2023: OVER THREE YEARS OF PEOPLE-CENTRED AND RESULT – ORIENTED REPRESENTATION: AN APPRAISAL OF THE LEGENDARY EXPLOITS OF HON. MRS. JANE CHINWE ENEH, CHIEF WHIP ENHA AS MEMBER REPRESENTING AWGU NORTH CONSTITUENCY

By Christian Enebe

The role of women towards achieving gender balance and the development of a nation cannot be overemphasized. Gender balance is considered a critical global need that is central in promoting the stability of the society and all-round progress. The issues of gender balance has remained on the front burner with increasing demand for women to be accorded equal opportunities, allowed to maximize their potentials and contribute their quota to the development of the nation.

As a matter of fact, it is believed that a balanced society, that is holistic in approach to human welfare and development, cannot be achieved without the critical involvement of women in decision making and without giving women a voice. Some proponents of gender balance argue that men cannot feel what women feel and may not see what they see and as such cannot take the place of women in the society. This is not arguable. In fact, there is no gainsaying the fact that there is need for female members of the society to complement their male counterparts towards the betterment of humanity.

This is the reason the desire for women to be given opportunity to be involved in playing leadership roles and to participate in representing or adding their voices for the good of the people, has intensified in recent time with different countries going as far as making policy adjustments and legislating to accommodate more women in corridors of power.

In Nigeria, the impact of amazons like the late Dora Akunyiili, the very vibrant Oby Ezekwesili, the celebral and high impact Ngozi Okonjo Iweala, among others, who have showcased the indispensability of women in shaping a balanced and holistic society, remains a reference point. This partly explains the overwhelming support the good people of Awgu North Constituency accorded Hon. Mrs. Jane Chinwe Eneh which led to her emergence in 2019.

June 10, 2019 remains a memorable day in the annals of Enugu State. As may be recalled, it was the day the 7th Assembly of the Enugu State House of Assembly was inaugurated. It was a historic day for the entire Enugu State in general and for Awgu North Constituency in particular as Hon. Mrs. Jane Chinwe Eneh was on that day, sworn-in as Member representing Awgu North State Constituency. Upon taking the oat of office on that historic day, she became the first woman in history to represent the good people of Awgu North State Constituency. On that same day, she made yet another history when she was unanimously elected the Chief Whip of the Enugu State House of Assembly based on nobility of character and competence.

To say that Hon. Mrs. Jane Eneh’s exploits since assuming office are legendary and have justified the quest for women involvement in governance, would amount to stating the obvious. The truth is that virtually everyone in her constituency and beyond has been amazed by her remarkable achievements. She has not only delivered the goods but has become more than a representative to her Constituents. She practically assumed a mother figure and has touched lives in very unique ways aside discharging her traditional legislative duties with passion.

Besides, the legislative efforts she has undertaken in the course of representing the good people of Awgu North and the service she has heartily rendered in about three years and six months in office, reflect a whole-hearted dedication to her duty and a selfless commitment to the welfare and common aspiration of her people.

Barely two months of her assuming office, Awgu North Constituency was confronted by one of the most hideous security situations in recent history culminating in indiscriminate abductions and mindless killings of our people. Recognizing the hallowed duty which has been assigned to her and how it affects our people, she rose up to the occasion and without delay, co-sponsored a motion of urgent public importance on the need to intensify security in all rural areas and highways in Enugu State with specific emphasis on Awgu North.

This historic motion, which was unanimously adopted by the House, offered complementary impetus to the comprehensive and sustained actions of our responsive Governor, His Excellency, Rt. Hon. Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi by which the unfortunate situation was arrested and the incessant kidnappings and gruesome killings of Ndi Enugu curtailed. She is equally instrumental to the initiation and passing of many other strategic motions and has contributed significantly to the success of many critical bills in the hallowed Chambers of the Enugu state House of Assembly including the Bill to Establish the Enugu State University of Education, Ihe, which she worked assiduously and together with her colleagues at the Enugu State House of Assembly to ensure its speedy pssage into law. As if that was not enough, she donated a state of the art Toyota Sienna car to security operatives in Awgu North to aid their services and ensure protection of lives and properties of the good people of Awgu North Constituency.

Aside her legislative functions which she has discharged with every sense of responsibility, Hon. Mrs. Jane Eneh has demonstrated an undisputable commitment to the welfare of her Constituents to deserve a second term in office. Within her first three months in office, she paid an official visit to all the public primary and secondary schools in Awgu North constituency in order to familiarize herself with the needs of the schools. In the course of her visits, she observed that many of the pupils did not have necessary writing materials and could not actively participate in class work.

In a quick response, she distributed writing materials (notebooks, pens and pencils) to all the pupils and students in all the public schools in Awgu North, in an effort to improve their chances to succeed, improve the quality of learning in our schools and assist our children realize their dreams. She also constructed some classroom desks and repaired bad ones to improve the learning conditions in some of the schools she visited. Above all, she took it upon herself to request for more classroom desks from government for some of the schools, followed up until they were provided. This she did in order to ensure adequate supply of their requirements and to improve their learning condition.

Having observed the difficulty faced by some students and their inability to pay school fees (levies), she undertook the payment of the school fees of one hundred (100) indigent students in various public secondary schools in Awgu North. Ten needy students were selected as beneficiaries from each of the ten old communities in Awgu North, namely: Agbogugu, Ogbaku, Ihe, Isu-Awaa, Ituku, Agbudu, Amoli, Owelli, Ogugu and Ugbo communities. The beneficiaries were also spread across all the public secondary schools in the Constituency.

Although tasking, she did not relent as she went on to offset their school fees from JSS 1 and continued till they completed their JSS 3. She equally paid their Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE) fees as well as the first term fees of their SS1 and has resolved that she will extend the scholarship till they finish their secondary education. Despite the huge financial burden she bears as a result, she has continued to make the sacrifices and to bear the burden, given as she reasoned, that these efforts are an investment to our common future which as far as she is concerned, these students represent. According to her, “the son of a nobody today can become somebody in the future even without knowing anybody. We must contribute our quota to make a difference.”

It didn’t end there. Buoyed by the Enugu state government’s education policy thrust: to give every child access to quality education, which has inspired massive reconstruction of existing structures and construction of new buildings across schools in Enugu state to improve the learning condition of our schools, Hon. Eneh, upon assumption of office, vigorously pursued the approval of His Excellency the Governor for additional renovations and construction of more school buildings in Awgu North Constituency and to the glory of God, His Excellency, Governor Ugwuanyi graciously approved six school building projects in the first tranche based on the needs of the schools.

She further expedited action to secure the second and third tranches of the projects that covered all the wards and practically all the communities in Awgu North where the need was identified. Hence, Awgu North can now boast of the following completed projects: an ultramodern classroom block at Community Secondary School, Ituku, an ultramodern Exam Hall at Community Secondary School, Ituku, , an ultramodern classroom block at Community Secondry School Ogbaku, an ultramodern classroom block at Community School, Umuonwo, Ihe, an ultramodern classroom block at Primary School, Ihe.

Also, an ultramodern classroom block at UPE Owelli, an ultramodern classroom block at Girls Secondary School Owelli, an ultramodern classroom block at Central School, Ogugu, an ultramodern classroom block at Community Primary School, Otunko, Amoli, an ultramodern classroom block at Community Primary School, Nkwor, Amoli, an ultramodern classroom block at Community Primary School, Agbudu, an ultramodern classroom block at Community Seconday School Agbudu, an ultramodern classroom block at Community Seconday School, Ohumagu, Agbogugu, among other interventions.

She further deepened her Contribution to education and the welfare of Ndi Awgu North when she set up her adult education Programme which was made open to all interested persons in Awgu North Constituency. She went further to engage 100 retired teachers and others as tutors who were paid monthly. These teachers, as in other cases, were selected from the ten old communities of Awgu North.

In the same vein, she has not rested on her oars in her continuous effort to empower our women and youths. In this regard, she has explored employment opportunities and facilitated efforts leading to gainful employment of our youths, having used her good offices to ensure that the good people of Awgu North Constituency benefitted reasonably from the recent recruitment of teachers and other job opportunities in the state.

She has also promoted active engagement of our youths and supported our youths to acquire skills and become self-employed. Hon Eneh took her empowerment initiatives to another level when she appointed more than sixty (60) Ndi Awgu (from both Awgu North and South) into different positions in her office in what was described as taking the bull by the horns. This is not to mention those encouraged and supported in various ways to start up small scale businesses and those she gave motorcycle, sewing machine and other forms of support to aid their survival.

Our women were not left out. A good number of our women, selected from the various communities in Awgu North, were offered the opportunity to participate in a periodic empowerment workshop for rural women and community leaders which she organized in collaboration with WACOL and the National Democratic Institute towards equipping them for survival.

Widows were not forgotten either. As part of her annual Christmas and welfare package, two hundred (200) indigent widows among us, selected from the ten old communities of Awgu North, were recently supported with food materials, clothes and provided with other forms of assistance. Hon. Eneh as her custom is, provided weave-ons and arranged hairstylists who plaited their hairs and beautified them for Christmas. This has been an annual ritual since she assumed office in 2019. Hence, in these three years and six months, several indigent widows have benefitted from her rare generosity.

Since 2019, she has also been offering our people opportunities to travel to the Holy Land for pilgrimage. A number of persons, selected from different communities in Awgu North, were offered opportunities of a fully sponsored trip to the holy land (Israel) for pilgrimage. The latest set of these lucky pilgrims left Nigeria for Israel last month and are back to the country with testimonies, thanking God, the Enugu State Government and Hon. Jane Eneh for the opportunity to walk where Jesus walked.

Following the outbreak of coronavirus in 2020 which induced unprecedented hardship on our people, Hon. Jane Eneh distributed with dispatch, one hundred and fifty bags of rice and fifty cartons of Indomie noodles while embarking on an awareness campaign in order to ease the suffering of our people particularly the elderly, nursing mothers, the indigent and physically challenged who she considered most vulnerable.

All through these over three years in office, she remained united with our people, stood with them and carried them along, giving succour to those in need and helping in every way she could. Periodically, she offers free fuel (PMS) to over 200 Okada and Keke riders drawn from the ten (10) communities in Awgu North to improve their living conditions. She did this five times last year alone and has remained steadfast in ensuring the well-being of our people.

Hon. Jane Eneh can be described as a very compassionate woman and as a true leader, who would rather go hungry than see a suffering person and ignore him or her. She doesn’t mind inconveniencing herself for the good of others and for the common good. Hence, despite the heavy load of support to several constituents, she did not hesitate to assist one of us, Chiagozie Ekoh, who was an awaiting patient at UNTH Ituku Ozalla for about a year. She assisted his poor family to pay over three hundred thousand naira needed to offset Chiagozie’s hospital bills so that he could regain his freedom. 

She also supported a distressed elder, Aguocha Mbagu, the erstwhile eldest man in Ihe, now late) and his family to replace their roof after their roof was damaged accidentally. She also remembered the physically challenged. She provided Emeka Nweke a brand new wheel chair enabling him to move about, supported him to set up a small business and even assisted him to get married, making his life more meaningful in the process. Myles Monroe had her type of leaders in mind when he stated without equivocation that “True leadership is not about power but about empowerment.”

Her remarkable leadership and outstanding achievements did not go unnoticed. Aside the overwhelming support and encouragement of her Constituents, Hon. Jane Eneh emerged Leadership Scorecard Woman Leader of the year, 2019 based on her remarkable performance and visibility. In 2021, she was listed by AnedoOnline Media among the top five female politicians in Enugu State, a milestone which was based on her remarkable achievements. Also in 2021, she was decorated with the 2021 Woman Dignity Award based on her track record, performance and outstanding leadership prowess as explained by the conveners. She has also been laureled among other achievers in various other fora in Enugu State and beyond as an eloquent testimony to her legendary exploits.

Time will fail me to talk more about her other transformational grassroots initiatives, strategic women empowerment initiatives, party welfare programmes, respect for leaders/stakeholders, welfare of constituents or to highlight more about her selflessness, generosity, firmness of character and fear of God.

Hon. Jane Eneh is no doubt a visionary who has performed exceptionally well and has changed the narratives. She doubtless deserves our support and votes.

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