All Nigeria Editors Confab 2026: We’re building Enugu into South-East economic gateway – Mbah

By Juliet Umeh For many years, Enugu carried the history and prestige of the old Eastern Region, but Governor Peter Mbah believes nostalgia is no longer enough. His ambition is to build a state that does not merely look back at its past importance but becomes a major economic force in modern Nigeria. Read Also: Editors’ Conference 2026: After 27 years, why democracy still fails ordinary Nigerians — Onaiyekan That ambition was at the centre of his message to Nigerian editors gathered in Enugu, where he declared that a transformation was taking place across the state and challenged journalists not to take his word for it, but to go out, see the projects and speak with the people.

Mbah, who spoke at the All Nigeria Editors Conference, ANEC 2026, said his administration wants to position Enugu as the economic gateway to the South-East, rank it among Nigeria’s top three states by Gross Domestic Product, GDP, and make it a national leader in human development. “What is happening here is, I believe, one of the fastest and most ambitious transformations of any state in modern Nigeria. And the ambition reaches beyond Enugu itself,” he told the editors.

“We want this state to become an economic gateway for the South-East, one of Nigeria’s top three states by GDP, and a national leader in human development.” Roads, schools changing communities Mbah pointed to infrastructure as one of the most visible signs of the transformation, saying more than 1,500 kilometres of roads had been constructed or reconstructed across the state. But beyond roads, he said his government was attempting to take development into communities through massive investments in education, healthcare, water and transportation. He cited the delivery of more than 7,000 classrooms and the development of Smart Green Schools across the state’s 260 electoral wards.

For Mbah, however, the significance of those projects is not merely in the number of buildings constructed but in how they change everyday life. “A child walking into a digitally equipped school in a community that has been left behind. A journey to market that will no longer take half the day,” he said, painting a picture of what the investments should mean for ordinary residents.

Water supply, which had remained a major challenge in Enugu metropolis for years, also featured prominently in the governor’s account.