By Hon Ogbobe Chidera Stanley
The recent policies of the Enugu State Government under Governor Peter Ndubuisi Mbah have inflicted severe hardship on the people of Nsukka zone, exposing a disturbing pattern of anti-poor governance masked as development.
Ordinary traders and artisans in Nsukka, many of whom built their businesses over decades, have seen their shops and means of livelihood demolished without consultation or compensation.
These demolitions were executed with total disregard for the economic realities of the victims.
Elderly retirees, widows, and low-income earners who depended on these small businesses have been thrown into abject poverty.
Reports from the ground confirm that some victims have died from the trauma of losing all they had worked for.
Others are currently battling stroke and depression after watching their life’s investment reduced to rubble.
This is not development.
This is displacement.
In Nsukka town, several business clusters were wiped out without any form of government support or relocation plan.
What makes the situation more painful is the imposition of outrageously expensive shop prices at the so-called modern terminals.
How can traders who have just been rendered homeless afford shops priced at ₦20 million, ₦30 million, or even ₦50 million?
Clearly, these projects are not designed for the poor.
They are for the political elite and wealthy allies of government.
The ordinary people of Nsukka are being priced out of their own land.
Governor Mbah’s actions reveal a state policy that favors the rich while punishing the poor.
Instead of protecting struggling citizens, this administration has chosen to uproot them in the name of modernization.
What is modernization if it increases poverty and tears apart the economic foundation of families?
True development is inclusive.
It uplifts the vulnerable.
It does not displace them.
It ensures that the dignity of small business owners is preserved, not crushed under bulldozers.
The government must realize that Nsukka is not just a zone of voters.
It is a land of hard-working people, of legacy traders, and of honest citizens who have contributed to the development of Enugu State.
The continued marginalization and economic suffocation of Nsukka people will not be forgotten.
We demand justice for the victims of these demolitions in Nsukka.
We demand compensation for the destroyed shops and support for the affected families.
We demand that the government stop punishing the poor in the name of progress.
Let Governor Peter Mbah know that history will not remember the number of buildings he constructed.
It will remember the number of lives he destroyed while doing it.
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