its priorities:
Shift from revenue obsession to people protection, especially for the poor and the endangered middle class.
Stop suffocating SMEs and the informal sector, they are the backbone of Enugu’s economy and must be supported, not punished.
Focus on job creation and income security, not just capital-intensive projects that do not translate to livelihoods.
Deepen transparency and accountability, so citizens can see, trust, and believe in governance again.
Govern with empathy, not just efficiency. Policies should reflect the pain and aspirations of real people.
A FINAL WORD, AND A WARNING
Your Excellency, time is not on the side of any government that ignores hardship. Public patience is thinning. Economic pain is deepening. History is watching.
Enugu people are not asking for miracles. They are asking for relief, dignity, opportunity, and hope. They want to feel governance in their homes, markets, farms, and futures, not just hear about it in figures.
Let this truth guide every decision going forward: Leadership is not measured by how much money a government controls, but by how much suffering it alleviates.
This is a defining moment for your administration. You can still choose empathy alongside ambition, people alongside policy, and impact alongside vision.
Enugu deserves governance that works, not just in theory, but in real life.
Respectfully,
Ray Kene Ogbodo
Former Governorship Candidate
Enugu State (2023)
