*Development and governance may have been the overarching themes of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s recent visit to Enugu State of Nigeria, analysts have also reckoned that given all that transpired during the visit, a new chapter in the relationship between Tinubu and the South-East geopolitical zone may have been unwittingly opened

Tunde Rahman

President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s recent one-day visit to the South-East, his first in 2025, was not just a routine event.

It was laden with symbolisms, from the enthusiastic reception to the subsequent positive comments.

The import of that visit, with its several remarkable aspects, was not lost on anyone.

While many have spoken favourably and commended the visit, it equally throws up some questions.

Is President Tinubu’s January 4, 2025, visit to Enugu, the old capital of the South-East region, during which he inaugurated Governor Peter Ndubuisi Mbah’s landmark projects and made important pronouncements a new level in his relationship with the South-East geopolitical zone?

Is the President’s visit across the Niger a game changer and subtle indicator of what lies ahead between him and the people of the South-East?

The South-East’s posture towards President Tinubu has not been enthusiastic, just as it was with former President Muhammadu Buhari.

Of course, the results of the 2015, 2019, and 2023 General Elections revealed the political aloofness of the zone towards the two leaders.

The South-East was particularly lukewarm towards Tinubu’s Presidential aspiration, following developments in the build-up to the 2023 Presidential Election and the results that had arisen from it.

Ahead of the election, the South-East put all its political eggs in the basket of homeboy Peter Obi, former Anambra State Governor, who had broken ranks with former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar and the opposition Peoples Democratic Party to emerge as the Labour Party’s Presidential Candidate.

The boisterousness of the Obidients 鈥揳s Peter Obi’s supporters had christened themselves 鈥� had somewhat captured the imagination of the South-East.

Any Igbo who sang a different tune in the 2023 Elections was, more or less, seen as an outcast.

Peter Obi himself did not allow the kind of amity that should prevail.

He campaigned based on his Igbo ethnicity and overtly promoted his Christian faith to reap electoral benefits.

When the election came, the Igbo voted en masse for him, signposting a strong correlation between region, religion and elections in Nigeria.

As a geopolitical breakdown of the 2023 Presidential Election results showed, Obi and his LP polled 1,952, 998 votes from the five states of the South-East, representing a massive 89.62 percent of the total votes in the region.

President Tinubu and the All Progressives Congress polled 127,370 votes, a paltry 5.85 percent of the votes from the area while the Peoples Democratic Party candidate, former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar, got 90, 698 votes, amounting to a meagre 4.16 percent.

Although Obi recorded impressive results outside the South-East, like winning Lagos, Nasarawa, Edo, Delta, Plateau, Cross River, and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Abuja, his 2023 Presidential challenge was essentially a South-East affair.

After the election, he and his ethnic supporters remained in their cocoons鈥攐r the alternate reality they had built.

They acted like Obi had won the poll but denied victory. It seemed that the Obidients would rather not hear the name Asiwaju Tinubu, let alone President Tinubu.

This trend continued even after Obi’s petition against President Tinubu’s victory in court failed. Any move of the President was criticised and condemned.

On assumption of office, President Tinubu made overtures to the zone in key appointments, such as the appointment of Chief of Naval Staff, Rear Admiral Emmanuel Ikechukwu Ogalla, who hails from Enugu, and through key ministerial appointments like those of Minister for Works, Senator David Umahi from Ebonyi State, Minister for Innovation, Science and Technology, Hon. Uche Nnaji, and the first Minister of Trade and Investment, now Minister of State for Finance, Dr. Doris Uzoka-Anite, among others.

Remarkably, when the President reshuffled his cabinet October 2024, he brought in, among others, Ambassador Bianca Odumegwu-Ojukwu, wife of the late Ikemba Nnewi, Chief Emeka Odumegwu-Ojukwu. She got the portfolio of Minister of State for Foreign Affairs.

President Tinubu also established the South-East Development Commission, a significant move to promote and accelerate the region’s development.

A top journalist who is a friend from the South-East zone and staunch Obidient, who had never masked his dislike for Tinubu, said those two appointments were sufficient to forgive President Tinubu’s perceived sins against the Igbo.

It was against that background that President Tinubu accepted Governor Mbah’s invitation to inaugurate some of his projects in the New Year.

At the inauguration of Governor Mbah’s projects and during an interactive session with South-East leaders, President Tinubu made significant statements that gladdened the hearts of the Igbo.

At the inauguration of the Command and Control Centre, the President emphasised the importance of cooperation and collaboration between the Federal Government and the sub-nationals to drive development.

“This (Command and Control Centre) is a profound demonstration of what we can do together.

“It reassures me that more revenue going to the sub nationals and local governments is not a waste; it is for development.

“We have committed leaders like Peter Mbah, taking Enugu on the path of 21st Century development, taking Enugu to greater heights, and building our tomorrow today.

“I cannot forget the sight of those children I just met at the Smart Green School.

“I have seen the gadgets and vehicles with 21st Century technology.

“You are, indeed, working for today, tomorrow and the future.”

The President inaugurated the GTC Smart Green School, New Haven/Bisalla Road, the International Conference Center, the Command and Control Centre, and 150 patrol vehicles with surveillance cameras.

He also inaugurated other notable projects virtually, at the Enugu State Government House.

Later, at an interactive session with South-East leaders, President Tinubu promised that his administration would complete the Eastern Rail line connecting Port Harcourt, in Rivers State, to Maiduguri, in Borno State, and support the development of the Anambra Basin as a significant energy reserve estimated to hold up to 1 billion barrels of oil and 30 billion cubic feet of gas.

He made the commitment while responding to the requests made by former Minister for Power Prof. Chinedu Nebo and an Enugu State indigene, Chris Ugoh, at the interactive session.

After commending the Tinubu administration for completing the Port Harcourt to Aba section of the Eastern Rail line, Prof. Nebo had appealed to the President to prioritise the completion of the remaining portions of the rail link to facilitate exports of non-oil products and catalyse development in the region.

Dignitaries who attended the session included governors, traditional rulers, captains of industry, and serving and former Presiding Officers of the National Assembly from the zone, including former Senate President Ken Nnamani.

With the Enugu visit and the importance he attached to the invitation by PDP Governor Mbah, President Tinubu demonstrated political maturity and his commitment to supporting developmental strides from any part of the country and by any governor or stakeholder.

The visit was a bold testament to his nonpartisan inclination and willingness to put the country first.

He was full of commendation for Governor Mbah for demonstrating “an irrevocable commitment to human development.”

In the same vein, sighting Abia State Governor Alex Otti at the Enugu event, President Tinubu said: “I don’t care which party you come from; you are my friend.

“Alex Otti of Abia State is also doing very well. It is not about the differences in languages and places of birth.

“None of us has control of the mother tongue. God created us, and you can find yourself in Enugu, Onitsha or Lagos.

“We are all members of one huge family called Nigeria, but we live in different rooms in the same house.

“We must build this house to satisfy our immediate and future needs.”

Speaking before the inauguration of his projects, Governor Mbah had described President Tinubu as a true federalist committed to Nigeria’s development.

“Your Excellency, your credential as a true federalist stands out brightly, and the legacies thereof will long earn you resounding accolades.

“In signing the Electricity Act (Amendment) Bill, you liberalised electricity generation, transmission, and distribution.

That singular act will consistently rank as an enduring legacy,” he said.

The governor added: “It is noteworthy that Enugu State was the first sub-national to which the NERC ceded regulatory oversight of the local electricity market. That reflects how swiftly we are pursuing our goals.”

On the South-East Development Commission, the governor said the Commission would address infrastructure and ecological challenges in the region while complementing the many development strides unfolding across the state.

Development and governance may have been the overarching themes of the visit.

Still, analysts reckon that given all that transpired during the visit, a new chapter in the relationship between President Tinubu and the Southeast geopolitical zone may have been unwittingly opened.

This rapprochement, they observe, may signpost other important things to come for President Tinubu from the zone, particularly going into the next election in 2027.

*Rahman is a Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media Matters.

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